In OT studies, a group of scholars who espouse the a thoroughgoing skeptical view of the OT's historical reliability, that it is not to be depended upon for the serious historical research and reconstruction of Israel's past. Highly active during late 1970-1990's, the most infamous representatives of the school include Thomas Thompson, John van Seters, Robert Coote, Israel Finkelstein, Gösta Ahlström, and Niels Peter Lemche. The outer limit of such skepticism seemed to have found it zenith in Philip Davies for whom a "historical Israel" as depicted in the OT never existed, and Keith Whitelam for whom "ancient Israel" was simply an invention of ideologically driven writers of the OT.
Minimalists have rightly been criticised for being driven by their own ideological bias as well as in the impossibility of maintaining consistency in their methods. In the long term they will, in all probability, turn out to be little more than a distraction from serious research, deserving little more than a curious footnote in the history of biblical scholarship.
Further Reading & Resources:
Garnett H. Reid, "Minimalism and Biblical History," Bibliotheca Sacra 155: 620 (1998): 394-410.
html N 5-6 (Open on Phone)
©ALBERITH