Biblical Hebrew Forum

[dwashbur AT nyx.net]

On 17 Dec 2009 at 20:17, kenneth greifer wrote:

> My biases are not as important because I do not have a PhD. This
> degree means a lot to people interested in the Bible, so people with
> this degree should tell their religious or anti-religious beliefs to
> people who read their books and articles, and who listen to their
> lectures. I am not attacking scholars. I am just saying they are
> human and have biases that matter more because people look up to
> them and trust their opinions on the Bible.

I'm not sure I follow the reasoning here.  I don't have a Ph.D., but I've 
published several 
times, presented at conferences, and freely share my understanding of Hebrew 
in forums 
like this one where we're all pretty much on level ground.  In fact, I like 
to call the Internet 
"The Great Equalizer" because it allows people like me, who never got to do 
the doctorate 
for financial reasons, to rub shoulders and share opinions with some of the 
true giants in the 
field and have an equal voice.  Hence, my biases (and yours) are just as 
important as 
Yigal's or anybody else's.  For myself, I'm a Christian, fairly conservative, 
an unabashed 
inerrantist (with certain caveats about things like copying, textual 
corruption, etc.), a bit of a 
big-mouth and, when the situation calls for it, a major jerk.  Let's see, did 
I leave anything 
out?

Dave Washburn

http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur