Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT sil.org]

This book was clearly written for a popular audience. Rohl has written 
various scientific papers which are cited in his book which are no 
doubt intended for a more scholarly audience. Read them if you prefer. 
One of his aims is to answer the important scholarly (as well as 
religious) question concerning the historicity of one of the greatest 
works of ancient history and literature which has come down to us, the 
Hebrew Bible. You are free to question Rohl's arguments, but please 
don't try to accuse anyone with an interest in relating the Hebrew 
Bible to historical events as anti-scholarly. This is an important 
area of scholarly research, and much as you might not like it, it has 
not yet been demonstrated that the Hebrew Bible is a work of 
Hellenistic fiction with no historical value.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Rohl's fallacious chronology
Author:  <mc2499 AT mclink.it> at Internet
Date:    01/10/1999 18:12


Dear Peter,

You wrote:

>If you read the first paragraph of Rohl's Appendix E on Assyrian 
>Chronology, you will discover that he freely admits that there are 
>unsolved difficulties with his scheme in this direction. No doubt he 
>did know what he was doing. But he can hardly be accused of being a 
>fraud.

If you have the information in front of you (and it's very hard to believe 
that he didn't in his efforts to construct his justifications of why the 
status quo was wrong), what else would you call his particular selective 
use of the material? It's hard to believe he didn't knowingly misrepresent 
the information. His aim was blatantly clear from the beginning -- it would 
seem to me -- regarding the audience he was writing for. Looking at all his 
claims in the chronological list that started with Joseph, I see them all 
as anti-scholarly appeals to please and pacify a willing group of 
accomplices, who happily bought the book. Great marketing.


Cheers,


Ian


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