Thinking Faith Seminar
The History of Ancient Israel and the Current Conflict in the Middle East

Professor Lester Grabbe

Sunday 11 October 2026

The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are rarely out of the news at the moment. At the heart of the ongoing conflict are claims about the ownership of territory and who has the right to occupy it. But how far back do the roots of this conflict reach? This seminar will take a fresh look at some of the key events and personalities characterising the history of ancient Israel and explore if there are any parallels to and implications for the present-day Middle East. 

Lester L. Grabbe is Professor Emeritus at the University of Hull. He is the author of twenty monographs, most recently the historical survey, When Israel Was Young (2025), as well as the editor or co-editor of many more. He was the founder and long-serving convener of the European Seminar in Historical Methodology. Professor Grabbe is an internationally recognised authority on the history of ancient Israel and the Jewish people of antiquity. 

Click here to access Lester's lecture (please note, the sound quality is largely satisfactory, but there are one or two brief quieter sections)