The Historical Atlas of the Bible by Dr. Ian Barnes (2006)
D
This book is very hefty, with lots of beautiful color pictures. The graphs get a little old after a while, but there are plenty of nice pictures to keep the attention, and the mind stayed on ancient historical things related to those people and places in the times when the Bible was written.
Unfortunately, the author shows his disregard for the words contained in the Bible many times, giving the impression that he doesn’t care whatever God says in it, but thinks it is an interesting book, something to be dissected by modern-day scholars to prove how untrustworthy the Bible is. Laughingly, for all his doctorate and such, there are numerous English grammatical errors.
He writes: “When the Hebrews became farmers, after the occupation of Canaan, the Canaanite harvest festivals were celebrated as manifestations of the same power of God which had brought the people safely out of Egypt.”
“Some of the contradictory information (in the Bible about the Exodus) becomes much clearer if it is accepted that the biblical accounts of the journey combine traditions about several waves of Hebrew penetration into Canaan, with at least two distinct journeys.”
“… the Ten Commandments have no known parallels in the ancient Near East and could well go back to Moses himself.”
“(The spies were sent to Canaan and told of fierce people) But the lure of the land was irresistible.”
“However, extensive archaeological work on the site of Jericho reveals no walled city appropriate to the period of the Hebrew conquest. … Perhaps the Jericho stories were handed down and woven into the Biblical epic when the Hebrew conquest stories began to take shape.”
“The design of such temples (Canaanite) influenced the Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem and other cities.”
“(when the captured ark was returned) The Ark was then transported to Kiriath-jearim where it remained for 20 years, doubtless under watchful Philistine eyes.”
“… Zadok … marks a distinct movement towards the Canaanite expression of religious beliefs.”
“The influence of Greek dramatic traditions may be seen in the structure of the Old Testament Book of Job.”
All of the above examples shows how the author puts his thinking above the words in the Bible.
Some examples of sloppy English:
“In this mosaic from the Arian Baptistry in Ravenna dates from the 5th century A.D.”
“… Lazarus raised for death”
“… Herod conquered his kingdom”
“Under his successor, Nebuchadnezzar II who ruled from 605 to 562 B.C.”
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The book provides easy-to-understand timelines, and nice pictures, but the overall tone of deprecating the Bible, and the sloppy writing, makes it unacceptable.