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Published Tuesday, August 03, 2010 in Religion

Archaeologist to speak on Bible's Bethsaida

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

Dr. John Currid, who will lead his final service at White Oak Associate Presbyterian Church tonight, has been leading students to get a closer look at the hometown of three of Jesus' disciples.

"You begin to recreate what daily life was like. I think that's really important," said Currid, professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, N.C. Currid, reflecting on the lives of the people who lived at Bethsaida in the New Testament period, is leading Special Services at White Oak Presbyterian on Gordon Road. The final service is today at 7 p.m.

In addition to being a seminary professor, writer and pastor, Currid is an archaeologist. Since 1993, he has been leading groups of RTS students in the excavation of Bethsaida near the Sea of Galilee.

Bethsaida was the hometown of Peter, Andrew and Philip -- three of the apostles who traveled with Jesus during His earthly ministry.

The information uncovered at Bethsaida reminds students and archaeologists -- and other people interested in life in the time of Jesus -- that Peter and Andrew and their neighbors "were real people" and that their lives were "set in history" with specific patterns of daily life, Currid said.

"These were common people who amazing things happened to because of the calling of the Lord," Currid said.

Bethsaida is a ruin today. In biblical times, it was a fishing village with some 400-500 people living on the two-thirds acre site. Bethsaida includes a site from the New Testament period and another one from the 10th century B.C., "which would be the time of David," Currid noted. Archaeological work at the location has been ongoing since 1988, and RTS has been involved since 1993.

"We still are one of the sponsoring institutions," Currid said.

All archaeological work in Israel is under the direction of a branch of the government, the Israeli Antiquities Authority. "You have to have an Israeli archaeologist who's the head of it," Currid said.

The experts in charge of each site then work with universities who bring faculty and students who help excavate and document what they find.

There have been periods when activity has "slowed down a little bit," Currid said. An intifada in 2000 created unrest in the region around the Bethsaida ruins. "A lot of that area was under rocket attack," Currid said.

The site is, in fact, a focus on some controversy among scholars. "The location and the site had been lost," Currid explained. Early church historians -- including Eusebius -- wrote about making pilgrimages to the site of Bethsaida. After the eighth century, however, references to the place disappeared.

The site being excavated is 1.25 miles from the current shore of the Sea of Galilee, which has caused some scholars to insist the site cannot be correct -- that fishermen in that time would not have lived so far from the waters where they fished.

Currid said geologists were asked to study the site. Those scientists determined the sea has receded in the 2,000 years since Philip, Andrew and Peter lived there. They also concluded earthquake activity in the area was pushing the site of the city away from the body of water.

Adding to the evidence that the site is genuine is the abundance of fishing gear found in the homes when the site was excavated. In addition, Currid said telephone booth-sized probes were put in the ground at numerous locations closer to the Sea of Galilee, but none produced the type or amount of artifacts from the New Testament period.

Currid and his students have largely excavated domestic areas of the old city -- homes, silos. In addition to household artifacts and fishing hooks and gear, they also have uncovered agricultural implements.

Currid grew up in Urbana, Ill. His family moved to Chicago where he finished high school.

"I've always wanted to teach," Currid said. He did intensive study in Old Testament and Hebrew at Barrington College, where he earned his bachelor of arts degree, and at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he earned his master's.

His first class at Barrington set him on the path of his life's work. The Old Testament class inspired him to study the Old Testament and learn Hebrew. "I walked out that day knowing exactly what I wanted to do," said Currid, who later dedicated one of his books to the professor who taught that class.

When he began work on his doctor of philosophy degree at the famed Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, Currid had to choose a direction for his research. He had done some archaeological work with his previous degree programs, so he chose to go in that direction. He spent a lot of time with a professor working at the site of the ancient city of Carthage in Tunisia.

"It was a difficult program because a lot of your work was overseas," he said.

Currid obviously appreciates the richness archaeology has added to his understanding of the Bible. He has never found anything in archaeology that has shaken him.

"Sometimes you get surprised in a good way," he noted.

Currid recalled working on the excavation of a Philistine city. A Philistine temple was unearthed, and Currid said the building had two pillars on which the rest of the structured stood. That finding aligned with the Old Testament story of Samson, who destroyed a Philistine temple by pushing supporting pillars apart.

Currid is an ARP pastor and currently serves a church in Charlotte. He sees writing, teaching and pastoring as the three points of his work. The archaeology fits in with the writing and teaching.

"Things that I'm studying -- I'm teaching, preaching and writing on them," he said.

Currid spoke at White Oak ARP twice on Sunday and again on Monday evening. He gave a presentation, "Excavations at Bethsaida Site in Israel," in White Oak Hall on the church's campus on Sunday morning. That evening, Currid reached into research from several archaeological digs to present "Child Sacrifice at Carthage and in Israel."

Currid said archaeology confirms and illumines the Bible and gives believers a broader picture of what the world was like for the people in the holy book. He said he does not see archaeology as a means to "prove" the truth of the Bible.

"The Bible doesn't need to be proven. It stands well on its own," he said.

Currid has been married for 33 years and has two grown children.

During his time in Coweta County, he has enjoyed the pastoral setting of a cabin that belongs to church members Vernon "Mutt" and Sue Hunter. The cabin -- actually a comfortable home -- is nestled in the woods near a lake.

Currid said he also has enjoyed his time at White Oak Presbyterian. "It's great. It's a healthy church," he said. "It is a very friendly church."