Overview of academic views
An educated reading of the biblical text requires knowledge of when it was written, by whom, and for what purpose. For example, most academics would agree that the Pentateuch was in existence some time shortly after the 6th century BCE, but they disagree about when it was written. Proposed dates vary from the 15th century BCE to the 6th century BCE. One popular hypothesis points to the reign of Josiah (7th century BCE). In this hypothesis, the events of, for example, Exodus would have happened centuries before they were finally edited. This topic is expanded upon in dating the Bible.
An important point to keep in mind is the documentary hypothesis, which using the biblical evidence itself, claims to demonstrate that our current version was based on older written sources that were lost. Although it has been modified heavily over the years, most scholars accept some form of this hypothesis. There have also been and are a number of scholars who reject it, for example Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen[61] and the late Umberto Cassuto and Gleason Archer.
There are three loosely defined historical schools of thought with regard to the historical accuracy of the Bible,
biblical minimalism — which holds the primacy of modern archaeological evidence, and maintains the theology and apology, and all stories within it are of a later aetiological character
biblical maximalism — which holds that also the historical accounts of the Exodus, Judges and United Monarchy, king David and king Saul, are to be taken as largely accurate
non-historical method of reading the Bible; the traditional religious reading of the Bible independent of archaeological evidence, assuming it to be accurate.
Note that historical opinions fall on a spectrum, rather than into tightly defined camps. Since there is a wide range of opinions regarding the historical accuracy of the Bible, it should not be surprising that any given scholar may have views that fall anywhere between these loosely defined camps.
