Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Humpal <ebedyah AT Elite.Net>]

Ian,
Throughout your posts, you keep dismissing evidence as "material that 
would not be acceptable in a court of law."

It seems to me your parameters for acceptable evidence are far too 
narrow.  Bible scholarship is not the same as the criminal justice 
system.  If we would apply the same standard to textual criticism that 
you seem to insist on applying to historiography, the field would be 
mostly empty and barren.  The evidence that we have for much of Biblical 
scholarship is at best circumstantial.  Reasoned speculation, educated 
guesses, and textual hypotheses are part and parcel of Biblical 
scholarship.  If we would apply your courtroom standards to ANE 
scholarship, we would have to dismiss most of what has been written in 
the field.  And we would have to ignore almost all the proposed 
emendations in BHS and probably most qeres.  It seems to me that any 
study of history and ancient texts requires more latitude than a 
courtroom would allow.

Rev. Dave Humpal  ebedyah AT elite.net
First Christian Church, Merced, California
"Help for the Hurting Christian" Site =
http://www.elite.net/~ebedyah/PastorsHomePage.htm
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