The page http://freetruth.50webs.org/B2d.htm "NT and OT scholarship" is wholly useful. Lots of book suggestions (both New testament and Old Testament). Some of them are very good.
The page also contains jewels like:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Not only have Adam and Eve and the flood story passed over to mythology, but we can no longer talk about a time of the patriarchs. There never was a 'United Monarchy' in history and it is meaningless to speak of pre-exilic prophets and their writings.
... the Bible's 'Israel' [is] a literary fiction ...
We can now say with considerable confidence that the Bible is not a history of anyone's past.
-- <i>Thomas L. Thompson, Professor of Old Testament at the University of Copenhagen and one of the leading biblical archaeologists in the world</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
And very good book:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><i>The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts</i> by Neil Asher Silberman and Israel Finkelstein - online summary.
The authors, who are directors of archaeological institutes, are authorities concerning the archaeology of early Palestine.
The book discusses how <b>archaeology has shown that there is no evidence for the existence of:</b>
  - Abraham and any of the Patriarchs
  - Moses and the Exodus
  - The period of Judges and the united monarchy of David and Solomon.
Doubting the Story of Exodus - L.A. Times News, April 13, 2001
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The modern archeological consensus over the Exodus is just beginning to reach the public.
...
In a new book this year, "The Bible Unearthed," Israeli archeologist Israel Finklestein of Tel Aviv University and archeological journalist Neil Asher Silberman raised similar doubts and offered a new theory about the roots of the Exodus story. The authors argue that the story was written during the time of King Josia of Judah in the 7th century BC--600 years after the Exodus supposedly occurred in 1250 BC--as a political manifesto to unite Israelites against the rival Egyptian empire as both states sought to expand their territory.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Unfortunately, the web page from which I pasted the above doesn't stress that archaeology has not merely found an 'absence of evidence' of Abraham, exodus and the rest. It has in fact proven they did not exist/did not happen. (That is, archaeology has revealed such things as places that were supposed to have been greatly populated during time period Y-Z according to the bible, never were and vice-versa. No such cities, no such places, no such events...) This should have been made clear.
Probably in (early) Judaism all these events had some double meaning, some spiritual significance or learning. However, some Jewish groups never accepted the Mosaic material: the Samaritans, who still don't use all of the religious literature of mainstream Judaism.
Christianity (and the other plagiarist, Islam), having blindly copied things word for word from Jewish literature (and even copying was difficult for them it seems, as they introduced errors into the original material), took all this literally and built their whole religion around it.
<b>Good reading:</b>
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/nativity.html "A Nativity Potpourri"
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/ozjesus.html "where jesus never walked"
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/twelve.html "The Twelve: Further Fictions from the new testament"
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/didjesusexist.html "Did jesus exist"
The above are articles by Frank R. Zindler. From memory, he has translated stuff from Hebrew and Latin. And I think he knows Greek as well. He also translated some bible scholarship work from German into English. He is "a member of ... The Society of Biblical Literature". So not a hack.
Also, the section 'Myth' is quite good at What They Don't Tell about christoterrorism. It's 4 pages, the other three being:
http://freetruth.50webs.org/B2a.htm "Historic?" - about jeebus
http://freetruth.50webs.org/B2b.htm "Early Christianity" - little that a christian today would recognise. Includes Apocryphal Gospels.
http://freetruth.50webs.org/B2c.htm "The four canonical Gospels, the Acts and Paul's Epistles" and "Apostles"
The links off these pages are useful.
<b>EDIT:</b>
Post 4, regarding 'christmas':
All christos in the west know, leastways in Europe and Australia and thereabouts. I hear there's still some ignorant christos talking about 'putting the christ back into christmas' in the US, but frankly, everyone makes fun of American christos, so I am ignoring them.
This Norwegian site has a good page on it: http://www.bandoli.no/christmas.htm
And here's that early christian terrorist st john Chrysostom admitting how they stole christmas from the mithraists:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->4th century Bishop [and Saint] John Chrysostom writes:
"<b>On this day also the Birthday of Christ was <i>lately</i> fixed at Rome</b> in order that while the heathen were busy with their profane ceremonies, the Christians might perform their sacred rites undisturbed. They call this the Birthday of the Invincible One; but who is so invincible as the Lord? They call it the Birthday of the Solar Disk, but Christ is the Sun of Righteousness."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Link
The "Invincible One" that Chrysostom referred to was the deity Sol Invictus Mithras - Invincible Sun Mithra, and his Birthday was called <i>Natalis Solis Invicti</i> (see Dominus and Natali).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->And here's hints dropped by the Catholic Encyclopaedia (not to be trusted when they are waving their own flag according to Joseph McCabe; and even in their admissions of guilt, plagiarism, criminality they are far from being complete or honest):
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the Sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithras celebrated the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Invincible Sun). On December 25, 274, [Roman Emperor] Aurelian had proclaimed the Sun God the principal patron of the Empire and dedicated a temple to Him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the Sun was particularly strong at Rome.
-- <i>New Catholic Encyclopaedia (Vol. III, p.656, 1967 ed.)</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> ( http://freetruth.50webs.org/B1b.htm#Christmas )
Actually, that's <i>Dies Natalis <b>Dei</b> Solis Invicti</i> - Invincible Sun <i>God</i>'s Birth Day. But, can't expect the holy catholic encyclopaedia to recognise any other God than their invented jeebus.
The page also contains jewels like:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Not only have Adam and Eve and the flood story passed over to mythology, but we can no longer talk about a time of the patriarchs. There never was a 'United Monarchy' in history and it is meaningless to speak of pre-exilic prophets and their writings.
... the Bible's 'Israel' [is] a literary fiction ...
We can now say with considerable confidence that the Bible is not a history of anyone's past.
-- <i>Thomas L. Thompson, Professor of Old Testament at the University of Copenhagen and one of the leading biblical archaeologists in the world</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
And very good book:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><i>The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts</i> by Neil Asher Silberman and Israel Finkelstein - online summary.
The authors, who are directors of archaeological institutes, are authorities concerning the archaeology of early Palestine.
The book discusses how <b>archaeology has shown that there is no evidence for the existence of:</b>
  - Abraham and any of the Patriarchs
  - Moses and the Exodus
  - The period of Judges and the united monarchy of David and Solomon.
Doubting the Story of Exodus - L.A. Times News, April 13, 2001
<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The modern archeological consensus over the Exodus is just beginning to reach the public.
...
In a new book this year, "The Bible Unearthed," Israeli archeologist Israel Finklestein of Tel Aviv University and archeological journalist Neil Asher Silberman raised similar doubts and offered a new theory about the roots of the Exodus story. The authors argue that the story was written during the time of King Josia of Judah in the 7th century BC--600 years after the Exodus supposedly occurred in 1250 BC--as a political manifesto to unite Israelites against the rival Egyptian empire as both states sought to expand their territory.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Unfortunately, the web page from which I pasted the above doesn't stress that archaeology has not merely found an 'absence of evidence' of Abraham, exodus and the rest. It has in fact proven they did not exist/did not happen. (That is, archaeology has revealed such things as places that were supposed to have been greatly populated during time period Y-Z according to the bible, never were and vice-versa. No such cities, no such places, no such events...) This should have been made clear.
Probably in (early) Judaism all these events had some double meaning, some spiritual significance or learning. However, some Jewish groups never accepted the Mosaic material: the Samaritans, who still don't use all of the religious literature of mainstream Judaism.
Christianity (and the other plagiarist, Islam), having blindly copied things word for word from Jewish literature (and even copying was difficult for them it seems, as they introduced errors into the original material), took all this literally and built their whole religion around it.
<b>Good reading:</b>
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/nativity.html "A Nativity Potpourri"
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/ozjesus.html "where jesus never walked"
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/twelve.html "The Twelve: Further Fictions from the new testament"
http://www.atheists.org/christianity/didjesusexist.html "Did jesus exist"
The above are articles by Frank R. Zindler. From memory, he has translated stuff from Hebrew and Latin. And I think he knows Greek as well. He also translated some bible scholarship work from German into English. He is "a member of ... The Society of Biblical Literature". So not a hack.
Also, the section 'Myth' is quite good at What They Don't Tell about christoterrorism. It's 4 pages, the other three being:
http://freetruth.50webs.org/B2a.htm "Historic?" - about jeebus
http://freetruth.50webs.org/B2b.htm "Early Christianity" - little that a christian today would recognise. Includes Apocryphal Gospels.
http://freetruth.50webs.org/B2c.htm "The four canonical Gospels, the Acts and Paul's Epistles" and "Apostles"
The links off these pages are useful.
<b>EDIT:</b>
Post 4, regarding 'christmas':
All christos in the west know, leastways in Europe and Australia and thereabouts. I hear there's still some ignorant christos talking about 'putting the christ back into christmas' in the US, but frankly, everyone makes fun of American christos, so I am ignoring them.
This Norwegian site has a good page on it: http://www.bandoli.no/christmas.htm
And here's that early christian terrorist st john Chrysostom admitting how they stole christmas from the mithraists:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->4th century Bishop [and Saint] John Chrysostom writes:
"<b>On this day also the Birthday of Christ was <i>lately</i> fixed at Rome</b> in order that while the heathen were busy with their profane ceremonies, the Christians might perform their sacred rites undisturbed. They call this the Birthday of the Invincible One; but who is so invincible as the Lord? They call it the Birthday of the Solar Disk, but Christ is the Sun of Righteousness."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Link
The "Invincible One" that Chrysostom referred to was the deity Sol Invictus Mithras - Invincible Sun Mithra, and his Birthday was called <i>Natalis Solis Invicti</i> (see Dominus and Natali).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->And here's hints dropped by the Catholic Encyclopaedia (not to be trusted when they are waving their own flag according to Joseph McCabe; and even in their admissions of guilt, plagiarism, criminality they are far from being complete or honest):
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the Sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithras celebrated the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Invincible Sun). On December 25, 274, [Roman Emperor] Aurelian had proclaimed the Sun God the principal patron of the Empire and dedicated a temple to Him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the Sun was particularly strong at Rome.
-- <i>New Catholic Encyclopaedia (Vol. III, p.656, 1967 ed.)</i><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> ( http://freetruth.50webs.org/B1b.htm#Christmas )
Actually, that's <i>Dies Natalis <b>Dei</b> Solis Invicti</i> - Invincible Sun <i>God</i>'s Birth Day. But, can't expect the holy catholic encyclopaedia to recognise any other God than their invented jeebus.