Eric H. Cline has a complaint: College-trained archaeologists and historians are loath to take on the Bible. In a Chronicle podcast, Mr. Cline, an archaeologist at George Washington University, argues that Bible studies have become dominated by “junk science” (Noah’s ark found in Turkey!) because academics have yielded the field. In his new book, From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible, Mr. Cline challenges his colleagues to take on “pseudo-scientists” and “amateur enthusiasts,” and to explain both the evidence that supports some Bible stories and the evidence that does not.