Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <bsr15 AT cantsl.it.canterbury.ac.nz>]

Brak wrote:-

>In the big picture what difference does it make if I sign my posts as
>Brak, John, John Steven, or John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt?
>
>But for some reason the moderators find that using a full name is
>essential - something that I myself can't wrap my head around.

I haven't seen an official answer so I'll explain the issue as I
see it. On this list professional Hebrew scholars co-exist with
amateurs. In order for the reader to make some sort of informed
decision on what weight to place on individual's postings it is
helpful to know who they are, what, if any, institutional affiliations
they may have, and what qualifications they may hold. A number of
residents have views which are well out of the mainstream.

As an example of when such information may be helpful is when
one of these non-standard views are advanced. One may choose
to place more weight on a view which comes from a tenured
academic with a Ph.D. than an amateur who refuses to buy or
read standard reference works. Of course, you are also free
to disregard all such information.

Bill Rea, ICT Services, University of Canterbury \_
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