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The Bible Unearthed
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The Bible Unearthed
Bible Unearthed.jpg
Dust-jacket for The Bible Unearthed
Author
Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman
Country
United States
Language
English
Subject
Archaeology
Publisher
Free Press
Publication date
2001
Media type
Print (Hardback)
Pages
385 pp
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-684-86912-4
OCLC
44509358
Dewey Decimal
221.9/5 21
LC Class
BS621 .F56 2001
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts[1] is a 2001 book about the archaeology of Israel and its relationship to the origins of the Hebrew Bible. The authors are Israel Finkelstein, Professor of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, and Neil Asher Silberman, a contributing editor to Archaeology Magazine.
Contents [hide]
1 Methodology
2 Content 2.1 Ancestors and anachronisms
2.2 Origin of the Israelites
2.3 David and Solomon or the Omrides?
2.4 Hezekiah and monolatry
2.5 Josiah and the birth of the Bible
3 Reception
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Methodology[edit]
The methodology applied by the authors is historical criticism with an emphasis on archaeology. Writing in the website of "The Bible and Interpretation", the authors describe their approach as one "in which the Bible is one of the most important artifacts and cultural achievements [but] not the unquestioned narrative framework into which every archaeological find must be fit." Their main contention is that:[2]
“ ...an archaeological analysis of the patriarchal, conquest, judges, and United Monarchy narratives [shows] that while there is no compelling archaeological evidence for any of them, there is clear archaeological evidence that places the stories themselves in a late 7th-century BCE context. ”
On the basis of this evidence they propose
“ ... an archaeological reconstruction of the distinct histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, highlighting the largely neglected history of the Omride Dynasty and attempting to show how the influence of Assyrian imperialism in the region set in motion a chain of events that would eventually make the poorer, more remote, and more religiously conservative kingdom of Judah the belated center of the cultic and national hopes of all Israel. ”
As noted by a reviewer on Salon.com[3] the approach and conclusions of The Bible Unearthed are not particularly new. Ze'ev Herzog, professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University, wrote a cover story for Haaretz in 1999 in which he reached similar conclusions following the same methodology; Herzog noted also that some of these findings have been accepted by the majority of biblical scholars and archaeologists for years and even decades, even though they have only recently begun to make a dent in the awareness of the general public.[3]
Content[edit]
Early biblical archaeology was conducted with the presumption that the Bible must be true, finds only being considered as illustrations for the biblical narrative, and interpreting evidence to fit the Bible. Some archaeologists such as Eilat Mazar continue to take this "Bible and spade" approach, or, like the journal Bible and Spade, attempt to treat archaeology as a tool for proving the Bible's accuracy,[citation needed] but since the 1970s most archaeologists, such as prominent Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen,[4][original research?] have begun instead to interpret the evidence only in the light of other archaeology, treating the Bible as an artifact to be examined, rather than as an unquestioned truth.[5] This approach has led to results both in favor and against the historicity of the old Testament.[4][6]
Ancestors and anachronisms[edit]
Egypt in the 15th century BC, the time of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan as described in the Book of Joshua according to the Biblical chronology. As the map indicates, Canaan was occupied by Egypt at that time, a fact which the Bible fails to register.
The Bible Unearthed begins by considering what it terms the 'preamble' of the Bible—the Book of Genesis—and its relationship to archaeological evidence for the context in which its narratives are set. Archaeological discoveries about society and culture in the ancient near east lead the authors to point out a number of anachronisms, suggestive that the narratives were actually set down in the 9th–7th centuries:[7]
Aramaeans are frequently mentioned, but no ancient text mentions them until around 1100 BCE, and they only begin to dominate Israel's northern borders after the 9th century BCE.[8]
The text describes the early origin of the neighbouring kingdom of Edom, but Assyrian records show that Edom only came into existence after the conquest of the region by Assyria; before then it was without functioning kings, wasn't a distinct state, and archaeological evidence shows that the territory was only sparsely populated.[9]
The Joseph story refers to camel-based traders carrying gum, balm, and myrrh, which is unlikely prior to the first millennium, such activity only becoming common in the 8th–7th centuries BCE, when Assyrian hegemony enabled this Arabian trade to flourish into a major industry.[10] Recent excavations in the Timna Valley discovered what may be the earliest bones of domesticated camels found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This is seen as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.[11][12]
The land of Goshen has a name that comes from an Arabic group who dominated the Nile Delta only in the 6th and 5th centuries.[13]
The Egyptian Pharaoh is portrayed as fearing invasion from the east, even though Egypt's territory stretched to the northern parts of Canaan, with its main threat consequently being from the north, until the 7th century[14]
The book comments that this corresponds with the documentary hypothesis, in which textual scholarship argues for the majority of the first five biblical books being written between the 8th and 6th centuries.[15][citation needed] Although archaeological results, and Assyrian records, suggest that the Kingdom of Israel was the greater of the two, it is the Kingdom of Judah which is afforded greater prominence by Genesis, whose narratives concentrate on Abraham, Jerusalem, Judah (the patriarch), and Hebron, more than on characters and places from the northern kingdom (Israel); the Bible Unearthed explains this pre-eminence of Yahwist text as an attempt to seize the opportunity, afforded by the destruction of Israel in 720 BCE, to portray the Israelites as a single people, with Judah having (always) had primacy.[16][citation needed]
Origin of the Israelites[edit]
The book remarks that, despite modern archaeological investigations and the meticulous ancient Egyptian records from the period of Ramesses II, there is an obvious lack of any archaeological evidence for the migration of a band of semitic people across the Sinai Peninsula,[17] except for the Hyksos. Although the Hyksos are in some ways a good match, their main centre being at Avaris (later renamed 'Pi-Ramesses'), in the heart of the region corresponding to the 'land of Goshen', and Manetho later writing that the Hyksos eventually founded the Temple in Jerusalem,[18] it throws up other problems, as the Hyksos became not slaves but rulers, and they were chased away rather than chased to bring them back.[18] Nevertheless, the book posits that the exodus narrative perhaps evolved from vague memories of the Hyksos expulsion, spun to encourage resistance to the 7th century domination of Judah by Egypt.[19]
Finkelstein and Silberman argue that instead of the Israelites conquering Canaan after the Exodus (as suggested by the book of Joshua), most of them had in fact always been there; the Israelites were simply Canaanites who developed into a distinct culture.[20] Recent surveys of long-term settlement patterns in the Israelite heartlands show no sign of violent invasion or even peaceful infiltration, but rather a sudden demographic transformation about 1200 BCE in which villages appear in the previously unpopulated highlands;[21] these settlements have a similar appearance to modern Bedouin camps, suggesting that the inhabitants were once pastoral nomads, driven to take up farming by the Late Bronze Age collapse of the Canaanite city-culture.[22]
The authors take issue with the book of Joshua's depiction of the Israelites conquering Canaan in only a few years—far less than the lifetime of one individual—in which cities such as Hazor, Ai, and Jericho, are destroyed. Finkelstein and Silberman view this account as the result of the telescoping effect of the vagaries of folk memory about destruction caused by other events;[23] modern archaeological examination of these cities shows that their destruction spanned a period of many centuries, with Hazor being destroyed 100 to 300 years after Jericho,[24][citation needed] while Ai (whose name actually means 'the ruin') was completely abandoned for roughly a millennium "before the collapse of Late Bronze Canaan. ... Like Jericho, there was no settlement at the time of its supposed conquest by the children of Israel."[25]
David and Solomon or the Omrides?[edit]
Although the book of Samuel, and initial parts of the books of Kings, portray Saul, David and Solomon ruling in succession over a powerful and cosmopolitan united kingdom of Israel and Judah, Finkelstein and Silberman regard modern archaeological evidence as showing that this may not be true. Archaeology instead shows that in the time of Solomon, the northern kingdom of Israel was quite small, too poor to be able to pay for a vast army, and with too little bureaucracy to be able to administer a kingdom, certainly not an empire;[26] it only emerged later, around the beginning of the 9th century BCE, in the time of Omri.[27] There is little to suggest that Jerusalem, called by the Bible David's capital, was "perhaps not more than a typical hill country village" during the time of David and of Solomon,[28] and Judah remained little more than a sparsely populated rural region, until the 8th century BCE.[29][30] Though the Tel Dan Stele seems to confirm that a "House of David" existed, and "clearly validates the biblical description of a figure named David becoming the founder of the dynasty of Judahite kings in Jerusalem", it says nothing else about him.[31]
Mesha Stele
There are remains of once grand cities at Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer, with archeological evidence showing that they suffered violent destruction.[32] This destruction once was attributed to the 10th century BCE campaigns by Shishak, these cities therefore being ascribed to David and Solomon as proof of the Bible's account of them,[33] but the destruction layers have since been redated to the late 9th century BCE campaign of Hazael, and the cities to the time of the Omride kings.[33]
The Tel Dan Stele, the Mesha Stele, the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser, and direct evidence from excavations, together paint a picture of the Omride kings ruling a rich, powerful, and cosmopolitan empire, stretching from Damascus to Moab,[34] and building some of the largest and most beautiful constructions of Iron Age Israel;[35] by contrast, the Bible only remarks that the Omrides 'married foreign women' (presumably to make alliances) and upheld Canaanite religion, both of which it regards as wicked.[36] The Bible Unearthed concludes that the biblical writers deliberately invented the empire, power, and wealth, of Saul, David, and Solomon, by appropriating the deeds and achievements of the Omrides, so that they could then denigrate the Omrides and obscure their accomplishments, since these kings held a religious viewpoint that was anathema to the biblical editors.[37]
Hezekiah and monolatry[edit]
The Book of Kings, as it stands today, seems to suggest that the religion of Israel and Judah was primarily monotheistic, with one or two wayward kings (such as the Omrides) who tried to introduce Canaanite polytheism, the people occasionally joining in this 'apostasy' from monotheism, but a close reading and the archaeological record reveals that the opposite was true.[38] Iron Age remains show that in the time of the setting of the Book of Kings, sacrifices continued to be offered at hilltop shrines (which the Bible terms "high places"), incense and libations were being offered throughout the land, and clay figurines of deities were still being used in homes everywhere in the land as household gods.[38] Inscriptions from "the early eighth century site of Kuntillet Ajrud in northeastern Sinai" as well as "in a late-monarchic inscription from the Shephelah of Judah", even seem to refer to "the goddess Asherah as being the consort of YHWH".[39]
The world changed for Judah when the kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 720 BCE. Judah was flooded with refugees; the population of Israel had been nine times larger than that of Judah, so many small Judean villages suddenly became cities,[40] archaeology evidencing that the population of Jerusalem itself expanded by about 15-fold, turning it from a small hilltown into a large city.[41] The social and religious struggles, which obviously would occur with such a large influx of population, are not mentioned by the Bible. Finkelstein and Silberman argue that the priests of Jerusalem began to promote Yahweh-based monolatry,[42] aligning themselves with king Hezekiah's anti-Assyrian views, perhaps because they believed that Assyrian domination of Israel had caused social injustice, or perhaps because they just wanted to gain economic and/or political control over the newly wealthy countryside;[43] Hezekiah advanced their agenda, banning the worship of deities other than Yahweh, destroying the hilltop shrines, actions which The Bible Unearthed views as preparation for rebelling against Assyria.
By 701 BCE, the Assyrians had captured most of Judah, and then they besieged Jerusalem; the Bible's coverage of the events leading up to the siege is sparse, briefly listing only a few refortifications of Jerusalem, giving a passing mention to Hezekiah's water-supply tunnel, and briefly admitting to the loss of most of Judah's cities, but archaeology gives much more detail. For example, the fortifications of Lachish were heavily strengthened by Hezekiah,[44] but it was besieged, fell, and was then burnt to the ground; according to an illustration on the walls of the Assyrian palace at Ninevah, the Assyrians deported the city's population and religious objects before they burnt it.[45]
The Bible claims that nearly 200,000 men in the army besieging Jerusalem were slaughtered one night by an angel, causing the Assyrian king Sennacherib to relent and return to Assyria; it immediately goes on to state that Sennacherib was killed by his sons, while he was praying to his god, implying that this was shortly after the battle. However, as The Bible Unearthed points out, this contrasts with the Assyrian record on the Taylor Prism,[46] in which Hezekiah's mercenaries abandoned him, and he only then convinced the Assyrian army to leave by handing over not only vast amounts of money, jewels, and high quality ivory-inlaid furniture, but also his own daughters, harem, and musicians, and making Judah into a tributary state of the Assyrians.[47] Additionally, although Sennacherib was clearly murdered (by person(s) uncertain), it was in 681 BCE; he had lived for over 19 years beyond the end of the siege, conducting several military campaigns elsewhere, and rebuilding and refurnishing his palace entirely.
Hezekiah predeceased Sennacherib, dying just a couple of years after the siege. His successor (and son), Manasseh, reversed the religious changes, re-introducing religious pluralism; Finkelstein and Silberman suggest that this may have been an attempt to gain co-operation from village elders and clans, so that he would not need so much centralised administration, and could therefore allow the countryside to return to economic autonomy.[48] According to the archaeology there must have been a deliberate expansion of agriculture into the Judean desert,[49] and the rich finds from this period suggest that much profit was gained from Judah's now peaceful position in the middle of many of the caravan routes between Assyria's allies;[49] the state certainly increased its administration of trade to levels that far exceed those before.[50]
Hezekiah's actions had given away the gold and silver from the Jerusalem Temple,[51] impoverished his state, lost him his own daughters and concubines,[47] and reduced his territory to a small region around Jerusalem, most of the people elsewhere in Judah being deported; Manasseh had brought peace and prosperity back to the country,[52] but because the Book of Kings bases its decisions on theological prejudice, it condemns him as the most sinful monarch ever to rule Judah and hails instead Hezekiah as the great king.[53] The Bible Unearthed suggests that the priesthood and populace outside Jerusalem may well have held the opposite opinion—that Hezekiah's imposition of monolatry was blasphemous, and the disasters that befell the country during his reign had been punishment from the gods.[54]
Josiah and the birth of the Bible[edit]
As recorded in the Book of Kings, Manasseh's grandson, Josiah, enacted a large religious reform soon after he became king; he ordered renovations to the Jerusalem Temple, during which the High Priest 'found' a scroll of the law, which insisted on monotheism with sacrifice centralised at a single temple—that in Jerusalem. Finkelstein and Silberman note that most scholars regard the core of Deuteronomy as being the "scroll of the law" in question, and regard it as having been written not long before it was 'found', rather than being an ancient missing scroll as characterised in the Bible;[55] Deuteronomy is strikingly similar to early 7th century Assyrian vassal-treaties, in which are set out the rights and obligations of a vassal state (in this case Judah) to their sovereign (in this case, Yahweh).[55] Josiah imposed this scroll as the new religious orthodoxy, and, like Hezekiah before him, destroyed the old cult centres; Josiah even went so far as to slaughter the priests of these shrines, burn their bodies, and bury their bones in the tombs near them, upon the old altars.
The sudden collapse of the Assyrian Empire in the last decades of the 7th century BCE offered an opportunity for Josiah to expand Judah's territory into the former kingdom of Israel, abandoned by the Assyrians.[56] It was now that the author of Deuteronomy, working in Josiah's court, reworked older legends, texts, and histories into a single national history, the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings);[57] with the message that it had been the non-Deuteronomic practices of the Israelites that had led to their downfalls, and implied that Joshua, as well as David in some respects, was a foreshadowing of what Josiah could achieve.[58]
Archaeology suggests that Josiah was initially successful, extending his territory northwards towards Bethel, a cult-centre of the kingdom of Israel;[59] however he then rode out to meet the Egyptian Pharaoh—Necho—at Meggido. Necho had been merely 'passing through', leading an army to join the Assyrian civil war on the side of the Assyrian (rather than Babylonian) faction,[60] but Josiah was killed; the circumstances of his death are uncertain, though the Book of Chronicles claims that despite Necho's lack of enmity for Josiah, Josiah insisted on attacking him. Finkelstein and Silberman suggest that Necho may have objected to Josiah's expansionist policies, which could have threatened the Egyptian dominance of the region to the west of Judah (the Philistine lands) or of the strategically important Jezreel Valley to its north, or could equally have objected to the effect of the new (deuteronomic) social policies on the caravan routes, which ran through southern Judah.[61]
With Josiah's death Egypt became suzerain over Judah. The new king, Egypt's vassal ruler, undid Josiah's changes, restoring the former shrines and returning the country once again to religious pluralism. But when the Babylonian faction eventually won the Assyrian civil war, they set out to forcibly retake the former Assyrian tributaries. Judah, as a loyal Egyptian vassal-state, resisted, with disastrous consequences: the Babylonians plundered Jerusalem in 597 BCE and imposed their own vassal king; these events are described in the Bible and confirmed, with variations, in the Babylonian Chronicle.[62] A few years later, the king of Judah rebelled against his Babylonian masters, and the Babylonians returned to destroy all the cities in Judah, burning Jerusalem to the ground in 587 BCE.[63]
The Cyrus cylinder, a contemporary cuneiform document proclaiming Cyrus as legitimate king of Babylon.
In 539 BCE, the Achaemenids conquered Babylon, and, in accordance with their Zoroastrian perspective, allowed the people deported by the Babylonians to return; this is described by the Cyrus Cylinder, which also indicates that the Persians repaired the temples in these conquered lands, returning any sacred artifacts to them. According to the archaeological record, no more than 25% of the population had actually been deported;[64] according to the Book of Ezra and its parallel passages in the First Book of Esdras, when the deportees began to return, their leader—Zerubbabel—refused to allow the undeported Israelites to assist them in reconstructing the Jerusalem temple, apparently believing that only the former deportees had the right to determine the beliefs and practices which could count as the orthodoxy.[65] Although the undeported majority then tried to stop the reconstruction, Darius, the new Achaemenid king, eventually allowed it to continue.
The conflict between the returnees and those who had always been in Judah evidently required resolution; the two groups had to be reintegrated. Finkelstein and Silberman argue that the Deuteronomic law advanced by parts of the deported elite (the ancestors of the returnees),[66] and the laws and legends of the inveterate inhabitants, were melded together into a single Torah so that it could form a central authority able to unite the population.[67] Artaxerxes, Darius' grandson, commissioned Ezra to take charge of Judah, following the divine laws which Ezra was holding in his hand;[68] The Bible Unearthed comments that academics like Richard Elliott Friedman propose that Ezra himself was the final redactor of the Torah,[69] noting that the Bible identifies him as the scribe of the law of the god of heaven.[70]
Reception[edit]
The Bible Unearthed was well received by biblical scholars and archaeologists. Baruch Halpern, professor of Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University and leader of the archaeological digs at Megiddo for many years, praised it as "the boldest and most exhilarating synthesis of Bible and archaeology in fifty years",[71] and biblical scholar Jonathan Kirsch, writing in the Los Angeles Times, called it "a brutally honest assessment of what archeology can and cannot tell us about the historical accuracy of the Bible", which embraces the spirit of modern archaeology by approaching the Bible "as an artifact to be studied and evaluated rather than a work of divine inspiration that must be embraced as a matter of true belief".[72] Phyllis Trible, professor of biblical studies at Wake Forest University, concluded her review in The New York Times by pointing out the importance of understanding the truth about the biblical past:
“ Finkelstein and Silberman have themselves written a provocative book that bears the marks of a detective story. In juxtaposing the biblical record and archaeological data, they work with tantalizing fragments of a distant past. Assembling clues to argue their thesis requires bold imagination and disciplined research. The Bible Unearthed exhibits both in abundance. Imagination invariably exceeds the evidence; research makes plausible the reconstruction. Fortunately, the book does not achieve its goal: "to attempt to separate history from legend." It is better than that, for it shows how intertwined they are. What actually happened and what a people thought happened belong to a single historical process. That understanding leads to a sobering thought. Stories of exodus from oppression and conquest of land, stories of exile and return and stories of triumphal vision are eerily contemporary. If history is written for the present, are we doomed to repeat the past?[73] ”
The book became and remains a major bestseller. In February 2009, Amazon.com ranked it as the 8th most popular in the fields of Old Testament Christian Theology, and the Archaeology of Christianity, as well as being the 22nd most popular book on the history of Israel.[74] In 2006, the popularity of the text led to a four-part documentary series upon it, which was subsequently broadcast on The History Channel.[75]
A review of the book by fellow archeologist William G. Dever published in the Biblical Archaeology Review and subsequently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, resulted in heated exchanges between Dever and Finkelstein. Dever's review noted that the book had many strengths, notably archaeology's potential for re-writing the history of "Ancient Israel", but complained that it misrepresented his own views and concluded by characterizing Finkelstein as "idiosyncratic and doctrinaire"; Finkelstein's reaction was to call Dever a "jealous academic parasite," and the debate quickly degenerated from that point.[76]
See also[edit]
Dating the Bible#Torah
Biblical archaeology
The Bible Unearthed (History Channel version 2009) - YouTube link below
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, Free Press, New York, 2001, 385 pp., ISBN 0-684-86912-8
2.Jump up ^ Finkelstein, I., Silberman, NA., The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, The Bible and Interpretation, [1] Accessed 27 Sept 2014.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, Laura (7 February 2001). "King David was a nebbish". Salon.com.
4.^ Jump up to: a b On the Reliability of the Old Testament, by Kenneth Kitchen
5.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 22.
6.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, Section "History or Not History" of the Introduction
7.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 38.
8.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 39.
9.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 40.
10.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 37.
11.Jump up ^ Hasson, Nir (Jan 17, 2014). "Hump stump solved: Camels arrived in region much later than biblical reference". Haaretz. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
12.Jump up ^ Sapir-Hen, Lidar; Erez Ben-Yosef (2013). "The Introduction of Domestic Camels to the Southern Levant: Evidence from the Aravah Valley" (PDF). Tel Aviv 40: 277–285. doi:10.1179/033443513x13753505864089. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
13.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 66–67.
14.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 67.
15.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 36.
16.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 45.
17.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 62–63.
18.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 55.
19.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 69.
20.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 118.
21.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 107.
22.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 111–113.
23.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 91.
24.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 81–82.
25.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 82.
26.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 134.
27.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 176.
28.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 133.
29.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 142.
30.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 230.
31.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 129.
32.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 135–139
33.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 141–142
34.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 178–180.
35.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 182.
36.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 194.
37.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 194–195.
38.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 241–242.
39.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 242.
40.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 245.
41.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 243.
42.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 247.
43.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 248.
44.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 257.
45.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 260–262.
46.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 259.
47.^ Jump up to: a b (Taylor Prism", column 3, rows 37–49.
48.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 265.
49.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 266.
50.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 269–270.
51.Jump up ^ 2 Kings 18:15-16
52.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 271.
53.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 270.
54.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 264.
55.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 281.
56.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 282–283.
57.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 283–284.
58.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 284.
59.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 288–289.
60.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 290.
61.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 291.
62.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 293.
63.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 294.
64.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 305.
65.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 299.
66.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 308.
67.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 313.
68.Jump up ^ Ezra 7:25
69.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 310.
70.Jump up ^ Ezra 7:12
71.Jump up ^ http://icarusfilms.com/new2006/bib.html
72.Jump up ^ Kirsch, Jonathan. "Digging for the Historical Truths of the Bible", Los Angeles Times, 6 January 2001.
73.Jump up ^ Trible, Phyllis. "God's Ghostwriters", The New York Times, 4 February 2001.
74.Jump up ^ Ranking, Amazon.com, as of 28 February 2009.
75.Jump up ^ http://icarusfilms.com/new2006/bib2.html
76.Jump up ^ Shanks, Hershel. "In This Corner: William Dever and Israel Finkelstein Debate the Early History of Israel", Biblical Archaeology Review, Nov/Dec 2004.
Bibliography[edit]
Finkelstein, Israel, and Silberman, Neil Asher, The Bible Unearthed : Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, Simon & Schuster, 2002. ISBN 0-684-86912-8
External links[edit]
Review, Denver Seminary
Review, Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies
Review, Journal of Religion and Society, Creighton University
Review, Salon.com
Categories: 2001 books
Ancient Israel and Judah
Archaeology books
History books about Judaism
Bible
Historical theories on Biblical events
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The Bible Unearthed
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This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (July 2014)
The Bible Unearthed
Bible Unearthed.jpg
Dust-jacket for The Bible Unearthed
Author
Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman
Country
United States
Language
English
Subject
Archaeology
Publisher
Free Press
Publication date
2001
Media type
Print (Hardback)
Pages
385 pp
ISBN
ISBN 978-0-684-86912-4
OCLC
44509358
Dewey Decimal
221.9/5 21
LC Class
BS621 .F56 2001
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts[1] is a 2001 book about the archaeology of Israel and its relationship to the origins of the Hebrew Bible. The authors are Israel Finkelstein, Professor of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, and Neil Asher Silberman, a contributing editor to Archaeology Magazine.
Contents [hide]
1 Methodology
2 Content 2.1 Ancestors and anachronisms
2.2 Origin of the Israelites
2.3 David and Solomon or the Omrides?
2.4 Hezekiah and monolatry
2.5 Josiah and the birth of the Bible
3 Reception
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Methodology[edit]
The methodology applied by the authors is historical criticism with an emphasis on archaeology. Writing in the website of "The Bible and Interpretation", the authors describe their approach as one "in which the Bible is one of the most important artifacts and cultural achievements [but] not the unquestioned narrative framework into which every archaeological find must be fit." Their main contention is that:[2]
“ ...an archaeological analysis of the patriarchal, conquest, judges, and United Monarchy narratives [shows] that while there is no compelling archaeological evidence for any of them, there is clear archaeological evidence that places the stories themselves in a late 7th-century BCE context. ”
On the basis of this evidence they propose
“ ... an archaeological reconstruction of the distinct histories of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, highlighting the largely neglected history of the Omride Dynasty and attempting to show how the influence of Assyrian imperialism in the region set in motion a chain of events that would eventually make the poorer, more remote, and more religiously conservative kingdom of Judah the belated center of the cultic and national hopes of all Israel. ”
As noted by a reviewer on Salon.com[3] the approach and conclusions of The Bible Unearthed are not particularly new. Ze'ev Herzog, professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University, wrote a cover story for Haaretz in 1999 in which he reached similar conclusions following the same methodology; Herzog noted also that some of these findings have been accepted by the majority of biblical scholars and archaeologists for years and even decades, even though they have only recently begun to make a dent in the awareness of the general public.[3]
Content[edit]
Early biblical archaeology was conducted with the presumption that the Bible must be true, finds only being considered as illustrations for the biblical narrative, and interpreting evidence to fit the Bible. Some archaeologists such as Eilat Mazar continue to take this "Bible and spade" approach, or, like the journal Bible and Spade, attempt to treat archaeology as a tool for proving the Bible's accuracy,[citation needed] but since the 1970s most archaeologists, such as prominent Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen,[4][original research?] have begun instead to interpret the evidence only in the light of other archaeology, treating the Bible as an artifact to be examined, rather than as an unquestioned truth.[5] This approach has led to results both in favor and against the historicity of the old Testament.[4][6]
Ancestors and anachronisms[edit]
Egypt in the 15th century BC, the time of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan as described in the Book of Joshua according to the Biblical chronology. As the map indicates, Canaan was occupied by Egypt at that time, a fact which the Bible fails to register.
The Bible Unearthed begins by considering what it terms the 'preamble' of the Bible—the Book of Genesis—and its relationship to archaeological evidence for the context in which its narratives are set. Archaeological discoveries about society and culture in the ancient near east lead the authors to point out a number of anachronisms, suggestive that the narratives were actually set down in the 9th–7th centuries:[7]
Aramaeans are frequently mentioned, but no ancient text mentions them until around 1100 BCE, and they only begin to dominate Israel's northern borders after the 9th century BCE.[8]
The text describes the early origin of the neighbouring kingdom of Edom, but Assyrian records show that Edom only came into existence after the conquest of the region by Assyria; before then it was without functioning kings, wasn't a distinct state, and archaeological evidence shows that the territory was only sparsely populated.[9]
The Joseph story refers to camel-based traders carrying gum, balm, and myrrh, which is unlikely prior to the first millennium, such activity only becoming common in the 8th–7th centuries BCE, when Assyrian hegemony enabled this Arabian trade to flourish into a major industry.[10] Recent excavations in the Timna Valley discovered what may be the earliest bones of domesticated camels found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This is seen as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.[11][12]
The land of Goshen has a name that comes from an Arabic group who dominated the Nile Delta only in the 6th and 5th centuries.[13]
The Egyptian Pharaoh is portrayed as fearing invasion from the east, even though Egypt's territory stretched to the northern parts of Canaan, with its main threat consequently being from the north, until the 7th century[14]
The book comments that this corresponds with the documentary hypothesis, in which textual scholarship argues for the majority of the first five biblical books being written between the 8th and 6th centuries.[15][citation needed] Although archaeological results, and Assyrian records, suggest that the Kingdom of Israel was the greater of the two, it is the Kingdom of Judah which is afforded greater prominence by Genesis, whose narratives concentrate on Abraham, Jerusalem, Judah (the patriarch), and Hebron, more than on characters and places from the northern kingdom (Israel); the Bible Unearthed explains this pre-eminence of Yahwist text as an attempt to seize the opportunity, afforded by the destruction of Israel in 720 BCE, to portray the Israelites as a single people, with Judah having (always) had primacy.[16][citation needed]
Origin of the Israelites[edit]
The book remarks that, despite modern archaeological investigations and the meticulous ancient Egyptian records from the period of Ramesses II, there is an obvious lack of any archaeological evidence for the migration of a band of semitic people across the Sinai Peninsula,[17] except for the Hyksos. Although the Hyksos are in some ways a good match, their main centre being at Avaris (later renamed 'Pi-Ramesses'), in the heart of the region corresponding to the 'land of Goshen', and Manetho later writing that the Hyksos eventually founded the Temple in Jerusalem,[18] it throws up other problems, as the Hyksos became not slaves but rulers, and they were chased away rather than chased to bring them back.[18] Nevertheless, the book posits that the exodus narrative perhaps evolved from vague memories of the Hyksos expulsion, spun to encourage resistance to the 7th century domination of Judah by Egypt.[19]
Finkelstein and Silberman argue that instead of the Israelites conquering Canaan after the Exodus (as suggested by the book of Joshua), most of them had in fact always been there; the Israelites were simply Canaanites who developed into a distinct culture.[20] Recent surveys of long-term settlement patterns in the Israelite heartlands show no sign of violent invasion or even peaceful infiltration, but rather a sudden demographic transformation about 1200 BCE in which villages appear in the previously unpopulated highlands;[21] these settlements have a similar appearance to modern Bedouin camps, suggesting that the inhabitants were once pastoral nomads, driven to take up farming by the Late Bronze Age collapse of the Canaanite city-culture.[22]
The authors take issue with the book of Joshua's depiction of the Israelites conquering Canaan in only a few years—far less than the lifetime of one individual—in which cities such as Hazor, Ai, and Jericho, are destroyed. Finkelstein and Silberman view this account as the result of the telescoping effect of the vagaries of folk memory about destruction caused by other events;[23] modern archaeological examination of these cities shows that their destruction spanned a period of many centuries, with Hazor being destroyed 100 to 300 years after Jericho,[24][citation needed] while Ai (whose name actually means 'the ruin') was completely abandoned for roughly a millennium "before the collapse of Late Bronze Canaan. ... Like Jericho, there was no settlement at the time of its supposed conquest by the children of Israel."[25]
David and Solomon or the Omrides?[edit]
Although the book of Samuel, and initial parts of the books of Kings, portray Saul, David and Solomon ruling in succession over a powerful and cosmopolitan united kingdom of Israel and Judah, Finkelstein and Silberman regard modern archaeological evidence as showing that this may not be true. Archaeology instead shows that in the time of Solomon, the northern kingdom of Israel was quite small, too poor to be able to pay for a vast army, and with too little bureaucracy to be able to administer a kingdom, certainly not an empire;[26] it only emerged later, around the beginning of the 9th century BCE, in the time of Omri.[27] There is little to suggest that Jerusalem, called by the Bible David's capital, was "perhaps not more than a typical hill country village" during the time of David and of Solomon,[28] and Judah remained little more than a sparsely populated rural region, until the 8th century BCE.[29][30] Though the Tel Dan Stele seems to confirm that a "House of David" existed, and "clearly validates the biblical description of a figure named David becoming the founder of the dynasty of Judahite kings in Jerusalem", it says nothing else about him.[31]
Mesha Stele
There are remains of once grand cities at Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer, with archeological evidence showing that they suffered violent destruction.[32] This destruction once was attributed to the 10th century BCE campaigns by Shishak, these cities therefore being ascribed to David and Solomon as proof of the Bible's account of them,[33] but the destruction layers have since been redated to the late 9th century BCE campaign of Hazael, and the cities to the time of the Omride kings.[33]
The Tel Dan Stele, the Mesha Stele, the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser, and direct evidence from excavations, together paint a picture of the Omride kings ruling a rich, powerful, and cosmopolitan empire, stretching from Damascus to Moab,[34] and building some of the largest and most beautiful constructions of Iron Age Israel;[35] by contrast, the Bible only remarks that the Omrides 'married foreign women' (presumably to make alliances) and upheld Canaanite religion, both of which it regards as wicked.[36] The Bible Unearthed concludes that the biblical writers deliberately invented the empire, power, and wealth, of Saul, David, and Solomon, by appropriating the deeds and achievements of the Omrides, so that they could then denigrate the Omrides and obscure their accomplishments, since these kings held a religious viewpoint that was anathema to the biblical editors.[37]
Hezekiah and monolatry[edit]
The Book of Kings, as it stands today, seems to suggest that the religion of Israel and Judah was primarily monotheistic, with one or two wayward kings (such as the Omrides) who tried to introduce Canaanite polytheism, the people occasionally joining in this 'apostasy' from monotheism, but a close reading and the archaeological record reveals that the opposite was true.[38] Iron Age remains show that in the time of the setting of the Book of Kings, sacrifices continued to be offered at hilltop shrines (which the Bible terms "high places"), incense and libations were being offered throughout the land, and clay figurines of deities were still being used in homes everywhere in the land as household gods.[38] Inscriptions from "the early eighth century site of Kuntillet Ajrud in northeastern Sinai" as well as "in a late-monarchic inscription from the Shephelah of Judah", even seem to refer to "the goddess Asherah as being the consort of YHWH".[39]
The world changed for Judah when the kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 720 BCE. Judah was flooded with refugees; the population of Israel had been nine times larger than that of Judah, so many small Judean villages suddenly became cities,[40] archaeology evidencing that the population of Jerusalem itself expanded by about 15-fold, turning it from a small hilltown into a large city.[41] The social and religious struggles, which obviously would occur with such a large influx of population, are not mentioned by the Bible. Finkelstein and Silberman argue that the priests of Jerusalem began to promote Yahweh-based monolatry,[42] aligning themselves with king Hezekiah's anti-Assyrian views, perhaps because they believed that Assyrian domination of Israel had caused social injustice, or perhaps because they just wanted to gain economic and/or political control over the newly wealthy countryside;[43] Hezekiah advanced their agenda, banning the worship of deities other than Yahweh, destroying the hilltop shrines, actions which The Bible Unearthed views as preparation for rebelling against Assyria.
By 701 BCE, the Assyrians had captured most of Judah, and then they besieged Jerusalem; the Bible's coverage of the events leading up to the siege is sparse, briefly listing only a few refortifications of Jerusalem, giving a passing mention to Hezekiah's water-supply tunnel, and briefly admitting to the loss of most of Judah's cities, but archaeology gives much more detail. For example, the fortifications of Lachish were heavily strengthened by Hezekiah,[44] but it was besieged, fell, and was then burnt to the ground; according to an illustration on the walls of the Assyrian palace at Ninevah, the Assyrians deported the city's population and religious objects before they burnt it.[45]
The Bible claims that nearly 200,000 men in the army besieging Jerusalem were slaughtered one night by an angel, causing the Assyrian king Sennacherib to relent and return to Assyria; it immediately goes on to state that Sennacherib was killed by his sons, while he was praying to his god, implying that this was shortly after the battle. However, as The Bible Unearthed points out, this contrasts with the Assyrian record on the Taylor Prism,[46] in which Hezekiah's mercenaries abandoned him, and he only then convinced the Assyrian army to leave by handing over not only vast amounts of money, jewels, and high quality ivory-inlaid furniture, but also his own daughters, harem, and musicians, and making Judah into a tributary state of the Assyrians.[47] Additionally, although Sennacherib was clearly murdered (by person(s) uncertain), it was in 681 BCE; he had lived for over 19 years beyond the end of the siege, conducting several military campaigns elsewhere, and rebuilding and refurnishing his palace entirely.
Hezekiah predeceased Sennacherib, dying just a couple of years after the siege. His successor (and son), Manasseh, reversed the religious changes, re-introducing religious pluralism; Finkelstein and Silberman suggest that this may have been an attempt to gain co-operation from village elders and clans, so that he would not need so much centralised administration, and could therefore allow the countryside to return to economic autonomy.[48] According to the archaeology there must have been a deliberate expansion of agriculture into the Judean desert,[49] and the rich finds from this period suggest that much profit was gained from Judah's now peaceful position in the middle of many of the caravan routes between Assyria's allies;[49] the state certainly increased its administration of trade to levels that far exceed those before.[50]
Hezekiah's actions had given away the gold and silver from the Jerusalem Temple,[51] impoverished his state, lost him his own daughters and concubines,[47] and reduced his territory to a small region around Jerusalem, most of the people elsewhere in Judah being deported; Manasseh had brought peace and prosperity back to the country,[52] but because the Book of Kings bases its decisions on theological prejudice, it condemns him as the most sinful monarch ever to rule Judah and hails instead Hezekiah as the great king.[53] The Bible Unearthed suggests that the priesthood and populace outside Jerusalem may well have held the opposite opinion—that Hezekiah's imposition of monolatry was blasphemous, and the disasters that befell the country during his reign had been punishment from the gods.[54]
Josiah and the birth of the Bible[edit]
As recorded in the Book of Kings, Manasseh's grandson, Josiah, enacted a large religious reform soon after he became king; he ordered renovations to the Jerusalem Temple, during which the High Priest 'found' a scroll of the law, which insisted on monotheism with sacrifice centralised at a single temple—that in Jerusalem. Finkelstein and Silberman note that most scholars regard the core of Deuteronomy as being the "scroll of the law" in question, and regard it as having been written not long before it was 'found', rather than being an ancient missing scroll as characterised in the Bible;[55] Deuteronomy is strikingly similar to early 7th century Assyrian vassal-treaties, in which are set out the rights and obligations of a vassal state (in this case Judah) to their sovereign (in this case, Yahweh).[55] Josiah imposed this scroll as the new religious orthodoxy, and, like Hezekiah before him, destroyed the old cult centres; Josiah even went so far as to slaughter the priests of these shrines, burn their bodies, and bury their bones in the tombs near them, upon the old altars.
The sudden collapse of the Assyrian Empire in the last decades of the 7th century BCE offered an opportunity for Josiah to expand Judah's territory into the former kingdom of Israel, abandoned by the Assyrians.[56] It was now that the author of Deuteronomy, working in Josiah's court, reworked older legends, texts, and histories into a single national history, the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings);[57] with the message that it had been the non-Deuteronomic practices of the Israelites that had led to their downfalls, and implied that Joshua, as well as David in some respects, was a foreshadowing of what Josiah could achieve.[58]
Archaeology suggests that Josiah was initially successful, extending his territory northwards towards Bethel, a cult-centre of the kingdom of Israel;[59] however he then rode out to meet the Egyptian Pharaoh—Necho—at Meggido. Necho had been merely 'passing through', leading an army to join the Assyrian civil war on the side of the Assyrian (rather than Babylonian) faction,[60] but Josiah was killed; the circumstances of his death are uncertain, though the Book of Chronicles claims that despite Necho's lack of enmity for Josiah, Josiah insisted on attacking him. Finkelstein and Silberman suggest that Necho may have objected to Josiah's expansionist policies, which could have threatened the Egyptian dominance of the region to the west of Judah (the Philistine lands) or of the strategically important Jezreel Valley to its north, or could equally have objected to the effect of the new (deuteronomic) social policies on the caravan routes, which ran through southern Judah.[61]
With Josiah's death Egypt became suzerain over Judah. The new king, Egypt's vassal ruler, undid Josiah's changes, restoring the former shrines and returning the country once again to religious pluralism. But when the Babylonian faction eventually won the Assyrian civil war, they set out to forcibly retake the former Assyrian tributaries. Judah, as a loyal Egyptian vassal-state, resisted, with disastrous consequences: the Babylonians plundered Jerusalem in 597 BCE and imposed their own vassal king; these events are described in the Bible and confirmed, with variations, in the Babylonian Chronicle.[62] A few years later, the king of Judah rebelled against his Babylonian masters, and the Babylonians returned to destroy all the cities in Judah, burning Jerusalem to the ground in 587 BCE.[63]
The Cyrus cylinder, a contemporary cuneiform document proclaiming Cyrus as legitimate king of Babylon.
In 539 BCE, the Achaemenids conquered Babylon, and, in accordance with their Zoroastrian perspective, allowed the people deported by the Babylonians to return; this is described by the Cyrus Cylinder, which also indicates that the Persians repaired the temples in these conquered lands, returning any sacred artifacts to them. According to the archaeological record, no more than 25% of the population had actually been deported;[64] according to the Book of Ezra and its parallel passages in the First Book of Esdras, when the deportees began to return, their leader—Zerubbabel—refused to allow the undeported Israelites to assist them in reconstructing the Jerusalem temple, apparently believing that only the former deportees had the right to determine the beliefs and practices which could count as the orthodoxy.[65] Although the undeported majority then tried to stop the reconstruction, Darius, the new Achaemenid king, eventually allowed it to continue.
The conflict between the returnees and those who had always been in Judah evidently required resolution; the two groups had to be reintegrated. Finkelstein and Silberman argue that the Deuteronomic law advanced by parts of the deported elite (the ancestors of the returnees),[66] and the laws and legends of the inveterate inhabitants, were melded together into a single Torah so that it could form a central authority able to unite the population.[67] Artaxerxes, Darius' grandson, commissioned Ezra to take charge of Judah, following the divine laws which Ezra was holding in his hand;[68] The Bible Unearthed comments that academics like Richard Elliott Friedman propose that Ezra himself was the final redactor of the Torah,[69] noting that the Bible identifies him as the scribe of the law of the god of heaven.[70]
Reception[edit]
The Bible Unearthed was well received by biblical scholars and archaeologists. Baruch Halpern, professor of Jewish Studies at Pennsylvania State University and leader of the archaeological digs at Megiddo for many years, praised it as "the boldest and most exhilarating synthesis of Bible and archaeology in fifty years",[71] and biblical scholar Jonathan Kirsch, writing in the Los Angeles Times, called it "a brutally honest assessment of what archeology can and cannot tell us about the historical accuracy of the Bible", which embraces the spirit of modern archaeology by approaching the Bible "as an artifact to be studied and evaluated rather than a work of divine inspiration that must be embraced as a matter of true belief".[72] Phyllis Trible, professor of biblical studies at Wake Forest University, concluded her review in The New York Times by pointing out the importance of understanding the truth about the biblical past:
“ Finkelstein and Silberman have themselves written a provocative book that bears the marks of a detective story. In juxtaposing the biblical record and archaeological data, they work with tantalizing fragments of a distant past. Assembling clues to argue their thesis requires bold imagination and disciplined research. The Bible Unearthed exhibits both in abundance. Imagination invariably exceeds the evidence; research makes plausible the reconstruction. Fortunately, the book does not achieve its goal: "to attempt to separate history from legend." It is better than that, for it shows how intertwined they are. What actually happened and what a people thought happened belong to a single historical process. That understanding leads to a sobering thought. Stories of exodus from oppression and conquest of land, stories of exile and return and stories of triumphal vision are eerily contemporary. If history is written for the present, are we doomed to repeat the past?[73] ”
The book became and remains a major bestseller. In February 2009, Amazon.com ranked it as the 8th most popular in the fields of Old Testament Christian Theology, and the Archaeology of Christianity, as well as being the 22nd most popular book on the history of Israel.[74] In 2006, the popularity of the text led to a four-part documentary series upon it, which was subsequently broadcast on The History Channel.[75]
A review of the book by fellow archeologist William G. Dever published in the Biblical Archaeology Review and subsequently in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, resulted in heated exchanges between Dever and Finkelstein. Dever's review noted that the book had many strengths, notably archaeology's potential for re-writing the history of "Ancient Israel", but complained that it misrepresented his own views and concluded by characterizing Finkelstein as "idiosyncratic and doctrinaire"; Finkelstein's reaction was to call Dever a "jealous academic parasite," and the debate quickly degenerated from that point.[76]
See also[edit]
Dating the Bible#Torah
Biblical archaeology
The Bible Unearthed (History Channel version 2009) - YouTube link below
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, Free Press, New York, 2001, 385 pp., ISBN 0-684-86912-8
2.Jump up ^ Finkelstein, I., Silberman, NA., The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, The Bible and Interpretation, [1] Accessed 27 Sept 2014.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, Laura (7 February 2001). "King David was a nebbish". Salon.com.
4.^ Jump up to: a b On the Reliability of the Old Testament, by Kenneth Kitchen
5.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 22.
6.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, Section "History or Not History" of the Introduction
7.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 38.
8.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 39.
9.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 40.
10.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 37.
11.Jump up ^ Hasson, Nir (Jan 17, 2014). "Hump stump solved: Camels arrived in region much later than biblical reference". Haaretz. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
12.Jump up ^ Sapir-Hen, Lidar; Erez Ben-Yosef (2013). "The Introduction of Domestic Camels to the Southern Levant: Evidence from the Aravah Valley" (PDF). Tel Aviv 40: 277–285. doi:10.1179/033443513x13753505864089. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
13.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 66–67.
14.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 67.
15.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 36.
16.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 45.
17.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 62–63.
18.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 55.
19.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 69.
20.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 118.
21.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 107.
22.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 111–113.
23.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 91.
24.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 81–82.
25.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 82.
26.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 134.
27.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 176.
28.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 133.
29.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 142.
30.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 230.
31.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 129.
32.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 135–139
33.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 141–142
34.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 178–180.
35.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 182.
36.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 194.
37.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 194–195.
38.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 241–242.
39.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 242.
40.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 245.
41.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 243.
42.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 247.
43.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 248.
44.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 257.
45.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 260–262.
46.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 259.
47.^ Jump up to: a b (Taylor Prism", column 3, rows 37–49.
48.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 265.
49.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 266.
50.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 269–270.
51.Jump up ^ 2 Kings 18:15-16
52.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 271.
53.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 270.
54.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 264.
55.^ Jump up to: a b The Bible Unearthed, p. 281.
56.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 282–283.
57.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 283–284.
58.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 284.
59.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 288–289.
60.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 290.
61.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 291.
62.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 293.
63.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 294.
64.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 305.
65.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 299.
66.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 308.
67.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 313.
68.Jump up ^ Ezra 7:25
69.Jump up ^ The Bible Unearthed, p. 310.
70.Jump up ^ Ezra 7:12
71.Jump up ^ http://icarusfilms.com/new2006/bib.html
72.Jump up ^ Kirsch, Jonathan. "Digging for the Historical Truths of the Bible", Los Angeles Times, 6 January 2001.
73.Jump up ^ Trible, Phyllis. "God's Ghostwriters", The New York Times, 4 February 2001.
74.Jump up ^ Ranking, Amazon.com, as of 28 February 2009.
75.Jump up ^ http://icarusfilms.com/new2006/bib2.html
76.Jump up ^ Shanks, Hershel. "In This Corner: William Dever and Israel Finkelstein Debate the Early History of Israel", Biblical Archaeology Review, Nov/Dec 2004.
Bibliography[edit]
Finkelstein, Israel, and Silberman, Neil Asher, The Bible Unearthed : Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, Simon & Schuster, 2002. ISBN 0-684-86912-8
External links[edit]
Review, Denver Seminary
Review, Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies
Review, Journal of Religion and Society, Creighton University
Review, Salon.com
Categories: 2001 books
Ancient Israel and Judah
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Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Christian history, Biblical criticism
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication date
1999 books
Media type
Print (hardback)
Pages
368
ISBN
978-0195124743
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium is a 1999 book by leading New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman. In it, he argues that Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher, i.e., his main message was that the end of history was near, that God would shortly intervene to overthrow evil and establish his rule on earth, and that Jesus and his disciples all believed these end time events would occur in their lifetimes. Ehrman also analyses New Testament passages such as Jesus' supposed birth in Bethlehem of a virgin and finds them not historically credible.[1][2][3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
2.Jump up ^ "Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (1999). Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195124743.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus:_Apocalyptic_Prophet_of_the_New_Millennium
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Christian history, Biblical criticism
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Publication date
1999 books
Media type
Print (hardback)
Pages
368
ISBN
978-0195124743
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium is a 1999 book by leading New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman. In it, he argues that Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher, i.e., his main message was that the end of history was near, that God would shortly intervene to overthrow evil and establish his rule on earth, and that Jesus and his disciples all believed these end time events would occur in their lifetimes. Ehrman also analyses New Testament passages such as Jesus' supposed birth in Bethlehem of a virgin and finds them not historically credible.[1][2][3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
2.Jump up ^ "Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (1999). Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195124743.
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Forged
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the unrelated 2010 film, see Forged (film).
Forged is a book written by the noted biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman. Although it has long been recognised that numerous Epistles of the New Testament bear names of authors who are unlikely to have written them, traditional Christian teaching has been that it was an accepted practice in antiquity for a writer to attribute his work to a well-known figure from the past, or a teacher who has greatly influenced him. Forged demonstrates that this is incorrect and the practice would have been condemned as dishonest by all authorities in antiquity. Falsely attributed writings are often referred to as "pseudepigraphs" but Ehrman maintains that the more honest term is "forgery". The book posits that 11 or more books out of the 27 books of the Christian New Testament canon were written as forgeries.[1] In his book, Ehrman points out numerous inconsistencies which he finds within the New Testament which appear to support many of his claims, such as the fact that in Acts 4:13 the statement is made that both Peter and John were illiterate, yet in later years entire books of the Bible were then alleged to have been written by them.
Contents [hide]
1 Books of the New Testament identified as forgeries by Ehrman
2 False attributions
3 See also
4 Footnoted references
Books of the New Testament identified as forgeries by Ehrman[edit]
Acts of the Apostles, written to deceive the reader into the belief that the author was a companion of Paul
First Epistle of Peter
Second Epistle of Peter
Epistle of James
Epistle of Jude
Second Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians
First Epistle of Paul to Timothy
Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy
Epistle of Paul to Titus
Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians
Epistle of Paul to the Colossians
False attributions[edit]
In addition to the eleven books of the New Testament Ehrman identifies as forgeries, there are nine originally anonymous New Testament texts that had names of apostles ascribed to them later and are falsely attributed. These are not forgeries since the texts are anonymous but have had false authors ascribed to them by others.
Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Luke
Gospel of John
Acts of the Apostles (a special case since it is an anonymous text but falsely claims to have been written by an unnamed companion of Paul. It is therefore both a forgery and a work falsely attributed to Luke).
First Epistle of John
Second Epistle of John
Third Epistle of John
See also[edit]
Bart D. Ehrman, author
Misquoting Jesus, a New York Times bestseller by Ehrman
Jesus, Interrupted, another New York Times bestseller by Ehrman
Footnoted references[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Half of New Testament forged, Bible scholar says". CNN. 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-17. CNN book review article summarizing Ehrman's claim that much of the New Testament was written as a forgery.
Categories: Biblical criticism
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forged
Forged
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the unrelated 2010 film, see Forged (film).
Forged is a book written by the noted biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman. Although it has long been recognised that numerous Epistles of the New Testament bear names of authors who are unlikely to have written them, traditional Christian teaching has been that it was an accepted practice in antiquity for a writer to attribute his work to a well-known figure from the past, or a teacher who has greatly influenced him. Forged demonstrates that this is incorrect and the practice would have been condemned as dishonest by all authorities in antiquity. Falsely attributed writings are often referred to as "pseudepigraphs" but Ehrman maintains that the more honest term is "forgery". The book posits that 11 or more books out of the 27 books of the Christian New Testament canon were written as forgeries.[1] In his book, Ehrman points out numerous inconsistencies which he finds within the New Testament which appear to support many of his claims, such as the fact that in Acts 4:13 the statement is made that both Peter and John were illiterate, yet in later years entire books of the Bible were then alleged to have been written by them.
Contents [hide]
1 Books of the New Testament identified as forgeries by Ehrman
2 False attributions
3 See also
4 Footnoted references
Books of the New Testament identified as forgeries by Ehrman[edit]
Acts of the Apostles, written to deceive the reader into the belief that the author was a companion of Paul
First Epistle of Peter
Second Epistle of Peter
Epistle of James
Epistle of Jude
Second Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians
First Epistle of Paul to Timothy
Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy
Epistle of Paul to Titus
Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians
Epistle of Paul to the Colossians
False attributions[edit]
In addition to the eleven books of the New Testament Ehrman identifies as forgeries, there are nine originally anonymous New Testament texts that had names of apostles ascribed to them later and are falsely attributed. These are not forgeries since the texts are anonymous but have had false authors ascribed to them by others.
Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Luke
Gospel of John
Acts of the Apostles (a special case since it is an anonymous text but falsely claims to have been written by an unnamed companion of Paul. It is therefore both a forgery and a work falsely attributed to Luke).
First Epistle of John
Second Epistle of John
Third Epistle of John
See also[edit]
Bart D. Ehrman, author
Misquoting Jesus, a New York Times bestseller by Ehrman
Jesus, Interrupted, another New York Times bestseller by Ehrman
Footnoted references[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Half of New Testament forged, Bible scholar says". CNN. 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-17. CNN book review article summarizing Ehrman's claim that much of the New Testament was written as a forgery.
Categories: Biblical criticism
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forged
Did Jesus Exist? (Ehrman)
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Jump to: navigation, search
Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Christian history, Roman history
Publisher
HarperOne
Publication date
2012
Media type
Print (paperback)
Pages
368
ISBN
978-0062206442
Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth is a 2012 book by leading scholar of the New Testament Bart Ehrman, author of over twenty-five books, including three college textbooks, in that field of study. In the book, written to counter the idea that there was never such a person as Jesus at all, Ehrman sets out to demonstrate the historical evidence for Jesus' existence, and why all experts in the area agree that "whatever else you may think about Jesus, he certainly did exist."[1][2]
Ehrman examines the historicity of Jesus and includes some criticism of Christ mythicists.
Contents [hide]
1 Arguments for existence
2 Criticism of mythicists
3 Reception
4 References
Arguments for existence[edit]
Ehrman surveys the arguments "mythicists" have made against the existence of Jesus since the idea was first mooted at the end of the 18th century. To the objection that there are no contemporary Roman records of Jesus' existence, Ehrman points out that such records exist for almost no one and there are mentions of Christ in several Roman works of history from decades later.[1][3] The author states that the authentic letters of the apostle Paul in the New Testament were written within a few years of Jesus' death and that Paul personally knew James, the brother of Jesus.[2] Although the gospel accounts of Jesus' life may be biased and unreliable in many respects, they and the sources behind them which scholars have discerned still contain some accurate historical information.[1][3] So many independent attestations of Jesus' existence, Ehrman says, are actually "astounding for an ancient figure of any kind ".[2] Ehrman dismisses the idea that the story of Jesus is an invention based on pagan myths of dying-and-rising gods, maintaining that the early Christians were influenced by Jewish ideas, not Greek or Roman ones,[1][2] and repeatedly insists that the idea that there was never such a person as Jesus is not seriously considered by historians or experts in the field at all.[1]
Criticism of mythicists[edit]
Erhman, a former fundamentalist Christian turned agnostic, has written numerous books challenging literalist views of the Bible himself.[3] Did Jesus Exist?, however, contains scathing criticism of the "writers, bloggers and Internet junkies who call themselves mythicists".[2] Ehrman says that they do not define what they mean by "myth" and maintains they are really motivated by a desire to denounce religion rather than examine historical evidence.[1] He discusses leading contemporary mythicists by name and dismisses their arguments as "amateurish", "wrong-headed", and "outlandish".[1][3]
Reception[edit]
Some evangelical Christians who have severely disagreed with Ehrman's previous books welcomed Did Jesus Exist?[3] One of the mythicists who is criticised in Did Jesus Exist?, Richard Carrier, challenged many of the book's points on his blog,[4] to which Ehrman responded on his own blog.[5]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Ehrman, Bart D. (2012). Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0062206442.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Ehrman, Bart D. (2013-03-20). "Did Jesus Exist?". huffingtonpost.com. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Shimron, Yonat. "In 'Did Jesus Exist?' Bart Ehrman's Portrayal Of Jesus Is Surprisingly Sympathetic". Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Carrier, Richard. "Ehrman on Historicity Recap". Retrieved 26 May 2014.
5.Jump up ^ Ehrman, Bart D. "Fuller Reply to Richard Carrier". Retrieved 26 May 2014.
Categories: 2012 books
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Did_Jesus_Exist%3F_(Ehrman)
Did Jesus Exist? (Ehrman)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Christian history, Roman history
Publisher
HarperOne
Publication date
2012
Media type
Print (paperback)
Pages
368
ISBN
978-0062206442
Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth is a 2012 book by leading scholar of the New Testament Bart Ehrman, author of over twenty-five books, including three college textbooks, in that field of study. In the book, written to counter the idea that there was never such a person as Jesus at all, Ehrman sets out to demonstrate the historical evidence for Jesus' existence, and why all experts in the area agree that "whatever else you may think about Jesus, he certainly did exist."[1][2]
Ehrman examines the historicity of Jesus and includes some criticism of Christ mythicists.
Contents [hide]
1 Arguments for existence
2 Criticism of mythicists
3 Reception
4 References
Arguments for existence[edit]
Ehrman surveys the arguments "mythicists" have made against the existence of Jesus since the idea was first mooted at the end of the 18th century. To the objection that there are no contemporary Roman records of Jesus' existence, Ehrman points out that such records exist for almost no one and there are mentions of Christ in several Roman works of history from decades later.[1][3] The author states that the authentic letters of the apostle Paul in the New Testament were written within a few years of Jesus' death and that Paul personally knew James, the brother of Jesus.[2] Although the gospel accounts of Jesus' life may be biased and unreliable in many respects, they and the sources behind them which scholars have discerned still contain some accurate historical information.[1][3] So many independent attestations of Jesus' existence, Ehrman says, are actually "astounding for an ancient figure of any kind ".[2] Ehrman dismisses the idea that the story of Jesus is an invention based on pagan myths of dying-and-rising gods, maintaining that the early Christians were influenced by Jewish ideas, not Greek or Roman ones,[1][2] and repeatedly insists that the idea that there was never such a person as Jesus is not seriously considered by historians or experts in the field at all.[1]
Criticism of mythicists[edit]
Erhman, a former fundamentalist Christian turned agnostic, has written numerous books challenging literalist views of the Bible himself.[3] Did Jesus Exist?, however, contains scathing criticism of the "writers, bloggers and Internet junkies who call themselves mythicists".[2] Ehrman says that they do not define what they mean by "myth" and maintains they are really motivated by a desire to denounce religion rather than examine historical evidence.[1] He discusses leading contemporary mythicists by name and dismisses their arguments as "amateurish", "wrong-headed", and "outlandish".[1][3]
Reception[edit]
Some evangelical Christians who have severely disagreed with Ehrman's previous books welcomed Did Jesus Exist?[3] One of the mythicists who is criticised in Did Jesus Exist?, Richard Carrier, challenged many of the book's points on his blog,[4] to which Ehrman responded on his own blog.[5]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Ehrman, Bart D. (2012). Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0062206442.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Ehrman, Bart D. (2013-03-20). "Did Jesus Exist?". huffingtonpost.com. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2014-04-08.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Shimron, Yonat. "In 'Did Jesus Exist?' Bart Ehrman's Portrayal Of Jesus Is Surprisingly Sympathetic". Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Carrier, Richard. "Ehrman on Historicity Recap". Retrieved 26 May 2014.
5.Jump up ^ Ehrman, Bart D. "Fuller Reply to Richard Carrier". Retrieved 26 May 2014.
Categories: 2012 books
Christ myth
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Did_Jesus_Exist%3F_(Ehrman)
Jesus, Interrupted
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them)
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Language
English
Genre
Religion
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
March 2009
Pages
304 pages
ISBN
0-06-117393-2
OCLC
262888322
Preceded by
God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer (2008)
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them) is a book by Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This work includes a narrative of Ehrman's own progression in Biblical studies and beliefs, an overview of the issues raised by scholarly analysis of the Bible, details of a selection of findings from such analysis, and an exhortation regarding the importance of coming to understand the Bible more fully.
Regarding the importance of Biblical study, Ehrman says in the preface, "This kind of information is relevant not only to scholars like me, who devote their lives to serious research, but also to everyone who is interested in the Bible -- whether they personally consider themselves believers or not. In my opinion this really matters. Whether you are a believer -- fundamentalist, evangelical, moderate, liberal -- or a nonbeliever, the Bible is the most significant book in the history of our civilization. Coming to understand what it actually is, and is not, is one of the most important intellectual endeavors that anyone in our society can embark upon."
One particular statement from early on appears to summarize the development of the subject matter that Ehrman attempts to cover in this volume: "Scholars of the Bible have made significant progress in understanding the Bible over the past two hundred years, building on archaeological discoveries, advances in our knowledge of the ancient Hebrew and Greek languages in which the book of Scripture were originally written, and deep and penetrating historical, literary, and textual analyses."[1]
Rich Barlow, of the Boston Globe, writes that "he repeatedly stresses that historical-critical study need not kill faith. And, honest scholar that he is, he admits that some of his contentions can be challenged."[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Reception
2 Bibliography
3 References
4 External links
Reception[edit]
Jesus, Interrupted became a New York Times best-seller,[3] joining Ehrman's previous popular work of textual criticism Misquoting Jesus.
Critics applauded Ehrman's writing ability.[4][5]
The book also received a positive review from Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis. McGrath highly recommended the book, describing it as introducing "a wider audience to important aspects of the New Testament." McGrath wrote that "The information Ehrman presents is not at odds with Christian faith, although it is at odds with the claims that some Christians make about the Bible,"[6] echoing Ehrman's stated aims for the book.
Michael J. Kruger, Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary called it "a book full of ironies" and "intellectual schizophrenia," stating that "it purports to be about unbiased history but rarely presents an opposing viewpoint; ironic that it claims to follow the scholarly consensus but breaks from it so often; ironic that it insists on the historical-critical method but then reads the gospels with a modernist, overly-literal hermeneutic; ironic that it claims no one view of early Christianity could be 'right' (Walter Bauer) but then proceeds to tell us which view of early Christianity is 'right;'"[7] Similar criticisms have been voiced by Ben Witherington, Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary describing Ehrman's claims as "not the voice of the critical consensus on the NT. He could be called the popular voice of one particular more liberal or radical interpretation of the data."[8] Another criticism raised, which was also raised over Misquoting Jesus, is that Ehrman implies that the information being presented is new, or groundbreaking. Bishop William H. Willimon says, "He keeps presenting this stuff as if this is wonderful new knowledge that has been kept from you backward lay people and this is the stuff your preachers don't have the guts to tell, and I have."[9]
Bibliography[edit]
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them). HarperCollins, United States. 2009. ISBN 0-06-117393-2.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Ehrman, Bart (2009). Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them). New York: HarperCollins. p. 304. ISBN 0-06-117393-2.
2.Jump up ^ Barlow, Rich (May 6, 2009). "Book review: Turning a critical eye to the Bible". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
3.Jump up ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (March 19, 2009). "Inside The List: Honest To Jesus". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
4.Jump up ^ John Blake "...even many of Ehrman's critics say he has a knack for making arcane New Testament scholarship accessible to the public."
5.Jump up ^ Bishop William H. Willimon in ibid commented "He has a gift for clear thinking and an ability to present some complicated things in simple, direct ways." Rev. Guy Williams noted that "His take on the scriptures is a gift to the church because of his ability to articulate questions and challenges. It gives us an opportunity to wrestle with the [Bible's] claims and questions."Blake, John (May 15, 2009). "Former fundamentalist 'debunks' Bible". CNN. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
6.Jump up ^ McGrath, James (March 30, 2009). "Review of Bart Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted". blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
7.Jump up ^ Michael J. Kruger, "A Review of Jesus, Interrupted", Westminster Theological Journal 71, no.2, Fall 2009.
8.Jump up ^ Ben Witherington, Bart Interrupted - A Detailed Analysis of "Jesus Interrupted"
9.Jump up ^ Blake, John (May 15, 2009). "Former fundamentalist 'debunks' Bible". CNN. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
External links[edit]
Jesus, Interrupted from HarperCollins
A review of Jesus, Interrupted by New Testament scholar Dr. James F. McGrath.
A review of Jesus, Interrupted by New Testament scholar Michael J. Kruger.
A review of Jesus, Interrupted by David Harding.
Salon interview with Ehrman
NPR interview with Ehrman
CNN article on Jesus, Interrupted
Categories: Perspectives on Jesus
Biblical criticism
2009 books
2009 in religion
HarperCollins books
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus,_Interrupted
Jesus, Interrupted
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them)
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Language
English
Genre
Religion
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
March 2009
Pages
304 pages
ISBN
0-06-117393-2
OCLC
262888322
Preceded by
God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer (2008)
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them) is a book by Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This work includes a narrative of Ehrman's own progression in Biblical studies and beliefs, an overview of the issues raised by scholarly analysis of the Bible, details of a selection of findings from such analysis, and an exhortation regarding the importance of coming to understand the Bible more fully.
Regarding the importance of Biblical study, Ehrman says in the preface, "This kind of information is relevant not only to scholars like me, who devote their lives to serious research, but also to everyone who is interested in the Bible -- whether they personally consider themselves believers or not. In my opinion this really matters. Whether you are a believer -- fundamentalist, evangelical, moderate, liberal -- or a nonbeliever, the Bible is the most significant book in the history of our civilization. Coming to understand what it actually is, and is not, is one of the most important intellectual endeavors that anyone in our society can embark upon."
One particular statement from early on appears to summarize the development of the subject matter that Ehrman attempts to cover in this volume: "Scholars of the Bible have made significant progress in understanding the Bible over the past two hundred years, building on archaeological discoveries, advances in our knowledge of the ancient Hebrew and Greek languages in which the book of Scripture were originally written, and deep and penetrating historical, literary, and textual analyses."[1]
Rich Barlow, of the Boston Globe, writes that "he repeatedly stresses that historical-critical study need not kill faith. And, honest scholar that he is, he admits that some of his contentions can be challenged."[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Reception
2 Bibliography
3 References
4 External links
Reception[edit]
Jesus, Interrupted became a New York Times best-seller,[3] joining Ehrman's previous popular work of textual criticism Misquoting Jesus.
Critics applauded Ehrman's writing ability.[4][5]
The book also received a positive review from Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis. McGrath highly recommended the book, describing it as introducing "a wider audience to important aspects of the New Testament." McGrath wrote that "The information Ehrman presents is not at odds with Christian faith, although it is at odds with the claims that some Christians make about the Bible,"[6] echoing Ehrman's stated aims for the book.
Michael J. Kruger, Associate Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary called it "a book full of ironies" and "intellectual schizophrenia," stating that "it purports to be about unbiased history but rarely presents an opposing viewpoint; ironic that it claims to follow the scholarly consensus but breaks from it so often; ironic that it insists on the historical-critical method but then reads the gospels with a modernist, overly-literal hermeneutic; ironic that it claims no one view of early Christianity could be 'right' (Walter Bauer) but then proceeds to tell us which view of early Christianity is 'right;'"[7] Similar criticisms have been voiced by Ben Witherington, Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary describing Ehrman's claims as "not the voice of the critical consensus on the NT. He could be called the popular voice of one particular more liberal or radical interpretation of the data."[8] Another criticism raised, which was also raised over Misquoting Jesus, is that Ehrman implies that the information being presented is new, or groundbreaking. Bishop William H. Willimon says, "He keeps presenting this stuff as if this is wonderful new knowledge that has been kept from you backward lay people and this is the stuff your preachers don't have the guts to tell, and I have."[9]
Bibliography[edit]
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them). HarperCollins, United States. 2009. ISBN 0-06-117393-2.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Ehrman, Bart (2009). Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them). New York: HarperCollins. p. 304. ISBN 0-06-117393-2.
2.Jump up ^ Barlow, Rich (May 6, 2009). "Book review: Turning a critical eye to the Bible". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
3.Jump up ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (March 19, 2009). "Inside The List: Honest To Jesus". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
4.Jump up ^ John Blake "...even many of Ehrman's critics say he has a knack for making arcane New Testament scholarship accessible to the public."
5.Jump up ^ Bishop William H. Willimon in ibid commented "He has a gift for clear thinking and an ability to present some complicated things in simple, direct ways." Rev. Guy Williams noted that "His take on the scriptures is a gift to the church because of his ability to articulate questions and challenges. It gives us an opportunity to wrestle with the [Bible's] claims and questions."Blake, John (May 15, 2009). "Former fundamentalist 'debunks' Bible". CNN. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
6.Jump up ^ McGrath, James (March 30, 2009). "Review of Bart Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted". blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
7.Jump up ^ Michael J. Kruger, "A Review of Jesus, Interrupted", Westminster Theological Journal 71, no.2, Fall 2009.
8.Jump up ^ Ben Witherington, Bart Interrupted - A Detailed Analysis of "Jesus Interrupted"
9.Jump up ^ Blake, John (May 15, 2009). "Former fundamentalist 'debunks' Bible". CNN. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
External links[edit]
Jesus, Interrupted from HarperCollins
A review of Jesus, Interrupted by New Testament scholar Dr. James F. McGrath.
A review of Jesus, Interrupted by New Testament scholar Michael J. Kruger.
A review of Jesus, Interrupted by David Harding.
Salon interview with Ehrman
NPR interview with Ehrman
CNN article on Jesus, Interrupted
Categories: Perspectives on Jesus
Biblical criticism
2009 books
2009 in religion
HarperCollins books
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Misquoting Jesus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Misquoting Jesus.jpg
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Language
English
Genre
Religion
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
2005
Pages
256
ISBN
978-0-06-073817-4
OCLC
59011567
Dewey Decimal
225.4/86 22
LC Class
BS2325 .E45 2005
Preceded by
Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine (2004)
Followed by
The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed (2006)
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why is a book by Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[1] The book introduces lay readers to the field of textual criticism of the Bible. Ehrman discusses a number of textual variants that resulted from intentional or accidental manuscript changes during the scriptorium era. The book made it to The New York Times Best Seller List.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Summary
2 Reviews and reception
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Summary[edit]
Ehrman recounts his personal experience with the study of the Bible and textual criticism. He summarizes the history of textual criticism, from the works of Desiderius Erasmus to the present. The book describes an early Christian environment in which the books that would later compose the New Testament were copied by hand, mostly by Christian amateurs. Ehrman concludes that various early scribes altered the New Testament texts in order to deemphasize the role of women in the early church, to unify and harmonize the different portrayals of Jesus in the four gospels, and to oppose certain heresies (such as Adoptionism). Ehrman contends that certain widely held Christian beliefs, such about the divinity of Jesus, are associated not with the original words of scripture but with these later alterations.
Reviews and reception[edit]
Alex Beam of the Boston Globe, wrote that the book is "a series of dramatic revelations for the ignorant", and that "Ehrman notes that there have been a lot of changes to the Bible in the past 2,000 years. I don't want to come between Mr. Ehrman and his payday, but this point has been made much more eloquently by... others."[3]
Jeffrey Weiss of the The Dallas Morning News wrote, "Whichever side you sit on regarding Biblical inerrancy, this is a rewarding read."[4] The American Library Association wrote, "To assess how ignorant or theologically manipulative scribes may have changed the biblical text, modern scholars have developed procedures for comparing diverging texts. And in language accessible to nonspecialists, Ehrman explains these procedures and their results. He further explains why textual criticism has frequently sparked intense controversy, especially among scripture-alone Protestants."[5] Charles Seymour of the Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas wrote, "Ehrman convincingly argues that even some generally received passages are late additions, which is particularly interesting in the case of those verses with import for doctrinal issues such as women's ordination or the Atonement."[6] Neely Tucker of The Washington Post wrote that the book is "an exploration into how the 27 books of the New Testament came to be cobbled together, a history rich with ecclesiastical politics, incompetent scribes and the difficulties of rendering oral traditions into a written text."[7]
Daniel B. Wallace, in a review of Misquoting Jesus wrote that the book "comes up short on genuine substance about his primary contention."[8]
Craig Blomberg, of Denver Seminary in Colorado, wrote that "Most of Misquoting Jesus is actually a very readable, accurate distillation of many of the most important facts about the nature and history of textual criticism, presented in a lively and interesting narrative that will keep scholarly and lay interest alike."[9] Blomberg also wrote that Ehrman "has rejected his evangelicalism and whether he is writing on the history of the transmission of the biblical text, focusing on all the changes that scribes made over the centuries, or on the so-called 'lost gospels' and 'lost Christianities,' trying to rehabilitate our appreciation for Gnosticism, it is clear that he has an axe to grind."[9]
See also[edit]
List of Bible verses not included in modern translations
Textual criticism
Textus Receptus
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Interview with Bart Ehrman, Publishers Weekly, January 25, 2006.
2.Jump up ^ Publisher's website. HarperCollins.com.
3.Jump up ^ Beam, Alex (Apr 12, 2006). "Book review: The new profits of Christianity". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-04-06. (behind paywall)
4.Jump up ^ Weiss, Jeffrey (Apr 16, 2006). "Book review: Some ask: Are Bible texts authentic? Are stories true?". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
5.Jump up ^ "Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the...". Booklist. Nov 15, 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
6.Jump up ^ "Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the...". Library Journal. 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
7.Jump up ^ Tucker, Neely (March 5, 2006). "The Book of Bart". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
8.Jump up ^ http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=3452
9.^ Jump up to: a b "Book review: Misquoting Jesus". Denver Seminary. March 5, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
External links[edit]
Misquoting Jesus Internet Archive
Misquoting Jesus from bartdehrman.com
Misquoting Jesus excerpts from NPR
Stanford lecture on "Misquoting Jesus"
Categories: Biblical criticism
2005 books
HarperCollins books
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This page was last modified on 6 July 2014, at 14:48.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misquoting_Jesus
Misquoting Jesus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Misquoting Jesus.jpg
Author
Bart D. Ehrman
Language
English
Genre
Religion
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
2005
Pages
256
ISBN
978-0-06-073817-4
OCLC
59011567
Dewey Decimal
225.4/86 22
LC Class
BS2325 .E45 2005
Preceded by
Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code: A Historian Reveals What We Really Know about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Constantine (2004)
Followed by
The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed (2006)
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why is a book by Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[1] The book introduces lay readers to the field of textual criticism of the Bible. Ehrman discusses a number of textual variants that resulted from intentional or accidental manuscript changes during the scriptorium era. The book made it to The New York Times Best Seller List.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Summary
2 Reviews and reception
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Summary[edit]
Ehrman recounts his personal experience with the study of the Bible and textual criticism. He summarizes the history of textual criticism, from the works of Desiderius Erasmus to the present. The book describes an early Christian environment in which the books that would later compose the New Testament were copied by hand, mostly by Christian amateurs. Ehrman concludes that various early scribes altered the New Testament texts in order to deemphasize the role of women in the early church, to unify and harmonize the different portrayals of Jesus in the four gospels, and to oppose certain heresies (such as Adoptionism). Ehrman contends that certain widely held Christian beliefs, such about the divinity of Jesus, are associated not with the original words of scripture but with these later alterations.
Reviews and reception[edit]
Alex Beam of the Boston Globe, wrote that the book is "a series of dramatic revelations for the ignorant", and that "Ehrman notes that there have been a lot of changes to the Bible in the past 2,000 years. I don't want to come between Mr. Ehrman and his payday, but this point has been made much more eloquently by... others."[3]
Jeffrey Weiss of the The Dallas Morning News wrote, "Whichever side you sit on regarding Biblical inerrancy, this is a rewarding read."[4] The American Library Association wrote, "To assess how ignorant or theologically manipulative scribes may have changed the biblical text, modern scholars have developed procedures for comparing diverging texts. And in language accessible to nonspecialists, Ehrman explains these procedures and their results. He further explains why textual criticism has frequently sparked intense controversy, especially among scripture-alone Protestants."[5] Charles Seymour of the Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas wrote, "Ehrman convincingly argues that even some generally received passages are late additions, which is particularly interesting in the case of those verses with import for doctrinal issues such as women's ordination or the Atonement."[6] Neely Tucker of The Washington Post wrote that the book is "an exploration into how the 27 books of the New Testament came to be cobbled together, a history rich with ecclesiastical politics, incompetent scribes and the difficulties of rendering oral traditions into a written text."[7]
Daniel B. Wallace, in a review of Misquoting Jesus wrote that the book "comes up short on genuine substance about his primary contention."[8]
Craig Blomberg, of Denver Seminary in Colorado, wrote that "Most of Misquoting Jesus is actually a very readable, accurate distillation of many of the most important facts about the nature and history of textual criticism, presented in a lively and interesting narrative that will keep scholarly and lay interest alike."[9] Blomberg also wrote that Ehrman "has rejected his evangelicalism and whether he is writing on the history of the transmission of the biblical text, focusing on all the changes that scribes made over the centuries, or on the so-called 'lost gospels' and 'lost Christianities,' trying to rehabilitate our appreciation for Gnosticism, it is clear that he has an axe to grind."[9]
See also[edit]
List of Bible verses not included in modern translations
Textual criticism
Textus Receptus
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Interview with Bart Ehrman, Publishers Weekly, January 25, 2006.
2.Jump up ^ Publisher's website. HarperCollins.com.
3.Jump up ^ Beam, Alex (Apr 12, 2006). "Book review: The new profits of Christianity". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-04-06. (behind paywall)
4.Jump up ^ Weiss, Jeffrey (Apr 16, 2006). "Book review: Some ask: Are Bible texts authentic? Are stories true?". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
5.Jump up ^ "Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the...". Booklist. Nov 15, 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
6.Jump up ^ "Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story behind Who Changed the...". Library Journal. 2005. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
7.Jump up ^ Tucker, Neely (March 5, 2006). "The Book of Bart". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
8.Jump up ^ http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=3452
9.^ Jump up to: a b "Book review: Misquoting Jesus". Denver Seminary. March 5, 2006. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
External links[edit]
Misquoting Jesus Internet Archive
Misquoting Jesus from bartdehrman.com
Misquoting Jesus excerpts from NPR
Stanford lecture on "Misquoting Jesus"
Categories: Biblical criticism
2005 books
HarperCollins books
Navigation menu
Create account
Log in
Article
Talk
Read
Edit
View history
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
العربية
한국어
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Edit links
This page was last modified on 6 July 2014, at 14:48.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
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