Unlike any other book ever written, the Holy Bible is compiled of writings that cover a span of about 1400 years and include some 40 writers. Within its pages are 66 books, yet it is considered one book, The Book, The Holy Scriptures, The Word of God. The time period recorded during those 1400 years covers nearly 4000 years of human history and God's revelation of Himself to and through man. The history of the Holy Bible is the history of God's involvement with mankind.
This 1400-year-period begins with the writings of Moses, the first five books of the Holy Bible. These writings include a time recorded prior to Moses' lifespan. It started out at the actual creation of the cosmos. By the time Moses completes the teachings found in Deuteronomy, we learn about the very beginning of mankind. The final writer was probably John when he was on the Isle of Patmos and wrote the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Between the days of Moses and John, a time period of about 14 centuries transpired, but the Holy Bible covers over 4000 years of history. It has been nearly 2000 years since the last of the writers lived. How could Moses have written about things that occurred before Adam? The same way the prophets could write about things that would occur hundreds and thousands of years later. The writers were penning God's Word under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God revealed things to them that would have been otherwise unknowable.
The Holy Bible is divided into two sections. All that was recorded prior to the birth of Jesus Christ is referred to as the Old Testament. A testament is a written account, proof, evidence, a record of events that took place. The Old Testament covers 39 books (in the Protestant Bible). About four hundred years passed from the writing of the last book in the Old Testament and the birth of Christ. These are referred to as the silent years. Four hundred years in which God did not speak through prophets. Some of the historical events that occurred during that period are recording in the Catholic Douay version of the Bible. These books are referred to as the Apocrypha. They fill in some of the 400 year period between the official canon of the Old Testament and the New Testament. It was the time of the Maccabees.
The silence was broken by a sudden appearance in the sky of the heavenly host announcing the birth of the promised one. The New Testament begins with the coming of Christ into the world as the prophesied Emmanuel (God with us) in the form of the baby of Mary, Jesus. God took on a body of human flesh. The New Testament is composed of 27 books and ushers in the church age. From the writings of Moses through the prophets and other Old Testament books, God worked exclusively through the children of Israel. Today they are referred to as the Jewish people. But the church opened up God's grace to whosoever would come. This includes non-Jews. It includes Gentiles of all nations and races.
The Old Testament points to the coming of the Promised Messiah. Woven through the Old Testament are prophesies concerning Him. The tenth chapter of Hebrews gives a good explanation for how the Old Testament and New Testament are woven from the same cloth. Both are about Christ. One testament looks toward His coming and the other records the fact of His coming into this world, fulfilling every Old Testament prophecy concerning His earthly ministry.
The Old Testament remained in Hebrew until c.280-150 B.C. when it was translated into Greek at Alexandria, Egypt. This was known as the Septuagint. The next language change occurred when Jerome (c. 383-405 A.D) translated the Holy Bible into the Latin Vulgate. This was used by the clergy for nearly 1000 years.
The first English translation was completed by John Wycliffe and soon after, King James authorized the English version that has come to be known as the King James Version. This was in 1611.
God has preserved the Bible from the first book of Genesis to the final book of Revelation. There are many translations but God has maintained His word faithfully through all the generations of scribes and translators. Jesus made this clear as recorded in Matthew 5:18: "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (KJV). When He spoke this, the New Testament had not begun to be written and the Old Testament was all that existed. He declared that not so much as a stroke of the pen will be altered until all is fulfilled, referring to all prophecies recorded in the Old Testament.
The Bible is the only complete history book. All other history books record only the past. The history of the Holy Bible records the history of mankind from the beginning until the day this earth will pass away and a new heaven and a new earth will appear. It covers humanity from beginning to end. No other history book records future events. Only God possesses such knowledge. He is the Alpha and Omega. The I AM of eternity. The Bible is written in "time" from an eternal perspective. Only the Divine could have created this masterpiece.
Chronological History of the Bible - pre 15th Century
2000 - 1185 B.C. The Hebrew Patriarchs - The Nomadic Era.
1500 B.C. Hebrews in Egypt
1250 - 1220 B.C. Exodus of Hebrews from Egypt
1185 - 1000 B.C. Hebrews in Palestine
1000 B. C. The Hebrew Judges
1000 - 500 B.C. The Hebrew Kings
600 - 580 B.C. Jewish (Kingdom of Judah) Exile
539 - 332 B.C. Return to Palestine. Foreign Rule.
300 - 200 B.C. Judaic scribes preserve Hebrew Holy Scriptures while in captivity. Also referred to as the Samaritan Pentateuch, the text having been kept by the Samaritan community. The first five books of the Old Testament are known as the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), and are a history of the Jews from Creation to the death of Moses. Elohim and Jehovah are the most common names given to the Diety by the ancient Hebrews and are used interchangeably in the Pentateuch, which has led to the theory that the group of five books were written in two different periods. The Elohistic Scriptures are more simple and primitive, thus said to be older; The Jehovistic Scriptures are more elaborate, show a knowledge of history, geography, and the priesthood, and are thought by some to have been incorporated into the Elohistic writings.
300 - 200 B.C. The Septuagint (LXX). The first translation of Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Written at Alexandria, Egypt from circa 286 - 280 B.C. The oldest known copy of this work (the Codex Alexandrinus, owned by the British Museum) is on vellum and dates from the Fifth Century.
200 B.C. The Dead Sea Scrolls (aka Qumram Manuscripts), the oldest dating from 200 B.C., are the fragmentary remains of the Jewish sect of Essenes. Discovered in 1947, over a hundred of the scrolls comprise the Old Testament, except for the Book of Esther. There are also thousands of other fragments, and all were discovered in a cave of the Qumram Valley near the Dead Sea.
200 - 63 B.C. The Macabean Priest-Kings. Their history is told in 1 and 2 Maccabees, the last two books of the Apocrypha. They delivered the Jews from the persecution of the Syrians, and their reign ended when King Herod came into power.
63 B.C. - 70 A.D. Roman occupation of Palestine
4 B.C. Birth of Jesus is now placed from 20 to 4 B.C. depending on calendar calculations; 1950 research tended towards 4 B.C.
30 A.D. Crucifixion of Jesus, depending on calendar interpretations.
50 - 150 A.D. Formulation and completion of New Testament, in Greek; earliest known manuscripts date from the 3rd & 4th Century A.D. One such 4th Century parchment manuscript (the Codex Sinaiticus) was discovered by scholar-editor Constantine Tischendorf at the Convent of St. Catherine in 1844. Initially, Tischendorf saved 43 leaves of manuscript from being burned (taking them to Leipzig), which caused a halt to further burning by the monks. However, it wasn't until 1859 that he succeeded in obtaining the entire remaining manuscript, after he convinced the St. Catherine's Prior to present it as a gift to the Emperor of Russia. In 1933 the British Museum purchased the manuscript from Russia for $510,000.
70 A.D. Destruction of Jerusalem and the temple; The Gospel of Mark written in Rome.
70 - 100 A.D. During this first century A.D., the so-called Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (LAB) is written, the title of which was given many centuries later by Sichardus, the editor of Editio Princeps. Scholars disagree as to whether Philo of Alexandria (Jewish philosopher of the First Century) or another Philo was the author of the LAB, and the date of authorship is also in dispute. An important example of Pseudepigrapha, the LAB is considered a significant link between early haggadah and rabbinic midrash. Originally in Hebrew, translated to Greek, then Latin and finally English, is said to be an unadulterated Jewish Book of the First Century, a product of the same school as the Fourth Book of Esdras, and is contemporary with some of the New Testament (N.T.) writings.
90 - 100 A.D. Hebrew Holy Scriptures canonized by Rabbinical Council at Jamnia (or Jabneh), Judaea, Palestine.
100 - 600 A.D. Talmudic Works.
300 - 500 A.D. Early codices: papyri, parchments, lectionaries, etc. (codex - manuscript book); by the fourth century, the washed, stretched and polished animal skin (parchment) became the preferred method of recording biblical teachings; parchment leaves sewn together in groups were more durable than single rolls of fragile papyrus, and when large groups of parchment “leaves” were sewn together at one end (the spine), and then covered with a larger piece of leather, they could be protected and kept clean and dry. A large codex could be copied by a scribe from a number of fragile papyrus rolls into one book, with both sides of the skin being written on. Images from the walls of churches could also be drawn on the parchment leaves, creating a method of reinforcing the written word with a beautiful picture, in color! The bound codex could be easily transported from town to town, spreading knowledge, art and culture, and the word of God.
331 A.D. Emperor Constantine orders fifty Bibles for his churches in Constantinople from Eusebius of Caesarea.
367 A.D. Twenty-seven books of the New Testament are listed; the canon defined.
382 A.D. Translation began of the Vulgate, (the Old and New Testaments in Latin) by Eusebius Hieronymus (St. Jerome) at the request of Pope Damascus. Jerome revised existing "Old Latin" versions, producing a N.T. and two versions of the psalms. The Vulgate became the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church in 1546 when the Council of Trent declared it to be the "authentic" Bible.
405 A.D. St Jerome issues a Latin Old Testament, translated from the Hebrew.
553 A.D. Roman Emperor Justinian issues a decree commanding exclusive use of the Greek and Latin versions of the
Bible and forbidding the Midrash, but accepting the Hebrew exposition of the Old Testament.
Bible and forbidding the Midrash, but accepting the Hebrew exposition of the Old Testament.
600 A.D. Jewish scholars begin work on the Masoretic text of the Old Testament.
716 A.D. Pope Gregory II is presented with a new transcript of the Vulgate. Considered the best extant manuscript of the Latin Bible, it is known as theCodex Amiatinus, and resides in the Laurentian Library, Florence.
801 A.D. Charlemagne is presented with a revised Vulgate by Alcuin on Christmas Day. This Charlemagne's Bible is now in the British Museum.
9th Century Vespasian Psalter; an interlinear gloss of the book of Psalms, written in Mercia, sometime during the course of the first half of the ninth century (H. Sweet, Oldest English Texts, London, 1885). See 14th Ed., Ency. Britannica, v3 p 529.
1000 A.D. (c) Masoretic text completed in the 10th century, and has remained the Hebrew canon.
13th Century Bible chapters are introduced (chapter headings).
1250 The Illuminated Paris Bible; edited by scholars and theologians of the University of Paris; a uniform recension of the Vulgate which became known as the Paris text; Its smaller size made it ideal for individual use; (courtesy of Dick Wursten, Antwerp, Belgium)
1255 The monumental three-volume [Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliotek, MS G. K. S.] Hamburg Bible (in folio) is completed. The scribe was Karolus, and the work was made on the initiative of Bertoldus, the Dean of Hamburg, [Germany] himself a former scribe; in the volumes are a series of illustrations by an unknown artist showing the production of a medieval book; The Royal Library in Copenhagen acquired the bible in 1755 through an auction of The Chapter Library, Hamburg.
1380 - 1388 (c) Wyclif Bible (sometimes Wycliffe) produced by the followers of John Wyclif, an English theologian and reformer (also called the Morning Star of the Reformation) who was critical of the papacy. Wyclif felt that all Christians should have access to the Bible in the vernacular. The Wyclif becomes the first complete, word-for-word translation of the Vulgate into English, into a Midland dialect. Two versions were completed, the first by Nicholas of Hereford up to Baruch 3:20, with the remainder completed by an unknown scholar. A few years later a second revised version (less literal and less Latinate) was completed by John Purvey. The complete Wyclif Bible remained unprinted until 1850. Also known as the Lollard Bible, extant in 170 copies.
1409 The Synod of Canterbury at St. Paul’s, London, issues a decree forbidding the translation of the Scripture from one language to another, and the reading of a translation later than that of John Wyclif under penalty of greater excommunication, unless special license be obtained.
The Bible and history
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Bible from a historical perspective, includes numerous fields of study, ranging from archeology and astronomy to linguistics and methods of comparative literature. The Bible may provide insight into pursuits, including but not limited to; our understanding of ancient and modern culture, mythology, anthropology and morality. Examining the historical context, importance ascribed to events, and the contrast between the descriptions of these events and historical evidence of their occurrence (or lack thereof) is useful in providing information on topics beyond the simple factual accuracy of the Bible.
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Materials and methods
[edit]Manuscripts and canons
The Bible exists in multiple manuscripts, none of them autographs, and multiple canons, none of which completely agree on which books have sufficient authority to be included or their order (see Books of the Bible).
To determine the accuracy of a copied manuscript, textual critics scrutinize the way the transcripts have passed through history to their extant forms. The higher the volume of the earliest texts (and their parallels to each other), the greater the textual reliability and the less chance that the transcript's content has been changed over the years. Multiple copies may also be grouped into text types (see New Testament text types), with some types judged closer to the hypothetical original than others. Differences often extend beyond minor variations and may involve, for instance, interpolation of material central to issues of historicity and doctrine, such as the ending of Mark 16.
The books comprising the Hebrew bible and the Old Testament (the two are almost, but not exactly, the same) were written largely in Hebrew, with a few exceptions in Aramaic. Today it exists in several traditions, including the Masoretic Text, the Septuagint 47 books (a Greek translation widely used in the period from the 3rd century BCE to roughly the 5th century CE, and still regarded as authoritative by the Orthodox Christian churches), the Samaritan Torah, the Westminster containing the modern 39 books, and others. Variations between these traditions are useful for reconstructing the most likely original text, and for tracing the intellectual histories of various Jewish and Christian communities. The very oldest fragment resembling part of the text of the Hebrew Bible so far discovered is a small silver amulet, dating from approximately 600 BCE, and containing a version of the Priestly Blessing ("May God make his face to shine upon you...").
According to the dominant theory called Greek primacy, the New Testament was originally written in Greek, of which 5,650 handwritten copies have survived in Greek, over 10,000 in Latin. When other languages are included, the total of ancient copies approaches 25,000. The next ancient text to come close to rivaling that number is Homer's Iliad, which is thought to have survived in 643 ancient copies.[1]Recognizing this, F. E. Peters remarked that "on the basis of manuscript tradition alone, the works that make up the Christians' New Testament texts were the most frequently copied and widely circulated [surviving] books of antiquity".[citation needed] (This may be due to their preservation, popularity, and distribution brought about by the ease of seaborne travel and the many roads constructed during the time of the Roman Empire). When a comparison is made between the seven major critical editions of the Greek NT verse-by-verse – namely Tischendorf, Westcott-Hort, Von Soden, Vogels, Merk, Bover, and Nestle-Aland – only 62.9% of verses are variant free.[2]
A four gospel canon (the Tetramorph) was first asserted by Irenaeus, c. 180.[3] The many other gospels that then existed were eventually deemed non-canonical (see Biblical canon) and suppressed. In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, gave a list of exactly the same books as what would become the New Testament canon,[4] and he used the phrase "being canonized" (kanonizomena) in regards to them.[5] The Council of Rome in 382 under the authority of Pope Damasus I issued an identical canon,[4] and his decision to commission the LatinVulgate edition of the Bible, c. 383, was instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West.[6] See Development of the New Testament canon for details.
[edit]Texts
[edit]Hebrew bible
The Hebrew bible is not a single book but rather a collection of texts, most of them anonymous, and most of them the product of more or less extensive editing prior to reaching their modern form. These texts are in many different genres, but three distinct blocks approximating modern narrative history can be made out.
God creates the world; the world God creates is good, but it becomes thoroughly corrupted by man's decision to sin. God destroys all but the eight remaining righteous people in adeluge and shortens man's lifespan significantly. God selects Abraham to inherit the land of Canaan. The children of Israel, Abraham's grandson, go into Egypt, where their descendants are enslaved. The Israelites are led out of Egypt by Moses (Exodus) and receive the laws of God, who renews the promise of the land of Canaan.
The Israelites conquer the land of Canaan under Joshua, successor to Moses. Under the Judges they live in a state of constant conflict and insecurity, until the prophet Samuelanoints Saul as king over them. Saul proves unworthy, and God selects David as his successor. Under David the Israelites are united and conquer their enemies, and underSolomon his son they live in peace and prosperity. But the kingdom is divided under Solomon's successors, Israel in the north and Judah in the south, and the kings of Israel fall away from God and eventually the people of the north are taken into captivity by outsiders. Judah, unlike Israel, has some kings who follow God, but many do not, and eventually it too is taken into captivity, and the Temple of God built by Solomon is destroyed.
(Chronicles begins by reprising the history of the Torah and the Deuteronomistic history, with some differences over details. It introduces new material following its account of the fall of Jerusalem, the event which concludes the Deuteronomic history). The Babylonians, who had destroyed the Temple and taken the people into captivity, are themselves defeated by the Persians under their king Cyrus. Cyrus permits the exiles to return to Jerusalem. The Temple is rebuilt, and the Laws of Moses are read to the people.
Other
(Several other books of the Hebrew bible are set in a historical context or otherwise give information which can be regarded as historical, although these books do not present themselves as histories).
The prophets Amos and Hosea write of events during the 8th century kingdom of Israel; the prophet Jeremiah writes of events preceding and following the fall of Judah; Ezekielwrites of events during and preceding the exile in Babylon; and other prophets similarly touch on various periods, usually those in which they write.
Several books are included in some canons but not in others. Among these, Maccabees is a purely historical work that treats of the events of the 2nd century BCE. Others are not historical in orientation but are set in historical contexts or reprise earlier histories, such as Enoch, an apocalyptic work of the 2nd century BCE.
[edit]New Testament
While the authorship of a number of the Pauline epistles is largely undisputed, there is no scholarly consensus on the authors of the other books of the New Testament, which most modern scholars acknowledge as pseudonymous autographs[7][8] written more than a generation after the events they describe.
Jesus is born to Joseph and Mary; he is baptised by John the Baptist and begins a preaching and healing mission in Galilee; he comes up to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, is arrested, tried, condemned, and crucified. He is raised from the dead by His own power, appears before his followers, issuing the Great Commission, and ascends to Heaven, with apromise to return. The followers of Jesus, who had been fearful following the Crucifixion, are encouraged by Jesus' resurrection and continue to practice and to preach his teachings. The Apostle Paul preaches throughout the eastern Mediterranean, is arrested, and appeals. He is sent to Rome for trial, and the narrative breaks off.
The epistles (literally "letters") are largely concerned with theology, but the theological arguments they present form a "history of theology". Revelation deals with the last judgementand the end of the world.
[edit]Extra-biblical sources
Prior to the 19th century, textual analysis of the Bible itself was the only tool available to extract and evaluate whatever historical data it contained. The past two hundred years, however, have seen a proliferation of new sources of data and analytical tools, including:
- Other Near Eastern texts, documents and inscriptions[9]
- The material remains recovered throughout the Near East by archaeological excavation, analysed by ever more sophisticated technical and statistical apparatus[10]
- Historical geography, demography, soil science, technology studies, and comparative linguistics[11]
- Anthropological and sociological modelling
- The Apocrypha, or non-canonical texts
[edit]Writing and reading history
The meaning of the term "history" is itself dependent on social and historical context. Paula McNutt, for instance, notes that the Old Testament narratives "do not record 'history' in the sense that history is understood in the twentieth century ... The past, for biblical writers as well as for twentieth-century readers of the Bible, has meaning only when it is considered in light of the present, and perhaps an idealized future." (p. 4, emphasis added)[12]
Biblical history has also taken on different meanings in the modern era. The project of biblical archaeology associated with W.F. Albright, which sought to validate the historicity of the events narrated in the Bible through the ancient texts and material remains of the Near East,[13] has little in common with the view of history described by archaeologist William Dever. In discussing the role of his discipline in interpreting the biblical record, Dever has pointed to multiple histories within the Bible, including the history of theology (the relationship between God and believers), political history (usually the account of "Great Men"), narrative history (the chronology of events), intellectual history (ideas and their development, context and evolution), socio-cultural history (institutions, including their social underpinnings in family, clan, tribe and social class and the state), cultural history (overall cultural evolution, demography, socio-economic and political structure and ethnicity), technological history (the techniques by which humans adapt to, exploit and make use of the resources of their environment), natural history (how humans discover and adapt to the ecological facts of their natural environment), and material history (artefacts as correlates of changes in human behaviour).[14]
A special challenge for assessing the historicity of the Bible is sharply differing perspectives on the relationship between narrative history and theological meaning. Supporters of biblical literalism "deny that Biblical infallibility and inerrancy are limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes, exclusive of assertions in the fields of history and science. We further deny that scientific hypotheses about earth history may properly be used to overturn the teaching of Scripture on creation and the flood."[15] But prominent scholars have expressed diametrically opposing views: "[T]he stories about the promise given to the patriarchs in Genesis are not historical, nor do they intend to be historical; they are rather historically determined expressions about Israel and Israel's relationship to its God, given in forms legitimate to their time, and their truth lies not in their facticity, nor in the historicity, but their ability to express the reality that Israel experienced."[16]
This apparently irreconcilable clash of views is most acute for the questions of the greatest contemporary political significance (such as the promise of land by God to Abraham) and theological import (the Virgin Birth and Resurrection of Jesus), which are also the "events" that have proved the least susceptible to extra-biblical confirmation.
[edit]Challenges to historicity
[edit]The Hebrew Bible
Until the 18th century, the general belief in Christendom was that the earth was created about 4,000 - 5,500 years before the birth of Christ, and that the Garden of Eden, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, and the stories of Abraham and the Exodus described actual events, constituting a genuine narrative history from Creation to the founding of Israel[citation needed]. However, there had always been a critical tradition as well, dating back to at least St Augustine of Hippo (354–430), with interpretations "plainly at variance with what are commonly perceived in evangelicalism as traditional views of Genesis."[17]The Jewish tradition has also maintained a critical thread in its approach to biblical primeval history. The influential medieval philosopher Maimonides maintained a skeptical ambiguity towards creation ex nihilo and considered the stories aboutAdam more as "philosophical anthropology, rather than as historical stories whose protagonist is the 'first man'."[18] Greek philosophers held that the world was eternal, not created some thousand years ago, and that belief was common among learned Christians[citation needed].
Galileo is the name most closely associated with the first scientific assault on biblical authority, but the heliocentric universe was sufficiently peripheral to biblical ontology to be eventually accommodated. Galileo's writings were on the Catholic Index of prohibited books[19] All traces of official opposition to heliocentrism by the church disappeared in 1835 when these works were finally dropped from the Index.[20] Nevertheless heliocentricism has been accepted by most (but not all) of today's fundamentalists. It was in fact the birth of geology, marked by the publication of James Hutton's Theory of the Earth in 1788, which set in train the intellectual revolution that would dethrone Genesis as the ultimate authority on primeval earth and prehistory. The first casualty was the Creation story itself, and by the early 19th century "no responsible scientist contended for the literal credibility of the Mosaic account of creation." (p. 224)[21] The battle betweenuniformitarianism and catastrophism kept the Flood alive in the emerging discipline, until Adam Sedgwick, the president of the Geological Society, publicly recanted his previous support in his 1831 presidential address:
We ought indeed to have paused before we first adopted the diluvian theory, and referred all our old superficial gravel to the action of the Mosaic Flood. For of man, and the works of his hands, we have not yet found a single trace among the remnants of the former world entombed in those deposits.[22]
All of which left the "first man" and his putative descendants in the awkward position of being stripped of all historical context until Charles Darwin naturalized the Garden of Eden with the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859. Public acceptance of this scientific revolution was, and remains, uneven but the mainstream scholarly community soon arrived at a consensus, which holds today, that Genesis 1–11 is a highly schematic literary work representing theology/mythology rather than history.[23]
A central pillar of the Bible's historical authority was the tradition that it had been composed by the principal actors or eyewitnesses to the events described – the Pentateuch was the work of Moses, Joshua was by Joshua, and so on. But the Protestant Reformation had brought the actual texts to a much wider audience, which combined with the growing climate of intellectual ferment in the 17th century that was the start of the Age of Enlightenment threw a harsh sceptical spotlight on these traditional claims. In Protestant England the philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his major work Leviathan denied Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, and identified Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles as having been written long after the events they purported to describe. His conclusions rested on internal textual evidence, but in an argument that resonates with modern debates, he noted: "Who were the original writers of the several Books of Holy Scripture, has not been made evident by any sufficient testimony of other History, (which is the only proof of matter of fact)."[24]
The Jewish philosopher and pantheist Baruch Spinoza echoed Hobbes's doubts about the provenance of the historical books in his A Theologico-Political Treatise (published in 1670),[25] and elaborated on the suggestion that the final redaction of these texts was post-exilic under the auspices of Ezra (Chapter IX). He had earlier been effectively excommunicated by the rabbinical council of Amsterdam for his perceived heresies. The French priest Richard Simon brought these critical perspectives to the Catholic tradition in 1678, observing "the most part of the Holy Scriptures that are come to us, are but Abridgments and as Summaries of ancient Acts which were kept in the Registries of the Hebrews," in what was probably the first work of biblical textual criticism in the modern sense.[26]
In response Jean Astruc, applying source criticism methods common in the analysis of classical secular texts to the Pentateuch, believed he could detect four different manuscript traditions, which he claimed Moses himself had redacted. (p. 62–64)[23] His 1753 book initiated the school known as higher criticism that culminated in Julius Wellhausen formalising the documentary hypothesis in the 1870s,[27] which in various modified forms still dominates understanding of the composition of the historical narratives.
By the end of the 19th century the scholarly consensus was that the Pentateuch was the work of many authors writing from 1000 BCE (the time of David) to 500 BCE (the time of Ezra) and redacted c.450, and as a consequence whatever history it contained was more often polemical than strictly factual – a conclusion reinforced by the then fresh scientific refutations of what were at the time widely classed as biblical mythologies, as discussed above.
In the following decades Hermann Gunkel drew attention to the mythic aspects of the Pentateuch, and Albrecht Alt, Martin Noth and thetradition history school argued that although its core traditions had genuinely ancient roots, the narratives were fictional framing devices and were not intended as history in the modern sense. Though doubts have been cast on the historiographic reconstructions of this school (particularly the notion of oral traditions as a primary ancient source), much of its critique of biblical historicity found wide acceptance. Gunkel's observation that
if, however, we consider figures like Abraham, Issac, and Jacob to be actual persons with no original mythic foundations, that does not at all mean that they are historical figures ... For even if, as may well be assumed, there was once a man call 'Abraham,' everyone who knows the history of legends is sure that the legend is in no position at the distance of so many centuries to preserve a picture of the personal piety of Abraham. The 'religion of Abraham' is, in reality, the religion of the legend narrators which they attribute to Abraham[28]
has in various forms become a commonplace of contemporary criticism.[29]
In the United States the biblical archaeology movement, under the influence of Albright, counter-attacked, arguing that the broad outline within the framing narratives was also true, so that while scholars could not realistically expect to prove or disprove individual episodes from the life of Abraham and the other patriarchs, these were real individuals who could be placed in a context proven from the archaeological record. But as more discoveries were made, and anticipated finds failed to materialise, it became apparent that archaeology did not in fact support the claims made by Albright and his followers. Today, only a minority of scholars continue to work within this framework, mainly for reasons of religious conviction.[30] "[Albright's] central theses have all been overturned, partly by further advances in Biblical criticism, but mostly by the continuing archaeological research of younger Americans and Israelis to whom he himself gave encouragement and momentum ... The irony is that, in the long run, it will have been the newer 'secular' archaeology that contributed the most to Biblical studies, not 'Biblical archaeology'."[31]
The scholarly history of the Deuteronomic history parallels that of the Pentateuch: the European tradition history school argued that the narrative was untrustworthy and could not be used to construct a narrative history; the American Albright school asserted that it could when tested against the archaeological record; and modern archaeological techniques proved crucial in deciding the issue. The test case was the book of Joshua and its account of a rapid, destructive conquest of the Canaanite cities: but by the 1960s it had become clear that the archaeological record did not, in fact, support the account of the conquest given in Joshua: the cities which the bible records as having been destroyed by the Israelites were either uninhabited at the time, or, if destroyed, were destroyed at widely different times, not in one brief period. The most high-profile example was the "fall ofJericho", when new excavations in the 1950s by Kathleen Kenyon revealed that the city had already been abandoned by the time of Joshua.[32]
Thomas L. Thompson, a leading minimalist scholar for example has written
- "There is no evidence of a United Monarchy, no evidence of a capital in Jerusalem or of any coherent, unified political force that dominated western Palestine, let alone an empire of the size the legends describe. We do not have evidence for the existence of kings named Saul, David or Solomon; nor do we have evidence for any temple at Jerusalem in this early period. What we do know of Israel and Judah of the tenth century does not allow us to interpret this lack of evidence as a gap in our knowledge and information about the past, a result merely of the accidental nature of archeology. There is neither room nor context, no artifact or archive that points to such historical realities in Palestine's tenth century. One cannot speak historically of a state without a population. Nor can one speak of a capital without a town. Stories are not enough."
Proponents of this theory also point to the fact that the division of the land into two entities, centered at Jerusalem and Shechem, goes back to the Egyptian rule of Israel in the New Kingdom. Solomon's empire is said to have stretched from the Euphrates in the north to the Red Sea in the south; it would have required a large commitment of men and arms and a high level of organization to conquer, subdue, and govern this area. But there is little archaeological evidence of Jerusalem being a sufficiently large city in the 10th century BCE, and Judah seems to be sparsely settled in that time period. Since Jerusalem has been destroyed and then subsequently rebuilt approximately 15 to 20 times since the time of David and Solomon, some argue much of the evidence could easily have been eliminated.
The conquests of David and Solomon are also not mentioned in contemporary histories. Culturally, the Bronze Age collapse is otherwise a period of general cultural impoverishment of the whole Levantine region, making it difficult to consider the existence of any large territorial unit such as the Davidic kingdom, whose cultural features rather seem to resemble the later kingdom of Hezekiah or Josiah than the political and economic conditions of the 11th century. Moreover the biblical account makes no claim that they directly governed the areas included in their empires which are portrayed instead as tributaries[citation needed]. However, since the discovery of an inscription dating to the 9th or 8th century BCE on theTel Dan Stele unearthed in the north of Israel, which may refer to the "house of David" as a monarchic dynast,[33] the debate has continued.[34] This is still hotly disputed, as well as a heated debate extends as to whether the united monarchy, the vast empire of King Solomon, and the rebellion of Jeroboam ever existed, or whether they are a late fabrication. TheMesha Stele, dated to circa 840 BCE, may reference the House of David, and mentions events and names found in Kings.[35]
Once again there is a problem here with the sources for this period of history. There are no contemporary independent documents other than the claimed accounts of the Books of Samuel, which clearly shows too many anachronisms to have been a contemporary account. For example there is mention of late armor (1 Samuel 17:4–7, 38–39; 25:13), use ofcamels (1 Samuel 30:17) and cavalry (as distinct from chariotry) (1 Samuel 13:5, 2 Samuel 1:6), iron picks and axes (as though they were common, 2 Samuel 12:31), sophisticated siege techniques (2 Samuel 20:15), there is a gargantuan troop (2 Samuel 17:1), a battle with 20,000 casualties (2 Samuel 18:7), and refer to Kushite paramilitary and servants, clearly giving evidence of a date in which Kushites were common, after the 26th Dynasty of Egypt, the period of the last quarter of the 8th century BCE.[36]
[edit]New Testament
The historicity, teachings, and nature of Jesus are also currently debated among biblical scholars. The "quest for the historical Jesus" began as early as the 18th century, and has continued to this day. The most notable recent scholarship came in the 1980s and '90s with the work of J.D. Crossan,[37] James D.G. Dunn,[38] John P. Meier,[39] E.P. Sanders[40]and N.T. Wright [41] being the most widely read and discussed. The earliest New Testament texts which refer to Jesus, Paul's letters, are usually dated in the 50s CE. Since Paul records very little of Jesus' life and activities, these are of little help in determining facts about the life of Jesus, although they may contain references to information given to Paul from the eyewitnesses of Jesus.[42]
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has shed light into the context of 1st century Palestine, noting the diversity of Jewish belief as well as shared expectations and teachings. For example the expectation of the coming messiah, the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount and much else of the early Christian movement are found to have existed within apocalyptic Judaism of the period.[43] This has had the effect of centering Early Christianity much more within its Jewish roots than was previously the case. It is now recognised that Rabbinical Judaism and Early Christianity are only two of the many strands which survived until the Jewish revolt of 66 to 70 CE,[44][45] see also Split of early Christianity and Judaism.
Most modern scholars hold that the canonical Gospel accounts were written between 70 and 100 or 110 CE,[46] four to eight decades after the crucifixion, although based on earlier traditions and texts, such as "Q", Logia or sayings gospels, the passion account or other earlier literature (See List of Gospels). Some scholars argue that these accounts were compiled by witnesses[47] although this view is disputed by other scholars.[48] There are also secular references to Jesus, although they are few and quite late. Almost all historical critics agree, however, that a historical figure named Jesus taught throughout the Galilean countryside c. 30 CE, was believed by his followers to have performed supernatural acts, and was sentenced to death by the Romans possibly for insurrection.[49]
Many scholars have pointed out, that the Gospel of Mark shows signs of a lack of knowledge of geographical, political and religious matters in Palestine in the time of Jesus. Thus, today the most common opinion is, that the author is unknown and both geographically and historically at a distance to the narrated events[50][51][52][53] although opinion varies and scholars such as Craig Blomberg accept the more traditional view.[54] The use of expressions that may be described as awkward and rustic cause the Gospel of Mark to appear somewhat unlettered or even crude.[55] This may be attributed to the influence that Saint Peter, a fisherman, is suggested to have on the writing of Mark.[56] The writers of theGospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke used Mark as a source, with changes and improvement to peculiarities and crudities in Mark.[55]
The absence of evidence of Jesus' life before his meeting with John the Baptist has led to many speculations. It would seem that part of the explanation may lie in the early conflict between Paul and the Desposyni Ebionim, led by James the Just, supposedly the brother of Jesus, that led to Gospel passages critical of Jesus' family[57]
The historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles, the primary source for the Apostolic Age, is a major issue for biblical scholars and historians of Early Christianity.
While some biblical scholars view the Book of Acts as being extremely accurate and corroborated by archaeology, others view the work as being inaccurate and in conflict with thePauline epistles. Acts portrays Paul as more inline with Jewish Christianity, while the Pauline epistles record more conflict, such as the Incident at Antioch, see also Paul of Tarsus and Judaism.
[edit]Challenge to authorship of Biblical books
Scholars of higher criticism and textual criticism have sometimes upheld and sometimes challenged the traditional authorship of various books and passages of the Bible.
[edit]Schools of archaeological and historical thought
[edit]Overview of academic views
An educated reading of the biblical text requires knowledge of when it was written, by whom, and for what purpose. For example, most academics would agree that the Pentateuchwas in existence some time shortly after the 6th century BCE, but they disagree about when it was written. Proposed dates vary from the 15th century BCE to the 6th century BCE. One popular hypothesis points to the reign of Josiah (7th century BCE). In this hypothesis, the events of, for example, Exodus would have happened centuries before they were finally edited. This topic is expanded upon in dating the Bible.
An important point to keep in mind is the documentary hypothesis, which using the biblical evidence itself, claims to demonstrate that our current version was based on older written sources that were lost. Although it has been modified heavily over the years, most scholars accept some form of this hypothesis. There have also been and are a number of scholars who reject it, for example Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen[58] and the late Umberto Cassuto and Gleason Archer.
There are three loosely defined historical schools of thought with regard to the historical accuracy of the Bible,
- biblical minimalism — which holds the primacy of modern archaeological evidence, and maintains the theology and apology, and all stories within it are of a later aetiological character
- biblical maximalism — which holds that also the historical accounts of the Exodus, Judges and United Monarchy, king David and king Saul, are to be taken as largely accurate
- non-historical method of reading the Bible; the traditional religious reading of the Bible independent of archaeological evidence, assuming it to be accurate.
Note that historical opinions fall on a spectrum, rather than into tightly defined camps. Since there is a wide range of opinions regarding the historical accuracy of the Bible, it should not be surprising that any given scholar may have views that fall anywhere between these loosely defined camps.
[edit]Maximalist – Minimalist dichotomy
The major split of biblical Scholarship into two opposing schools is strongly disapproved by non-fundamentalist biblical scholars, as being an attempt by so-called "conservative" Christians to portray the field as a bipolar argument, of which only one side is correct.[59] Examination of the so-called "liberal/secular" views in detail shows many differences of opinion, clearly demonstrating that to portray biblical scholarship in such "us" against "them" terms reflects a particular sectarian point of view, not supported by the evidence.[clarification needed][citation needed]
Recently the difference between the Maximalist and Minimalist has reduced, however a new school started with a work, "The Quest for the Historical Israel: Debating Archaeology and the History of Early Israel" by Israel Finkelstein, Amihai Mazar, and Brian B. Schmidt.[60] This school argues that post-processual archaeology enables us to recognise the existence of a middle ground between Minimalism and Maximalism, and that both these extremes need to be rejected. Archaeology offers both confirmation of parts of the biblical record and also poses challenges to the naive interpretations made by some. The careful examination of the evidence demonstrates that the historical accuracy of the first part of the Old Testament is greatest during the reign of Josiah. Some feel that the accuracy diminishes, the further backwards one proceeds from this date. This they claim would confirm that a major redaction of the texts seems to have occurred at about that date.
[edit]Biblical minimalism
Main article: Biblical minimalism
Biblical minimalists generally hold that the Bible is principally a theological and apologetic work, and all stories within it are of an aetiological character. The early stories are held to have a historical basis that was reconstructed centuries later, and the stories possess at most only a few tiny fragments of genuine historical memory—which by their definition are only those points which are supported by archaeological discoveries. In this view, all of the stories about the biblical patriarchs are fictional, and the patriarchs mere legendary eponyms to describe later historical realities. Further, biblical minimalists hold that the twelve tribes of Israel were a later construction, the stories of King David and King Saul were modeled upon later Irano-Hellenistic examples, and that there is no archaeological evidence that the united kingdom of Israel, which the Bible says that David and Solomon ruled over an empire from the Euphrates to Eilath, ever existed.
- "It is hard to pinpoint when the movement started but 1968 seems to be a reasonable date. During this year, two prize winning essays were written in Copenhagen; one by Niels Peter Lemche, the other by Heike Friis, which advocated a complete rethinking of the way we approach the Bible and attempt to draw historical conclusions from it"[61]
In published books, one of the early advocates of the current school of thought known as biblical minimalism is Giovanni Garbini,Storia e ideologia nell'Israele antico (1986), translated into English as History and Ideology in Ancient Israel(1988). In his footsteps followed Thomas L. Thompson with his lengthy Early History of the Israelite People: From the Written & Archaeological Sources (1992) and, building explicitly on Thompson's book, P. R. Davies' shorter work, In Search of 'Ancient Israel' (1992). In the latter, Davies finds historical Israel only in archaeological remains, biblical Israel only in Scripture, and recent reconstructions of "ancient Israel" to be an unacceptable amalgam of the two. Thompson and Davies see the entire Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as the imaginative creation of a small community of Jews at Jerusalem during the period which the Bible assigns to after the return from the Babylonian exile, from 539 BCE onward. Niels Peter Lemche, Thompson's fellow faculty member at the University of Copenhagen, also followed with several titles that show Thompson's influence, including The Israelites in history and tradition (1998). The presence of both Thompson and Lemche at the same institution has led to the use of the term "Copenhagen school". Although the immediate effect of biblical minimalism from 1992 onward was heated debate from several sides (not just two),[62] some calmer critiques, none of which was neutral, eventually appeared.[63]
[edit]Biblical maximalism
While there is no scholarly controversy on the historicity of the events recounted from the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE, and that the events predating the United Monarchy cannot be shown to have any historicity, the positions of "maximalists" vs. "minimalists" concern the monarchy period, spanning the 10th to 7th centuries BCE The maximalist position holds that the accounts of the United Monarchy and the early kings of Israel, king David and king Saul, are to be taken as largely historical.[64]
[edit]Decreasing conflict between the maximalist and minimalist schools
In 2001, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman published the book The Bible Unearthed. Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts which advocated a view midway toward biblical minimalism and caused an uproar among many conservatives. The 25th anniversary issue of Biblical Archeological Review(March/April 2001 edition), editor Hershel Shanks quoted several biblical scholars who insisted that minimalism was dying,[65] although leading minimalists deny this and a claim has been made "We are all minimalists now".[66]
Apart from the well-funded (and fundamentalist) “biblical archaeologists,” we are in fact nearly all “minimalists” now.[67]—Philip Davies, "Beyond Labels: What Comes Next?"
The fact is that we are all minimalists -- at least, when it comes to the patriarchal period and the settlement. When I began my PhD studies more than three decades ago in the USA, the 'substantial historicity' of the patriarchs was widely accepted as was the unified conquest of the land. These days it is quite difficult to find anyone who takes this view.
In fact, until recently I could find no 'maximalist' history of Israel since Wellhausen. ... In fact, though, 'maximalist' has been widely defined as someone who accepts the biblical text unless it can be proven wrong. If so, very few are willing to operate like this, not even John Bright (1980) whose history is not a maximalist one according to the definition just given.—Lester L. Grabbe, "Some Recent Issues in the Study of the History of Israel"
In 2003, Kenneth Kitchen, a scholar who adopts a more maximalist point of view, authored the book On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Kitchen advocated the reliability of many (though not all) parts of the Torah and in no uncertain terms criticizes the work of Finkelstein and Silberman, to which Finkelstein has since responded.
Jennifer Wallace describes archaeologist Israel Finkelstein's view in her article Shifting Ground in the Holy Land, appearing in Smithsonian Magazine, May 2006:
- He [Finkelstein] cites the fact – now accepted by most archaeologists – that many of the cities Joshua is supposed to have sacked in the late 13th century B.C. had ceased to exist by that time. Hazor was destroyed in the middle of that century, Ai was abandoned before 2000 B.C. Even Jericho, where Joshua is said to have brought the walls tumbling down by circling the city seven times with blaring trumpets, was destroyed in 1500 B.C. Now controlled by the Palestinian Authority, the Jericho site consists of crumbling pits and trenches that testify to a century of fruitless digging.
However, despite problems with the archaeological record, some maximalists place Joshua in the mid second millennium, at about the time the Egyptian Empire came to rule over Canaan, and not the 13th century as Finkelstein or Kitchen claim, and view the destruction layers of the period as corroboration of the biblical account. The destruction of Hazor in the mid-13th century is seen as corroboration of the biblical account of the later destruction carried out by Deborah and Barak as recorded in the Book of Judges. The location that Finkelstein refers to as "Ai" is generally dismissed as the location of the biblical Ai, since it was destroyed and buried in the 3rd millennium. The prominent site has been known by that name since at least Hellenistic times, if not before. Minimalists all hold that dating these events as contemporary are etiological explanations written centuries after the events they claim to report.
For the united monarchy both Finkelstein and Silberman do accept that David and Solomon were really existing persons (no kings but bandit leaders or hill country chieftains)[68][69]from Judah about the 10th century BCE[70] - they do not assume that there was such a thing as united monarchy with a capital in Jerusalem.
The Bible reports that Jehoshaphat, a contemporary of Ahab, offered manpower and horses for the northern kingdom's wars against the Arameans. He strengthened his relationship with the northern kingdom by arranging a diplomatic marriage: the Israelite princess Athaliah, sister or daughter of King Ahab, married Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 8:18). The house of David in Jerusalem was now directly linked to (and apparently dominated by) the Israelite royalty of Samaria. In fact, we might suggest that this represented the north's takeover by marriage of Judah. Thus in the ninth century BCE—nearly a century after the presumed time of David—we can finally point to the historical existence of a great united monarchy of Israel, stretching from Dan in the north to Beer-sheba in the south, with significant conquered territories in Syria and Transjordan. But this united monarchy—a real united monarchy—was ruled by the Omrides, not the Davidides, and its capital was Samaria, not Jerusalem.[71]—Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, David and Solomon. In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition.
Others such as David Ussishkin argue that those who follow the biblical depiction of a united monarchy do so on the basis of limited evidence while hoping to uncover real archaeological proof in the future.[72] Gunnar Lehmann suggests that there is still a possibility that David and Solomon were able to become local chieftains of some importance and claims that Jerusalem at the time was at best a small town in a sparsely populated area in which alliances of tribal kinship groups formed the basis of society. He goes on further to claim that it was at best a small regional centre, one of three to four in the territory of Judah and neither David nor Solomon had the manpower or the requisite social/political/administrative structure to rule the kind of empire described in the Bible.[73]
These views are strongly criticized by William G. Dever,[74] Helga Weippert, Amihai Mazar and Amnon Ben-Tor.
André Lemaire states in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple[75] that the principal points of the biblical tradition with Solomon as generally trustworthy, as does Kenneth Kitchen, who argue that Solomon ruled over a comparatively wealthy "mini-empire", rather than a small city-state.
Recently Finkelstein has joined with the more conservative Amihai Mazar, to explore the areas of agreement and disagreement and there are signs the intensity of the debate between the so-called minimalist and maximalist scholars is diminishing.[76] This view is also taken by Richard S. Hess,[77] which shows there is in fact a plurality of views between maximalists and minimalists. Jack Cargill[78] has shown that popular textbooks not only fail to give readers the up to date archaeological evidence, but that they also fail to correctly represent the diversity of views present on the subject. And Megan Bishop Moore and Brad E. Kelle provide an overview of the respective evolving approaches and attendant controversies, especially during the period from the mid-1980s through 2011, in their book Biblical History and Israel's Past.
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