Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Kenneth, if I knew what you were getting at I could probably address you
problem more directly. I agree that no-one can be totally unbiased - each of
us has his "baggage". This is as true of professors as it is of pastors. And
there are as many academics who like to pretend that they have absolute
authority as there are priests (off all kinds). But who are you referring to
when you write "scholars"? Do you mean just academics? I know a lot of very
learned people who are not PhD's. Are you assuming that someone whose title
is "father", "rabbi" or whatever is less biased than someone who goes by
"doctor"? And what about someone who is both a minister and a doctor? I
consider myself an Orthodox Jew. Do you presume that that tells you what my
biases are? 

I suppose the difference between the type of academic-style scholarship that
is practiced in most universities, journals and e-lists (including this one)
and the faith-based scholarship that is taught at seminaries, is that
academia has a "goal of objectivity" - that is, we like to assume that the
same rules apply for all, and that a person's personal faith should not
affect his or her scholarship. In the exact sciences, this might even work
(and perhaps not). In the humanities, and even more so in biblical
scholarship, we know that this is impossible to achieve - but it's still an
ideal. Faith-based scholarship is exactly the opposite - we take the
teachings of whatever church we belong to as axiomatic, and the purpose of
our scholarship is to prove/defend/teach/spread (choose one or more) the
faith. Of course that's an over-simplification, and there are many people
who tread the line between the two types and do so successfully. A person's
title or place of employment may not reflect his "real" bias. He may not
even be aware of his bias. Or he may be a pontificating ass (there are lots
on both sides). 

So you're right in not trusting what anyone says. But then why engage in
conversation at all? What are you doing on a list where you can't believe a
word anyone says?


Yigal Levin




-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of kenneth greifer
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 5:28 PM
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] lord or my lord


I think scholars should tell their religious or anti-religious beliefs in a
footnote, so people can know if their translations or explanations of quotes
in the Hebrew Bible are affected by their beliefs. I have seen many scholars
explain quotes in a way that fits their religiuos beliefs, and I am supposed
to think that this is just a coincidence. Until I know what Yigal Levin and
other scholars' particular religious beliefs are (Orthodox Jewish, Reform,
or whatever), I can't trust what he or any other scholar on B-Hebrew says.
All human beings are biased, but scholars claim to be unbiased, and I don't
believe them.

Kenneth Greifer