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  • From: "Charles David Isbell" <cisbell AT home.com>
  • To: "Jim West" <jwest AT highland.net>
  • Cc: <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: BAR- what rubbish
  • Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 10:46:29 -0600


Jim,
Thanks for your response. I note your estimate of Whitelam, and confirm
that you have properly understood my own very different evaluation. I wrote
privately to Niels that I actually agree with Whitelam's call for a study of
history of the region free from the categories of biblical scholarship. I
think, however, that choosing a term that was forced upon a defeated Israel
by an angry Roman Empire in the 2nd century CE is an inflammatory choice for
discussing late Bronze and Iron Age evidence.
My concern is with inflammatory and politically motivated rhetoric on EITHER
side. As I said, I myself criticized Shanks, but I would think that E. W.
Said (who is the most often quoted scholarly source in Whitelam's book) has
certainly presented his views as negatively as anyone I know on the opposite
side of the political fence.
Shabbat Shalom,
Charles
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim West" <jwest AT highland.net>
To: "Charles David Isbell" <cisbell AT home.com>
Cc: <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 9:54 AM
Subject: Re: BAR- what rubbish


> At 09:43 AM 2/25/00 -0600, you wrote:
> >Jim,
> >In your brief review of the latest BAR, you list four scholars together:
> >Lemche, Thompson, Davies, Whitelam. Do you rank the book by Whitelam
(THE
> >INVENTION OF ANCIENT ISRAEL) as a work of scholarship comparable to the
> >level consistently attained by the first three?
>
> Because all four represent what dever characterizes as the "Copenhagen"
school.
> In what follows you do not give the impression that you like Keith's
book.
> For my part- I found it revolutionary, extremely insightful, and truly
> groundbreaking. His scholarship- though different in style from Niels and
> Tom and Phillip, is just as rigorous in its own way.
>
> Best to you,
>
> Jim
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Jim West, ThD
> jwest AT highland.net
> http://web.infoave.net/~jwest
>
>





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