If I ever write a book on "How True Is the Bible?" I'll have to start out by saying that archaeology is not the way to find out; that it has very little to say.

I find it exciting to get any historical material from the ground. As you know, I love to put ancient Israel and its literature into their ancient contexts. And to rebuild - that is, to me, a very exciting historical task.

It has been said that in order to pursue the history of Biblical interpretation, you must include the whole philosophy of the West, which informs it at every stage.

The text says Deuteronomy was lost, but you say it was written then.

I think we may very well, in many areas, get likelihood, but not certitude. We don't want certitude anyway, do we?

You have miracles [in the Hebrew Bible], yes, but they're not the work, normally, of demons.

The history of interpretation [of the Bible] is fascinating; but that is something else.