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First Person: The Big Debate

The battle over the Bible raises more questions than it answers—but you’ll learn a lot if you listen in.

By Hershel Shanks

The hottest issue today in the study of Biblical history and archaeology is the question of the Bible’s essential historicity: How true is the Bible? Unfortunately, the issues are hideously complicated.a Every time I try to write a summary sentence about the controversy, I find that it is wrong or at least needs qualification. For example, in an early draft of this piece, the following sentence appeared: “For those who believe in the literal truth of the Bible, the issue is simple: The Bible says it; therefore it must be true.” Well, that’s not exactly true. Evangelicals and even […]

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Footnotes

1.

See Steven Feldman, “First Person: Is the Bible a Bunch of Historical Hooey?” BAR 28:03.

2.

See my “Dancing in Denver: From One Scholarly Meeting to Another,” BAR 28:02.

3.

See Strata, in this issue.

4.

ReViews, BAR 27:02.

5.

Philip R. Davies, “‘House of David’ Built on Sand: The Sins of the Biblical Maximizers,” BAR 20:04.

6.

See the refutation of seven leading scholars: Jo Ann Hackett, Frank Moore Cross, P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., Ada Yardeni, André Lemaire, Esther Eshel and Avi Hurwitz, “The Siloam Inscription Ain’t Hasmonean,” BAR 23:02.

7.

See, for example, Hershel Shanks, “The Biblical Minimalists: Expunging Israel’s Past,” BR 13:03.

Endnotes

1.

See Religious Study News/SBL Edition, June 2002.