Would you believe Abraham and Sarah existed before the Bible and King David etc.

by mP 43 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  mP

  Leo:

  Then I post to this forum, I never want to make my posts rest on any supposed "authority" I have. That's no better than "It's true because the Society says so".

  mP:

  Really thats why you claim scholars agree on this and that and finally admit you have no references to show. Also your texts contain a lot of "I" this and that. I never claim to be an authority, i always represent my comments as my own.

  Why dont you ever give links ? COuld it be that the texts arent quite as conclusive or say other things that you dont want us to see ? I wonder.

  Leo:

  But the way you understand language is so fundamentally different from mine, it would take a lot of explanation of linguistics basics, methodologies, etc. and I really am not interested in doing that in the way I normally do

  mP:

  Yes im honest, when im giving my opinion i say so. I dont make wonderful claims that scholars believe this and then fail to provide a single one.

  I also share my links for everyone to read. They may be wrong, they may be right, but i share.

  You cut and paste delibrately leaving links out. I dislike people who dont share when its so easy to do so.
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  cofty

  Leo your patience is amazing.
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  mP

  @Cofty:

  Thats pathetic, here i am asking for references, she fails to deliver and you complement her. She claims scholars support her etc and cant provide. If she believes in those she shouldnt misreprsent her conclusions as the beliefs of scholars. They are separate.
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  Leolaia

  She claims scholars support her etc and cant provide. If she believes in those she shouldnt misreprsent her conclusions as the beliefs of scholars. They are separate.

  *sigh* You seem to misconstrue everything I say. I never said scholars agree with me that it is doubtful that Abraham was derived from "Brahma". I don't know of any scholar who has given an opinion on this claim specifically. What I did say what this: "No philologist I know of has suggested that the names are not Semitic but borrowed from an Indo-Iranian language". The specific reasons I gave why I have strong doubt are my own. I think they are good reasons. One of the points is that Abraham is a normal West Semitic name in its etymology and grammatical construction. I gave you a scholar who lays this out, and I am sure if you Google you can find more. The other more general points I made about language rest on general principles and methodologies, and I pointed you to at least two books that discuss that in detail, one paper that mathematically shows how easy it is for coincidences to happen, and another list that shows "amazing coincidences" that are not meaningful at all. What I presented as the etymologies of the words for "elder" and "royal/rey/rex" are precisely the beliefs of scholars. You can find this set forth in any good etymological dictionary on Indo-European, or English (you could start with the unabridged American Heritage dictionary). Anyway, I don't want to keep going back and forth on this, I just wanted to give my opinion on this Brahma/Abraham thing on p. 1 of this thread, and didn't get want to get mired into another long, drawn-out, time-consuming, and frustrating discussion where we end up just talking past each other.