Kenneth Kitchen - Biblical Scholarship

Biblical Scholarship

Kitchen is often called an evangelical scholar for his research which provides archaeological support for the Old Testament. In his books, such as On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003), Kitchen argues that the historical evidence supports the reliability of biblical accounts. He is cited by conservative Christians for his work against the Documentary Hypothesis (which claims that the Pentateuch is a composite work dating from the 1st millennium BC and is considered accurate by many scholars). The book is an attempt to reassert the position of biblical maximalism, though one reviewer notes, "it is to be regretted that Kitchen takes the low road of name calling and negativism against all with whom he disagrees. In this, he is no worse than many others who have entered the minimalist/maximalist debate, but he is clearly no better either." Kitchen, while holding that the Pentateuch is largely a work of the late 2nd millennia, does make some allowance for post-Mosaic editing. He also takes a late date of the exodus of Israel from Egypt during the time of Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, whereas many conservative evangelical Bible scholars date this event to the 15th century BC.