http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_history#Overview_of_Academic_views
The Bible and history
"The article concerns the historicity of the Bible. In other words, it
addresses in what ways the Bible historically accurate; the extent to which it
can it be used as a historic source and what qualifications should be applied
. This is intended to represent the academic viewpoint.
...
Increasing conflict between the maximalist and minimalist schools
In 2001, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Sil