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  • From: George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>
  • To: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] The Names "Abram" and "Abraham"
  • Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:28:25 +0000

Jim,

The linguistic impossibilities of your suggestion do not bother me so much as
the breathtaking fantasy of a Mesopotamian-born man in the Bronze Age
(whichever subsection of it you wish to assign makes no difference at this
point) being named after an Egyptian deity, although only half the deity's
name made it into the Mesopotamian man's name. You're hanging a suggestion
that goes against everything we know of ancient Near Eastern religions in the
Bronze and Iron Ages on a single letter. You're going to revolutionise
history with this!

But then again, maybe not.

Perhaps as a way of testing your own theories, you could write up an article
and see if a peer-reviewed journal is willing to publish it. But I would be
mighty surprised if any journal does publish it. Why? Because this is
precisely the type of fantasy that denigrates serious scholarship based on
evidence and logic.

Jim, I suggest you take a course on logic, as well as on historical and
linguistic research, and ancient Near Eastern religions. And I mean that
seriously. God bless you for your sincerity, but I just wish you'd channel it
into some actual logic and proper handling of evidence. You need to remove
the blinkers that seem to keep you from appraising evidence appropriately,
and stop massaging data into incredulous conclusions. I know that sounds
harsh, but I don't mean it to be. I just want you to get a dose of reality
and offer us something that is of actual substance rather than a figment of
your imagination. You seem to have a lot of energy to put into things, which
is great! But I think I speak for many in saying that I wish you'd pour that
energy into actually learning to make a proper argument with which we can
engage. Until then, you will keep finding people telling you that your ideas
are fantastic—literally! You are not bringing about a Copernican revolution
in biblical studies. Your ideas are actually scuttling attempts to seriously
engage with Hebrew and biblical literature. And until that changes, I will
continue to oppose your ideas with an Irenean strategy of simply pointing out
what you're saying. I do not need to refute your ideas; simply restating them
functions as enough of a refutation.

With earnest sincerity, Jim, please do yourself and everyone else a favour
and channel your energies into some further study. Perhaps then we will be
able to have a proper discussion.

This thread is still closing on Sunday night.


GEORGE ATHAS
Director of Postgraduate Studies,
Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)
Sydney, Australia






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