This handbook is not just for atheists
The Atheist Handbook to the Old Testament. Volume One. By Joshua Bowen. Published by Digital Hammurabi Press 2021
The Old Testament of the Bible generates strong feelings. For some it is the word of God. For others it is an assortment of myths and tales produced by a neolithic society.
Joshua Bowen has produced the first of two volumes designed, as he says, “to give you the information and tools that you need to properly understand the Old Testament, particularly in the contest of debates or discussions, be it with strangers online, friends, or even your own family.”
The 316-page Kindle book is called The Atheist Handbook to the Old Testament. Bowen, who holds a Ph.D. in Assyriology, the study of the ancient Mideast, is well qualified. He reads ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Hebrew and various other ancient tongues. Equally important is that he was a pastor for seven years, including a stint as a U.S. Air Force chaplain. His bachelor’s degree is in religion from Liberty University, and he holds a master’s from Capital Bible Seminary.
Bowen does not share the views of his former self. He has another master’s and the Assyriology doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. His handbook is not only for atheists. The book is a fair and balanced academic look at sections of the Old Testament, including the many grim accounts. He gives a Cliff Notes-style introduction to Old Testament sections for the many who have never really read them. Then he address some of the thornier aspects, including the question did Moses really write the first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, that now comprise the Jewish Torah.
Bowen is clear that the academic consensus is that these documents have multiple authors, and he outlines the reasoning behind this claim. This suggests the biggest criticism of his book. He envisions debates between academics and atheists and those who believe the Bible is the infallible word of God. The problem is that the type of believer who built or makes a pilgrimage to the 510-foot long Noah’s Ark in Grant County, Kentucky, are not likely to be persuaded.
If they were so inclined, Bowen provides a lot of argumentation and ammunition to challenge their faith. Why was the Ezekiel’s prophecy about the fall of the Phoenician island city of Tyre never fulfilled? How can modern individuals justify the genocide, slavery and other grim accounts in the Old Testament? Was the Book of Daniel and its prophecies written before or after the predicted events.
The author gives pages of biblical and non-biblical sources documenting inconsistencies and chronological conflicts, whereas the average person might just say that predicting the future is not possible.
The book’s content seems like overkill for those who came to it already believing that the Old Testament is just a collection of stories. Bowen seems to be saving the best for last and promises with his second volume that he will address other controversial topics like the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan.
Because of his academic background Bowen was able to call upon sources outside the Bible. The ancient Mideastern civilizations produced thousands of documents baked into clay that have survived. These include flood accounts and other tales that have found their way into the Bible. Bowen can read these in the original. In addition, the patriarch Abraham was raised in Sumer, present day southern Iraq.
Unexpected inclusions in the book is a summary of what the Middle East was like in biblical times and a section on the evolution of archaeology from forays by those trying to prove the inerrancy of the Bible to the present scientific professionals. Worth the price alone is an extensive bibliography and footnoting.
Bowen and his wife, Megan Lewis, also an academic, operate the Digital Hammurabi YouTube channel and have a following among those interested in ancient cultures. He wrote one text on reading the Sumerian language in its original cuneiform text. Others are Did the Old Testament Endorse Slavery? and Learning to Pray in a Dead Language.
Bowen’s new book already is making waves in the online communities of atheists and skeptics. But as Bowen points out, for every seeming contradiction or misstatement in the Bible, the apologists, those who believe it to be the unvarnished word of God, have a number of explanations.
