The Christian Broadcasting Network's Narrow Scope

 

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American media production and distribution organization that was founded in 1960 by televangelist Pat Robertson. It produces The 700 Club, co-produces the ongoing Superbook anime, and has operated a number of TV channels and radio stations.

When it comes to biblical archaeology and biblical anthropology, the CBN does not report on data that may raise doubts about Political Zionism and the Jewish narrative concerning the Israelite conquest of the land of Canaan.

CBN's coverage of archaeology in Israel is superficial and ignores the discoveries of famous archaeologists such as Israel Finklestein, Kathleen Kenyon, Beno Rothenberg, Trude Dothan, Jody Magness, Ofer Bar-Yosef, and many others.

The Network focuses on stories that it believes lend support to the modern nation of Israel. It does not report on findings that it regards as undermining the Jewish narrative. The Network does not report on significant discoveries in the Holy Land that date to long before the time of David (c.1000 BC). The viewers of CBN do not understand the differences between the faith of Abraham and Judaism. Most viewers of the Network probably believe that Abraham was a Jew though Judaism did not exist when Abraham lived.

Israel Finklestein and other archaeologists question descriptions of the swift invasion of Canaan and the Israelite conquest and destruction of fortified cities such as Jericho and Hazor. The evidence of excavations at those sites does not support the claim. Even the rabbis admit this.

Hershel Shanks, long-time editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review, wrote that archaeology "sometimes provides evidence that seems to refute the Biblical account. That is the case, for example, with the Israelite conquest of the land as described in the Book of Joshua. The various cities that the Israelites supposedly conquered simply cannot be lined up with the archaeological evidence." (BAR, July-August 2013, p. 6)

The "Deuteronomistic History" (Martin Noth's term) is the main biblical source of the Jewish land narrative, but it comes from the context of c.730-300 BC, long after the time of Moses, and does not align well with the historical, archaeological, linguistic, and anthropological data concerning Moses and his Hebrew ancestors. In fact, the Deuteronomist Historian advocated destruction of images and places that were sacred to the early Hebrew (4000-2000 BC). 

Some of the practices of the early Hebrew are found in Judaism: circumcision, ritual washing, dietary restrictions, etc. However, the faith of Abraham and his Hebrew ancestors predates the emergence of Judaism by several thousand years. Further, the Hebrew clans were widely dispersed before the time of Abraham (c.2000 BC) as shown on the map above.

The thrust of the Deuteronomist's history and theology hangs on the notion that Yahweh promised the Israelites the land of Canaan. The Israelites were but one of many Hebrew clans and some Hebrew were living in Canaan when the Israelites arrived there. 

Political Right Bias

CBN represents American Evangelicalism's tendency to hard-right political views. It prides itself on having been "at the forefront of the culture wars since the network's inception in the early 1960s." It is fair to say that many, if not most of the regular viewers of CBN, view the Bible through the lens of American Evangelicalism and are not critical of the Network's content.

CBN sometimes presents science news from a Young Earth Creationist perspective. It does not balance this with reports of the evidence of human existence on earth for at least 300,000 years.

Related reading: Was Abraham the First Jew?; The Antiquity of Bethlehem; Biblical Anthropology: Another Reason to Believe; Reading Genesis as Verifiable History; Tracing the Influence of Prominent ANE Archaeologists; Judaism is Not the Faith of Abraham

War in the Old Testament

Ramses II at the battle of Kadesh

The Old Testament does not set forth a consistent picture of war or battle. In Genesis, Abraham refuses any personal gain as victor after the battle at Siddim (Gen. 14). He also received what appears to be absolution of blood guilt from Melchizedek, the high priest of Jerusalem.

When Levi and Simeon used the rape of their sister Dinah as an excuse to decimate the male population of Shechem, Jacob objected (Gen. 34:30) says that their actions caused Jacob's clan to "stink" among the peoples. Later Jacob pronounced a judgment on their evil deeds. “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel” (Gen. 49:7). This judgement on Levi and Simeon removes any ambiguity about their deeds. Their slaughter of the entire male population of Shechem was wrong, and their families suffer the consequences.

Some biblical writers present YHWH as a warrior who fights for Israel to install Israel as a kingdom. This meant uprooting the populations that already lived there and toppling the rulers who controlled Canaan, some of whom were Hebrew. The accounts vary. In some, the women and children are taken captive and only the men are killed. In others, all the inhabitants and their livestock are to be destroyed (a holocaust). 

The genocide advocated by the Deuteronomist represents an extreme far beyond the Levitical "eye for an eye" which was intended to limit acts of violence and vengeance. 

The Deuteronomist is the final hand on the book of Joshua, and even there, the accounts of the Israelite victories are inconsistent. Joshua 11:11 claims that "None of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor only; that Joshua burned." However, Joshua 6:24 credits Joshua with burning Jericho, and Joshua 8:28 reports that he also burned Ai.

Israel Finklestein and other archaeologists question the Deuteronomist Historian's claim of the swift invasion of Canaan and the Israelite conquest and destruction of fortified cities such as Jericho and Hazor. The evidence of excavations at those sites does not support the claim. Hershel Shanks has written that archaeology "sometimes provides evidence that seems to refute the Biblical account. That is the case, for example, with the Israelite conquest of the land as described in the Book of Joshua. The various cities that the Israelites supposedly conquered simply cannot be lined up with the archaeological evidence." (BAR, July-August 2013, p. 6)

The Deuteronomist advocated destruction of images and places that were sacred to the early Hebrew. The Deuteronomist writes from the context of c.730-300 B.C., long after the time of Moses, and his perspective does not align well with the historical, archaeological, linguistic, and anthropological data concerning Moses and his Hebrew ancestors.

Related reading: Battles in the Bible; INDEX of Topics at Biblical Anthropology; Understanding the Science of Biblical Anthropology; Does the Bible Advocate Genocide?; The Canonical Texts on the Bad Guys