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Transcribed highlights of the show can be found in our episode summaries.\nSouthwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has the largest evangelical archeology program. It\u2019s also the only evangelical institution to offer a doctoral degree in the field. But this school year will be its last.\n\u201cWe will no longer offer degrees in archaeology because they are incongruent with our mission to maximize resources in the training of pastors and other ministers of the gospel for the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention,\u201d Southwestern announced in a statement.\xa0\nSouthwestern also suggested that its decision was linked to the spread of COVID-19 and the pandemic will curtail some digs this year, says John Monson,\xa0associate professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.\nBut ultimately, Monson doesn\u2019t think that the disease is the greatest threat to the discipline.\n\u201cThis is a field that's been around since Napoleon Bonaparte, so about 1799, and it's weathered a lot more than this coronavirus,\u201d said Monson, whose archaeological fieldwork has taken him to Syria, Lebanon, and numerous excavations in Israel. \u201cAnd there's always been an interest in the Bible and there still is an interest in the Bible in much of the world today\u2026.I think the bigger challenge is going to be continued interest on\xa0the part of Christians and particularly evangelical institutions.\u201d\nMonson joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen to discuss\xa0where Southwestern\u2019s shutdown of their program leaves the state of biblical archeology, how apologetics fits into this discipline, and what happens when what scripture suggests and what is found on the ground doesn\u2019t exactly line up.\nWhat is Quick to Listen?\xa0Read more\nRate Quick to Listen on\xa0Apple Podcasts\nFollow the podcast on\xa0Twitter\nFollow our hosts on Twitter:\xa0Morgan Lee\xa0and\xa0Ted Olsen\nMusic by\xa0Sweeps\nQuick to Listen is produced by\xa0Morgan Lee\xa0and\xa0Matt Linder\nThe transcript is edited by\xa0Bunmi Ishola\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices