Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Rolf Furuli wrote:

And please note that in my previous
post I have not defended a 15th century writing of the Pentateuch, an
8th century writing of Isaiah, and a 6th century writing of Daniel,
but I have claimed that there are no compelling evidence that can
falsify these dates- this is a negative (and scientific) standpoint
and not a positive one.

---

My apologies, Rolf, but I thought you were advocating those dates. However, 
the key word in your statement above is 'compelling'. I would disagree with 
you and say that there is compelling evidence. Once again, it comes down to 
the difference between possible theories and plausible theories. Anything is 
possible, but not everything is probable (how's that for a Pauline-like 
statement!).

You also wrote:

I am not aware of any historical difficulties in Daniel that would
falsify any prediction of the hypothesis. The only problem is "Darius
the Mede". But we know very, very little about the last days of the
Neo-Babylonian Enpire and the beginning of the Achaemenid Empire, and
there are some candidates for this king.

---

I must say I am very, very surprised to read this. There are numerous 
historical difficulties with Daniel. And contrary to your claim, we know 
quite a lot about the last days of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. We have 
documents aplenty. And the difficulties are not limited to Darius the Mede. 
And even if they were, your position above sounds quite evasive.


Regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au