The Cities That Built the Bible: A Scholar's Archaeological Tour Revealing Church History, Theology, and Scripture's Origins

by Robert R. Cargill

For many, the names Bethlehem, Babylon, and Jerusalem are known as the setting for epic stories from the Bible featuring rustic mangers, soaring towers, and wooden crosses. What often gets missed is that these cities are far more than just the setting for the Bible and its characters—they were instrumental to the creation of the Bible as we know it today.

Robert Cargill, Assistant Professor of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Iowa, is an archeologist, Bible scholar, and host of numerous television documentaries, such as the History Channel series Bible Secrets Revealed. Taking us behind-the-scenes of the Bible, Cargill blends archaeology, biblical history, and personal journey as he explores these cities and their role in the creation of the Bible. He reveals surprising facts such as what the Bible says about the birth of Jesus and how Mary’s Virgin Birth caused problems for the early church. We’ll also see how the God of the Old Testament was influenced by other deities, that there were numerous non-biblical books written about Moses, Jacob, and Jesus in antiquity, and how far more books were left out of the Bible than were let in during the messy, political canonization process.

The Cities That Built the Bible is a magnificent tour through fourteen cities: the Phoenicia cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos, Ugarit, Nineveh, Babylon, Megiddo, Athens, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Qumran, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Rome. Along the way, Cargill includes photos of artifacts, dig sites, ruins, and relics, taking readers on a far-reaching journey from the Grotto of the Nativity to the battlegrounds of Megiddo, from the towering Acropolis of Athens to the caves in Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

An exciting adventure through time, The Cities That Built the Bible is a fresh, fascinating exploration that sheds new light on the Bible.

Genres: Religion, History, Nonfiction, Christianity, Ancient History, Archaeology, Church History

337 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2016

Reviews

[Denise Spicer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the author claims on page 6 that he favors no denomination or religious tradition and only presents facts so that people can make their own “informed beliefs", he also (on page 11) says his evidence is along with “consensus opinions” of world experts thus implying that we should follow the lead of his assertions such as on p. 124, “It is to Judaism’s credit that it preserved these diverse traditions in its canon instead of banishing and burning those books that did not fit the narrow dogmas defined by certain religious leaders, as was done in later religions (I’m looking at you, church fathers and early Christianity)”.
The author shows how he thinks the following cities influenced the development of the Bible as well as citing info about the history and archaeology of those cities. He covers these important cities and their connection and importance to the Bible:
Byblos-paper
Phoenicia – alphabet
Ugarit- their deities may have influenced the Israelites
Babylon – Hebrew Bible composed
Athens – Hellenization of Jewish religion and influence of Alexander the Great
Alexandria – the huge library
Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth – actions of Jesus and the Apostles
Qumran – variations in text (the author uses this as evidence that words were somewhat fluid and on p. 211 the author gives his opinion that today’s Bibles have the “erroneous version.”)
Rome – solidifying which books of the Bible were Canonical
And in conclusion Cargill briefly sums up the entire book (and shows his biases against traditional Christianity) by asserting that the Bible is powerful only when interpreted and (p.266) "ancient directives are morally defunct and ethically obsolete by our modern civil standards” and that it “shows us how far we’ve grown and developed as humans over the centuries”. This reviewer is not sure what archaeological evidence the author has in mind for that claim!!!!
The book includes End Notes, Bibliography, and a Scripture Index as well as a Subject Index.
Also included is the intriguing idea on page 171 that “If you can’t make a trip to Jerusalem to place a prayer in the wall, you can text, e-mail, use the Send A Prayer iPhone app, and now even tweet your prayers to the wall electronically…. Tweet a prayer to @the Kotel and their service prints out the prayer, folds it up, and sticks it in the Wall for you…letters addressed to “God, Jerusalem” are sorted by the Letters to God Department of the Israeli Postal service and squeezed into the Wall on the days after the cracks are emptied.”

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a chatty introduction to the bible written by an academic archeologist which employs the gimmick of playing off some of the city sites mentioned in its pages, punctuating the whole with the occasional forced joke. While the author claims to not want to challenge anyone's Jewish or Christian faith, just to inform them, in fact this book is clearly a book written by a liberal with the intention of converting his readers into liberals like himself.

Personally, I probably share most of Cargill's views and, like him, believe that studying the bible is a sure antidote to any kind of biblical fundamentalism. What I object to is his clumsy sneakiness. While on the one hand he'll accurately and critically introduce issues of textual transmission, on the other hand he'll uncritically treat the testimony of Acts on the same level as he treats the genuine epistles of Paul. He also overstates as, for instance, in his claim that the codification of dogma and doctrine preceded the determination of canonicity--a claim he does moderate in the concluding chapter.

[S.R. Weems · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book holds the only information about the Bible--that I've encountered in my short life--that comes anywhere close to being objective. (Not all of it is objective, of course, since it was in fact written by a human being.) It is scholarly, but surprisingly easy and entertaining to read.

Cargill leaves little room for intellectual dishonesty, so ye of little faith beware...

[Lynn's · Rating 2 out of 5]

In “The Cities That Built The Bible,” author Robert Cargill goes over crucial culture’s and cities that surrounded Biblical people in their respective time periods, and how they influenced those eras. That in and of itself, was very interesting. Some of the author’s conclusions about what that means to the Biblical text came across very liberal in places. And if I can rant for a moment… Archeology, though a fascinating study, is only a small piece of the puzzle. Not everything from the ancient world survived, and there is so much that we don’t know. To imply that the Bible is not God’s infallible Word because of some archeological finds, is not solid ground to stand on.

However, the largest issue I had with this book was not so much that it didn’t share my beliefs, but that the author did a 180 at the end. In the books Introduction, Cargill states, “Last, I reiterate my promise to you. I’ll never tell you what to think or what to believe; that is up to you”. (page 11) In his Conclusion (and also several places in the last chapter) he says, “We must also remember that the Bible is not holy of its own accord; rather, people ascribe holiness. The Bible is simply a book, but it is a book built by people for people” (page 266). Now, I’m mature enough to realize that not everyone believes the way I do. But to begin a book by saying you’re going to present facts and not sway people on what they should believe - and then - at the end of your book make an outright statement that the Word of God is not inspired, but just man's struggle to find God, is to me, the author breaking his original promise to the reader. It’s making the reader believe the author is unbiased, then, slamming them with a viewpoint that is the author’s own conclusion and not actual facts. (And if you read everything the author said around those sentences, you would see what I mean.)

Conclusion: I did not give this book a one star because there was some good information about the land of the Bible presented. I did, however, only give it two stars for reasons stated above. I was so disappointed in this book. By the end of the book's closing thoughts in the Conclusion, I realized that the author most likely believes in Humanism more than God, and that one can pick and choose what they want to believe from the Bible as true “for them.” Guys, I just wanted a book about archeology - the places of the Bible. Though there was a good bit of it in The Cities That Built The Bible, I could have found that info elsewhere, without the attacks on the reliability of God’s Word. If you’re going to read this book, be prepared to eat the meat and spit out the bones.

[Talent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this is more of a critique of archaeology than of Cargill himself. As an author the book is easy to read and flows well with interesting anecdotes. So if you're expecting a scholarly tome, this is a much lighter read.

Archaeology is even more of a soft science than psychology. It can never be objective, despite persistent claims by this author to the contrary. Think of it this way, even with modern news reporting--with words, pictures, and video, reporters and editors who try their best to objective, stories are still told with inherent human biases. They can focus on particular stories and highlight particular points based on their current topic of interest or the zeitgeist. Imagine what you could do with shards of pottery, masonry, and fragments of letters and inscriptions. All taken with any context you like.

This book is dripping with assumptions and preconceived notions, faulty logic, and a lack of imagination about events in the past. For example, you can either view the Bible as grossly inaccurate by stating that David brought Goliath's head back to Jerusalem before he conquered it, or with a little imagination think on the fact that in the last 15 years, the city of Mosul in Iraq has switched hands at least 4 times. Of course, all the physical evidence you have is basically left overs and ruins and competing inscriptions.

Then there are little anecdotes about the origin of many topics which are pure speculation. Yes, the letter to Aristeas is likely fictional, but the author's own aside about Hellenistic Jewish "embarrassment" that their holy book wasn't include is also equally fictitious. I mean, the library was burned down. How do you know what was or was not in it--and even more, how did you know whether or not people cared back then? There are many more examples of Cargill putting thoughts and intentions into ancient authors' (from Justin Martyr to Origen) mouths to support his view, much like a journalist quoting from an interview out of context. Similarly, with the supposedly contradictory birth accounts of Jesus (Bethlehem and Nazareth) the author again shows a distinct lack of imagination. Apparently traveling between Bethlehem and Nazareth is such a stretch and families in the ancient world never ever moved around, that the synoptic gospel accounts must be wrong...

In conclusion, the author also tries to tell and sell a story here, but claims to be objective, which is an inherent weakness of archaeology itself. The writing itself is relatively easy to follow and is a quick read, but the jumps in logic and the lack of imagination is utterly underwhelming. Perhaps if Cargill wanted to truly just present the evidence, then he should simply do so. Consistently present all sides of the debate--evidence for multiple interpretations of the same archaeological findings.

The consensus view is ironically also what the ancient synods and ecumenical councils did... Shall we reject orthodoxy by aping its methods?

[Jacque Arnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

My venture into non-fiction is off to a good start! This book was as interesting as I anticipated it would be when I first saw it on the library shelf.

When I think of biblical cities I think of the ones I learn about in sermons and sang about in Sunday school—Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Nineveh—so I was pleasantly surprised to also learn about the impact of places like Alexandria and Qumran (the latter I hadn’t heard of) on biblical construction. I also had no idea the extent of the impact that translation has not only on interpretation (which is a beast in and of itself) but also on how the New Testament was written and the Bible we know today was canonized. Some may find a few of the things discussed in this book controversial or even blasphemous, but I personally didn’t. I believe learning the long and sometimes admittedly ugly history of the text that shapes my life stretched my faith and forced me to think more critically about why I believe what I believe. At the end of the day, even though the Bible sitting on my night stand was built by human hands, I believe God used and still uses human effort (and yes, that includes nefarious political agendas) for an ultimate good.

All in all, this book is one believers, non-believers, and everyone in between can appreciate for the foundational history it holds.

[Richard Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cargill has given us a book with a treasure trove of information about the history and archaeology behind the Bible. The pictures alone are worth reading the book. There are four items, however, that come to mind that detract from the value of this book. First, Cargill seems to be imprisoned in an enlightenment worldview that does not allow for anything other than naturalistic explanations. I understand that his field requires this for his scholarship (though it seems unnecessary to ever wear a straightjacket even in science), but he is dealing with a book that makes supernatural claims and these are ignored or dismissed in his arguments. Second, he seems to have allowed his worldview to limit his thinking to binary choices, A or B are true. Of course, B cannot be true so the answer is A! He doesn't seem to consider that often A and B do not exhaust the possible universe of choices. What about C or D? This leads Cargill to some questionable conclusions. Third, Cargill makes the logical error of asserting that if two narratives are similar and one is older, then the younger narrative copied or was at least influenced by the earlier narrative. If X and Y are similar, and X is older than Y, then Y is somehow dependent on X. But what if both X and Y are dependent on Z? Or what if it is a coincidence that X and Y are similar? His conclusions in these matters, while common, cannot be logically defended. Fourth, Cargill often states something to the effect "scholars believe this to be true." He states it as though the scholars are in unanimous agreement. They aren't. He shouldn't make such blanket assertions, because they are untrue. Still, the book is worth engaging.

[Ashley Millet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fabulous. It takes a very secular view on biblical times which I appreciate very much. I am very interested in ancient Biblical times and learning about the cultures of the people during this time. This book taught me a lot and put me on the track to reading more dense books on the subject.

This is a fairly easy book to read. Due to the nature of the times this book is reviewing, there are a lot of hard names and places to pronounce but I did my best not to let that get in my way since I am currently not familiar with Ancient languages.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this time period.

[James Hansee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having visited a number of cities highlighted in this book I was excited to read it. However, the author comes from a theologically liberal perspective in his view of the writing, compilation, and transmission of the Bible. He attributes it all to the work of men. The book is well written and well researched. I did enjoy reading about the cities that he highlights and all of them do have strong connections to the written word of God. I would only recommend this book to mature Christians who have done their own study of on the history of the Bible.

[Joseph Schrock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written by a highly educated archaeologist who has a great interest in biblical history and archaeological findings pertaining to biblical history. I found the book to be quite highly informative, and its contents mainly solidified my worldview pertinent to the origins and the nature of the Bible. Cargill’s book does not offer any theological views held by the author, but does seek to lay bare the historical and archaeological facts that have been discovered concerning the origins of the Bible, who wrote it, when it was written, how much it comports with non-biblical histories, as well as related archaeological finds, etc.

The historical and archaeological facts revealed in Cargill’s substantial book support quite strongly the conclusion that the Bible was composed by numerous authors over centuries, that it is the work of MEN (who some, like me, believe had significant Divine inspiration), and that it, like human projects, is fallible, contains errors and contradictions, and is far from a perfect, infallible “Word of God” presented to humanity. The latter view is simply incompatible with the historical and archaeological records that are available to modern honest and sincere seekers for TRUTH – not seeking to support deeply embedded religious/historical dogmas.

With regard to the origins of the name Yahweh, the name of God, according to early biblical authors, Cargill wrote substantially on pages 48 and 49. On pages 48-49, Cargill writes:

“The fact that ‘Asherah is said to be the consort of ‘El in thirteenth-century BCE Ugarit and later the consort of YHWH in eighth-century BCE Israel suggests that the deity known as ‘El in Phoenicia and Ugarit was incorporated into the deity YHWH, who became the God of the Hebrews and later the Israelites, Judeans, and Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

“Now what about the fact that Judaism is a monotheistic religion? Although we often refer to Judaism as ‘monotheistic’, this term is somewhat misleading if understood as meaning belief in the existence of only one God. This is not the case with ancient Israel. Ancient Israel believed in multiple gods, and if we are to believe the Bible, apparently God did too! On any number of occasions the Bible warns Israel not to worship ‘other gods.’ It’s one of the earliest commands. Exodus 20:3 says, ‘You shall have no other gods before me,’ and 34:14 adds, ‘Because YHWH, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God’. YHWH didn’t want any of his followers worshipping any other gods, only him.”

On page 80, Cargill states that Hammurabi’s law code (created around 1750 BCE) predates the Moses, exodus, and Mt. Sinai revelation, which cannot be dated earlier than 1450 BCE, and many conclude that Hammurabi’s code influenced many of the laws in the Bible. Cargill then quotes a few passages from Hammurabi and very similar passages from Exodus – providing evidence that Hammurabi’s code likely influenced the Jewish writers of the Old Testament.

Some interesting information is presented on page 183 concerning Jews’ development of expectations that a heavenly messiah would come to their rescue. Cargill writes:

“…but still, the memory of ancient kings—David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah—and the glory of Israel and Judah led by an anointed king, a true Jewish messiah, lingered in the minds of the Jews. And the continued absence of an anointed Davidic king caused Jews to begin looking to the heavens for a new kind of messiah, one who would restore the glory of Israel.”

For Jews, a “messiah” was simply a king who was anointed by God – as they believed that David, Solomon, and other Jewish kings had been. In later centuries, under the oppression of foreign rulers, Jews began to hope for a heavenly messiah who would be able to finally conquer Israel’s enemies. During the time of Jesus, the Jews, under the oppression of the Romans, were pinning their hopes on a heavenly messiah – and some came to believe that Jesus was, finally, the messiah who would defeat the Romans and rescue Israel. Maybe that’s how Christianity was born.

In this book’s concluding remarks, I find the following wise admonition from Dr. Cargill (page 266):

“If the Bible is read with an insistence that its text is perfect, inerrant, and noncontradictory and that the ethical directives given over two thousand years ago are still irrefutable and unquestionable today, then each subsequent generation will continue to walk away from the Bible, discarding it (with disdain) as a product of a bygone era.”

As a reader of the Bible, with the conviction that much of what is written therein had considerable inspiration from the Creator, I am convinced that it is incumbent upon intelligent, wise, and humble spiritual seekers, who are committed to full integrity, to treat our Judeo-Christian Bible with respect and dignity, while acknowledging that, in the light of numerous scientific and literary/historical/archaeological discoveries of the past three centuries, it is untenable to regard the Bible as infallible, inerrant, or non-contradictory. Yet, many of its scriptures can point us toward an infinite and glorious Divine Creator, who each moment reaches out patiently to His wayward creatures and finds some who are humble enough to become His faithful and obedient servants.

The book under review does not guide us directly toward the Creator, but for readers with integrity and humility, it can encourage us to understand just how fallible and flawed are human understandings of the infinite Almighty.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a reader that has spent much time on the topic of religion. This was a great tie back to places and events that have influenced faith traditions for centuries.

[Rachel Schoenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cities That Built the Bible is an entertaining and informative book for anyone interested in the Bible. Each of the eleven chapters covers a city (or more than one city) that helped shape the Bible into what it is today; these are Phoenician cities (Tyre, Sidon, & Byblos), Ugarit, Ninevah, Babylon, Megiddo, Athens, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Qumran, Bethlehem & Nazareth, and Rome. I found it especially intriguing to learn about the many biblical events that took place in or around Megiddo. I also liked reading about the scholarly controversy over who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and the lengths one person went to because of it. There were some things I did not agree with, like his statement that the gospels were written half a century after Jesus died and his dating of Daniel to the second century BCE. He also used a strawman fallacy about the doctrine of inerrancy, claiming that it has been disproved because textual variants in biblical manuscripts exist even though this is not what is meant by saying the Bible is inerrant. Overall, it is a book that I quite enjoyed and am glad I read.

[JournalsTLY]

This is a “easy to read” book that says it does not tell you what to think about biblical inerrancy but it will and should certainly cause you to think about it .

There are aspects of archaeology, bible canon, traditions and assumptions of the ancient near east, textual transmission and if your outlook allows , textual editing through the years .

Each section has a chatty introduction of
the writer ‘s personal experiences ( and he has many ) in relation to the city that we are introduced to. The stories of each city brings history alive and should bring biblical faith alive too ?

There are parts that take on a “bible commentary “
style .

The essays are not all about geography and archaeology . There are sections on peoples and persons of the city - Herod , Caesar , queens and kings from empires that supposing influenced or used by God to
influence the contents of the Bible .

I found the sections on Lamentations , Nineveh and Dead Sea Scrolls especially insightful .

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Sure Now How I Think About This Book

I was thoroughly enjoying this book. Studying the cities that influenced the Bible is a novel way of learning more about the Bible itself. And I was soaking in everything the author was presenting...until I got to the last two chapters. I have studied these points in history and I immediately saw that the author was making these major jumps to conclusions or was making blatantly unscholarly statements. Was he just getting lazy and wanted to finish the book? Or did he make these same kind of shortcut statements throughout the entire book? You decide and let me know.

[Zach Melton · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is rare that I’ll read a book and be truly disappointed in it, but that was definitely the case with this one. It’s not so much that the author isn’t knowledgeable. He certainly is. But his not-so-subtle agenda is what bothered me the most. A lot of the commentary was unnecessary and one-sided, even to the point of presenting arguments that have clearly been refuted by credible thinkers over the years. For a new or shallow Christian this book may be disheartening, but for a Christian who knows their faith it is simply obnoxious.

[Hazel Rainfall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well written and an easy read. It's meant for public consumption and does an excellent job in that regards. I love how the author tried to not be biased in his writing of the book - he succeeded far more than most other authors who delve into such topics as religion.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wanted to learn more about the Bible, but only if they wanted to learn with an open mind. I would also highly suggest that readers do other research and learn from other related books on the subject.

[Mallorie Pollok · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chew the meat and spit out the bones situation for me. I loved the historical context it gave to important cities in the Bible, and generally was written in an engaging manner, though I personally found the book to get a little slow at the end when discussing the non-canonical books more in depth. This is expected with most religious books, but as unbiased as the writer tries to be, there are some sneaky undertones that felt unnecessary with the intention of the book. Overall, would still recommend for the history alone.

[Steve Gross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have given this book four stars but for the pointless intrusions of 1) talking about his wife and their travels and 2) meaningless description of his Palestinian dinner. Still, lots of interesting information.

[Deon Strydom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading

This book should be required reading at every theological seminary. Puts Scripture nicely into perspective within it's original context. Read it if you're serious about faith!

[Amanda Witt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very descriptive and interesting look at the cities in modern day Israel, Syria etc that were the locations and settings for events in the bible.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another way of understanding the Bible.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intelligent and very readable approach to the study of how the Bible came to be. The author uses a good deal of humor and personal anecdotes; he is an archeologist who has been to most of the sites discussed in the text.

His approach is scholarly, but with a healthy respect for religious tradition. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Biblical history.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very historically informative.

[Neverdust · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative. Not dry and doesn't read like a list. Obviously written by someone who respects the subject matter without letting it cloud his scientific inquiry.
Definitely would recommend.

[Caleb Ausbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his The Cities That Built the Bible, Robert Cargill attempts to give an adequate answer to the simple yet ever so complex question "where did the Bible come from?" Cargill answers this by giving summaries of the influence of many important cities that contributed to the Bible we have today. Some cities Cargill covers quite literally contributed to the making of the Bible, such as Byblos, which would have imported in the papyrus the ancient Hebrew writers would have used to write on, or other Phoenician cities, which produced the society that formed one of the earliest written languages we know of that eventually became Hebrew. Other cities covered such as Ugarit contributed theologically to the concepts found in the Bible, like the Canaanite god El, who significantly shaped how Hebrews understood their own god, Yahweh. Cargill also includes cities that politically shaped events which the writers of the Bible responded to, such as Babylon and Rome. Other cities covered did not have a direct influence on the Bible necessarily, but rather are cities that have helped modern scholarship understand the Bible, such as Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

I found The Cities that Built the Bible both entertaining and informative. Cargill covers a lot of ground in his book, with content including the important archaeological evidence which shapes contemporary biblical scholarship, the evolution of theology that takes place over the timespan which the Bible was being written in, and even a very concise yet well-researched account of the canonization process of how books of the Bible came to be collected, both in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Such an ambitious effort was incredibly well done, and is both academic in its information, yet extremely readable for a common audience. My biggest complaint is that at times I felt he dwelt too long in his humorous or personal introductions and tangents, which largely consisted of what I call “dad jokes.” Despite a few eye rolls, I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the history of the Bible.

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading the Bible and have recently visited Israel and Lebanon, so I thought this book would provide some added insights. This is not a casual read. It's a scholarly, lengthy text that works best with a firm foundation in the subject matter to begin with. The author's archaeological insights are interesting, but when he wanders into theology he seems to discount faith and go with straight scholarship. That slant needs to be taken into account in reading the book. Is the book worth reading? Yes. It was fascinating to get the historical background behind places I had visited, or read about. The compiling of the actual Bible itself, with its various permutations and translations, is an interesting topic. The influences of other civilizations on form and content are thought-provoking, although some may be disputable. I particularly enjoyed the author's insights on the book of Lamantations, and the story behind the Dead Sea Scrolls. Archaeology is a peculiar field as we are forced to draw conclusions from such limited evidence. While it is impossible to really see the whole picture when we only have 25 pieces of a 10000 piece jigsaw puzzle, it is interesting to examine the evidence and place it in context with other knowledge. Then, to that mix, I like to add faith.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big biblical archaeology nerd/archaeology nerd in general, so I was somewhat predisposed to enjoy this book by sheer virtue of the subject matter, which I find fascinating. Robert Cargill does an excellent job overall of maintaining a semblance of neutrality in terms of whether or not the Bible's claims are "true." This book does paint with broad strokes as it covers the cities/places that influenced the pieces of writing that became the Bible we know today. I'm sure this happens due to the fact that the author had a target page count in mind. Some of my favorite parts were those in which Cargill recounts his own experiences traveling to these places- how it feels to stand in these incredibly significant locations and to be a part of human history. If you believe that the Bible is perfectly inerrant and unchanging, this book may prove challenging for you to get through as it spends a good bit of time illustrating the rather piecemeal way in which the biblical canon came into being. For those of you who can keep an open mind, there is much to enjoy here and plenty to make you think, regardless of whether you are a person of faith or not.

[Benjamin Farr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book that rips shreds into what is considered true and factual in both the Old and New Testaments. Using a combination of geography, history, archaeology and exceptional scholarly research, Robert Cargill guides the reader through the lands that influenced the creation of the "bible. In doing so, the author highlights the many contradictions, factual flaws, cultural borrowings and outright mistranslations that have subsequently resulted in faith systems built on very rocky foundations.
This is not an atheist manifesto, and the author by no means sets out for the book to be one, however it is very clear when presented with empirical evidence, that many of the beliefs of Christianity, Judaism and Islam are simply based on nothing more than borrowed ideas, beliefs, rules and cultural practices of lands from which the early Jews and Christians travelled.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a enjoyable read. So interesting and insightful. I enjoyed the light touch of humor that Cargill interjected. This is a book to go back to for reference time and again. I learned so much. I am so happy I received my free copy from Goodreads Giveaways, thank you,and HarperOne, and Robert Cargill for The Cities That Built The Bible. It's a wonderful book.

[The · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a discussion facilitator of several weekly lectionary groups for over 36 years I am always looking for ways to enlarge my appreciation for the context of the scripture texts. This book will be at my elbow each week as I prepare for those groups.