Digging Through the Bible: Modern Archaeology and the Ancient Bible

by Richard A. Freund

Many of our religious beliefs are based on faith alone, but archaeology gives the opportunity to find evidence about what really happened in the distant past-evidence that can have a dramatic impact on what and how we believe. Join celebrated archaeologist and rabbi Richard Fruend as he takes readers through digs he has led in the Holy Land, searching for evidence about key biblical characters and events.

Digging Through the Bible presents overviews of the evidence surrounding figures such as Moses, Kings David and Solomon, and Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as new information that can help us more fully understand the life and times in which these people would have lived. Freund also presents new evidence about finding the grave of the Teacher of Righteousness mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and gives a compelling argument about how the Exodus of the Israelites may have taken place in three separate waves over time, rather than in a single event as presented in the Bible.

In addition to discussing some of the greatest Biblical controversies of our day, Freund provides a compelling discussion of how to understand these debates and how much information is necessary to form new conclusions about the past. An engaging introduction to the practice of Biblical archaeology, Digging Through the Bible shares information about the Holy Land that can provide a powerful connection between past history and present faith.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 2008

Reviews

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freund's book, while aimed at general readers, digs deeper and broader in and around Biblical archaeology. As such, it may be a disappointment to some readers because it requires more attention, has less of the Holy-Land-travelogue-with-pictures feel that books on Biblical archaeology often have, and doesn't provide simple yes/no answers to the questions surrounding the "Biblical People, Places, and Controversies" promised in the subtitle.

That said, Freund takes the attentive reader through a "crash course" on Biblical archaeology to set the stage for his examination of the big questions in the field like the timing, size, and historicity of the Exodus, the location of Mount Sinai, and the existence and importance of the historical David, Solomon, and Jesus. The crash course introduces us to the concepts of minimalism and maximalism.

Minimalists say that "'background' provided by archaeology demonstrates only that 'background' and little or nothing else can be learned form the evidence found from a period." Extreme minimalists will point to "the absence of exact information on these individuals as evidence that these individuals ever existed", an axiom that Freund states in its most simplistic as "Absence of evidence (of specific people, places, and events) is evidence of the absence (of specific people, places, and events)." (p. 325)

Maximalists, on the other hand, accept that "the background of archaeological evidence is evidence of an accurate background in the literary account. According to Maximalist logic, if the Bible is correct in its general outlines of biblical life, it should be accurate in terms of the details of the characters as well." (p. 326)

Freund describes himself as a Minimalist-Maximalist, seeking a middle ground that is justifiable by the archeological, geological, geographical, and literary evidence in each case, although I suspect if you scratched him deep enough Freund would bleed a bit maximalist. This position seems so reasonable that the general reader like myself who has no expertise in any of these areas might consider Freund's characterizations of the extremes as nonexistent straw men--except for the fact that the extremely polarizing forces of Middle Eastern geopolitics at the crossroads of the three major world religions has resulted in polemical violence between individual and groups throughout human history.

I referenced the three major world religions advisedly, as Freund goes far afield in his study, looking for some Islamic people, places, and events alongside the Biblical (Christian and Jewish) ones. This is important because of the intersects between them, but often overlooked in strictly "Biblical" archeology. Freund also widens the scope of archeology to literary and textual criticism, looking for and finding clues to the material evidence of places and people in the text. This study opens up new thoughts about the Exodus and the location of Mount Sinai that make sense of both the Biblical and non-Biblical texts and the (lack of) material evidence of the veracity of the texts; it may be, suggests Freund, because archeologists have been looking in the wrong places at the wrong times, for the wrong things.

I knocked the book down one star because of sometimes lengthy technical passages about minor characters that didn't generate much interest for me. Still, this is well worth reading, and digs deeper than a typical glossy pictures-and-"how it happened" coffee-table book. This book may stir your interest to continue learning by watching some of the several documentary films Freund has made about his years of digging through the Bible.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many insights

There are many insights, interesting details, excellent background, excellent overviews of biblical sights and controversies. The book is thorough and scholarly. I would say it was 'over my head'. But, I was persistent and read for the main points and insights.

[Gale Penton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reference

[pati · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of our religious beliefs are based upon faith alone, but archaeology gives us the opportunity to find evidence about what really happened in the past-evidence that can have a dramatic impact on what we believe and how we understand the Bible today. Archaeologist and Rabbi Richard Freund takes readers through many of his own excavations in the Holy Land, searching for information about key biblical characters and events.