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The History and Archaeology of the Bible Course Guidebook
Delve into the iconic stories of the Bible through the eyes of historians and archaeologists, and discover how their findings bring fascinating and revealing perspectives to the world-shaping texts of scripture.
160 pages, Unknown Binding
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About the author
Jean-Pierre Isbouts
61 books58 followersJean-Pierre Isbouts was born in 1954. He is a humanities scholar and graduate professor in the doctoral programs at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. He has published widely on the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, including the bestseller Biblical World: An Illustrated Atlas; Young Jesus: Restoring the "Lost Years" of a Social Activist and Religious Dissident; From Moses to Muhammed; The Shared Origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and The Mysteries of Jesus. An award-winning filmmaker, Isbouts has also produced Charlton Heston's Voyage Through the Bible, The Quest for Peace, and Young Jesus.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 11, 2024
A big downside to this book was caused by a pet peeve of mine.
I absolutely can not stand it when people "correctly" pronounce words from another language as if they are speaking in that language. I get it. I know how to correctly pronounce croissant in French, but only a pretentious asshole has to bust out the French accent when ordering something in an American restaurant.
And this guy!
It was seemingly impossible for him to make it through even a few sentences without pulling out obnoxious accents for everything. At some point in the lecture, I just wondered what kind of a nightmare he must be in real life. At a party, I would imagine he must be on par with guitar man & magic trick guy.
And don't pop up on my thread with your "well, aaaaaactually..." bullshit.
It's annoying. And if you don't think it's annoying, then I can promise you that you are the person at the party that people are actively avoiding.
Ok. Beyond that?
It was alright. There was an undercurrent of Jack-of -all-trades-master-of-none to Isbouts. Like he was a celebrity Bible writer? I don't know how else to explain it, but as interesting as his opinions were, I'm not exactly sold on this guy being the real deal. It's just a feeling and I have ZERO facts to back that statement up.
So.
Isbouts takes you on a tour of the entire Bible, starting in Genesis, and tries to show how each book was a product of the time it was written in. Not only that, but how the oral traditions of the surrounding civilizations worked their way into the lore of the stories.
He is of the opinion that a lot of the characters in the Jewish tales were more than likely cobbled together out of both reality and legend.
He's a Christian, but not a literalist. This means he's trying to find a way to ground myth with archaeology and meld it into a spiritual thing.
Bottom line, don't go into this thinking he's out there digging around for Noah's Ark.
You will be sorely disappointed, if so.
When he got to the New Testament stuff you can see he really buys into the Gospel stories as for-real things that happened. I was a tad shocked that he thought Jesus healed with some sort of "energy" by laying hands on people, and casually mentioned that energy healers are a thing today that help a lot of people.
Well. Ok, then. That's one idea.
I'm not saying it isn't possible, just that I'm not used to hearing this sort of stuff in Great Course lectures.
Another thing I'm not used to hearing is what historical figures "must have thought" in relation to ancient texts. One phrase that caught my attention was, "I can only imagine poor Mary and Martha cooking up a storm for their large group of guests who they obviously expect to return..." while talking about Jesus losing his temper in the temple, getting trapped in the city by guards looking for him, and Isbouts saying this is why he thinks the Last Supper took place in a rented room.
None of this is something I would expect from a historian, in that nothing about his story is provable in a historical sense. It smacked of what he wanted to believe and what made a great story.
It would, however, be lovely coming from a pulpit on Sunday morning.
Overall, I thought this was a cool trip through the Bible that included what may (I stress may because I have serious doubts about Isbouts) have been going on in the ancient world at around the same times that these stories were being told. If you're just looking for an overall view of what happened and when, then you should probably get a kick out of this one.
Alright.
There are moments when I'm reading or listening to a book and I realize something about myself.
I know I can't be the only one.
And I read about religion as a way to kind of figure myself out anyway. Come to terms with my past, try to understand why I ended up on such a different path than the one I started out on, and accept who I am now without becoming bitter.
The more I try to learn, the less angry I become because curiosity takes over, and dammit, I can't help but be enthralled by our collective world history.
So what did I realize? <--is the question you weren't asking.
I'm telling you anyway because nobody reads the reviews for The History and Archaeology of the Bible, so if you're somehow here looking at this? Well, it's your fault that you've let me ramble on this far without skipping past.
But I will spoiler-tag it because I'm not a total monster and this is basically just a free therapy session for myself.
Recommended.
I absolutely can not stand it when people "correctly" pronounce words from another language as if they are speaking in that language. I get it. I know how to correctly pronounce croissant in French, but only a pretentious asshole has to bust out the French accent when ordering something in an American restaurant.
And this guy!
It was seemingly impossible for him to make it through even a few sentences without pulling out obnoxious accents for everything. At some point in the lecture, I just wondered what kind of a nightmare he must be in real life. At a party, I would imagine he must be on par with guitar man & magic trick guy.
And don't pop up on my thread with your "well, aaaaaactually..." bullshit.
It's annoying. And if you don't think it's annoying, then I can promise you that you are the person at the party that people are actively avoiding.
Ok. Beyond that?
It was alright. There was an undercurrent of Jack-of -all-trades-master-of-none to Isbouts. Like he was a celebrity Bible writer? I don't know how else to explain it, but as interesting as his opinions were, I'm not exactly sold on this guy being the real deal. It's just a feeling and I have ZERO facts to back that statement up.
So.
Isbouts takes you on a tour of the entire Bible, starting in Genesis, and tries to show how each book was a product of the time it was written in. Not only that, but how the oral traditions of the surrounding civilizations worked their way into the lore of the stories.
He is of the opinion that a lot of the characters in the Jewish tales were more than likely cobbled together out of both reality and legend.
He's a Christian, but not a literalist. This means he's trying to find a way to ground myth with archaeology and meld it into a spiritual thing.
Bottom line, don't go into this thinking he's out there digging around for Noah's Ark.
You will be sorely disappointed, if so.
When he got to the New Testament stuff you can see he really buys into the Gospel stories as for-real things that happened. I was a tad shocked that he thought Jesus healed with some sort of "energy" by laying hands on people, and casually mentioned that energy healers are a thing today that help a lot of people.
Well. Ok, then. That's one idea.
I'm not saying it isn't possible, just that I'm not used to hearing this sort of stuff in Great Course lectures.
Another thing I'm not used to hearing is what historical figures "must have thought" in relation to ancient texts. One phrase that caught my attention was, "I can only imagine poor Mary and Martha cooking up a storm for their large group of guests who they obviously expect to return..." while talking about Jesus losing his temper in the temple, getting trapped in the city by guards looking for him, and Isbouts saying this is why he thinks the Last Supper took place in a rented room.
None of this is something I would expect from a historian, in that nothing about his story is provable in a historical sense. It smacked of what he wanted to believe and what made a great story.
It would, however, be lovely coming from a pulpit on Sunday morning.
Overall, I thought this was a cool trip through the Bible that included what may (I stress may because I have serious doubts about Isbouts) have been going on in the ancient world at around the same times that these stories were being told. If you're just looking for an overall view of what happened and when, then you should probably get a kick out of this one.
Alright.
There are moments when I'm reading or listening to a book and I realize something about myself.
I know I can't be the only one.
And I read about religion as a way to kind of figure myself out anyway. Come to terms with my past, try to understand why I ended up on such a different path than the one I started out on, and accept who I am now without becoming bitter.
The more I try to learn, the less angry I become because curiosity takes over, and dammit, I can't help but be enthralled by our collective world history.
So what did I realize? <--is the question you weren't asking.
I'm telling you anyway because nobody reads the reviews for The History and Archaeology of the Bible, so if you're somehow here looking at this? Well, it's your fault that you've let me ramble on this far without skipping past.
But I will spoiler-tag it because I'm not a total monster and this is basically just a free therapy session for myself.
Recommended.
October 17, 2025
I was very excited to start this book. A lot of the histories I have been reading lately have had moments in which they shed light on biblical events and I really looked forward to having someone take me through the bible, adding historical context to major stories, but while Isbouts did do that, it never felt like it was his primary purpose as I listened to this audiobook.
Isbouts really just tells the biblical story. For the first six lectures (25% of the course) he does little more than make reference to other ancient stories with similar themes as he walks the listener through Genesis and Exodus. I would recommend simply skipping these first six lectures.
After that, matters improved somewhat, especially when Isbouts gets into discussion of the northern and southern Jewish kingdoms, their origins, and to what extent they were truly united under Saul, David, and Solomon. I also found his section on Pontius Pilate and King Herod and the extent of their various authorities quite fascinating. But overall, I felt like the lectures were heavy on the story and light on the historical context.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
Isbouts really just tells the biblical story. For the first six lectures (25% of the course) he does little more than make reference to other ancient stories with similar themes as he walks the listener through Genesis and Exodus. I would recommend simply skipping these first six lectures.
After that, matters improved somewhat, especially when Isbouts gets into discussion of the northern and southern Jewish kingdoms, their origins, and to what extent they were truly united under Saul, David, and Solomon. I also found his section on Pontius Pilate and King Herod and the extent of their various authorities quite fascinating. But overall, I felt like the lectures were heavy on the story and light on the historical context.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
July 23, 2022
First of all, the positive: of all the Great Courses I have listened to, this one is probably the most "listenable" of the bunch. It was created through National Geographic and you can tell the production value was much better than most. Also, Jean-Pierre Isbouts sounds like a professional reader. If I found out he was the narrator for some book I was considering, that would be a plus. He has a great voice for it. It is also clear that at many points throughout, it is being recorded on location. So if I were somehow able to watch this instead of just listening, it probably would have greatly enhanced the experience. Even just imagining him being there (wherever the "there" is at the current point) helped keep this alive for me.
Unfortunately, as strong as this was on production, it was just as weak on fact. JPI had a formula that he used throughout the series. He would begin by presenting the biblical story, then he would share interesting historical or archaeological discoveries that further enlighten or bring context to the story, then he would ask, "So, is [insert biblical character here] a historically true person? Probably not because: [insert how comparative extrabiblical story was the basis on which the biblical myth was formed] but that doesn't matter because [person x] is really just a representation of [belief y]
It soon becomes clear that JPI doesn't believe more than 90% of the Bible has any basis in historical fact. Even worse, the theories he is throwing out there are self-contradictory. For example, He claims that Abraham and the patriarchs are almost certainly myths. But later on, he claims that Moses, or Musa, (interestingly he repeatedly used the English and Muslim names, but not once the Hebrew) was most likely a Midianite prince raised as a student/hostage in Pharaoh's court. He would have had sympathy for the plight of the Hebrews because the Midianites were descended from Abraham's youngest son while the Hebrews were from Isaac. So Moses isn't real, but the rationale he is using to make that claim is dependent on the fact that Abraham is... which was already dismissed.
This is the third history of the Bible I have listened to in the past month to go with my two-month personal sojourn in the Holy Land. Of the three, only one was really worth listening to. If you want to do a deeper dive into the history and archaeology of the Bible, don't listen to this. Instead, get your hands on The Holy Land Revealed by Jodi Magness. It is a good thing Audible does refunds, whether you listened to this or not, get your refund and then use it on that one. Once you hear the difference, you will thank me.
Unfortunately, as strong as this was on production, it was just as weak on fact. JPI had a formula that he used throughout the series. He would begin by presenting the biblical story, then he would share interesting historical or archaeological discoveries that further enlighten or bring context to the story, then he would ask, "So, is [insert biblical character here] a historically true person? Probably not because: [insert how comparative extrabiblical story was the basis on which the biblical myth was formed] but that doesn't matter because [person x] is really just a representation of [belief y]
It soon becomes clear that JPI doesn't believe more than 90% of the Bible has any basis in historical fact. Even worse, the theories he is throwing out there are self-contradictory. For example, He claims that Abraham and the patriarchs are almost certainly myths. But later on, he claims that Moses, or Musa, (interestingly he repeatedly used the English and Muslim names, but not once the Hebrew) was most likely a Midianite prince raised as a student/hostage in Pharaoh's court. He would have had sympathy for the plight of the Hebrews because the Midianites were descended from Abraham's youngest son while the Hebrews were from Isaac. So Moses isn't real, but the rationale he is using to make that claim is dependent on the fact that Abraham is... which was already dismissed.
This is the third history of the Bible I have listened to in the past month to go with my two-month personal sojourn in the Holy Land. Of the three, only one was really worth listening to. If you want to do a deeper dive into the history and archaeology of the Bible, don't listen to this. Instead, get your hands on The Holy Land Revealed by Jodi Magness. It is a good thing Audible does refunds, whether you listened to this or not, get your refund and then use it on that one. Once you hear the difference, you will thank me.
March 5, 2021
We own several of the Great Courses (at least 50 or 60 of them). Though all of them are excellent, I really enjoyed these 24 lectures on the history and archaeology of the Bible.
After being inspired by a recorded lecture series he had seen at Harvard, Thomas M. Rollins, former Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, created The Great Courses in 1990. These courses are taught by award-winning professors and other experts. Even though they are based on scholarly research, they are designed for a general audience of thoughtful, reasonable life-long learners.
The courses (over 600 are listed) are offered on CD, DVD, Internet, and streaming platforms. Though they are expensive, the company offers frequent sales. For example, this course lists for $235 if streamed but I purchased it for about $50. In other words, wait for their sales!
Most of the lectures are 30-45 minutes in length. Most of them might be lectures at a level found in an introductory college course.
This series by Isbouts includes 24 half-hour lectures. Also included is a 175+-page pdf guide for the series.
Jean-Pierre Isbouts, the lecturer for this series on biblical scholarship from ancient times through the Roman occupation, is a professor in the Social Sciences PhD program of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. He is also an author, screenwriter, director, and producer whose work usually focuses on the time of Jesus and the Renaissance. He has partnered with the National Geographic several times as well as with several Hollywood people including Charlton Heston, Leonard Nimoy, Dick Van Dyke, Morgan Freeman, and Kenneth Branagh.
Isbouts studied Greek and Latin, archaeology, art history and musicology at Leiden University then later went to Columbia University where he wrote his PhD dissertation on American Beaux-Arts architecture.
A 2020 Houston Chronicle article noted that "Isbouts has two main passions: the message of the historical Jesus and the artists who shared and represented those sentiments."
Isbouts emphasizes in the first lecture that the Bible is not a history book. It is a collection of books with a spiritual intent even though the writings are frequently set in historic time and space.
This series is not faith based. It is, instead, grounded in the work of scholars of history, archaeology, and literature. Some reviewers of the course hoped Isbouts would support their religious beliefs. They would be disappointed in this series.
As James L. Kugel writes in his book, How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now, “contemporary Bible readers are confronted with two radically different ways of approaching scripture…both approaches are impressive and admirable—and fundamentally incompatible.” He goes on to write that “modern readers of the Bible are thus caught between two opposite ways of reading. On the one hand, the ancient interpreters’ way is crucial for what most people still wish to believe about the Bible and its message. On the other hand, the way of modern scholars, which seems to make good, scientific sense, has undermined a great deal of what those ancient interpreters said…And so an enormous question now poses itself to both Jews and Christians: How to read the Bible?”
Still, Kugel and Isbouts would agree that even though the Bible is clearly not a history book, it can be a book of faith and can be document we all should know something about. In fact, Kugel writes in his book that “for most of our history, what the Bible meant was what the ancient interpreters had said it meant. Even if what they said does not match the findings of modern scholars, this does not mean that their interpretations have not been, or are not still, significant. As a matter of fact, anyone who wants to understand European painting or sculpture, or the history of Western thought, or Dante or Milton or Shakespeare or almost any writer up to the present day, must know something about the Bible as it was understood by these ancient interpreters—since that was the Bible.”
In this series, Isbouts delivers 24 fascinating lectures about biblical times and uses maps, art works, and video clips to supplement his teaching. The course is organized around five key narratives: Genesis and the beginning of things; the Exodus from Egypt; the rule of King David; life under the Assyrians; the time of King Herod; and the time of Jesus.
This series of lectures is an engaging and fascinating survey of biblical times (The Great Courses has other courses focused on the Bible itself) and provides us with knowledge to better appreciate its impact on religion, spirituality, philosophy, morality, social justice, law, art, music, literature and more.
Highly recommended
After being inspired by a recorded lecture series he had seen at Harvard, Thomas M. Rollins, former Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, created The Great Courses in 1990. These courses are taught by award-winning professors and other experts. Even though they are based on scholarly research, they are designed for a general audience of thoughtful, reasonable life-long learners.
The courses (over 600 are listed) are offered on CD, DVD, Internet, and streaming platforms. Though they are expensive, the company offers frequent sales. For example, this course lists for $235 if streamed but I purchased it for about $50. In other words, wait for their sales!
Most of the lectures are 30-45 minutes in length. Most of them might be lectures at a level found in an introductory college course.
This series by Isbouts includes 24 half-hour lectures. Also included is a 175+-page pdf guide for the series.
Jean-Pierre Isbouts, the lecturer for this series on biblical scholarship from ancient times through the Roman occupation, is a professor in the Social Sciences PhD program of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. He is also an author, screenwriter, director, and producer whose work usually focuses on the time of Jesus and the Renaissance. He has partnered with the National Geographic several times as well as with several Hollywood people including Charlton Heston, Leonard Nimoy, Dick Van Dyke, Morgan Freeman, and Kenneth Branagh.
Isbouts studied Greek and Latin, archaeology, art history and musicology at Leiden University then later went to Columbia University where he wrote his PhD dissertation on American Beaux-Arts architecture.
A 2020 Houston Chronicle article noted that "Isbouts has two main passions: the message of the historical Jesus and the artists who shared and represented those sentiments."
Isbouts emphasizes in the first lecture that the Bible is not a history book. It is a collection of books with a spiritual intent even though the writings are frequently set in historic time and space.
This series is not faith based. It is, instead, grounded in the work of scholars of history, archaeology, and literature. Some reviewers of the course hoped Isbouts would support their religious beliefs. They would be disappointed in this series.
As James L. Kugel writes in his book, How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now, “contemporary Bible readers are confronted with two radically different ways of approaching scripture…both approaches are impressive and admirable—and fundamentally incompatible.” He goes on to write that “modern readers of the Bible are thus caught between two opposite ways of reading. On the one hand, the ancient interpreters’ way is crucial for what most people still wish to believe about the Bible and its message. On the other hand, the way of modern scholars, which seems to make good, scientific sense, has undermined a great deal of what those ancient interpreters said…And so an enormous question now poses itself to both Jews and Christians: How to read the Bible?”
Still, Kugel and Isbouts would agree that even though the Bible is clearly not a history book, it can be a book of faith and can be document we all should know something about. In fact, Kugel writes in his book that “for most of our history, what the Bible meant was what the ancient interpreters had said it meant. Even if what they said does not match the findings of modern scholars, this does not mean that their interpretations have not been, or are not still, significant. As a matter of fact, anyone who wants to understand European painting or sculpture, or the history of Western thought, or Dante or Milton or Shakespeare or almost any writer up to the present day, must know something about the Bible as it was understood by these ancient interpreters—since that was the Bible.”
In this series, Isbouts delivers 24 fascinating lectures about biblical times and uses maps, art works, and video clips to supplement his teaching. The course is organized around five key narratives: Genesis and the beginning of things; the Exodus from Egypt; the rule of King David; life under the Assyrians; the time of King Herod; and the time of Jesus.
This series of lectures is an engaging and fascinating survey of biblical times (The Great Courses has other courses focused on the Bible itself) and provides us with knowledge to better appreciate its impact on religion, spirituality, philosophy, morality, social justice, law, art, music, literature and more.
Highly recommended
January 31, 2024
A fascinating look at the Bible and historical and archeological finds that reveal the culture and times as well as the effects of oral storytelling and the legend/myth influences on parts. I found the political climate and manipulation by Caiphas and Pontious Pilate to gain more money and power at the expense of the Jews quite revealing.
December 18, 2025
I was super excited to listen to this course and it ended up being so mid. I'm pretty deep in reading Classics right now after visiting several archaeological sites in Greece earlier this year and it's really made me want to learn more about ancient cults so I figured this would be a great place to start with Christianity.
I'll be honest, I know I need to read the Bible for knowledge reasons but I really don't want to read the Bible, it's long as hell and I have a three page NetGalley queue to get through and Old Testament God was so mean I know it's just going to make me mad. I already got in my feelings learning more here about the Tower of Babel and how it was just people trying to build a structure tall enough to save their lives if God decided (again!!) to fucking DROWN EVERYBODY!!! and God got so mad that the people HE CREATED did not want Him to LITERALLY MURDER THEM so He made it impossible for them to all talk to each other as punishment. This guy is such an asshole!!!!! I can't believe so many people were that hungry for an abusive father figure that they decided to all do what He says voluntarily. Love yourselves, y'all.
Anyway, this was intermittently kind of helpful in that there was a lot of retelling of stories from the Bible but the actual Archaeology of it all felt kind of thin on the ground. It didn't help that this course was clearly meant to actually be watched since there were multiple times Isbouts was on location and the sound quality completely changed, which would not have been so annoying had I been able to see what was going on. As it was, I do think the sound mixing could have been done better, the levels were crazy.
Speaking of being deep in Classics, at one point Isbouts mentioned how we wouldn't have the words of Jesus if not for other people writing them down like how we wouldn't know anything Socrates said if not for Plato and like hello, what about Xenophon's Socratic dialogues?! This REALLY bothered me. Does he not know about Xenophon? Does he think WE don't know about Xenophon, and it would be too much of a sidebar to say an additional name? I don't even like Xenophon's dialogues that much because he was kind of a square but damn. He was in fact also writing down stuff Socrates said, give the guy a little credit.
That was just one of those times when somebody says one Wrong Thing and it instantly casts doubt on everything else he's said because I don't know enough about the rest of it to identify anything else wrong, I've just been taking his word for it. We were already starting out with the handicap that Isbouts is a believer trying to equate let there be light with the Big Bang (though I DO think it's kind of funny to imagine God fucking around for 5 billion years making dinosaurs and Snowball Earth before He got around to humans. God making dinosaurs in His image. God in His carnivorous Big Bird era) and mentioning that maybe Jesus healing people was just like modern energy healing, which is pseudoscience, but thank you for trying.
Anyway, I learned some interesting things, which I hope I can trust, but overall this left me feeling kind of eh.
I'll be honest, I know I need to read the Bible for knowledge reasons but I really don't want to read the Bible, it's long as hell and I have a three page NetGalley queue to get through and Old Testament God was so mean I know it's just going to make me mad. I already got in my feelings learning more here about the Tower of Babel and how it was just people trying to build a structure tall enough to save their lives if God decided (again!!) to fucking DROWN EVERYBODY!!! and God got so mad that the people HE CREATED did not want Him to LITERALLY MURDER THEM so He made it impossible for them to all talk to each other as punishment. This guy is such an asshole!!!!! I can't believe so many people were that hungry for an abusive father figure that they decided to all do what He says voluntarily. Love yourselves, y'all.
Anyway, this was intermittently kind of helpful in that there was a lot of retelling of stories from the Bible but the actual Archaeology of it all felt kind of thin on the ground. It didn't help that this course was clearly meant to actually be watched since there were multiple times Isbouts was on location and the sound quality completely changed, which would not have been so annoying had I been able to see what was going on. As it was, I do think the sound mixing could have been done better, the levels were crazy.
Speaking of being deep in Classics, at one point Isbouts mentioned how we wouldn't have the words of Jesus if not for other people writing them down like how we wouldn't know anything Socrates said if not for Plato and like hello, what about Xenophon's Socratic dialogues?! This REALLY bothered me. Does he not know about Xenophon? Does he think WE don't know about Xenophon, and it would be too much of a sidebar to say an additional name? I don't even like Xenophon's dialogues that much because he was kind of a square but damn. He was in fact also writing down stuff Socrates said, give the guy a little credit.
That was just one of those times when somebody says one Wrong Thing and it instantly casts doubt on everything else he's said because I don't know enough about the rest of it to identify anything else wrong, I've just been taking his word for it. We were already starting out with the handicap that Isbouts is a believer trying to equate let there be light with the Big Bang (though I DO think it's kind of funny to imagine God fucking around for 5 billion years making dinosaurs and Snowball Earth before He got around to humans. God making dinosaurs in His image. God in His carnivorous Big Bird era) and mentioning that maybe Jesus healing people was just like modern energy healing, which is pseudoscience, but thank you for trying.
Anyway, I learned some interesting things, which I hope I can trust, but overall this left me feeling kind of eh.
May 11, 2022
I liked the audio course. I didn't love it.
It was presented by a Christian (Note: I am Jewish.) and he did an OK job at the level of a TV show on the History Channel or something similar. In fact, I noticed when he said, "Look at this" or words to that effect. He hardly ever does that and it really doesn't matter anyway. His words are enough, but it is clear that this was the audio track of a TV show or a Great Courses video.
He also tended to say things that irritated me. I am used to hearing academic theories on religious subjects, but it irritates me when he uses God's Holy Name... the tetragrammaton. I don't pronounce it. I feel uncomfortable thinking of it in my own mind's voice. It is the one name not to take lightly and yet the professor blithely used it throughout his lecture as if it was nothing. I found that irritating... discordant.
The other irritation is simply a mistake. He says "Jewish rabbi" as if there is any other kind of rabbi. I know that some Christians have taken to calling themselves rabbis and if he is in that camp then I want to give him ZERO stars for this audio course. But he doesn't sound like he is promoting something like that. It simply sounds like a mistake yet, he seems too well studied to make such a fundamental error. It's embarrassing.
The information over all was fine. He never got too deep into his sources, so you are taking his word on it. I didn't hear anything academically out of line and he does present other academic points of view while sticking mostly to his own.
I doubt I will listen to the audio course again. I already know most of this information. I don't need a review from this professor.
It was presented by a Christian (Note: I am Jewish.) and he did an OK job at the level of a TV show on the History Channel or something similar. In fact, I noticed when he said, "Look at this" or words to that effect. He hardly ever does that and it really doesn't matter anyway. His words are enough, but it is clear that this was the audio track of a TV show or a Great Courses video.
He also tended to say things that irritated me. I am used to hearing academic theories on religious subjects, but it irritates me when he uses God's Holy Name... the tetragrammaton. I don't pronounce it. I feel uncomfortable thinking of it in my own mind's voice. It is the one name not to take lightly and yet the professor blithely used it throughout his lecture as if it was nothing. I found that irritating... discordant.
The other irritation is simply a mistake. He says "Jewish rabbi" as if there is any other kind of rabbi. I know that some Christians have taken to calling themselves rabbis and if he is in that camp then I want to give him ZERO stars for this audio course. But he doesn't sound like he is promoting something like that. It simply sounds like a mistake yet, he seems too well studied to make such a fundamental error. It's embarrassing.
The information over all was fine. He never got too deep into his sources, so you are taking his word on it. I didn't hear anything academically out of line and he does present other academic points of view while sticking mostly to his own.
I doubt I will listen to the audio course again. I already know most of this information. I don't need a review from this professor.
March 5, 2023
Was more history than archeology. Good walk through big pieces of Bible and their context. Passed over big things like no camels during Abraham and tried to fix a square peg (flood) into square hole (biology).
JPI is a practicing Christian and is ok at admitting when his beliefs are based in faith and contradict evidence...but "lots of evidence of touch healers.", I don't know bout that. Also the stretches that other Apologists do when doing biblical archeology are still here. Not so much a dig and let's see but lets dig for this (insert proof of Christ here).
JPI is a practicing Christian and is ok at admitting when his beliefs are based in faith and contradict evidence...but "lots of evidence of touch healers.", I don't know bout that. Also the stretches that other Apologists do when doing biblical archeology are still here. Not so much a dig and let's see but lets dig for this (insert proof of Christ here).
April 22, 2021
Read the lengthy and fine review on this page for extensive notes on this series. I'll just say that while I disagreed theologically with the instructor, he had many interesting things to say. Clearly he is outstanding in his field and this is well worth the time invested if like me you are interested in Israel and the Bible.
May 29, 2022
I loved the things I learned about the Bible and how it was written. To me, it does little good to study the scriptures without knowing the background of where, how, why and by whom they were written. This book fills in so much of that information. But I found myself wanting more. Luckily this author has written several books on related subjects. I look forward to reading them as well.
November 1, 2023
Easy to listen to. Gave insight into the history of the Bible but also put forth the fact that some of what we consider history is conjecture. Each gospel is according to the person writing it and their interpretation of what happened.
April 16, 2022
I like great courses lectures, but this had too many sound effects and too broad a focus. Could not finish.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2022
best education yet
June 16, 2023
Enjoyed Jean-Pierre's guidebook and learned from it. I appreciate his writing style and found it easy reading and informative. Thank you.
April 7, 2024
The History and Archaeology of the Bible by Jean-Pierre Isbouts offers a fascinating exploration of biblical narratives through the lens of historical and archaeological research. With 24 engaging lessons, readers embark on a multidimensional journey from Genesis to the Crucifixion, gaining new insights into iconic Bible stories. Enriched with 47 specially filmed video sequences, this book provides a captivating blend of scholarly analysis and immersive visual storytelling, making it an invaluable resource for anyone interested in understanding the historical context of the Bible.
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