Jehovah or God is blood thirsty

by MrMoe 36 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  MrMoe

  Thanks!
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  gumby

  Hi peacefulpete,

  Other books on this subject I have specialize too much for my needs.

  What do you mean?

  BTW....I REALLY liked the info on the ugarits. I had no idea that like Christianity......the OT, also copied others before them and were not unique. I will also look for the othger book you recommended to MOE. We can use a few more of your TYPE around here.....thanks,

  Gumby
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  peacefulpete

  All I meant was that my research objectives were satisfied with knowing the basic nature of the latest findings, not the complex debates about interpretation of partial texts. Most of this material is not written for public consumption and is very difficult to read.And very expensive as most have low number printings for specialized markets. Cross's book is bad enough. Some of his students compiled a book :Traditions in Transformation which is an easy read (but pricey,$60 and limited availabilty) and has material about textural criticism and comparative study on the ressurection teachings of various near eastern religions that shared Palistine during Judaism's formation. To say that Israel or Christianity stol or borrowed it's religion is probably oversimplifying what happened. Though I sometimes word it that way really what happened was that like all cultures that share common political and economic conditions, shared values and motives arise that facilitate an exchange of religious concepts of what is ideal. If a particulr teaching beomes popular in one cult and has power to control or persuade it soon is adopted in some localizd form by neighboring peoples quite unconsciously. It often is a matter of debate who copied who, unless of course we can show that a tradition predates a supposed date of inspiration, as is the case with the Bible.
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  Navigator

  Peacefulpete

  I seem to recall a professor, commenting on the tension between the pharisees and the sadducees during the time of Jesus and Paul, holding that the Jews had been greatly influenced by the Babylonians and Persians during their captivity. The pharisees seemed to have borrowed some ideas from their captors. They may have borrowed the book of Job as well. He also held that the Hebrews really didn't exist as a people until Moses welded them into a definable group, during the 40 year wandering, from a polyglot group of semites(read wetbacks). Is this the time period when they "borrowed" their god from the Caananites? The bible would seem to indicate that Moses learned about Yahweh from his father-in-law. Does this story recount the event of the "borrowing"?
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  gumby

  unless of course we can show that a tradition predates a supposed date of inspiration, as is the case with the Bible.

  I told my wife about some of the things I've learned about things that happened before Bible events claimed them. She thinks the writings of proof of these things were "after the fact".

  I need to show her proof of older than the bible writings, also info. that predates Christianity.I've more to read on this matter.
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  peacefulpete

  It's difficult to give a simple answer to "when". First we must forget EVERYthing we think we know about the history of the jewish people. This is hard to do. So hard that even secular researches have fallen to assuming a core truth to many bible legends only to then wrongly interpret partial evidence to fit that preconception. It is really only very recently that some brave leading archaeologists have reexamined the actual evidence found and contructed an entirely new picture of palestine history. An entire book has been written on this one theme, that a complete paridigm shift is taking place, slowy but surely, and the whole science is benefitting from this freeing history from mythology. The conclusions that are being drawn are shocking to millions. There was no Moses, no 400 yr captvity in Egypt, no exodus, no 40 yrs in wilderness, no king Saul,David,Solomon, no conquest of Canaan, only a small tribal federation born in palestine that looked like it's neighbors and fought with it's neighbors, that did in time create a modest monarchy in a small hill region in a land with dozens of such minor powers. The rest is propaganda and distortions of collective memories.A golden age with heroic kings vanquishing giant enemies. I have oversimplified of coure but this is the thrust.All the "proof" for these stories have been reanylsed and reinterpreted in a way consistent with the facts. As to the picture of Judaism found in the New Testament...well it's wrong. Many writtings have survived from the various schools of jewry and these tell a much diferent story. The arguements of Jesus agaist the villainous Pharasees are late creations written after the religious and political shakeup of 70ce. In fact such extensive revisionism was done little can be said with certainty to have happened. The bible has jesus argueing for things with pharisees that the Pharisees were famous for teaching. In other words Jesus if a real person likey was trained as pharisee. The Ebionites were a sect of judaism that accepted Jesus as a spiritual messiah, they were active and accepted in the very tolerant Jewish community. A riff occured as to how to continue after the loss of this last temple. A new brand of Chritianity developed in other lands (tarsus)as these naturally saw the law and priesthood as obsolete. History was reinvented a new religion formed often called Pauline Chritianity after one of it's first aggressive proselytes. A great book entitled :The Birth of Christanity Reality and Myth by Joel Carmichael was an eye opener to me.It focuses on the political atmosphere. Another entitled :The Mythmaker Paul and the Invention of Christianity by Hyam Maccoby was also quite enlightening. This latter book infurriated me for 2 yrs until I came to terms with reality.It is great to learn what the actual religious environment was like.
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  gumby

  Peacefulpete,

  E-mail me if you would.

  Be sure and put in the subject header, you are Peacefulpete,

  Thanks, Gumby