🎬 Videos(9)
Video
The Heretic Who Made Christianity's First Bible
Genetically Modified Skeptic
In Christianity's first bible, God is evil, Jesus is not the messiah, and there are only 12 books. Marcion of Sinope, one of the most notorious heretics, created the first biblical canon in the 140s CE, hundreds of years before the New Testament was canonized. This is the story of the heretic who invented the bible. Themes here include orthodoxy vs heresy, the canonization of the new testament, Jesus' parables, the teachings of the apostle Paul, gnosticism, and the work of heresiologists like Tertullian and Irenaeus.
Video
Your Bible Is Wrong!
MythVision Podcast
The Bible you're reading is not the actual Bible. Dr. Joel Baden breaks down exactly how this is the case. Prof. Joel Baden works widely in the field of Hebrew Bible, with special attention to the literary history of the Pentateuch. He is the author, most recently, of The Book of Exodus: A Biography (Princeton University Press, 2019). His other books include J, E, and the Redaction of the Pentateuch (Mohr Siebeck, 2009); The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis (Yale University Press, 2012); The Promise to the Patriarchs (Oxford University Press, 2013); The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero (HarperOne, 2013); Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness (with Candida Moss; Princeton University Press, 2015); and Bible Nation: The United States of Hobby Lobby (with Candida Moss; Princeton University Press, 2017). He is the co-editor of the volumes The Strata of the Priestly Writings: Contemporary Debate and Future Directions (TVZ, 2009), Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls (Brill, 2017), and The Oxford Handbook of the Pentateuch (with Jeffrey Stackert; Oxford University Press, 2021).
📚 Books(3)
Book
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts
Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman
In this groundbreaking work that sets apart fact and legend, authors Finkelstein and Silberman use significant archeological discoveries to provide historical information about biblical Israel and its neighbors.
Book
The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood
Irving Finkel
Since the Victorian period, it has been understood that the story of Noah, iconic in the Book of Genesis, and a central motif in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, derives from a much older story that existed centuries before in ancient Babylon. But the relationship between the Babylonian and biblical traditions was shrouded in mystery. Then, in 2009, Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum and a world authority on ancient Mesopotamia, found himself playing detective when a member of the public arrived at the museum with an intriguing cuneiform tablet from a family collection. Not only did the tablet reveal a new version of the Babylonian Flood Story; the ancient poet described the size and completely unexpected shape of the ark, and gave detailed boat building specifications. Decoding this ancient message wedge by cuneiform wedge, Dr. Finkel discovered where the Babylonians believed the ark came to rest and developed a new explanation of how the old story ultimately found its way into the Bible.
📁 Other Resources(1)
Channel
Digital Hammurabi
YouTube Channel
Digital Hammurabi is the creative outlet of Assyriologist Megan Lewis. Driven by a passion for the ancient Near East and the belief that history is both important and relevant to modern life, Megan aims to break out of the ivory tower of academia and bring ancient Mesopotamia to the world! Ably assisted by her husband, Dr. Joshua Bowen.