I'm fascinated by religious myth-making… Really love learning about how, for example, there is no actual evidence of a biblical Exodus, we think that the earliest appearances of Yahweh were as part of a polytheistic pantheon (and he had Ashorah as lady consort!), that Deuteronomy is in some senses a forgery attributed to Moses, etc.
Also keen on similar stuff from the New Testament, as well as the messy parts of church history that make it clear just how much of what is now considered canonical/essential to western Christian doctrine is essentially manufactured and modern.
Im not aiming to become a granular biblical scholar… But I do have a general understanding of the Iron Age in the Levant/Egypt and of the Roman occupation because I'm an archaeologist, so I'm not intimidated (well, not TOO intimidated) by a more scholarly text.
But I'd really like it to be focused on biblical history rather than just the region/time at large; I'm finding it really helpful right now to contextualize Abrahamic religion (and particularly Christianity) with…like… metaphorical error bars.
Any suggestions?
by H2psychosis
5 Comments
Josephus was a historian who included biblical history in his accounts
For New Testament, any book written by Bart Ehrman. He has written books on many subjects, from the historical Jesus to biblical forgeries. He’s a well respected scholar and is great at writing for wide audiences without dumbing down the research.
Maybe *The Many Faces of Christ* by Phillip Jenkins. He talks about how different stories were passed on and changed and became canonized in different places and times.
Zealot by Reza Aslan
If you haven’t already, you absolutely need to check out John Barton’s **A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths**. It is exactly what you’re looking for.