From the Publisher: Public interest in biblical archaeology is at an all-time high, as television documentaries pull in millions of viewers to watch shows on the Exodus, the Ark of the Covenant, and the so-called Lost Tomb of Jesus. Important discoveries with relevance to the Bible are made virtually every year-during 2007 and 2008 alone researchers announced at least seven major discoveries in Israel, five of them in or near Jerusalem. Biblical Archaeology offers a passport into this fascinating realm, where ancient religion and modern science meet, and where tomorrow's discovery may answer a riddle that has lasted a thousand years. Archaeologist Eric H. Cline here offers a complete overview of this exciting field. He discusses the early pioneers, such as Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie and William Foxwell Albright, the origins of biblical archaeology as a discipline, and the major controversies that first prompted explorers to go in search of objects and sites that would "prove" the Bible. He then surveys some of the most well-known biblical archaeologists, including Kathleen Kenyon and Yigael Yadin, the sites that are essential sources of knowledge for biblical archaeology, such as Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, Lachish, Masada, and Jerusalem, and some of the most important discoveries that have been made, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Mesha Inscription, and the Tel Dan Stele. Subsequent chapters examine additional archaeological finds that shed further light on the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, the issue of potential frauds and forgeries, including the James Ossuary and the Jehoash Tablet, and future prospects of the field. Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction captures the sense of excitement and importance that surrounds not only the past history of the field but also the present and the future, with fascinating new discoveries made each and every season.

Compares the biblical description of creation with the latest scientific theories in a line-by-line annotation of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, highlighting the scientific accuracy of many parts of the scriptural account

"Naturally occurring DMT may produce prophecy-like states of consciousness and thus represent a bridge between biology and religious experience"--

Cracking the Bible Code is the true account of the most amazing scientific research ever undertaken. References to important names, dates, and historical events have been found encoded in the book of Genesis. No individual could have known this informationfrom what grew in the garden of Eden to details of the Gulf War. Mystics and sages have long held that these codes existed, proving God's direct hand in all that was and is to be. Incredible? Yes. But some of today's greatest scientific minds have been unable as yet to disprove the codes.If the codes are genuine, they will forever change our view of God, faith, and our fate. Cracking the Bible Code explores the extraordinary possibilities and the furor surrounding the codes in a riveting story that is equal parts holy quest, Byzantine intrigue, and cutting-edge science.

Humans cannot live without stories. But one story has proved itself the most durable and hauntingly real of all time. The mythic tale of Adam and Eve has shaped conceptions of human origins and destiny for centuries. Stemming from a few verses in an ancient book, it became not just the foundation of three major world faiths, but has evolved through art, philosophy and science to serve as the mirror in which we seem to glimpse the whole, long history of our fears and desires. What is it about Adam and Eve's story that fascinates us? What does it tell us about how our species lives, dies, works or has sex? In a quest that begins at the dawn of time, Stephen Greenblatt takes us from ancient Babylonia to the forests of east Africa. We meet evolutionary biologists and fossilised ancestors; we grapple with morality and marriage in Milton's Paradise Lost; and we decide if the Fall is the unvarnished truth or fictional allegory. Ultimately, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve allows us a new understanding of ourselves.

New insights into how the Book of Samuel offers a timeless meditation on the dilemmas of statecraft The Book of Samuel is universally acknowledged as one of the supreme achievements of biblical literature. Yet the book's anonymous author was more than an inspired storyteller. The author was also an uncannily astute observer of political life and the moral compromises and contradictions that the struggle for power inevitably entails. The Beginning of Politics mines the story of Israel's first two kings to unearth a natural history of power, providing a forceful new reading of what is arguably the first and greatest work of Western political thought. Moshe Halbertal and Stephen Holmes show how the beautifully crafted narratives of Saul and David cut to the core of politics, exploring themes that resonate wherever political power is at stake. Through stories such as Saul's madness, David's murder of Uriah, the rape of Tamar, and the rebellion of Absalom, the book's author deepens our understanding not only of the necessity of sovereign rule but also of its costs--to the people it is intended to protect and to those who wield it. What emerges from the meticulous analysis of these narratives includes such themes as the corrosive grip of power on those who hold and compete for power; the ways in which political violence unleashed by the sovereign on his own subjects is rooted in the paranoia of the isolated ruler and the deniability fostered by hierarchical action through proxies; and the intensity with which the tragic conflict between political loyalty and family loyalty explodes when the ruler's bloodline is made into the guarantor of the all-important continuity of sovereign power. The Beginning of Politics is a timely meditation on the dark side of sovereign power and the enduring dilemmas of statecraft.

Bestselling author Richard Elliott Friedman, whose Who Wrote the Bible? was an intriguing took at the origins of the Bible, takes on another momentous theme for the third millennium "to point the way toward a possible final reconciliation of science and religion and to provide the basis for a new moral code acceptable to believers and nonbelievers alike" (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Remarkably readable, this inspiring work explores three interlinking mysteries: the amazing fact that in the Bible God gradually becomes more hidden; the eerie connection between Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, who arrived at the idea of "the death of God" almost concurrently -- but independent of one another; and the extraordinary cosmic parallel between the big bang theory and the mystlcism of the Kabbalah. Bible Review hailed this book as "brilliant, an elegant and learned reflection on one of the central mysteries or the Bible and of modern life."

"Toba Spitzer's God Is Here is a transformative exploration of the idea of God, offering new paths to experiencing the realm of the sacred. Most of us are hungry for a system of meaning to make sense of our lives, yet traditional religion too often leaves those seeking spiritual sustenance unsatisfied. Rabbi Toba Spitzer understands this problem firsthand, and knows that too often it is traditional ideas of the deity-he's too big, too impersonal, and too unbelievable-that get in the way. In God Is Here, Spitzer argues that whether we believe in God or fervently disbelieve, what we are actually disagreeing about is not God at all, but a metaphor of a Big Powerful Person that limits our understanding and our spiritual lives. Going back to the earliest sources for Judaism as well as Christianity, Spitzer discovers in the Hebrew Bible a rich and varied palette of metaphors for the divine-including Water, Voice, Fire, Rock, Cloud, and even the process of Becoming. She addresses how we can access these ancient metaphors, as well as those drawn from rabbinic tradition and modern science, to experience holiness in our daily lives and to guide us in challenging times. In the section on water, for instance, she looks at the myriad ways water flows through the Biblical stories of the Israelites and emerges as a powerful metaphor for the divine in the Prophets and Psalms. She invites us to explore what it might mean to "drink from God," or to experience godly justice as something that "rains down" and "flows like a river." Each chapter contains insights from the Bible and teachings from Judaism and other spiritual traditions, accompanied by suggestions for practice to bring alive each of the God metaphors. Rabbi Toba Spitzer has helped many people satisfy their spiritual hunger. With God Is Here she will inspire you to find new and perhaps surprising ways of encountering the divine, right where you are"--

The biblical tale of Noah and the Flood has been interpreted in many different ways through the ages, mirroring the many changes in Western beliefs and values. In this masterly and beautifully illustrated book, Norman Cohn, the author of The Pursuit of the Millennium and Cosmos, Chaos and the World to Come, explores the origins, development, and varying interpretations of this ancient story and assesses its impact on the history of ideas. The roots of the Flood story, Cohn explains, lie in Mesopotamian mythology. But its meaning was totally transformed by the authors of Genesis so that it became a message of hope for Jews and later a prefiguring of salvation for Christians. Cohn then shows how, under the impact of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, the story came to be understood in a new way. Between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries it was closely associated with the development of scientific geology, which it both helped and hindered. From the late eighteenth century until the present day the story of Noah's Flood has been involved also in the conflict between traditional religious beliefs and science and the attempts to harmonize the two. Cohn describes how, while geological and palaeontological discoveries were calling the historicity of the Flood into question, fundamentalists have continued to champion it, even to the extent of searching for the landing site of the ark. Finally, he considers how, in the course of the present century, the story has been interpreted as a solar myth, a lunar myth, a fertility myth, and even (psychoanalytically) as an expression of male resentment against women. Wide ranging and compellingly narrated, the book includesintriguing accounts of the scholars and theologians who endorsed or rejected the Flood story and contributed to its powerful resonance over two thousand years.

The first three verses of the Torah are perhaps the best-known sentences of the Hebrew Bible. They may also very well be the least understood. In Awesome Creation, Rabbi Yosef Bitton delves into these verses with an open mind and an open heart. Drawing on classical Jewish sources as well as current scientific data, Rabbi Bitton offers a fresh reading of the initial words of Scripture. Among the subjects covered are the coincidences and differences between the Big Bang theory and the Biblical Creation story, the unexplored consequences of Creation ex nihilo, the controversies surrounding the age of the universe, the state of our planet upon its creation, the natural forces used by the Creator to reshape His world, and the enigma of the nature of primeval light. Throughout his book, Rabbi Bitton emphasizes the importance of an accurate comprehension of Biblical Hebrew, as explained by the Rabbis of the Talmud and the classical Torah commentators. Through a precise understanding of each word of these verses - and thanks to today's modern scientific knowledge - we are able to appreciate, as never before, the beauty and sophistication of the Biblical story of Creation.

Many books have been written on the Bible and evolution by scientists, but this volume is written by a biblical specialist. In Faith and Fossils Lester Grabbe, a prominent Hebrew Bible scholar, examines the Bible in its ancient context and explores its meaning in light of emerging scientific evidence. Both the Bible and the fossil record raise significant questions about what it means to be human, and Grabbe expertly draws on both sources to grapple with who we are and where we came from. Written in uncomplicated language and featuring eleven spectacular color plates, Grabbe's Faith and Fossils creatively shows how science and faith intersect in questions about human origins.

These volumes contain most of the papers of the late Jonas C. Greenfield written in English, with source and lexeme indexes, and is intended for scholars and students of the Ancient Near East, Aramaic, Hebrew Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Semitic philology. Greenfield published numerous articles in a wide range of journals, some of them fairly inaccessible. He himself had begun to collect his papers, with the aim of revising and republishing them, when his sudden death intervened. It is the privilege of the editors, two close friends of Greenfield and one of his former students, to present this collection to the public. This collection shows the wealth, breadth, and creativity of Greenfield's substantial scholarship, as well as his desire to collaborate with his colleagues in academic pursuits. Jonas Greenfield Biography Prof. Jonas C. Greenfield was born in New York City in 1926 and completed his Ph.D. at Yale University in 1956. In addition to a distinguished teaching career that spanned nearly two and a half decades at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he was a member of the team of translators of the Jewish Publication Society and of the Dead Sea Scrolls Supervisory Committee of the Israel Antiquities Authority, an honorary fellow of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Royal Asiatic Society; in 1994, he was elected to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He died unexpectedly in his sleep in 1995. Jonas was distinguished by his love of learning and his high regard for his colleagues and students--the values by which he lived as a man and a scholar.