Francesca Stavrakopolou is Biblical scholar who has been featured in 3 BBC documentaries on current Biblical scholarship. Below is the link to the first one on King David. All three are fascinating, do take the time to watch them as they include a lot of archaeology and secular analysis of Biblical writings. This first one can leave one questioning even the existence of David; The only extra-Biblical source of ANY information on this King of Jerusalem/Israel is ONE inscription on ONE stelae that mentions only a “house of David” that’s it, nothing else, zip, zilch, nada, niente, nulla, nothing:
No monuments with his name plastered all over them like the Roman emperors or Egyptian monarchs. The Holy Land is one of the most archaeologically excavated spots on the planet, Jerusalem itself is no exception, and yet as you will see in the video, the guides at the “Temple of David” site in the City of David just assume he existed, did all the deeds described in the Bible and of course these ruins are his…yet his name isn’t on one block, even the dating to the supposed time of David isn’t even secure…oh my.
Dr. Stavrakopoulou is very much enamored of the Bible, its writings and stories, much more than I, I will readily admit. Despite her very obvious “love” of the work (it is her life’s work it appears) she is very upfront as to the factuality of persons and stories we take for granted as givens; a product of being immersed in a Xian culture. She holds nothing back, while not being at all confrontational or “strident” as anyone questioning religion is often described, yet she is very matter of fact, quite tellingly blunt about the lack of evidence for Biblical persons and stories.
Check this 10 minute clip out. Every Xian should know how most Biblical scholars realize just how mythical most of the writings truly are.
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