Bible Older than Originally Thought
by jamiebowers 4 Replies latest watchtower bible
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sd-7
I'm not sure of the history on this, but I fail to see how this presents any particular problems. I guess I've not studied any non-JW historical data on the Bible and its origins. Can someone enlighten me, point me to a good source of info on this?
In the back of my mind, even though I see a lot of good in the Bible, I also feel like there's an awful lot of murder and mayhem that I should think would be unnecessary if there was a real live God involved. I often wonder if it's any more real than my JW life. Hmm.
When I indulge that side, I like to say things that are obviously horrible but true, like, "Hey honey, if our baby daughter had been born in Jericho, she would've been slaughtered along with everyone else." She always gives me that angry look, as if I'm saying something that's terrible--but never says anything.
It'd be nice if we could take the cover off the Bible and see what's really going on beneath it all. An explanation for it is definitely in order, at least for the uninitiated like me. Its misuse has caused so much pain and death that a critical examination is warranted.
SD-7
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slimboyfat
Bible Older than Originally Thought
Or younger that originally thought, depending on your perspective...
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realJFpenguin
I think the writer of that article needs to do his homework.
They've found the Bible in fragments much, much older. Actually, the earliest portions of Scripture date back more than 3300 years, although you won't find the original manuscripts, as the scribes were in the practice of cutting up old, worn-out manuscripts as they hand-copied them letter-by-letter and counting the letters to make sure no errors had been introduced in the text.
In fact, I'd read an article once that said they unearthed on old cuneiform tablet containing some fragment of the creation story, which would mean that Adam and his descendents kept written records of their history and Moses may have edited and translated these sources when he wrote the book of Genesis.
As to the murder and mayhem, a lot of God's overt wrath can be understood if we study a little history. When it says that Israeli kings such as Manasseh "did evil in the sight of the Lord" and needed to be punished, that was an understatement. They were subjecting Israel to such practices as burning their children alive on the altar in order to appease neighborhood deities. These practices came straight from their pagan neighbors. A lot of the surrounding countries were regularly engaging in these rituals. Orgies and mutilation were a common part of idol-worship, and they often involved temple slaves--a form of sex trafficking that the world would shriek at today. When God said things like "My face is against you," or "I will surely give you over to your enemies," you'd better believe you'd done something to deserve a serious intervention.
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MissingLink
That article's title is very misleading. They found "writings" that are "similar" to some laws which are written in the bible. So freakin' what! This isn't "the bible" that they found. It's part of Israel's traditions which pre-date the Bible writings. Perhaps the bible books were partially based on these traditions when they were written hundreds of years later.