I totally disagree with you, Karl. Firstly, I'm not arguing that Qohelet is a
parable - it isn't. You're mistaking a genre issue for narrative technique.
Lots of the apocalypses use first person perspective, but they are not aiming
to be parables. Nor, I would argue, are they aiming to fool people by telling
fibs; it's just a creative literary technique. So, yes, the ancient world did
have fictional first person perspectives. I suspect, however, that you will
write them off as 'lies' and therefore not allow them into evidence. If
that's the case, we have nothing further to discuss.
You are proposing that Dan 4 was actually written by Nebuchadnezzar???
And no, Daniel does not describe the Jewish Revolt of the first century, so
that argument doesn't cut it.
Regards,
GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au