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  • From: Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Documentary Hypothesis
  • Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:59:04 +0100

Dear George,

See my comments below.


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!).

I try to present my arguments i a balanced scientific way, without stating my own opinion. So I am have neither said that I defend the dates nor that I doubt the dates. IWhat I would do in another thread is another matter. The only exception to stating my own view is that I have given a sketch of the scientific reasons for my conclusion regarding the origin of life.


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.

The phrase "historical difficulties" is rather ambiguous and can refer to many different things. We need to approach this issue from two different angles. First, we need to analyze the words in Daniel that are problematic in relation to the accepted view of history, in order to find what they really mean. Second, we have to ask how "historical" (undisputable) is the history that we find in lexicons and textbooks. I have a full day at the University today, but later I will return to the historical question




Regards,

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




Best regards,

Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo




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