K. A. Kitchen

Sobre a confiabilidade do Antigo Testamento.

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 today's "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 Bible's 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 antiquity's 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.… (más)

Though somewhat dated (c. 1959), this is very nearly the perfect book for exploring ANE influences and connections to the origins of the Old Testament. In fact, it is an excellent review of the issues raised in dozens of books, both much larger and quite concise, whether dated or newer.

Kitchen joins the issue in the first chapter, after a remarkably succinct review of several pertinent realities, when he states,

"The proper implications of these and many similar facts are that large parts of the Pentateuch really did originate in the second millennium BC, that Samuel really could (and probably did) issue the warnings recorded in 1 Samuel 8, and that the connection between Solomon's reign and the first few chapters of Proverbs (cf. Pr. 1:1-7) is something more than just the idle fancy of some late scribe; and so on. At least, this is the rational approach that would obtain if this were any part of Ancient Near Eastern literature, history and culture other than the Old Testament."

By the time the reader has gone through this engaging book (howbeit, almost amazingly brief), taking account of the dozens upon dozens of carefully detailed footnotes (Man! Does Kitchen have superb recall of his argument and how his sources support it, or what?), he/she is well-equipped to find refuge -- or perhaps, immense frustration -- in the conservative argument.

My favorite chapters are at the beginning of the book, chapters 2-3, on Early, and Later Hebrew Chronology; and the very excellent final, chapter 9, Near Eastern Light on the Biblical Text. The Index of Biblical References and Index of Subjects are helpful, well-done, and complete.

At this point in this review,, I originally wrote, "I would have preferred a separate Bibliography, but the footnotes are so complete and well-documented, I judge it is a moot point." And then, I realized, there is a lot to be said for not having to track the notes to the Bibliography, since they are, for all practical purposes, individual components of an annotated bibliography; I suppose on second thought, I'll have to acknowledge I'm ambivalent about a separate bibliography, and perhaps even, biased against it.

This one is a keeper, and if you are inclined to the more liberal, ostensibly "modern" view, you'll still need this one in your library, if only for the affirmative arguments of the conservative position. There's always someone to argue the liberal negative, but the liberal affirmative is much less likely to prevail in the face of this and several newer works of the same sort..… (más)

In nine chapters K.A. Kitchen covered major relevant issues from archaeology which relate to the main historical periods of Israel as presented in the text of the Hebrew Bible. Though there have been many advances in Ancient Near Eastern historical studies through the publications since 1978, this particular book still retains its value. Kitchen did not depend merely on particular interpretations of ANE data. His focus was on how archaeological data, inscriptions, and other ancient texts (including the Bible) can be used with fewer unwarranted presuppositions.… (más)

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 today's "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 Bible's 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 antiquity's 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."… (más)