Biblical Hebrew Forum

[lorencrow AT earthling.net (Loren Crow)]

Dear Bryan,

Although I understand your concern to maintain a peaceful list, I feel it
my duty to oppose your decision to require Lloyd to desist from posting
thoughtful, provocative questions.  My reasons are as follows.

(1) So far I have not seen him take a dogmatic stance on any subject.  The
post you quoted in your note to him was merely descriptive.  It is a fact
that few scholars believe it possible to reconstruct anything before the
monarchy with any but the broadest brush strokes.  A review of almost any
contemporary introduction to the OT will demonstrate the truth of this.  It
is also a fact that the majority of scholars today are deeply suspicious of
the Albrightian synthesis, and this is true even of many who are his direct
academic descendants, like Frank Cross, Noel Freedman, and Bill Dever.

(2) Although it is quite possible that many of the *ideas* presented by
Lloyd may be offensive to various believers, the *tone* in which he raised
those ideas was decidedly open and inviting, rather than offensive.  It
seems to me that, if we start closing off those areas in which offense
might be taken, we will quickly relegate our discussion to irrelevance and
our members to boredom.  Rather than requiring that the *content* be bland,
let's insist that the *tone* of the discussion be respectful.

(3) Finally, I wonder whether it is possible to apply this standard of
inoffensiveness fairly.  When certain members of the group send messages
that are riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, I find that quite
offensive.  To me, it seems to imply that I and the other readers are not
worth serious work.  I can well imagine that others might be offended by my
being offended by this.  Similarly, your defense of excluding ideas that
offend, is highly offensive to me.  What criteria will you use to decide
which offenses are permissible and which are not?

Please reconsider your position on this matter.

Sincerely,
Loren Crow


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