Jhine,
Thanks for responding.
The problem of securing the most current and the most reliable information on facts of the bible is never-ending.
How to ascertain that most current and reliable information requires one to already know what the factors are that bear on biblical scholarship to begin with. To evaluate the material and recognize the weight of a scholarly opinion requires a measure of knowledge, too. And I must say that I am wary of any scholar's findings being unbiased who has made strong testimony of unshakable faith in the bible. In a secular court this one would be kept even from a jury. A judge would recuse himself. One of the worst things that we can have happen to us is to be convinced of what is true before it has been proven.
The book of Job has scholarly reasons to suppose the beginning an ending had been added to an older story. The language structure an use of expressions were estimated as distant in time and geography from the Israelites. There were additions others supposed also-the speach of Elihu. It doesn't matter after a bit--not to me. The unerlying issue is this: for a person to sort out fact from fiction on their own is SILLY!
I find it incredible that a person in my situation is even on a computer and writing and thinking about any of this. Who has the time? I really don't. Who has the education? I have read and read and thought and thought. And I listen. And still--how educate am I? how knowledgeable?
I do happen to believe there was a carpenter who told great stories and had a great heart--my opinion. "love you neighbor as yourself" wasn't original but he taught it to me. At least I got his version of it in the Good Samaritan story. Beyond that--teaching and a few others--nothing need be verified. These stories contain all the practical aspects of living I can handle in any given day. That is as much sifting as I am capable of.
In fact, I will consider myself cured of religion when I can quit obsessing over the issue of Truth and get back to little "t" living.
Really, I appreciate your hanging onto the conversation. Your exploration of the WT will show you how the pitfalls of one-up-manship in biblical correctness can consume and burn people.
Be careful.
Maeve
