The Bible in History: How Writers Create a Past

The Bible In History

Thompson, Thomas L.

History

RANDOM HOUSE UK

The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David

JONATHAN CAPE.

Biblical Narrative and Palestine's History: Changing Perspectives 2 (Copenhagen International Seminar)

Modern biblical scholarship's commitment to the historical-critical method in its efforts to write a history of Israel has created the central and unavoidable problem of writing an objective and critical history of Palestine through the biblical literature with the methods of Biblical Archaeology. 'Biblical Narrative and Palestine's History' brings together key essays on historical method and the archaeology and history of Palestine. The essays employ comparative and formalistic techniques to illuminate the allegorical and mythical in Old Testament narrative traditions from Genesis to Nehemiah. In so doing, the volume presents a detailed review of central and radical changes in both our understanding of biblical traditions and the archaeology and history of Palestine. The study offers an analysis of Biblical narrative as rooted in ancient Near Eastern literature since the Bronze Age.

Ancient Civilizations

Routledge

This is a revolutionary, revisionist book on the Old Testament and the early history of the Middle East. There have been many extraordinary advances in Palestinian and biblical archaeology in recent years. This book is a synthesis of all the cutting-edge archaeology and textual studies of the last 25 years as well as studies in the history of agriculture and technology, settlement patterns, climatology, sociology, and economics. Among its startling conclusions are:1) Today we no longer have a history of Israel.2) We can no longer talk about a time of the patriarchs.3) There was never a United Monarchy” [Saul, David, Solomon] in history and it is meaningless to speak of pre-exilic prophets and their writing.4) Israel was only a small highland patronate lying north of Jerusalem and south of the Jezreel Valley.5) The notion Israel” and its history is a literary fiction.These conclusions are bound to set off some explosive arguments. The synthesis draws on established and widely accepted specific, scholarly work. The author's conclusions, however, are radical and new.

The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology And The Myth Of Israel

Basic Books

The Jewish people's historical claims to a small area of land bordering the eastern Mediterranean are not only the foundation for the modern state of Israel, they are also at the very heart of Judeo-Christian belief. Yet in The Mythic Past, Thomas Thompson argues that such claims are grounded in literary myth, not history. Among the author's startling conclusions are these:• There never was a "united monarch" of Israel in biblical times• We can no longer talk about a time of the Patriarchs• The entire notion of "Israel" and its history is a literary fiction.The Mythic Past provides refreshing new ways to read the Old Testament as the great literature it was meant to be. At the same time, its controversial conclusions about Jewish history are sure to prove incendiary in a worldwide debate about one of the world's seminal texts, and one of its most bitterly contested regions.

Since the eighteenth century, scholars and historians studying the texts of the Bible have attempted to distill historical facts and biography from the mythology and miracles described there. That trend continues into the present day, as scholars such as those of the "Jesus Seminar" dissect the Gospels and other early Christian writings to separate the "Jesus of history" from the "Christ of faith." But with The Messiah Myth, noted Biblical scholar Thomas L. Thompson argues that the quest for the historical Jesus is beside the point, since the Jesus of the Gospels never existed.Like King David before him, says Thompson, the Jesus of the Bible is an amalgamation of themes from Near Eastern mythology and traditions of kingship and divinity. The theme of a messiah-a divinely appointed king who restores the world to perfection-is typical of Egyptian and Babylonian royal ideology dating back to the Bronze Age. In Thompson's view, the contemporary audience for whom the Old and New Testament were written would naturally have interpreted David and Jesus not as historical figures, but as metaphors embodying long-established messianic traditions. Challenging widely held assumptions about the sources of the Bible and the quest for the historical Jesus, The Messiah Myth is sure to spark interest and heated debate.

Africa

Bible In History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Random House UK, Limited. Book

Bible scholars dissect the gospels to separate the “Jesus of history” from the “Christ of faith.” This provocative study argues that the biblical characters of Jesus and David should be viewed not as historical figures, but as embodiments of Babylonian, Egyptian and Near Eastern mythology.From the Hardcover edition.

Pimlico

Archaeology seems to have become an active partner in the attempt to prove the historical truth of the Bible. Biblical archaeologists have gone to the field in search of Noah's ark or the walls of Jericho, as if the finding of these artifacts would make the events of scripture somehow more true or real. Thomas Thompson is one of the most vocal contemporary critics of biblical archaeology. His simple but powerful thesis is that archaeology cannot be used in the service of the Bible. Focusing on the patriarchal narratives-the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-he demonstrates that archaeological research simply cannot historically substantiate these stories. Going further, Thompson says that archaeological materials should never be dated or evaluated on the basis of written texts. Looking to the patriarchal narratives in Genesis, he concludes that these stories are neither historical nor were they intended to be historical. Instead, these narratives are written as expressions of Israel's relationship to God. Thomas L. Thompson is Professor of Old Testament, University of Copenhagen. His books include The Mythic Past and The Early History of the Israelite People.

The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest For The Historical Abraham

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Trinity Press International

The Origin Tradition of Ancient Israel: I. The Literary Formation of Genesis and Exodus 1-23 [JSOTS 55]

Sheffield Academic Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Thompson, Thomas L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Thompson, Thomas L.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Thompson, Thomas L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Bible In History

The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David

Biblical Narrative and Palestine's History: Changing Perspectives 2 (Copenhagen International Seminar)

The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology And The Myth Of Israel

The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology And The Myth Of Israel

The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David

Bible In History

The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David

The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest For The Historical Abraham

The Origin Tradition of Ancient Israel: I. The Literary Formation of Genesis and Exodus 1-23 [JSOTS 55]