First Glance

The sudden chaotic end of the Late Bronze Age—marked by widespread destruction, social upheaval and cultural decline—has eluded explanation. Scholars have speculated that a series of invasions by northern barbarians, a breakdown of trade, or overly centralized economies, among other things, may have caused the upheaval. Something much more basic may lie at the bottom of this mystery, however. In “Climate and Collapse,” William H. Stiebing, Jr., examines the growing body of evidence that arid weather between 1300 and 1000 B.C.E. explains the sudden decline or collapse of nearly every ancient civilization in the Near East at the end of the Bronze Age. But even this lack of clouds contains a silver lining: The decline of Bronze Age civilizations allowed the subsequent emergence of biblical Israel and classical Greek culture.

Stiebing is professor of history at the University of New Orleans and earned his Ph.D. in ancient history and archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions, and Other Popular Theories About Man’s Past (Prometheus, 1984) and Uncovering the Past: A History of Archaeology (Prometheus, 1993). A soloist in his church choir, Stiebing frequently participates in local productions of Broadway musicals, performing roles such as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music and Daddy Warbucks in Annie.

Public awareness of sexual misconduct can ruin a politician today, but it may have helped him back in biblical times. Having sex with a king’s concubine—whether the woman wished it or not—was one way to usurp a king’s power, as long as people knew it had happened. Sexual control over other men’s women helped define masculinity and power relationships between men in the ancient world. Using anthropological insights, Ken Stone explores the relationship between “Sexual Power and Political Prestige” in Samuel 2.

Stone lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is completing a dissertation at Vanderbilt University on the anthropology of sexual practice in the Hebrew Bible. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, he also teaches Hebrew at the University of the South School of Theology. His extra-academic interests include film, music and the study of wildlife.

The Talmud, the ancient body of Jewish law and lore, discusses the improbable question of whether a man who falls off a roof and accidentally has sex with a woman below is guilty of a sexual crime. Though the rabbis rule that this is not a sexual transgression, a committee at the Chicago Theological Seminary was not as lenient when a woman claimed that in recounting the Talmudic discussion her professor was guilty of sexual harassment. Graydon F. Snyder’s struggle against that charge has received wide public attention. Little attention, however, has been paid to Snyder’s purpose in telling that story. In “Unintended Sex Leads to Unintended Fall,” BR managing editor Steven Feldman describes how Snyder became enmeshed in the current debate over political correctness. Snyder himself writes that he only wanted to explain the role of intent in the Sermon on the Mount. He explains his views in the sidebar “Warning: This Lesson May Be Sexually Harassing.”

Snyder teaches New Testament at the Chicago Theological Seminary, where he has also served as dean. He received his doctor of theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and is the author of Ante Pacem: Archaeological Evidence of Church Life Before Constantine (Mercer Univ. Press, 1985) and Texts in Transit II (Brethern Press, 1991).

Two other articles in this issue grapple with how best to understand the Bible. In “The Catholic Church and Bible Interpretation,” we describe a new Vatican report that champions the critical, scholarly method of Bible study. The report brands the fundamentalist approach to the Bible as “dangerous.” In “Scholars Face Off Over Age of Biblical Stories,” two highly regarded figures continue a discussion regarding when some of the best-known sections of the Bible were composed. Richard Elliot Friedman and John Van Seters air their differences over issues raised by Friedman’s review of a book by Van Seters (Bible Books, BR 09:06).

A Note on Style

B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era), used by some of our authors and often used in scholarly literature, are the alternative designations corresponding to B.C. and A.D.

The sudden chaotic end of the Late Bronze Age—marked by widespread destruction, social upheaval and cultural decline—has eluded explanation. Scholars have speculated that a series of invasions by northern barbarians, a breakdown of trade, or overly centralized economies, among other things, may have caused the upheaval. Something much more basic may lie at the bottom of this mystery, however. In “Climate and Collapse,” William H.