The Success Of The Goal - 977 Words

The targets supporting the achievement of the goal can be measured, are indeed being measured but fail to provide built in incentives or sanctions should these targets not be met or fulfilled. The idea is to put a stop to deforestation, restore land and water ecosystems, protect the planet’s biodiversity and various species. Key to the success of the goal is the target to significantly increase financial resources to support conservation, sustainable development and ensure equitable sharing and access to resources. Although these targets can be measured, the accuracy of the data can be called into question because government sources are not always the most trustworthy. Some geographical areas of the world have shown to have skewed the facts (â€Å"Spot the Rancher†). The failure of the Kyoto accord and the Canadian tar sands illuminate the uphill battle the UN faces in attaining their goal. As long as elected officials choose to favour economic growth and profit over su stainable development and equality the goal will not be achieved and the targets are irrelevant. The targets are measurable. Organizations such as the World Resources Institute have been working to create an international forest watch. With the use of satellites and technology that provides new ways of detecting deforestation patterns, forests can be far more easily monitored an analyzed. This gives governments an ability to police their forests and allows them to be alerted when certain areas are in dangerShow MoreRelatedGoals And Goals For Academic Success946 Words   |  4 PagesGoal 1: This goal is written measurably because it is something as a class we can keep her accountable for and help her succeed by giving her feedback. Others reading this would understand her intent because in order for her to improve at something she would need constructive feedback from people/teachers/peers to increase her academic and even her overall performance. This goal is objective because her instructors can further her academic success by evaluating her performance and can see her changeR ead MoreGoals Lead to Success831 Words   |  4 PagesGoals lead to your Success Have you ever wondered what it means to set goals? Well, goal setting means to make a plan for yourself which you like to achieve so that after every goal you can feel good. After completing every goal you will feel great! Like Psychologist Carol Dweck says â€Å"having a growth mindset you Believe the harder you work, the better you can become†. But then again, we have to have realistic and do-able goals not those that we will never complete. For my own goals, I would likeRead MoreGoals, Objectives, And Success950 Words   |  4 Pageslife we have ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬ three things we should focus on our goals, objectives, and success in life. We always have goals to reach whether it is small goals or big goals. Many people would define goals as an achievement made but Webster dictionary defines it as something that you are trying to do or achieve. Goals can vary in many factors whether your goals are to be rich, humble, or have a family. Many people do not realize that you can’t just have goals and meet them. Instead you should set up steps to achieveRead MoreMentoring And The Goal Of Success Essay1526 Words   |  7 Pagesof items in mind all with the intention of supporting the new student and I would also have ways to monitor and continue that support with the goal of success for that student. Mentoring is a necessary part of any classroom or even for any job where an employer hopes to fill a position with a highly qualified person and intends to set them up for success. Catholic schools need strong mentoring programs that not only support the retention of highly qualified teachers but also mentor them in multileveledRead MoreThe Goal For Occupational Success1871 Words   |  8 Pagesmy main goal. With these goals will benefit me in being successful and achieving who I want to be in life and as an individual. Three goals I wish to achieve are having occupational success, in which long term I will strive to move up in my position and earn a promotion in a few years from now. Another goal for occupational success is short term in which I will be more self-controlled at work and will ensure that no uninhabitable behavior is demonstrated. The third goal is a health goal in whichRead MoreLeadership Philosophy And Goals For Success806 Words   |  4 Pagesleadership philosophy and goals for success we will need to use all the different levels of staffing to do so. The first position that will be used is the Chief Executive Officer, this role will be used to roll out the plan to the organization. This will be achieved by utilizing a mixture of conference calls, all employee meetings, and also email. By using these multiple different mediums we will be able to touch the different employees throughout the organization. The goal for this role would beRead MoreAcademic Success : Career Goal s1088 Words   |  5 PagesAcademic Success Educational success is important if you want to reach the goals for a successful career in life. This course was beneficial in helping to reach the educational success need to prepare for your career. The first lesson learned is your learning style to help become successful. Even though one style of learning is only needed to succeed, learning different styles of learning will give you greater success. This essay will explain what was learned and how it will be applied inRead MoreThe Success Is The Accomplishment Of Ones Goals1499 Words   |  6 PagesOne of the meanings of the word success is the accomplishment of one’s goals. Throughout our lives we make a lot of goals because we want to be happy with ourselves. The majority of the time we make a goal it’s because we are motivated. We get ready to do anything it takes to accomplish our goals because we believe we can. But people set aside their goals for numerous reasons. I myself have set aside goals of my own numerous of times. The one goal that seems to bother me often is working out on aRead MoreAcademic Success : Career Goals930 Words   |  4 Pages Continuing Academic Success Continuing Academic Success remain beneficial to my life by reason of I hunger a better paying job to provide for my family and I realize studying strong and working hard will secure success in school and in life. The benefits of creating an educational goal remain as follows limitations of stress, focus on time management and lastly exceptional writing skills. Educational and career goals primarily focus on the ability to secure and maintain successfulRead MoreAcademic Success : Career Goals1378 Words   |  6 PagesContinuing Academic Success Brianne Ard Gen/201 June 29, 2015 Christina Gruca Continuing Academic Success Introduction â€Å"Motivation is defined as the general desire or willingness of someone to do something, but often finding the desire within you can prove difficult. One of the keys to success is to be able to self-motivate and not depend on external forces to deliver your drive† (Stone, 2015, para. 1). Starting something new in life, such as deciding to earn my master’s degree in Psychology

Essay on Social Policy Development - 1431 Words

It was not until the time of Sigmund Freud that people looked at the psyches of an individual and how that could impact an individual’s life. Before that time, children were viewed as extra farm hands and generally as cheap labor. Families did not consider the possible negative impact this could have on their development. Later, Erikson and Piaget furthered the study of human development and expanded the thought processes that Freud had pioneered. While all consider Freud the father of psychoanalytic thinking, few turn to many of his first theories about human development. Freud created the doorway by which all future developmental researchers were able to walk through to advance the study. While, experts have clearly not agreed on†¦show more content†¦Poverty is a generational issue, and most of the time mothers do not know how to care emotionally for their children. Poverty is one of the risk factors that have additional consequences that accompany it. Povert y brings several things with it that increase the infant’s exposure to physical, emotional, and cognitive harm. Infants and children raised in poverty are less likely to receive basic medical treatment and simple untreated illnesses can have a devastating lifelong effect. Families are more likely to live in substandard conditions that expose the youth to environmental risks such as contaminated drinking water and lead. Underlying stressors associated with poverty are financial stressors and depression among the youth’s caregiver. These issues can lead to ignoring of the infant’s emotional needs and the infant misses the opportunity to create a lifelong bond with another and trust in another being able to meet their needs. Inadequate parenting can occur over a child’s entire life span with different and yet still devastating results. As stated in by Hutchinson in her book Dimensions of Human Behavior, Changing the Life Course (2008): The most pervasive response to inadequate care giving is nonorganic failure to thrive (NOFTT). This diagnosis is used to describe infants, usually between the ages three to twelve months, who show poor development, primarily in terms of weightShow MoreRelatedThe Development Of The Welfare State And Social Policies1563 Words   |  7 PagesThe development of the Welfare State and Social Policies have been based on assumptions about gender, race, ability/disability and age. Discuss this statement with reference to one of the highlighted issues and illustrate your discussion with at least one area of Social Policy Disability is an umbrella term used to cover impairments, activity limitation and participation restrictions. Disability is not just a health problem but a complex phenomenon (WHO 2015). Disability has been a neglected areaRead MoreThe Implications of Current Child Policy for the Welfare of Children1466 Words   |  6 PagesThe Implications of Current Child Policy for the Welfare of Children Children in the United Kingdom are key consumers of social policy. They consume a vast amount of the many services provided by this Country. Services such as health care through Doctors, hospitals and clinics, the education system which is largely devoted financially to the schooling of young people, and also the social security system which is stretched by children whose parents are in need of income Read MoreLearning Guides for Practitioners Working with Children1984 Words   |  8 Pagespractitioners are expected to understand the effect of the spaces on children and young during transitions and be able to demonstrate skills and knowledge to shape their relationships between peers and with adults, to influence their physical, cultural, social interactions and be able to explore different standpoints. (Open University 2014, Learning Guide 15.1) Similarly, it was suggested that thinking spatial can be one of the critical thinking skills of practitioners when working with children and youngRead MoreHuman Behavior And Social Systems Development : Case Management, Direct Practice And Advocacy For Policy Development1610 Words   |  7 PagesSocial workers are professionals who promote social change through problem solving in human relationships. To ensure the wellbeing of clients they promote empowerment strategies and liberation tools. Social workers apply theories of human behavior and social systems development to support people’s positive interactions with the environment. Social workers play three major roles in working with children and their families. These three roles are key in the following practice arenas: case managementRead MoreSocial Policy: Supporting Children in Care and Adult Care Leavers1445 Words   |  6 PagesSocial Policy Social Policy Supporting Children in Care and Adult Care Leavers Social Policy The main aim of this new social policy in the United Kingdom is to ensure that children who leave care have similar access to educational opportunities like other children within the entire society. Children who leave care lack the needed knowledge and capacity to survive in the society since they have limited access to essential resources in the contemporary world. The education of children in and leavingRead MoreEconomic Development And Development Of Welfare1640 Words   |  7 Pagesassumption that the development of welfare states was in direct response to social needs brought by industrialization and economic development. In fact the early scholarship in social policy did not question the causational effect between economic development and development of welfare states. Understanding that economic development alone cannot sufficiently explain why some countries developed into full welfare states while others did not prevail until the emergence of social democratic theory andRe ad MoreEssay on social policy1190 Words   |  5 Pagesand Social Care Student Name Unit 7: Social Policy Assessor name: Christine Pratt Date of Issue Completion date 27/01/2014 07/03/2014 Student No. Submitted on Assignment title Learning Outcome Learning outcome Assessment criteria LO1 Understand the significant historical and contemporary landmarks in social welfare provision 1.1 Understand the origins of social policies 2.1 Analyse the processes involved in the development ofRead MoreEconomic And Human Development Policies Since Independence886 Words   |  4 PagesTanzania, education has been entrenched in economic and human development policies since independence in1961. As a result, policy makers continue to treasure the vital role of education in poverty reduction and in the acceleration of social and economic development (URoT, 2011; Wabike, 2014). The urgent need of education in development achievement for instance, persuaded Tanzania to espouse the Universal Primary Education (UPE) policy in1974 promoting education for all children under Education forRead MoreElectoral Pressures In Africa Case Study1531 Words   |  7 PagesHave electoral pressures of the post-1990 period reshaped the economic policies pursued by African governments? Why or why not? In you answer, be sure to contrast the pre- and post-1990 periods, and use the experience of two African countries to support your answer Electoral pressures and economic policies in Africa: Past records and prospects Introduction: The 1990s represent a period of electoral pressures for most Sub-Saharan African countries as governments faced external influences for politicalRead MoreAnalysis Of Bolsa Familia Springs From A Long Tradition Of Welfare And Development1471 Words   |  6 Pageswelfare and development strategies in Latin America. Economic and social development are of central concern to governments and development agencies worldwide due to their direct link to equality. This can be explained through the well-defined link between income levels and health, education and nutritional outcomes, emphasizing the importance of addressing inequality in order to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Thus, reducing inequality is central to the success of policy initiatives

Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles - 1307 Words

In the play â€Å"Trifles† by Susan Glaspell, she relates the title of her play to how the women in this play are treated with very little respect and authority. Mr. Wright overpowers his wife and he just does not realize that until it is to late and she kills him. The two women in this play that go into the house with the attorney and the sheriff for the investigation934 were the ones to discover the evidence of what clearly happened. The two women end up hiding the evidence from the two men to help out Mrs. Wright because she is in jail at the time. The two men investigating the house can’t seen to find anything out of the ordinary, but little did they know that the women had already solved the case. Is it right that the women hide this from the men because they can see that she was treated badly, or should the women have turned the evidence over to the men that they overlooked? The women in this play are justified by being silent, by hiding the evidence by the title of the play being â€Å"Trifles†. Female characters in the play express a desire to help each other in a time of need. In the play â€Å"Trifles† Mrs. Hale says, â€Å"(with a slow look around her.) I wonder how it would seem never to have had any children around. (Pause.) No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird—a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too† (1045). She started to realize that this woman has been going through a hard time and her husband is the one to blame for that. The critic Karen Stein explains,Show MoreRelatedAn Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 983 Words   |  4 Pagespreconception someone makes based on gender, race, or religion that in this case is by gender, and affects women based on their expected gender roles. Women endlessly have expectations that go along with being a wife, mother, or simply a female. In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, 1955 by Alice Walker, and Girl by Jamaica Kincaid women are stereotyped by me n and told to follow unwritten but expected roles such as being seen and not heard. As well as how they present themselves, their behavior, and tasks they needRead MoreAn Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 1203 Words   |  5 PagesA Love Gone Bad A woman who was once full of life and happiness is now left with no joy in her life. In the play, â€Å"Trifles† by Susan Glaspell, we see how Mrs. Wright has changed over the years. We see how cheerful she was before marrying Mr. Wright. While trying to solve the murder, the author uses symbolism, conflict, and irony. The are many examples of conflict in this play. The most apparent conflict is that between the men and the women in the play. In the first parts of the investigation,Read MoreAn Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 1056 Words   |  5 PagesIn the early 1900’s, both males and females were perceived as complete opposites of eachother. Women were considered physically weaker and morally superior to men. The gender roles during this time period were clearly demonstrated in the play â€Å"Trifles†, by Susan Glaspell. At a first glance it may seem like the play is only about the death of Mr. Wright. The play could simply be interpreted that the characters all work together to determine the murderer of Mr. Wright. The initial perception overlooksRead MoreAn Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 1293 Words   |  6 Pagesthe history of the world. Yet, humanity’s statement to symbols goes beyond us finding meaning in innominate or non-human objects. People assign hum anity into objects, almost a part of themselves. This concept is clearly demonstrated in Susan Glaspell’s play, Trifles. The work contains many element of symbolism that make important and relieving comments on the characters of the play and the themes of the story. One of the first symbols introduced in the work, Mrs. Wright’s apron is deeply symbolicRead MoreAn Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 988 Words   |  4 PagesA Heavy Conscience â€Å"Trifles† by Susan Glaspell is a short play built around the murder of John Wright. Throughout the play there are numerous entwined themes and ideas. With closer examination of Glaspell’s work it is clear that there is a far greater plot in action than just a murder. Mrs. Minnie Wright has been arrested for the murder of her husband while the investigation is active. Interestingly enough the murder is not the focused of this play. The focus is how two wives Mrs. Hale and MrsRead MoreAn Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 1606 Words   |  7 PagesThe play Trifles written by Susan Glaspell is a mystery story of a murder that takes place in a small farming town. At the time the play was written women in the united states were still not given the opportunity to vote. It is through the mystery of this murder that we find the role of gender to be a major factor throughout the entirety of the play. In the play, we are given tandems of females and males to follow as they seek to solve the mystery of how Mrs. Wright’s husband was murdered. TheRead MoreAnalysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles Essay916 Words   |  4 Pagesmultiple themes that a story is trying to convey. In Susan Glaspell s, Trifles, she meticulously incorporates significant symbols that help the reader recognize and construe the depth of the significance of the jar of fruit preserves, quilt, bird, and the bird cage. Things are not always as insignificant as they appear to be, and Glaspell s play is a prime example of how important it is to read between the lines. A central theme in Glaspell s play is gender obedience, displayed seemingly by MrsRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Susan Glaspell s Trifles 1714 Words   |  7 PagesFaulkner and Trifles written by Susan Glaspell loneliness, poverty and isolation consume the lives of the characters. Susan Glaspell’s play â€Å"Trifles† written in 1916. In this play the author’s talks of her preoccupation with culture- bound notions of gender and sex roles. Glaspell says women are considered trifles which mean they are not important to society which is carried out by men (Baym, p. 742). In Trifles written by Susan Glaspell the time is in the early 20th century. When Glaspell wrote â€Å"Trifles†Read MoreLiterary Analysis of Susan Glaspells Trifles1788 Words   |  7 PagesAn Analysis of Natures in Susan Glaspells Trifles A trifle is something that has little value or importance, and there are many seeming trifles in Susan Glaspells one-act play Trifles. The irony is that these trifles carry more weight and significance than first seems to be the case. Just as Glaspells play ultimately reveals a sympathetic nature in Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, the evidence that the men investigators fail to observe, because they are blind to the things that have importanceRead MoreSusan Glaspell s Trifles 1732 Words   |  7 PagesSusan Glaspell (1876-1948) was an American-born Pulitzer Prize winning writer of both plays and fiction. Glaspell came from humble beginnings and went on to study at Drake University and the University of Chicago. Much of Glaspell s work dealt with the relationships between men and women and the negative effects they have on women. In Glaspell s play Trifles, it is revealed that the operations of patriarchy are just an illusion that men have created to make themselves feel superior to w omen

Snapshot Isolation And There Validation Steps For Update...

TERM REPROT SNAPSHOT ISOLATION Abstract: This paper mainly describes about the snapshot isolation and there validation steps for update transactions and serializability issues of snapshot isolation. To maintain more than one version of a data items it can possible to permit a single transaction to read an existing version of a data item rather than the more update version created by an uncommitted transaction or by a transaction that ought to come later in serialization order. To obtain this there are different types of multi-version concurrency control techniques one of those techniques which widely used in the real world is snapshot isolation. It has been used by major database management system to obtain high throughput. It also provides better performance than the serialzability so it’s gained wide acceptance in commercial and open source systems such as Oracle, SQL, PostgreSQL, Interbase, Firebird. Introduction: Snapshot isolation is a multi-version concurrency control that is very popular and intensely utilized. The snapshot isolation technique was first introduced by the critique of ANSI isolation levels in a paper in 1995. The work on multi-version concurrency control which derived snapshot isolation. Multi-version concurrency is nothing but every transaction is conceded consistent views of the data from the transaction begin and the database will use the existing version of the data to guarantee isolation level is achieved without locking the data. According to

Human Resource Management Strategic Plans

Question: What is best practice Human Resources? Answer: Introduction HR best practices are strategic plans: To improve services of the employee and increase profitability for the employer. Rewards Open house discussion Feedback Highlight performers Fair Evaluation System This slide reflect the why hr practices are required and what are the best practices of hr that can be applied in any organization. The best hr practices would improve the employee retention and maximize the output of the organization that would result in the increase in the profitability of the organization. The above mentioned tools are some of the best hr practices that great organizations have implemented. All these points have been discussed in details in the slides that follow. The points are reward system, open house discussion and feedback, highlight best performers and fair evaluation system and the implementation of all these points would definitely accumulate into in creation of an ideal workplace and affect the organization positively. Rewards System Recognition of Employee Talent The 50/50 division of incentives Cash incentive according to performance Public Appreciation from Colleagues and seniors Reward system plays a vital role in business organization as it boost the morale of the employee and fills them with the sense of appreciation. Reward system promotes the self esteem of the employees and motivates them to perform even better. The work efficiency gets positively affected by the reward system. Open house discussion feedback Ideas are driving force of the world Employees are largest source of ideas Appropriate mechanism could be achieve by: Open house discussion Management- employee meetings Feedback boxes According to this we would discuss about features of exchange of ideas with an organization and how they help an organization to grow. Ideas are the driving force of the world that compels the world to push the existing limits of its periphery. Great organizations are capable of recognizing, nurturing and executing these great ideas. These great ideas were instrumental in the making the great organizations what they are today. The largest mines of ideas are the employees of the organization. The obstacles that might affect the organization adversely and stop the successful implementation of the ideas are an inappropriate mechanism to seize the ideas. An appropriate mechanism would encourage an equal level of participation of the employee in the exchange of information and ideas. An appropriate mechanism enhances through the implementation of the tools like open house discussion, management employee meetings and discussion sessions and feedback boxes that would enable the employees to provide ideas without hesitation. The implementation of the appropriate mechanism would help in locating and nurturing the talent that are present within the organization. Highlight Performers Profiling of the top performers Highlighting the performers Display the names of the performer on Intranet Display board Encourage other employees to perform well Creates a competitive environment This slide points out how to highlight best performers and the importance of doing that. Highlighting the best performers requires the profiling of the all the employees and selecting the best among them. The names of the best performers should be displayed through the intranet network of the company and the display board or any other way of displaying the names. This would encourage the employees and give them a sense of importance consequently the employee would work harder to maintain his position of excellence. Fair Evaluation System The link between organization goal and individual performance. Self evaluation system Achievement based evaluation Feedback from immediate manager Cross functional feedback from second manager This slides focuses on the implementation of an evaluation system that would be able to link the overall goals of the organization and the individual performer. Each and every employee should be guided by a well defined evaluation process. Self evaluation and self rating is an essential tool process through which an employee identifies his short comings and achievements. Through thus evaluation the employee comprehends which parts needs to be rectified and which needs to be maintained. The evaluation process needs to fair and founded on the basis of unbiased judgment thus needs to be linked with the evaluation of the achievements or failures of the employee over a period of time. The employer evaluation should be based done not only by the immediate manager of the employee but by next higher level manager to the employee. This is called cross functional feedback and it is add unbiased feedback and evaluation in the system. References Kooij, D.T., Guest, D.E., Clinton, M., Knight, T., Jansen, P.G. and Dikkers, J.S., 2013. How the impact of HR practices on employee well being and performance changes with age. Human Resource Management Journal, 23(1), pp.18-35. Longenecker, C. and Fink, L.S., 2015. Ten questions that make a difference for HR leadership: The distilled wisdom of two award facilitators. Human Resource Management International Digest, 23(3), pp.20-22. Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Ulrich, D., 2013. Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Harvard Business Press. Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Kehoe, R.R. and Wright, P.M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Management, 39(2), pp

A History of Israel from the Bronze Age Through the Jewish Wars - Kaiser, Walter C., Jr free essay sample

Kaiser, Walter C. , Jr. A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars. Nashville, TN: Broadman Holman Publishers, 1988. 540 pp. Summary Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. , in the introduction of his book, A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars, describes how scholars have gone from generally accepting the Biblical account as historically accurate to discarding any supernatural events or anything that disagrees with their interpretation of archaeological artifacts and extra-biblical accounts. Kaiser’s attempt to cover the scope of issues and expanse of time involved in the history of Israel takes a pointedly different approach to today’s popular attitude that, â€Å"the Bible is useless for reconstructing the history of Israel. † (xvii) Instead of starting with the popular presupposition today that the Bible is an ethnocentristic account of history full of supernatural events that must be automatically discarded because of an anti-supernatural view of the universe, Kaiser starts with the presupposition that the Bible is trustworthy. We will write a custom essay sample on A History of Israel: from the Bronze Age Through the Jewish Wars Kaiser, Walter C., Jr or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Kaiser begins with the fact that the Bible has been accepted as trustworthy historically for centuries, but then taking the Bible on its own terms he subjects the claims of scripture to critical methodology to see how they stand up. Contrary to Biblical minimalists, Kaiser considers the claims of the Bible to be, â€Å"reliable – until they are proven to be otherwise. † (xii) To the biblical minimalists Kaiser has dared to do the unthinkable: â€Å"We have dared to use the Bible as a source in the construction of Israel’s history! (xii) In the first chapter Kaiser describes how there is no consensus today of how to interpret historical evidence, particularly written accounts, because any historical account is written from some biased perspective. This is thought to be especially true of the Bible, which is, â€Å"suspect as being a religious document more concerned about getting across a ‘privileged point of view’ than it is in representing fairly the real state of affairs. (2) Kaiser admits that the Bible is not meant to be a history textbook any more than it is a science textbook, and that its main purpose is indeed to reveal who God is and how He deals with man, but it does so using, â€Å"real events from the ancient Near East, against which backdrop the revelation of God was communicated. † (3) In the first chapter Kaiser rebuts the logical fallacies, which are used to exclude the Biblical account of events as historically reliable. The fallacy that history cannot include the supernatural or acts of God assumes that, â€Å"all historical phenomena must be subjected to an analogous explanation, i. e. , one that explains events in terms of other known happenings. † (3) The idea that, â€Å"History cannot include anything that does not have external documentation,† is false in that our available external evidence is random and often cannot prove or disprove events that scholars generally accept as historical fact. The fallacies that, â€Å"History cannot include narratives about individuals, but must focus on nations instead,† (6) and that, â€Å"History must not focus on individuals as shapers of the times, but on sociological factors that attempt to discover general laws and large-scale societal forces the influence historical change,† (7) seem to be largely derived from an abstract Marxist approach to sociology and history in which individuals can play only a minor role in history. I would say that Marx’s philosophy or history has been shown to be a failure by history itself, which records the ultimate failure of nations that tried to implement Marx’s philosophies. Kaiser’s book shows numerous times how the fallacy that, â€Å"History must not give logical and necessary priority to written evidence over material culture,† (7) is weak because the interpretation of material evidence is very subjective and the more material evidence that is uncovered the more it seems to corroborate the written biblical account. The rest of the first chapter describes how the different schools of the study of the history of Israel developed (or digressed) from the traditional approach, which goes on the assumption that, â€Å"the text is innocent until it is proven guilty by external facts,† to scholars who are, â€Å"so skeptical that it seems that skepticism has gone about as far as it can go. † (13) The next chapter gives the geographical description of the land related to the Old Testament events. Kaiser designates four major north-south geographical divisions parallel to the Mediterranean coastline. From west to east they are: the coastal plain along the Mediterranean Sea, the Galilee and central hill country, the Jordan Rift valley and the Transjordanian Highlands. Kaiser describes how Israel occupied a key position in the middle of what is know as the Fertile Crescent, and the role her neighbors played with Egypt to the south, Asia Minor and Syria to the north and Mesopotamia (the â€Å"land between the rivers†) to the east. Throughout the rest of the book Kaiser shows how understanding of the history and culture of the surrounding areas reveals much about the history of Israel and often reinforces the biblical account. The third chapter describes what is known of the archaeological periods pertaining to the early biblical events from the Paleolithic to the Middle Bronze I periods. In particular, Kaiser discusses what some of the major finds and archaeological digs in the area of Palestine reveal about the Bible times. It seems that stoneware and tools, metal artifacts and pottery are often the most reliable indicators of the time period of the level of the site in which the artifacts are found. The type of metal alloys and technology for firing pottery are used as indicators of the technological level related to a specific time period. It is fascinating to see how Kaiser refers to actual archaeological finds, which corroborate with what we already know from the Biblical accounts and how they often add new understanding to the culture that biblical figures lived in. For example, the ziggurats that have been discovered in the area of Mesopotamia where Abram originated from, and the pyramids and other archaeological evidence from the Egypt of Joseph and Moses’ time, give us many clues about the polytheistic cultures that they lived in. The rest of the book guides the reader through a straight line of Israel’s history from the time of the patriarchs to the arrival of the Romans in Jerusalem around 63 B. C. The main source for Kaiser’s outline is, of course, the Bible, but he deals extensively with the other historical and archaeological evidence pertaining to each event and time period discussed. Kaiser meticulously discusses the various approaches to interpreting the data, which seem to cast doubt on or refute the biblical account and shows either new or alternative interpretations of the data that reinforce the biblical account. It becomes obvious, after reading Kaiser’s rebuttals of the skeptics over and over, how preconceptions and the fallacies discussed in the first chapter often determine beforehand how the data will be interpreted. However, there does seem to be less need for rebuttal of liberal historical interpretations in the later chapters before the Persian period. This is probably because there is more known about the events from extra-biblical sources. There are also fewer supernatural events that liberal historians feel a need to find natural explanations for. The first part of Kaiser’s historical outline covers the period of the patriarchs from Abraham to Joseph. Liberal scholars, such as, Julius Wellhausen who, â€Å"declared that ‘no historical knowledge’ of the patriarchs could be obtained from Genesis. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were a mere ‘glorified mirage’ projected back from later Hebrew history. ’ (51) Kaiser’s fresh look at the Middle Bronze IIA period of the patriarchs and his rebuttal of the claim to anachronisms demonstrate that the claim of liberal scholars that Genesis is a product of Jewish historical revisionism is groundless. For example, the assumption that Abraham fit the conception of a backwards bedouin would seem to make the reference to his use camels anachronistic for that time period because domesticated camels were thought to be rare if they were even domesticated by that point at all. However, Kaiser demonstrates that skeletal remains and illustrations of camels discovered at excavations from Abraham’s time period provide, â€Å"more than passing evidence that the camel already was domesticated by patriarchal times. (64) It is also clear simply by reading the biblical account of Abraham’s interaction as a peer with kings does not fit the backwards bedouin stereotype that some try to foist upon him. Part 2 of Kaiser’s book deals with the events surrounding Moses and the book of Exodus. As Kaiser notes, â€Å"several hundred years of relative silence separate the end of the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 from the beginning of the Book of Exodus where the story is picked u p once again. However, Kaiser shows how the records of Egypt’s history during that time help to fill in the blanks and to explain how the pharaoh of Moses’ day did not know about Joseph even though Joseph had been second only to Pharaoh himself. This seems best explained by the change of power and political instability caused by a people called the Hyksos. I found especially interesting how what is known of the line of pharaohs from the Eighteenth Dynasty reinforces the biblical account of the life of Moses and the Israelites during that time. Much hinges upon where one places the date of the exodus, but the early date fits both the biblical record and the archeological/historical record best. A big support for the early date is the fact that the chronology of the pharaohs, â€Å"identifies Thutmose III as the pharaoh who sought Moses’ life for what he had done in Egypt because he was the only ruler to live long enough to fit the pattern of the one who sought Moses’ life for the whole forty years that he lived in Arabia with Jethro of Midian. (90) The next part deals with the conquest and allotment of the land as described in the book of Joshua. Although part of the Torah, Kaiser discusses how the book of Deuteronomy is included in what is known as the deuteronomic collection along with the books from Joshua to kings. The description in Joshua 1-11 of how the Israelites conquered the land is often considered a collection of etiological stories of how Israel came to be in the land and is not given much credi bility. Kaiser discusses not only the archaeological support for the stories, but shows how the literary structure of the narrative itself, â€Å"is very similar to that of the Egyptian daybook tradition,† which described significant military campaigns of the pharaoh. Much of this section discusses how the archaeological finds from some of the cities (especially Jericho) mentioned in the conquests match the biblical description of the sieges. The fourth part of A History of Israel, covers the period of Judges and the Ruth account. To explain what kept the tribes of Israel unified it has been popular among some scholars to theorize that Israel was in a cultic league that practiced amphictyonic rites associated with other cultures, such as some Greek groups, which always involved twelve tribes grouped around a central sanctuary. Kaiser states that this theory should be abandoned for, â€Å"the two environments of the Greek and Israelite groups were so different that any similarities were most unlikely. † (176) It is clearly best to accept the biblical account of family ties and understand the twelve tribes of Israel as descendants of the sons of Jacob. Kaiser discusses the connection of the books of Joshua and Judges and how the mention of the death of Joshua forms a literary transition between the two. Kaiser deals with the cycle of apostasy and deliverance in judges and the invasion of people, such as, the Moabites. The section ends with a brief discussion of how Ruth the Moabitess came into the lineage of King David. The next two sections of the book cover the period of the monarchies from the time of Samuel before the inauguration of Sual up until the time before the Babylonian exile. The first of the two sections deals with the monarchies of Saul, David and Solomon. Kaiser’s treatment of the narratives is help the reader to see the transition between the various events of 12 Samuel and their historic significance, which might not be so readily apparent to the Bible reader without the background knowledge that Kaiser provides. For example, Kaiser emphasizes how continued oppression of the Philistines despite Samson’s victories against them was the, â€Å"straw that seems to have broken the camel’s back. (205) He also discusses the significance of relations between Egypt and Israel with the marriage of Solomon to the daughter of the pharaoh, Siamun, and the Egyptian victory over the Philistines depicted in the Tanis Relief from around that time. One of the more interesting parts to me was the discussion of David’s succession to the throne. Although critical scholars question the authenticity of the Succession Narrative, Kaiser discusse s how some of their objections are raised simply because such scholars try to exclude any divine intervention, â€Å"as a proper subject for historical reporting. (227) Even more significantly to me, Kaiser points out that, atypical of an etiological history, the narrative’s, â€Å"refusal to gloss over the king’s sins or weaknesses, the family disruptions, the bitterness, the revolt, and the ignonimous deeds in David’s life all promoted the idea that realistic life and events were being presented. † (228) I have always found the interaction of the Biblical accounts and prophecies, covered in sixth and seventh sections of Kaiser’s book, with the empires of Babylon, Assyria and other powers fascinating because they show how God is sovereign over the nations. At the same time how the accounts the books of Kings and Chronicles fit with the prophets chronologically has always been confusing for me, but Kaiser’s treatment of both the biblical accounts and the extra-biblical records helps bring a more cohesive understanding. Kaiser discusses how Solomon’s heavy taxes and forced periods of labor helped to bring on the division of the kingdom into the northern ten tribes of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, but we also know from the biblical account that it was ultimately the result of David’s sin. Kaiser gives credit to Edwin R. Thiele for helping to untangle the chronology of the complex system of dates of the kings given in the books of Kings and Chronicles. Although Thiele’s work has still not received universal acceptance Kaiser notes that it, â€Å"has never been successfully refuted. † (293) Kaiser notes that the fighting during the first fifty years of the division gave way to fifty years of relative peace between the northern and southern kingdoms during the Omridian dynasty, which was represented by the strong rule of the Israelite kings Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram with Jehosaphat being the most remarkable Judean king. During this time the Assyrian empire was reemerging and Kaiser mentions some of the interactions that Israel had with this power as well as the emerging kingdom of Syria. Kaiser states that one of the, â€Å"great ‘benchmarks’ in Israelite and Judean history,† (339) was the establishment of the Jehu dynasty, which marked the end of the Omridian dynasty. The influence of the Assyrians is interesting to follow during this time, because we know from the scriptures that God used this empire to punish Israel’s disobedience to His covenant. King Jehu even seems to have borrowed some of the cruel ‘terror’ tactics of the Assyrians against his fellow Israelites in house of Ahab by having the severed heads of Ahab’s seventy sons piled for public display. Kaiser briefly deals with the prophets Amos, Hosea, Micah, Jonah and Isaiah, and an interesting new fact for me was that the Nineveh Jonah preached to was one major cities of Israel’s hated and cruel enemy – the Assyrians. In the midst of Israel’s apostasy and the judgment God brought on them through the Assyrians and the emerging Babylonians, inspiring accounts of the faithfulness of kings like Hezekiah, Josiah and the belated repentance of Manasseh (upon his return from Babylonian exile) to return the people to the worship of Yahweh and the repair of their central place of worship were all too late to avoid God’s judgment of the Babylonian exile. Kaiser discusses the archaeological evidence for the diminished role of the Judean kings as the Babylonian influence grew. Though Jeremiah predicted the seventy-year exile and warned the regent, Zedikiah, not to side with the Egyptians and revolt against the Babylonians, Zedekiah listened instead to the false prophets with their promises of peace. Jeremiah suffered for sticking to the message God had given him before Jerusalem fell as he had prophesied. It is interesting how Kaiser points out that the exiles in Babylon had it much better economically and socially than the remnant left in Judea: â€Å"Life in Babylon was so comfortable that most of the exiles were unwilling to return to Palestine when the opportunity arose. (414) Excavations of Babylon, including the famous hanging gardens, reveal some of the grandeur that existed at the height of Babylon’s influence under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. Nebuchadnezzar left an unstable empire and it was under the rule of Belshazzar, â€Å"that the handwriting appeared on the wall and the doom of the Babylonian Empire was predicted by Daniel and im mediately enacted as the Medes and Persians entered the city†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (418) At the Edict of Cyrus (recorded by Ezra) not only the return of the exiles but also the rebuilding of the temple began under Zerubbabel. Kaiser gives some fascinating background information about the Persian Empire and court customs under rulers, such as, Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes. Although most critical scholars deny the historicity of Esther, Kaiser demonstrates that the book does not, â€Å"contradict anything that is known from all the sources from this period that are available to us. The objections are basically arguments from silence. † (434) After Malachi, the last writing prophet and contemporary of Nehemiah, the remainder of the book, of course, deals with historical sources outside of the Bible. I had only a vague knowledge of some of the events of the intertestamental period that concerned Israel so this section was fascinating for me. Some of this information comes from Josephus’s Antiquities. As the Persian Empire weakened from within as rulers poisoned one another, Hellenistic culture was becoming, â€Å"a rallying cry that would unite otherwise disparate peoples against the Persians,† (450) and the rise of Alexander the Great spelled the ultimate doom for Persia. Kaiser discusses what is known of various populations of dispersed Jews and their syncretistic religions, such as, the Elephantine Jews in Egypt and the ntermarried Samaritans, who came into being as a result of the population manipulations under Assyria. The development of the synagogue is also discussed as a result of the dispersion. Kaiser also discusses the influence of Greek culture and language on the Jews as exemplified in the Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into the G reek vernacular. Kaiser gives a summary of the Maccabean Insurrection as recorded in Maccabees and the Antiquities of Josephus. Kaiser’s discussion of the Hasmonean kingdom includes the Hasidim group, â€Å"the pious,† who opposed Hellenistic influence and would eventually become the party of the Pharisees. The book ends with the arrival of Roman rule in Jerusalem in 63 B. C. Critique Kaiser’s discussion of similarities between the forms of the Deuteronomic Covenant and the Hittite suzerain-vassal treaty brings to light the interesting concept that God used and still uses the forms of contemporary culture to communicate His message to people living within that culture. This is an important concept to those, such as missionaries, who feel God’s call to be messengers of the Gospel cross-culturally. Kaiser asserts that, â€Å"had the covenant form been drafted in any other time than the early second millennium, it would have taken a drastically different sort of arrangement of the possible component parts, such as the title, witnesses, stipulations, curses, blessings, deposit provisions, and prologue. (64) It is so easy to think that everything about the way one worships and applies theology to one’s life is Biblical, and the temptation is to teach forms from a Western Protestant tradition when seeking to plant churches among people of another culture. Forms, such as, stained-glass buildings, pews, hymns will probably hold little meaning to another culture. There are aspects of every culture that are evil and aspects that are redeemable. The Gospel transcends all cultures so those in cross-cultural ministry should seek to follow the model of scripture by communicating the Gospel in a meaningful form for each culture without changing the message itself. Kaiser’s History of Israel demonstrates how the story of the nation of Israel is the story of God remaining faithful to His covenant promises in spite of the unfaithfulness of the people. The story of Israel demonstrates the need for believers to remain an identity of consecration to Holy God in the midst of an ungodly world. Kaiser shows over and over how the influence of the pagan religions of the surrounding nations drew Israel away from God. A central theme throughout the book is Kaiser’s emphasis on the trustworthiness of Scripture. The believer’s faith is without foundation if the central events of the Bible did not actually occur, but Kaiser shows how critical scholars try to say that the stories of the Bible do not hold historic validity because they are meant to teach theology and not real historic events: â€Å"Why should we force the biblical evidence to purge itself of its so-called ‘theocratic point of view’ in order to qualify as ‘history’? (143) I believe that Kaiser effectively shows the double standard of these same scholars who are willing to use the religious-based documents of any other nation outside the Judeo-Christian sphere. It is interesting to note how Kaiser’s description of Assyria’s tactics of influence and control over conquered nations was similar to how Josef Stalin later used similar tactics of controlling people groups by having them deported to distant lands and replaced with other peoples. To control populations like the Chechens and Jews, and to prevent their ability to revolt Stalin had people groups deported en-masse to far-away countries like Kazakhstan. Parallels to Assyria’s practice of national extermination also preceded the tactics of men like Adolf Hitler against the Jews of Europe. A background in archaeology and ancient history would help one to appreciate the book fuller. As far as that goes, the book would make an excellent gift for an archaeology or history student looking for an alternative to the liberal and anti-supernatural interpretations of historical evidence. For a pastor, the book makes an excellent handbook to provide a better insight into the biblical culture and contemporary events that is useful for developing a more accurate picture in sermons of what kind of world the events were taking place. The Bible is timeless because it is God’s Word speaking relevantly to all cultures in all times, but I think the tendency of some preachers to attempt to portray biblical characters and events as odern-day as possible robs the accounts of the times that they are grounded in, and insults the listeners’ ability to relate to the biblical accounts as real events in a different time period and culture than their own. The more the preacher is able to tell them about the time and culture the more full and accurate the story becomes for the listeners. Similarly, any reader who is familiar with the old English is able to understand and appreciate the works of Shakespeare, and the more the reader understands of Elizabethan England the mor e he is able to relate to the characters as believable. However, the same characters dressed in modern clothes and using modern technology would seem ridiculous speaking of bare bodkins. Kaiser states, â€Å"My hope is that this work may stimulate the interest of many others to press on in our research of the historical understandings of the people of this land and book. † (xiii) I also would like to see Kaiser’s book encourage those in the fields of archaeology and ancient history to see the historical merit of the Bible and to be bold about using it as a source until the outside evidence refutes their interpretation of the Bible. I am confident that there will be no final conflict with the Word of God and the historical record, and that believers among archaeologists have the distinct advantage of an infallible Source to guide them in their research. The Bible is not a history textbook or an archaeologist’s field manual, but the stories are real events set in real places. As this book hopefully stimulates such research I would also like to see a more â€Å"user-friendly† approach for the layperson. One of my main criticisms of the book is that it is slow reading, in my opinion, for the person not familiar with the terms and designations of historical research. It is not impossible to follow the narrative, but Kaiser’s dry style makes what should be fascinating history too text-bookish. That is as it should be for a certain audience, and making the information more readable and accessible would probably necessitate a few volumes, but I think it would be an invaluable resource for any serious student of the Bible – preacher, missionary and layman alike. This kind of information is too valuable to the believer’s faith to remain inaccessible.