PBS Nova: The Bible's Buried Secrets (Trailer)
From Atheist Media Blog:
Premiers November 18, 2008 on PBS
In this landmark two-hour special, NOVA takes viewers on a fascinating scientific journey to the beginnings of modern religion. "The Bible's Buried Secrets" vividly recounts the saga of the ancient Israelites and digs deeply into both the Bible and the history of the Israelites through the archeological artifacts they left behind. The documentary focuses on the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament, as the foundation for the great monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. NOVA's producers worked with an international team of scholars and researchers who studied stories, examined artifacts, deciphered ancient manuscripts, and hypothesized how—in a time of human sacrifice, idolatry, and slavery—the concept of one God emerged. Read more
*CrucieFiction notes that Donald E. Wildmon from the "American Family Association" has already issued an "Action Alert" asking the congress to stop funding PBS because of this documentary:
The Public Broadcasting System (PBS), probably the most liberal network in America, will present a program this fall that says the Old Testament is a bunch of made-up stories that never happened. "The Bible's Buried Secrets" says the Bible is not true. It is scheduled to air on November 18.
Archaeologist William Dever said: "...It's (The Bible's Buried Secrets) designed for intelligent people who are willing to change their mind. …it will give intelligent people who want to read the Bible in a modern way a chance. If we insist on reading the Bible literally, in 25 years, nobody will read it any longer."
Among highlights of "The Bible's Buried Secrets":
* The Old Testament was written in the sixth century BC and hundreds of authors contributed.
* Abraham, Sarah and their offspring didn't exist.
* There is no archaeological evidence of the Exodus.
* Monotheism was a process that took hundreds of years.
* The Israelites were actually Canaanites.
* The Israelites believed that God had a wife.
A link to the program overview from NOVA.
Posts
Good morning, NT, I see that we're wasting our time in a similar fashion today. I love NOVA; I've bookmarked their series on the Dover trial.
ReplyDeleteDonald Wildmon is a creep.
Cool, look forward to seeing it!
ReplyDeleteBut we all know archeology supports the bible. They are excavating the ark as we speak.
ReplyDeleteI just need to point out Ray has deleted the entire post "Too Much Attention"
I'm looking forward to seeing this one too. Powerful stuff.
ReplyDeletegod I love NOVA!!!!
ReplyDeletemilo,
Did Ray realize that telling atheists to leave a blog he named "atheist central" is a bit counterproductive?
TSS,
ReplyDeleteI honestly think Ray is having a mini breakdown. I think the stress is getting to him. Ray is posting like a college student drunk dialing. That post sounded like total frustration and now he regrets it. Unlike an embarrassing phone call, Ray can hit the delete button and erase his indiscretions. But unfortunately for him, we're all watching!
Nice insight, I think you're probably right.
ReplyDeletehaha I can imagine Ray drunk dialing.
I'm not sure if it's more tragic or more comical that the answer from faith groups is still the same one they've been using for the last 1700 years or so (at least): censorship. It would be very amusing if there weren't always sycophants in influential positions to make their wishes come true. Free speech is apparently only ok as long as it serves their needs, to be tossed out the minute something they don't know how to challenge reasonably comes up. Millions of Christians know nothing about how the Bible developed, what the background of monotheistic belief is, and how much or how little archaeological evidence actually supports their myths. And that includes countless of people in charge of propagating the faith.
ReplyDeleteNot only are they excavating the Ark, when the job is done, they'll find dinosaur fossils on it.
ReplyDeleteDonald Wildmon, Bill Donohue, James Dobson, Pat Robertson. All born assholes which just grew bigger.
I just had to post and ask Ray why he removed the Too Much Attention thread. If he doesn't let through my post, maybe I'll ask Patti to mention it to him. She has the same beliefs and ideas as Ray, but she isn't Ray.
That should be another great NOVA program.