Biblical Archaeological Society   This is a society dedicated to biblical archaeology, it was founded by Herschal Shanks who goes to great lengths to provide quality lectures, both on video cassettes and now DVDs. The first thing any believer needs to be aware of is that just because the word 'biblical' is in the name of the organization doe s it mean that it is christian.  Mr. Shanks is a Jew not a christian and his product reflects this as he has scholars and archaeologists of all persuasion participate in his lecture series and seminars. One just has to look at the list of lecturers and their bios to get an idea where they are coming from and what they believe.  Generally, depending on what you believe, the lectures are quite good, filled with information garnered from years of experience.  The following is a brief list lectures with limit comments to give you an idea what they are about. 1. Just Dug Up - 3 disks- Quite good especially the historical lecture by Dr. William Dever.  2. Jesus & His first followers- 3 disks- the best lecture in this series is by Dr. Craig Evans, well though out and thorough.  You cannot lose when you read on eof his books or listen to one of his lectures. 3. The Bible in Context- 3 disks- Michael Coogan, Peter Flint & James Sanders are the best lectures in this series with the latter two better than the former one Dr. Flint deals with the accuracy of the translations which will be of a lot of help to some people. 4.  Dead Sea Scrolls Bible & Cov.- 10 disks-- this is a recorded seminar given by BAS with Drs. Reitz and Charlesworth.  The problem that i found is that Dr. Reitz talked down to everyone in a manner that was treating people more like freshman undergraduates and Dr. Charlesworth lets his own experiences influence his interpretation of the Bible in the wrong direction.  His arrogance shows when he talk sbaout John the Baptist growing up in the desert and overshadowed & undermined everything he said in other lectures.  These are but two of the faults in these series. 5. Locating the Herodian Temple- 1 disk-  Dr. James Tabor took a big credibility hit with his involvement in the Jesus Tomb documentery by Mr. Jacobovici that it is hard to concentrate on what he is saying.  He may have a few good points but they are all lost because he is known to back the wrong horse and his work suffers from that reputation. 6. The VCR Lecture Series- too many too count-  these are done by various scholars & archaeologists, in  the late 1990's, on a variety of Biblical topics.  They all contain valuable information whether you agree with their beliefs or points or not.  One thing about listening to non-believers, they will present evidence that you may not get by limiting oneself to christian only lectures.  If you can trust God to lead you past the wrong teaching and focus on the evidence and thing syou need to learn then these lectures will help you immensely.  if not then it is best to just find the christian lectures and stick with those.  Drs. Kitchen, Hoffmeier, Monroe are three such christians along with Evans and Sanders and their work is not inferior or lacking in information  tothe non-believers but they do not cover the same areas of study thus listening to the secular scholars will give one food for thought or a kernal or two that God wants them to learn. 7. Where Jesus Walked- 1 disk-  This is both a video series of 5 volumes and an 1 volume DVD  edition. It explores the locatins where Jesus walked 2,000 years ago and is filled with interviews with various archaeologists who share their knowledge of the ancient world of Jesus' time.  A little expensive but if you can get it on sale then it is worth it as the information is valuable and helps one understand the Biblical times a bit better. 8. Digging Deeper- 2 disks- Unfortunately there are only 2 good lectures out of the 4 available in thsi set. The other two deal with archaeology but do not pertain to the Bible or Israel nor sheds any light upon their developement or the Bible. 9. Text Dectectives- 2 disks- Again about 2 of the lectures areworth anything and Dr. Charlesworth's is not one of them.  Though hsi contains interesting information, it is evident that he does not grasp the usage of symbolism in the Bible or the ancient world.  Nor does he understand the many options people have in choosing a symbol to use. Michael Homan's lecture is a waste of time and not worth listening to while Shalom Paul's was excellent and informative, very worthwhile to listen to. 10. Illuminating the Word- 2 disks- This set has convinced me that non-believers cannot expoind on the Bible or spiritual matters for they come froma position of unbelief and they cannot hope to understand what the Bible or God is saying.  Anything done by Tabor or Ehrman can be put aside and not read or listened to, as their work misses the mark, is not of God and has nothing of value to contribute to a believer's life. They rely on zero evidence, silence and mis-translated or mis-understood passages of scripture to base their points and they fall flat every time. it is easy to see how far away from the truth they really are and that their words carry nothing from God at all. 11. Sifting History-  4 disks-- For the most part there are good lectures in this set andit includes a great lecture by Craig Evans on the extra- gospels which have been discovered recently.  usually anything by Craig Evans is really good and worth reading or listening to.  He makes clear points, backs his words up with credible evidence and analysis. Michael Coogan is a good speaker, makes good points but he is not a believer and one cannot take what he says as gospel truth.  He would be a good source in learning what unbelievers think and what their weaknesses are in order to refute their position.  The women lecturers you can take or leave.  Not impressive at all. **I have not listened to all the lectures  available and that is mostly due to the price of the Dvds and VCR cassettes.  They are expensive and it is best to buy them when they go on sale, and I mean a real sale.  This is the one drawback from this organization which you will have to decide if you will spend the money or wait till the sale arrives.