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Robert Cornuke, commonly referred to as Bob Cornuke, is the president of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration Institute (BASE), of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A former Costa Mesa police officer, Cornuke is a self-styled Biblical archaeologist (he holds no professional position and has no training in the discipline) and the author of six books on biblical history based on his explorations over the last 20 years. However, Cornuke has extensive training as a crime scene investigator, completing a certified FBI, Department of Justice, “homicide investaigations” course as well as Field Evidence training.. He uses the skills he developed as a crime scene investigator to study Biblical events through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. Cornuke’s objectives are to document and explain how Biblical events have affected human culture in the past and how such events affect human culture today.

Cornuke holds a Masters of Arts Biblical Studies and a 2005 Ph.D. in Bible and theology from the unaccredited Louisiana Baptist University. Louisiana Baptist University (LBU) is unaccredited like other well known universities such as Harvard, Oxford, Yale. LBU was founded in 1973 and every course is designed to meet or exceed national norms. Many of the textbooks are the same ones used by Louisiana State University and other major universities . Cornuke use of the Bible as a literal guide for his explorations is an approach which is rejected by the scientific community as pseudoarchaeology, a form of pseudoscience. While his appraoch may be unorthordox, Cornuke’s unique work has lead to some amazing finds as reflected in Biblical history .


Explorations

Cornuke's explorations have included the Biblical Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia; journeying in Turkey with the late American astronaut Jim Irwin in search of Noah's Ark; looking for evidence of ancient Assyrian and Babylonian flood accounts in the Zagros Mountains of Iran; and following the presumed trail of the Ark of the Covenant through Israel, Egypt, and the Ethiopian highlands. Cornuke has also engaged in expeditions searching the seafloor off the coast of Malta for the anchors from the Apostle Paul’s ship wreck, as described in the Bible's Book of Acts, chapter 27 — which he claims to have discovered, although this has been disputed. Most recent expeditions were to Takht-i-Suleiman in Iran in July 2005 and June 2006, where he discovered a very large rock formation approximately 400 ft long at 13,120 ft elevation. Cornuke's search appeared on Fox News, CNN, and Good Morning America as well as others.

Controversy and criticism

Mount Sinai Controversy

Cornuke's book, In Search of the Mountain of God, claimed he was the original researcher of the biblical match of Biblical Mount Sinai to Jabal al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia. This was dated as happening in 1988 after he learnt from someone else about Jabal al-Lawz's likeness to Sinai. Earlier, however, in 1984, Ron Wyatt had already claimed to be the first person to have discovered that Biblical Mount Sinai was Jabal al-Lawz and in 2002 Randall Styx noted that Harry St. John Philby in his 1957 book The Land of Midian claimed that Jabal al-Lawz was the Biblical site Contrary to the above statements Cornuke’s book, In Search of the Mountain of God, actually identifies a number of people who had theorized about Jabal al-Lawz being the true Mount Sinai and that David Fasold and Ron Wyatt had reportedly been to the site before Cornuke. .

Author Gordon Franz claimed that Cornuke "had forged a letter from the king of Saudi Arabia in order to obtain a visa into the Kingdom.". Franz’ "claim" is a misquote from Cornuke’s In Search of the Mountain of God book. However, Franz wanted to debunk Wyatt, Cornuke, and Williams' claim that the Biblical Mt. Sinai was in Saudi Arabia. Franz argued that the "biggest problem with the identification of Mt. Sinai at Jebel el-Lawz is that it does not meet the Biblical criteria for the site. These claims are based on three false assumptions and a misunderstanding of the archaeological remains that they observed." The three false assumptions were: 1) the Sinai Peninsula was within the territorial borders of the Land of Egypt, 2) "that Mt. Sinai is located in the Land of Midian, which is identified as part of the Saudi Arabian peninsula," and 3) "Apostle Paul says in Gal. 4:25 that Mt. Sinai was in Saudi Arabia."

Cornuke responded to Franz's accusations by calling him to "honestly examine and evaluate the CREDIBLE historical, geographical, archeological and Biblical evidence that Jabal al-Lawz might be the real Mount Sinai". Allen Kerkselager, Ph.D. Professor of Theology St. Joseph's University stated "Jabal al Lawz may also be the most convincing option for identifying the Mt. Sinai of biblical tradition" and should be researched. Meanwhile Roy Knuteson former Professor of New Testament and Greek and Bible Archaeology at Northwestern College explained "None of the suggested sites in the Sinai Peninsula fit the biblical requirements. Further in support of Cornuke’s position, Dr. Knuteson states in his book The Search for Pharaoh’s Chariots: "All in all, the visible evidence is quite overwhelming. No other suggested site fits all the Biblical criteria as well as Jebel El-Lawz." Charles Whittaker, PhD in Bible and Theology from LBU in his doctoral dissertation The Biblical Significance of Jabal Al Lawz also supported Cornuke’s theory stating: "The mountain is Jabal Al Lawz and it is significant because it is the conclusion of this paper that it is the best canidate for the Biblical Mt. Sinai."

According to Cornuke, a scholar that agrees his Mt. Sinai claims is Frank Moore Cross of Harvard Divinity School, but according to Franz, "Frank Moore Cross, retired professor of Hebrew at Harvard University opines that the mountain of God was located in the Land of Midian. When asked if he had a guess what mountain might be Mt. Sinai, he responded, 'I really don't'" and Moore "later put the "Midian Hypothesis" in print, but did not endorse any mountains for the location of Mt. Sinai (Cross 1998: 60-68)." . What Franz chooses ignore are the documented statements of Frank Moore Cross, wherein Cross clearly asserts that the region Cornuke proposes for the real Mount Sinai, Northern Saudi Arabia is accurate . Further Bible Review magazine April 2000 cited as follows, “A reasonable guess according to Cross for the identity of Mount Sinai is Jabel –al Lawz, the highest peak in Northwest Arabia.”

Franz’s claims that he called Moore Cross are unverified on page two paragraph 5. Franz’s claims are apparently false as they are directly countered by published statements by Cross with his former statements, In Biblical review magazine April 2000 and Epic to Canon, page 66. Frank Moore Cross, The Johns Hopkins University Press is sited as follows, “A reasonable guess according to Cross for the identity of Mount Sinai is Jabel –al Lawz, the highest peak in Northwest Arabia. This directly refutes the Franz assertion about Cross and his alleged statements .

Another critic noted the "BASE institute site had some quotes from respected archaeologists which seemed to support the idea that Jebel al-Lawz was a good candidate for Mount Sinai," but "when I contacted some of these individuals, they assured me they never made such statements, neither did they feel Jebel al-Lawz was the real Mount Sinai." Thus, "it became quickly obvious that some of the information on the BASE Institute site was not legitimate." Cornuke has on a number of occassions attempted to ascertain the names of the “respected archeologists” from Gary Amirault of Tentmakers Ministries; however, Amirault has not responded. Franz and Amirault and his “ministry” are are so far out of academic norms that Amirault, a unilversalist, through his website considers Hitler to have been a disciple of Martin Luther.

Maltese Controversy

In 2002 Cornuke claimed to have found anchors from the Biblical shipwreck of St. Paul. To the contrary Cornuke in his book The Lost Shipwreck of Paul, states, "But more than three decades before I started my search, several Maltese spear fisherman got there first. With rubber and glass masks on their faces and metal cylinders of compressed air lashed to their backs, they dove down into the clear blue sea, discovering an archaeological find that I believe is of monumental importance." This claim has been disputed, however, with Cornuke being labelled by some as a "con artist" who was claimed "to have found the wreck of Paul's ship from Acts - and then got sued for breaking 'all aspects' of an oral contract with a former US ambassador to Malta." The case was dismissed by Federal District Court Judge John Kane who stated “To order recall of the book in my view from public distribution under the circumstances presented here would be utterly without justification. Judge Kane further stated. "There is an absence of any evidence that the defendant (Robert Cornuke) did anything unlawful in entering into a publishing agreement."

The case was unsuccessful with the judging ruling that the book was already unreleased and could not be prevented from being sold. His critics believe he is "more interested in the money to be gained from their claims than in providing genuine evidence for anything." Others say that these anchors were actually discovered by fishermen, and were subsequently purchased and passed off as his own discovery. These "others" actually agree with Cornuke, as shown above ., but appear ignorant of the fact that Cornuke and two others contributed money so that two of the surving anchors could be donated to the Government of Malta. These anchors, given in the memory of Tony Micallef-Borg and Charles Grech, two of the divers who found the anchors, are now on display at the Malta Maritime Museum.

Gordon Franz noted Charles Grech (a retired restaurant owner) found a third anchor in front of the same underwater cave that might have been found off the Munxar Reef, but this was not certain. Only one anchor was examined by Anthony Bonanno and it was only examined in Mr. Grech's home. Bonanno believes that anchor appears to be "consistent" with the "era of the shipwreck of St. Paul, in 60 A.D." and "a Roman/Alexandrian grain freighter," but he did not directly link the anchors with St. Paul.

Franz unilaterally dismisses every Maltese claim Cornuke has made. Franz has noted "had no tangible proof of the anchor stocks to show the world. The first of the anchor stocks was melted down; the second, third and fourth were in private collections; and the fifth and six had been sold." So Cornuke, with "the aid of the US ambassador to Malta, Kathy Proffitt, was enlisted to convince the President and Prime Minister of Malta to offer an amnesty to anyone who would turn over antiquities found off the Munxar Reef" and the pardons were issued on September 23, 2002." As a result, "two anchor stocks" were "turned over to the authorities."

Franz questions Cornukes research in that "Mr. Cornuke does not interact with, or mention, some very important works on the subject of Paul's shipwreck; nor are they listed in his bibliography.". All these scholars have claimed different sites where St. Paul may have been shipwrecked. Gordon also has criticized Cornuke's understanding of the biblical story and description. On August 15, 2005, James Mulholland, a life-long member of the Maltese community and a member of the Pauline Association in Malta, stated that Franz made four errors in his refutation of Cornuke and that Cornuke's evidence was not compelling. Mulholland pointed out four problems with Franz's arguments: 1) That Marsaxxlokk bay was visible from Munxar Reef, 2) That Franz misidentified the Munxar reef referred to by Cornuke, 3) That Franz only dismisses, but does not refute Cornuke's identification of the real Munxar Reef as the location, and 4) while "Mr. Franz makes a compelling argument," but "these ancient sites would have been well-known by experienced sailors." Mullholland concluded, "we could pick each element of Mr. Cornuke's overall theory and propose other locations that could possibly match that single element. However, that's not the appropriate exercise here. The compelling nature of Mr. Cornuke's theory rests in the fact that ALL of the elements come together in one location. I could show you a place on the western side of the island where they possibly meet."

In 2003 Christianity Today reported that the then U.S. ambassador Kathryn Proffitt sued Cornuke to stop the sale of his book after she arranged for the "Maltese government to pardon the fisherman." (Cornuke would claim these "were from the apostle's ship.") Proffitt contended that as part of the pardon arrangement and several other issues, Cornuke agreed to remain silent about the pardon and "to allow Proffitt and the Maltese government to edit the book. He would also be required to encourage tourists to visit ancient temples." According to some he did not keep his part of the agreement. Cornuke contends that the pardons, as a matter of public record in Malta, were issued to protect the divers who orignally found the anchors thus allowing through the contributions of Cornuke and Proffitt the anchors would be donated to the Malta Maritime Museum. Further Proffitt and Maltesse government representatives were given numerous opportunities to review and offered edits to Cornuke’s book, The Lost Shipwreck of Paul. Proffitt’s case was dismissed by Federal Judge Kane who stated "To order recall of the book in my view from public distribution under the circumstances presented here would be utterly without justification." Judge Kane further stated. "There is an absence of any evidence that the defendant (Robert Cornuke) did anything unlawful in entering into a publishing agreement."

A federal judge denied the request to hold up publication of the book since it was already released at the time. Even still, "what the Maltese government is apparently upset about, however, isn't that Cornuke's book was published without its permission, but that it claims that the shipwreck never happened in the traditional site on the northeastern tip of the island, now known as St. Paul's Bay." It is wholly understandable that the Maltesse government disagrees with Cornuke’s theroy as the Maltesse by tradition recognized Saint Paul’s Bay as the area of the shipwreck.

Saudi Arabia Controversy

Cornuke and his partner "snuck" into Saudi Arabia illegally. Later on Cornuke and his partner falsely told "guards" they were medical doctors after being captured so the Saudi Arabian guards did not consider them Jewish spies. However, "Cornuke found himself in a sticky situation when one by one each guard came to him complaining of various ailments."

Noah's Ark Controversy

Cornuke's surrogates claimed in June 2006 that Cornuke has discovered Noah's Ark in a pile of dark-colored rocks on the Iranian Takht-e Suleiman ("Throne of Solomon") or Mount Suleiman in the Alborz (Elborz) Mountains. Cornuke makes numerous mistakes in his research and relies heavily on one alleged eyewitness of Noah's Ark, Ed Davis, in which there are problems with him being in Iran let alone at this site when he claimed to see Noah's Ark in 1943. Even creationist geologists doubt whether the rocks viewed by Cornuke are petrified and are urging caution. The research team included Arch Bonnema, film producer of The Genius Club and other well-known Christian businessmen. The oldest creationist organization does not believe the rocks viewed by Cornuke are petrified or Noah's Ark. Associates for Biblical Research also produced a 7,800-word paper about problems with the Cornuke site. National Geographic critiqued the rocks at the site.

Books

Trivia

  • Cornuke is reported as styling himself in an "Indiana Jones" fashion.
  • Cornuke is travel guide/business partners with Chuck Missler. Cornuke received credits at Missler's unaccredited Koinonia Institute, which were transferable to the unaccredited Louisiana Baptist University. Missler is a 1999 graduate of Louisiana Baptist University, and currently Cornuke in Colorado, a 2005 graduate, and Missler in Idaho are professors at the "school."

References

  1. Spring of 1979, Rio Hondo College located in Whittier, California
  2. ^ Cornuke, Bob. Official Bob Cornuke Biography. BASE Institute, July 1, 2006
  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/Oxford_Graduate_School
  4. http://www.memoriapress.com/blog/140/akern/harvard-politics-and-american-education/
  5. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yale
  6. http://www.lbu.edu/index.html
  7. Seductions of Pseudoarchaeology: Pseudoscience in Cyberspace
  8. Wireless Age magazine, May/June 1999
  9. The American Legion magazine, May 2005, pages 34 - 40
  10. Koinonia House Online "All Anchors Accounted For" (Cornuke) 2004
  11. Cornuke, Bob (2006-06-17). (Interview). Interviewed by John Kasich. {{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  12. Cornuke, Bob (2006-07-02). "Possible Remnants of Noah's Ark" (Interview). Interviewed by Susan Roesgen. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  13. Cornuke, Bob (2006-06-29). "Mysteries of the Bible; Is This Really Noah's Ark?" (Interview). Interviewed by Chris Cuomo. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Pinkoski, Jim. The Rest of the Story 2000.
  15. Philby, Harry St. John. The Land of Midian. (London: Ernest Bean Limited) 1957.
  16. Cornuke, Bob and Halbrook, D., In Search of the Mountain of God Broadman & Holman Publishers 2000. ISBN080542052-5 (pg 167 and 218)
  17. ^ Franz, Gordon. Is Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia? July 1 2006
  18. Cornuke, Bob and Halbrook, D., In Search of the Mountain of God Broadman & Holman Publishers 2000. ISBN080542052-5 (pg 38)
  19. Reply to G. Franz by Bob Cornuke
  20. Where is Mount Sinai? St Catherine's or Jabal al Lawz?
  21. Jewish Pilgrimage and Jewish Identity By Allen Kerkeslager
  22. Knuteson, Roy E., The Search For Pharaoh’s Chariots, self published 1990, (pg 104)
  23. Whittaker, Charles, The Biblical Significance of Jabal Al Lawz , self published May 2003, see Abstract
  24. Cross, Frank Moore, Epic to Canon, Johns Hopkins University Press 1998, (pg 66)
  25. ^ Bible Review magazine, April 2000
  26. ^ Is Jebel al-Lawz the Mount Sinai of the Bible as Bob Cornuke of BASE Institute Asserts? Tentmaker Ministries. July 1, 2006
  27. Tentmaker ministries, Martin Luther - Hitler's Spiritual Ancestor by Peter F. Wiener,
  28. Cornuke, Robert G., The Lost Shipwreck of Paul, Global Publishing, 2003 (pg 218)
  29. ^ Cornuke, Robert. New Zealand Cults & Religious Groups List
  30. ^ Judge Kane’s Order dated May 2004
  31. ^ Olsen, Ted. Apostle Paul's Shipwreck Makes Headlines. Christianity Today. May 15, 2003
  32. Cornuke, Robert G., The Lost Shipwreck of Paul, Global Publishing, 2003 (pg 221)
  33. ^ Franz, Gordon. The Sinking of The Lost Shipwreck of Paul July 1, 2006
  34. University of Malta "Professor Anthony Bonanno Department of Classics and Archaeology "
  35. Cornuke, Bob. The Lost Shipwreck of St. Paul Global Publishing Services, 2003. ISBN 0-9714100-3-8 (Pg 129)
  37. ^ Herrold, Leanne. Adventurer tells of search for Mount Sinai Goshen News. July 20, 2001.
  38. Brannon S. Howse, Noah's Ark? For Real, Christian Worldview Network, June 16, 2006.
  39. Ed Davis Eyewitness Location, NoahsArkSearch.com.
  40. Tas Walker, Caution about 'Ark' discovery, CreationOnTheWeb.com, July 5, 2006.
  41. John Morris, Ph.D., Ark is rock not petrified wood, icr.org, July 21, 2006.
  42. Rick Lanser, M.Div, Noah's Ark in Iran?, abr.christiananswers.net, July 20, 2006.
  43. Kate Ravilious, Noah's Ark Discovered in Iran?, National Geographic, July 5, 2006.
  44. ^ LBU Graduates Five KI Students. Koinonia House Online 2005. This source notes some of Cornuke's credits came from the unaccredited Koinonia Institute ran by his tour guide partner Chuck Missler.
  45. ^ Featured Alumni Louisiana Baptist University "Featured Alumni" 2005

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