Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Dear George:

On Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 4:37 PM, George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>wrote:

> Karl,
>
> Rather than assume that scholars are all naturalist Nazis,


I lived in Germany. I talked with survivors who had lived under Nazism.
When I found out that the Nazis would have wanted me dead, I looked into
their ideology. They were socialists (who we Americans would call “left
wing”), members of the Socialist International. They were followers of Karl
Marx, who had written one of the most anti-Semitic books of the 19th
century. They thought that by their take over of Germany, they were
fulfilling the proletariat revolution for Germany. The more I looked into
it, the more I learned to detest that ideology and its related ideologies.

I have no evidence on a single scholar that he is a “naturalist Nazi”.


> it may just be worth engaging with the ideas they put forward.


OK, let’s start with the basics: is this a scientific study or not? Since
in this area I start and limit myself to a scientific study, and what has
been told about Blau so far is that he is not scientific, what more is
there to say? Are we speaking two different languages?


> Scholarship is a conversation. The academy is an Areopagus —a marketplace
> where ideas are traded, evaluated, synthesised, and occasionally
> 'purchased' for integration. Sure, there are peddlers hawking wares down
> blind alleys, but no matter how loud they shout, they won't be taken
> seriously until they come into the square and conduct a conversation.
>

OK, I am in the square. A peddler has come to me with a toy asking me to
purchase it, and I am asking why should I? The peddler is telling me that
this toy can fly, swim underwater, speak to me and be a cyber companion.
But when I look at it, I see a scratched surface and broken gears and the
peddler has not shown me that it works at all. When I demur, saying that I
am not so sure about that “fantastic” toy, the peddler accuses me of being
an old fuddy-duddy, not interested in engaging with the latest technology
because I am not sure that I should buy what looks to me to be a broken toy
fit only for the trash.

>
> Of course, some peddlers couldn't care less. They're happy playing with
> the toys they've made for themselves.
>
> Right now, I’m not a peddler, but a purchaser. I see no reason to “buy”
this “toy”. But beyond here this analogy falls apart.

>
> GEORGE ATHAS
> Director of Postgraduate Studies,
> Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)
> Sydney, Australia
>
>
When discussing Biblical Hebrew language on this forum, I have tried to
limit myself to the scientific method. I have admitted to certain beliefs
concerning Tanakh that are philosophic and not scientific, but I have also
listed them as philosophic and not scientific. I may disagree with him, but
don’t hold it against anyone who espouses a different philosophic position
than what I believe. The only time I object is when he claims that his
philosophical pronouncements are scientific, in spite of the fact that they
do not follow the scientific method, and that they are the only valid way
to view Tanakh, its language and ideas.

I first learned the scientific method from a man who was a naturalist
(which is a religion, by the way) who believed in evolution.

What has been said about Blau so far is that he does not follow the
scientific method. Does he even discuss the scientific method? Or does he
merely make a set of assumptions, and assume that his readers share his
assumptions? If the latter, then I am bringing into question his
assumptions.

Karl W. Randolph.