On the Reliability of the Old Testament

About this book

For more than two hundred years controversy has raged over the reliability of the Old Testament. Questions about the factuality of its colorful stories of heroes villains and kings for example have led many critics to see the entire Hebrew Bible as little more than pious fiction. In this fascinating book noted ancient historian K. A. Kitchen takes strong issue with todays "revisionist" critics and offers a firm foundation for the historicity of the biblical texts. In a detailed comprehensive and entertaining manner Kitchen draws on an unprecedented range of historical data from the ancient Near East -- the Bibles own world -- and uses it to soundly reassess both the biblical record and the critics who condemn it. Working back from the latest periods (for which hard evidence is readily available) to the remotest times Kitchen systematically shows up the many failures of favored arguments against the Bible and marshals pertinent permanent evidence from antiquitys inscriptions and artifacts to demonstrate the basic honesty of the Old Testament writers. Enhanced with numerous tables figures and maps On the Reliability of the Old Testament is a must-read for anyone interested in the question of biblical truth.