Reader Review:The Case for HistoryIan Wilson's new book, 'The Bible Is History', is an important contribution on the side of those who accept and look for historical truth in the Biblical text. Almost half a century ago, Werner Keller put together a text entitled 'The Bible As History', and Wilson states that it is his intention to carry on in that tradition, with updates from recent discoveries.<P>Write a book on the Bible, and you must expect people to throw rocks at you.<P>This is particularly true of this kind of book. On the one hand, it comes closer than most academically-acceptable histories of accepting the Bible as an historically accurate text. And yet, almost at the same time, Wilson undercuts the audience which may support his work most enthusiastically by agreeing with archaeologist William Dever, who once remarked that 'No archaeologist in his right mind would go searching for the Garden of Eden.' <P>Wilson explains the source-text theory of the Bible (with sources such as E, J, P, D, possibly others), basic archaeological and geological ideas, and flatly rejects what he terms (several times in the text, in fact) 'extreme fundamentalist' views such as the 4004 BC calculation for the date of creation, etc. <P>Having gotten past the hurdles that would fell many who would read and take this book seriously, he begins to explore the Bible as a primary source, and reconciles much with modern discoveries and interpretations in archaeology, history, and science. For instance, he talks about the recent Black Sea discoveries which may hold keys to massive flooding (as stated in Genesis). He unfortunately omits the discussion of the new satellite data which show a dried riverbed below the sands of the Saudi peninsula which could be a third of the four rivers from Eden (as two rivers mentioned are well known, Tigris and Euphrates, why should the other two be fictional? Ancient writers usually went to great lengths to make accurate markers, and probably are preserving ancient knowledge that they assumed would still be known to future readers.).<P>His discussion of evidence, and lack thereof, of various contentious points such as the Exodus, the conquest of Canaan, the warfare with the Philistines and the House of David itself, are compelling and interesting, if not entirely convincing. <P>The text is beautifully illustrated with drawings, pictures, and maps. He provides many useful tidbits throughout the text, like a handy chart which shows the parallel and development of alphabetic and pictogram characters, including Proto-Sinaitic, Byblos tomb script, Moabite stone script, Aramaic, Dead Sea Scroll, Hebrew Bible, and Greek alphabetic script. Wonderful pictures of recent archaeological finds are included; satellite photos of regions are set next to geopolitical maps; all of this is used to support the various parts of the Bible Wilson sets forth.<P>This book will most likely irritate more than satisfy historians and scholars of all schools of thought, including the minimalists of which Wilson is most likely one. But it is a good read, with a lively style and interesting layout, brief chapters to tantalise and stimulate debate. With equal care for the sanctity of the text and the ever-changing nature of modern evidence, Wilson has given us a good volume for study and reflection. Given the illustrations, it would also make a good 'coffee table' book. (Rating: 5)