My reference was not to faith,which is a different thing altogether, but to the bible as a credible source of ancient history. The bulk of archeological evidence supports that view. If you or I accept a different view on this it should have nothing to do with faith or lack of it but rather be based on conclusions drawn from the credible evidence.
When you get into to some of the archeological research you will find many artifacts are in dispute and one really needs to examine the arguments, from equally qualified experts, to come to a conclusion.
This controversy really is not so much about religion as about ancient history. eg.The argument about Israel and the Exodus is really more about whether or not the artifacts found belong to a Bronze or Iron Age civillisation and so on. (Which of course is significant in the dating).
To have a prejudiced view of the historicity of this document is not only unscientific but lessens our chances of knowing more about the intellectual cradle of our Western civilisation.
