Culbertson, Jerry Keith  <br/><br/>
The Emergence Of Ancient Israel: A Model Of Coherence Between Archaeology And The Bible 

 - Johannesburg, South Africa  South African Theological Seminary  2019 
 - 257 pages  PDF  A4  Abstract, TOC 
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<br/><br/> The question of the origin of Israel in the Land of Canaan has been debated and re-debated for at least a hundred years. The initial model (the Conquest Model) set forth by WF Albright in the 1920s dominated the biblical and archaeology scene until the 1960s. With the diminishing influence of Albright’s model, two others were proffered: (1) The Peaceful Infiltration Model by A Alt and M North, and (2) The Peasant Revolt Model  proposed  by  G  Mendenhall  and  N  Gottwald.  Others  would  follow:  The Symbiosis  Hypothesis  championed  by  V  Fritz  and  I  Finkelstein  and  the  Auto-Ethnogenesis Model set forth by S Bunimovitz and Z  Lederman. As the debate heated and cooled over the years, the archaeological world came to the conclusion  that  archaeology  had  received  the  short-end  of  the  stick—that  is,  the biblical texts (the Bible) had set the agenda and determined the interpretation of the material  culture  unearthed.  To  this  end,  the  pendulum  had  not only  swung  in  the direction of the pre-eminence of archaeology over the Bible, the effect of the swinging pendulum was to sever the Bible from the discussion almost entirely. Archaeologists who still give the Bible some credence do so with major disclaimers attached to their comments, most often noting that the stories or events were not true or historical, but did contain some memories or some kernel of truth in regard to the way the people remembered, or wanted to remember, Israel’s emergence in Canaan. This  dissertation  focuses  on  presenting  archaeology  and  the  Bible  as  separate  yet important players in the discussion of the emergence of Israel in Canaan.  It seeks to present a model (an Eclectic Model) in which the material data of archaeology and the biblical texts cohere, in that there are so many instances of convergence that it is not an  either/  or,  but  both.  This  work  demonstrates  a  model  of  coherence  between archaeology and the Bible.