Bible in History: How Writers Create a Past Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Bible in History: How Writers Create a Past Book

One of the great controversies surrounding the Bible in the last 20 years centers on whether it is a historical document and therefore literally "true." Thomas L. Thompson has spent his academic career steeped in this controversy, researching the archaeological histories of Israel and Palestine, and has concluded that the Bible is not a historical document. Thompson contends however, that understanding the Bible as fictive does not have to undermine its truth and integrity. Currently a professor of the Old Testament at the University of Copenhagen, Thompson's The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel aims to separate the Bible from history in order to understand it on its own terms, in the context its authors intended. While parts of The Mythic Past value research and analysis over readability, it is arranged to help aspiring scholars negotiate the vast and complex history of biblical understanding. Thompson believes that "How the Bible is related to history has been badly misunderstood. As we have been reading the Bible within a context that is certainly wrong, and as we have misunderstood the Bible because of this, we need to seek a context more appropriate. As a result, we will begin to read the Bible in a new way." --Jodie BullerRead More

from£24.28 | RRP: £17.99
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £12.72
  • Product Description

    One of the world's leading Biblical archaeologists concludes that the Old Testament offers absolutely no credible historical data on the early history of Israel

    The Jewish people's historical claims to Israel, the small area bordering the eastern Mediterranean, is not only the foundation for the modern state of Israel, it also lies at the very heart of Judeo-Christian belief.

    The Bible in History will be the first comprehensive overview and synthesis of the latest archaeological research from the Middle East written for the general reader. Its often startling assertions will make for a powderkeg of a book. Among the author's conclusions are these: There never was a "united monarch" [Saul, David, Solomon] in history We can no longer talk about a time of the Patriarchs The entire notion of "Israel" and its history is a literary fiction.

    The Bible in History provides refreshing new ways to read the Old Testament as the great literature it was meant to be, and not as history. At the same time, its conclusions about Jewish history are sure to prove incendiary in a worldwide debate about one of the world's most seminal texts, and one of its most bitterly contested regions.

  • 0465006221
  • 9780465006229
  • Thomas L. Thompson
  • 18 May 1999
  • Basic Books
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 432
  • New edition
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.