Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

I can't believe I'm getting into this, but here goes:

It is not a question of "accepting God's word". "Accepting God's word" is a
matter of faith, not of scholarship.The text of the Bible is multi-faceted,
and can be interperated in many ways. Shiv'im panim laTorah. That's what
makes it so fascinating.  Some people's faith is based on the idea that
God's word can only be understood correctly, when interpreted according to
rabbinic tradition, i.e. the Oral Torah. Others' faith is that the "Old
Testament" must be understood in light of the "New Testament". Both views,
and in fact the very existance of God, are based on faith, which scholars
can niether prove nor disprove.

Modern critical scholarship, whether practiced by people of faith or by
athiests (or anything in between), is based on human logic and observation,
not on faith. Critical scholars have no way of evaluating whether the text
of the Bible is "really" "God's word". That's a question of faith. To the
critical scholar, the texts were composed by human authors, over a long
time, and then went through a long proccess of editing. That's what the
evidence, as interpreted by out human logic, seems to poin to. And so to the
critical scholar, the question below is NOT valid. It should, rather, be,
why do the author(s) of these passages of Genesis and Exodus seem to
recognize the existance of other gods, while the author(s) of other passages
do not? Does this reflect a development of Israelite faith over time? Why
did the later editors let both passages stand in the Bible? What does that
say about them?

Yigal


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shoshanna Walker" <rosewalk AT concentric.net>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 6:28 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Fwd: Re: YHWH


> So, why have none of you experts here answered this VALID question?
>
> Shoshanna
>
>
>
> If we want to accept God's word in Gen 31:30 35:2, and
> Ex 12:12 that there are other gods, then is it not
> logical to accept His word when He explains elsewhere
> that what He means by "other gods" is stones, wood and
> other hand-made gods? What is the reasoning behind
> accepting one and rejecting another?
>
> Sincerely,
> Sujata
>
> > Gen 31:30, 35:2, and Ex 12:12, where God himself
> > recognizes "other
> > gods".  There was nothing even remotely similar to
> > monotheism in Israel
> > (henotheism too is a bad term) until well after
> > deutero-isaiah's time.
> >
> > Please read more carefully.
> >
> > D. Jim West
> >
> > Biblical Studies Resources -
> > http://web.infoave.net/~jwest
> > Biblical Theology Weblog -
> > http://biblical-studies.blogspot.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
> >
>
>
>
>
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