Overview
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.
Full Product Details
Author: Richard A. Freund
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.10cm
, Length: 23.00cm
Weight: 0.612kg
ISBN: 9780742546455
ISBN 10: 0742546454
Pages: 408
Publication Date: 16 December 2009
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
A fascinating, riveting excavation through layers of history (and quite literally, earth and humankind) that will be of tremendous interest to both scholars and a general readers. Richard Freund is remarkable at casting a fresh eye on texts and artifacts that seem to be well known, but deserve more careful scrutiny.--Michael Berkowitz
Richard Freund's Digging Through the Bible is a personal account of excavating the most important sites of the Bible, and it is spellbinding. A provocative and fascinating account of the major controversies of the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity. -- Rabbi Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, New York University Richard Freund has produced a very readable and stimulating book that addresses a number of vexing biblical issues. Thanks to his direct involvement in excavations in Israel, he is able to offer new firsthand data to bolster the case he makes. -- James K. Hoffmeier, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Digging through the Bible does something that no other book on archaeology and the Bible does. It brings the reader in a pedagogical as well as in a very updated and well-learned way from the Hebrew Bible through the New Testament, touching on most of the major contemporary controversies about Jerusalem, the Exodus, Jesus, and Qumran. -- Adolf Roitman, curator, The Shrine of the Book, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem Richard Freund’s extensive knowledge of the literary and archaeological sources, as well as his insights and ability to make connections, make this a must-read for any student of the Bible. His work at numerous excavations in Israel and his experience as a professor and Rabbi make him uniquely qualified to write this lively book, which is comprehensible to both lay reader and scholar alike. -- Elizabeth McNamer, Rocky Mountain College; director, Rocky Mountain College Bethsaida Excavations Project A fascinating, riveting excavation through layers of history (and quite literally, earth and humankind) that will be of tremendous interest to both scholars and a general readers. Richard Freund is remarkable at casting a fresh eye on texts and artifacts that seem to be well known, but deserve more careful scrutiny. -- Michael Berkowitz, University College London Freund has put together a masterful and eminently readable study of these differences, not to resolve them, but rather to explore the rich traditions that produced these writings. In an invaluable introductory chapter, he leads the reader through the world of biblical archaeology, examining the methods of textual criticism and historical research. . . . He masterfully studies the rise and centrality of the synagogue system within the Hebrew community. . . . His commitment to objective research and sound exegesis will surely inspire and inform every reader. -- October 2008 * Publishers Weekly * Well written and researched. . . . Recommended. * Library Journal * For those who enjoy the study of biblical archaeology but don't claim to be experts, this will be a rewarding read. Freund is an informed and interesting narrator. * The Bible Today * In fairly simple terms, [Freund] explains the different sides of each question and presents the available evidence. He describes the methodologies of biblical literary criticism and of biblical archaeology. . . . It is a good introduction to the problems of 'believing' the Bible in a post-modern, scientificized world. * Jewish Book World * Freund offers an erdutite, clearly written study of the biblical Old and New Testaments, as well as inscriptional and literary evidence that relates to them. . . . Recommended. * Choice Reviews * After providing a 46-page 'crash course' in biblical archaeology, Freund, professor of Jewish history at the University of Hartford and author of Secrets of the Cave of Letters: A Dead Sea Mystery (2004), uses archaeological finding to draw conclusions about key biblical characters and events. * New Testament Abstracts *
Digging through the Bible does something that no other book on archaeology and the Bible does. It brings the reader in a pedagogical as well as in a very updated and well-learned way from the Hebrew Bible through the New Testament, touching on most of the major contemporary controversies about Jerusalem, the Exodus, Jesus, and Qumran.--Adolfo Roitman
A fascinating, riveting excavation through layers of history (and quite literally, earth and humankind) that will be of tremendous interest to both scholars and a general readers. Richard Freund is remarkable at casting a fresh eye on texts and artifacts that seem to be well known, but deserve more careful scrutiny.--Michael Berkowitz, University College London
Richard Freund's Digging Through the Bible is a personal account of excavating the most important sites of the Bible, and it is spellbinding. A provocative and fascinating account of the major controversies of the Bible, Judaism, and Christianity. -- Rabbi Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, New York University Richard Freund has produced a very readable and stimulating book that addresses a number of vexing biblical issues. Thanks to his direct involvement in excavations in Israel, he is able to offer new firsthand data to bolster the case he makes. -- James K. Hoffmeier, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Digging through the Bible does something that no other book on archaeology and the Bible does. It brings the reader in a pedagogical as well as in a very updated and well-learned way from the Hebrew Bible through the New Testament, touching on most of the major contemporary controversies about Jerusalem, the Exodus, Jesus, and Qumran. -- Adolf Roitman, curator, The Shrine of the Book, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem Richard Freund's extensive knowledge of the literary and archaeological sources, as well as his insights and ability to make connections, make this a must-read for any student of the Bible. His work at numerous excavations in Israel and his experience as a professor and Rabbi make him uniquely qualified to write this lively book, which is comprehensible to both lay reader and scholar alike. -- Elizabeth McNamer, Rocky Mountain College; director, Rocky Mountain College Bethsaida Excavations Project A fascinating, riveting excavation through layers of history (and quite literally, earth and humankind) that will be of tremendous interest to both scholars and a general readers. Richard Freund is remarkable at casting a fresh eye on texts and artifacts that seem to be well known, but deserve more careful scrutiny. -- Michael Berkowitz, University College London Freund has put together a masterful and eminently readable study of these differences, not to resolve them, but rather to explore the rich traditions that produced these writings. In an invaluable introductory chapter, he leads the reader through the world of biblical archaeology, examining the methods of textual criticism and historical research. . . . He masterfully studies the rise and centrality of the synagogue system within the Hebrew community. . . . His commitment to objective research and sound exegesis will surely inspire and inform every reader. * Publishers Weekly, (Starred Review) * Well written and researched. . . . Recommended. * Library Journal, December 2008 * For those who enjoy the study of biblical archaeology but don't claim to be experts, this will be a rewarding read. Freund is an informed and interesting narrator. * The Bible Today, July/August 2009 * In fairly simple terms, [Freund] explains the different sides of each question and presents the available evidence. He describes the methodologies of biblical literary criticism and of biblical archaeology. . . . It is a good introduction to the problems of 'believing' the Bible in a post-modern, scientificized world. * Jewish Book World, November 2009 * Freund offers an erdutite, clearly written study of the biblical Old and New Testaments, as well as inscriptional and literary evidence that relates to them. . . . Recommended. * CHOICE, October 2009 * After providing a 46-page 'crash course' in biblical archaeology, Freund, professor of Jewish history at the University of Hartford and author of Secrets of the Cave of Letters: A Dead Sea Mystery (2004), uses archaeological finding to draw conclusions about key biblical characters and events. * New Testament Abstracts *
Author Information
Richard A. Freund is the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Jewish History and Director of the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford. His most recent work in Lithuania has been chronicled in a recent NOVA science series episode: “Holocaust Escape Tunnel” on the new discoveries made in the Holocaust era Ponar Burial Pits and at the Great Synagogue of Vilna, Lithuania. He is the author of hundreds of scholarly articles and several books (written or co-edited) including Digging through the Bible and Digging through History. He lives in Hartford, CT.
