The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions.

• Author: Bloch-Smith, Elizabeth
• Position: Book review

The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions. Edited by JAMES K. HOFFMEIER and ALAN MILLARD. Grand Rapids, Mich.: WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING Co., 2004. Pp. xviii + 385, illus. $26.00 (paper).

A 2001 colloquium, organized by members of the North Sinai Archaeological Project and hosted by Trinity International University, brought together eminent scholars dedicated to promoting "biblical archaeology." The editors of the resulting volume, James Hoffmeier and Alan Millard, characterize the discipline as the study of "times and places, the physical remains and written documents from across the Near East that relate to the biblical text either as background and context or by more direct contact (italics mine)" (p. xi). The strength of this volume lies in the range of scholarly articles countering the prevailing "minimalist" and postmodern approaches that minimize the historical value of the biblical text and regard as irretrievable any Iron Age traditions and texts. The general failure to apply the same standards of scholarly analysis to the Bible as to archaeological and extra-biblical evidence constitutes the book's greatest weakness. To legitimize the Bible as an historical repository grounded in geography, history, and the realia of an earlier period, most of the authors dismiss more recent approaches and their insights in favor of the historical-critical approach promoted by W. F. Albright and G. E. Wright in the first half of the twentieth century.

The book consists of four groups of essays, the last of which indicates the rationale and target audience: "Biblical Archaeology: The Recent Debate and Future Prospects," "Archaeology: Approaches and Application," "Using Texts in Biblical Archaeology," and "Hermeneutics and Theology."

Several authors address the subject of methodology: Thomas Davis, "Theory and Method in Biblical Archaeology"; David Merling, "The Relationship between Archaeology and the Bible: Expectations and Reality"; Randall Younker, "Integrating Faith, the Bible, and Archaeology: A Review of the 'Andrews University Way' of Doing Archaeology"; Millard, "Amorites and Israelites: Invisible Invaders--Modern Expectation and Ancient Reality"; John Monson, "The Role of Context and the Promise of Archaeology in Biblical Interpretation from Early Judaism to Post Modernity"; and Andrew Vaughn, "Can We Write a History of Israel Today?"

These authors begin with a view "that takes the history of the Bible...