Biblical maximalism is the movement in Biblical scholarship that, as opposed to Biblical minimalism, affirms the historicity of central Biblical narratives, such as those pertaining to the United Monarchy, and the historical authenticity of ancient Israel as a whole. Due to differences between the Bible and 19th- and 20th-century archaeological findings, there exist discrepancies between these two parties of biblical exegetists: the biblical maximalists argue that prior to Judaism's Babylonian Captivity, the Bible serves an accurate historical source and should influence the conclusions drawn from archaeological studies; whereas biblical minimalists assert that the Bible must be read as fiction, unless proven otherwise by archaeological findings, and ought not be considered in secular studies.