Discovering The City of Sodom

"'Welcome to Sodom' signs are absent - so had Steven Collins found the place?  The destruction of the Cities of the Plain - Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim - is proverbial. The events described in Genesis 19 are so well known that anyone with a minimal knowledge of the Bible is familiar with the dreadful destruction by fire and brimstone that God brought on these "sin cities." Paintings have been made of Sodom's overthrown, book written, and movies made.

When, in 2009, Dr. Steven Collins asked me to help him with the recording of the architectural remains of a site that he believed to be Sodom, I was very skeptical about the possibilities of finding any vestiges of this city of infamy. A key verse in the New Testament, Jude 7, indicated that the destruction of the Cities of the Plain was an example of annihilation by eternal fire. So - my reasoning went - how could one expect to find any traces of them." - Dr. Leen Ritmeyer (pg 4).

One of the most vivid stories of the Old Testament is the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18-19. Sodom and Gomorrah, two of the five "cities on the plain" adjacent to the Dead Sea, were steeped in wickedness, and the Lord was determined to destroy them. The Lord was willing to change his mind if Abraham could find at least ten honest people in the towns, but alas, he could not, so "the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from heaven, overthrowing those cities and all of the plain." (Genesis 19:24-25).

For centuries most folk who rooted their faith in the Bible took this and other stories of the patriarchs at face value, while others simply tended to see the Bible as mostly pious poetry - beautiful and of high moral value, but with little or no historical basis. In either approach, it is necessary to find a site that would explain the origin of the Sodom narratives, and just possibly one that produces evidence that the narration as it appears in the Bible may not be disconnected from historical reality after all. This is what the authors of this book have done.

In the novel, Discovering the City of Sodom by authors Dr. Steven Collins and Dr. Latayne C. Scott, this adventure-cum-memoir reflects the tensions that define biblical archaeology as it narrates a tale of discovery. Readers will follow "Dr. C" as he tracks down biblical, archaeological, and geographical clues to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, narrowing the list of possible sites as he weighs evidence and battles skeptics. He wanted to make sure that before he put his endorsement behind that discovery, it matched up with where the Bible said it was.

I received Discovering the City of Sodom by Dr. Steven Collins and Dr. Latayne C. Scott compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Publishers and received no monetary compensation for a favorable review. The opinions expressed are my own based on what I read and understand. I love it when history is finally starting to unveil all the truth that Christians have based their faith in, that the Bible is 100% true and is the Word of God. It seems each year, science unravels more and more of undeniable evidence that the places and events the Bible describes in great detail are true. I reviewed this book simply based on wanting to know what science again has yet uncovered and how they are able to confirm it really is or isn't the city of Sodom and Gomorrah that the Bible describes. What Dr. Collin's has discovered is groundbreaking and is challenging the assumptions of academics and asserting a new voice in the controversy of biblical archaeology and the dispute over using the Bible as a credible historical source. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars and encourage others to review and read this one for themselves before taking my word on it. Some will simply attempt to disprove the theories and evidence in this book and others like myself will take it on faith that once again God is revealing the truth we've known all along.

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Discovering the City of Sodom by Dr. Steven Collins and Dr. Latayne C. Scott

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Howard Books (April 2, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451684304
• ISBN-13: 978-1451684308
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches