Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

Karl wrote:

"Here you are wrong. Abraham and his sons and grandsons didn’t use stone or clay for their writing, rather parchment or other portable materials. Unfortunately for historians, those materials didn’t survive, so any writing from near their time is significant, and there is writing, some graffiti, that has been dated as early as the 18th century BC."

Karl, my question is how do you know what Abraham and his sons used or didn't use? You are saying that the evidence for this no longer exists, so how on earth do you know it? This seems to be nothing more than an argument from silence. I'm certainly not against the idea, but I'd like to know how we could test for it. If we can't, you have to admit that you are purely speculating here. There's nothing wrong with speculating, so long as we recognise that it's speculation and don't give it any dependent weight.

GEORGE ATHAS

Dean of Research,

Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)

Sydney, Australia