Assessing BBC2’s The Bible Hunters
The two-part BBC2 documentary “The Bible Hunters” has generated some discussion among bloggers recently, due particularly to participating-scholar Larry Hurtado’s criticisms of the show. I was finally able to watch the series over the last few days (it has not yet aired in North America) and thought I would make some comments, particularly about the second episode in the series, “The Search for Lost Gospels.”
“The Bible Hunters” is hosted by Jeff Rose, described in his profile as “an archaeologist and anthropologist specializing in the prehistory, palaeoenvironments, genetics, and religious traditions of the Middle East.” Throughout the series he visits (on foot, by boat, by camel, and by motorcycle) a number of Middle Eastern sites related to important biblical and non-biblical manuscript discoveries—including St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai, Akhmim, and the White Monastery in Sohag. In each location he interviews scholars and monks about the manuscripts, and then places the discoveries into the context of 19th/20th-century debates about the authenticity of the Bible. A number of British scholars help Rose elucidate the discoveries and their impact, including David Gange (University of Birmingham), Edward Adams (King’s College, London), and Michael Ledger-Lomas (King’s College, London); American Kent Clark (Trinity Western University) also makes an appearance. The deficit of women’s voices is apparent—Janet Soskice is the exception, included to comment on the Smith sisters, whose careers are documented in Soskice’s book The Sisters of Sinai (discussed HERE).
The first episode, “The Search for Bible Truth,” follows the exploits of …