Posts by Doug Mason

40

Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

by Doug Mason in

what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

what are they trying to hide?.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

Doug Mason

Hi Barry,

I was an SDA for about 16 years until 1980 - a long time ago.

Never aligned with anyone since, although I did read GNU for a short while after that.

I am free.

Doug

40

Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

by Doug Mason in

what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

what are they trying to hide?.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

Each of the first four OT books (Gen-Num) is a skilful collation of writings produced by identifiable groups. The collation was produced some time after the Babylonian Captivity ended. At times, the collator (possibly Ezra? speculation) intertwined the separate narratives into a single account. A clear example of this is in the Flood story, which knits together two distinct and separate threads.

http://www.jwstudies.com/Two_Flood_Stories.pdf (displays the two flood sources: J and P -- the same two sources for the two Creation stories).

I strongly suggest you read books such as "Who Wrote the Bible?" by Friedman. If you want to see it more clearly, Friedman has a companion book: "The Bible with Sources Revealed".

Writing came into vogue as a means of communication several centuries after the Moses event. Even then it was adopted by only a small group of the elite; so what Scriptures you read are their views.

Broadly speaking, chapters 2 to 7 of Daniel are in Aramaic, the rest is in Hebrew. There are also differences between the MT (Hebrew) and the LXX (Greek). Further, the version and application of Dan 9 used by the WTS is based on the text by Theodotian. See my note at:

http://www.jwstudies.com/Critique_of_GM_on_Daniel_9.pdf

A book that applies literary criticism to a comparison of the MT and the LXX of Daniel is: "Aramaic Daniel and Greek Daniel: A Literary Comparison", by T. J. Meadowcroft.

Today it is widely accepted that Daniel was compiled during the 2nd century BCE, some 400 years after the neo-Babylonian period.

I did not include Deuteronomy in the above list since that is not a compilation of writings by those priest/scribes I mentioned. The origins of Deuteronomy lie with the scroll "discovered" by priests at the time of Josiah and it was further worked on during the neo-Babylonian period. The priests created it to enforce their religious practices, not a record of something that had really happened in the past. (They always wrote history with their eyes firmly fixed on the present. History was written to shape the present). It is likely that Baruch (Jeremiah's scribe) played a big role in producing Deuteronomy. At the same time, they wrote their history, for obvious purposes, extending Deuteronomy through Joshua-Judges-Samuel-Kings. The Chronicler wrote Chronicles some centuries after the neo-Babylonian period.

Bible study is far more exciting and challenging that any spoon feeding from the WTS.

Doug

40

Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

by Doug Mason in

what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

what are they trying to hide?.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

Doug Mason

Knowsnothing,

Every single element of the Scriptures is subject to criticism (analysis).

For example, literary analysis could be used to determine which of the Psalms would really have been written by or for King David. It could also be used to help determine whether Daniel was written in the 2nd century BCE (400 years after the neo-Babylonian period). As you know, Daniel is written in two different languages, which poses interesting questions.

Doug

40

Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

by Doug Mason in

what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

what are they trying to hide?.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

Doug Mason

Finkelstein and Knowsnothing,

The term "criticism" does NOT mean to be critical or to criticise. As scholars use it, the term means to analyse, study, evaluate.

Let me give you an example: Higher Criticism could be seen as seeking to understand the cultural context of a particular piece. When was it written? By whom? What was their intent? What was their culture at that time?

You ask about Adam and Eve. This story was created about the 8th century BCE by the Yahwist priests/scribes at Jerusalem. We know this because they use the name YHWH before it was revealed to Moses. Their intention was to create a religious story that focused on marriage. Its structure and sequence of events contradicts the sequence of the Creation story (Gen 1:1 to 2:4a), which was written slightly later by a different group of priests/scribes. They used the name of EL for God until YHWH was revealed to Moses. The book "Who Wrote the Bible?" by Richard Elliott Friedman provides the details.

As you can see, this process treats the scriptures as literature, asking about the authors, intended audiences (they were not writing to us), subsequent editors, and so on. It also considers the various streams of documents, such as comparing and contrasting the LXX against the MT, the DSS, and so on.

The WTS is interested in the times of the neo-Babylonian Captivity. Much of the OT was created and recreated during this period (Deut, Isa 40-66, etc.) and aftwerwards.

Lower Criticism attempts to identify the correct text, getting as close to the original as possible.

I hope you see that this term "criticism" means to analyse and understand, not to criticise.

Why pick on Adam and Eve? Be more controversial and ask: Was there really a person named Moses? Was there really a massive exodus from Egypt?

Doug

40

Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

by Doug Mason in

what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

what are they trying to hide?.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

Doug Mason

Knowsnothing,

You will find excellent descriptions at:

http://www.theopedia.com/Biblical_criticism

"biblical criticism simply refers to the scholarly approach of studying, evaluating and critically assessing the Bible as literature in order to understand it better."

"Literary Criticism is primarily concerned with the Bible's literary forms, structures and themes. How does it function to accomplish its purpose? This involves identifying the type and use of the various literary genre such as narrative, poetic, apocalyptic, oratorical, wisdom, epistolary, etc. It includes evaluating the language of a text, looking at the words and their various meanings or shades of meaning and the patterns of meaning ranging from phrases to sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and sections. To analyze these, it is often necessary to examine the grammar of the original language, which includes the arrangement of words and how their forms are changed (inflection or accidence)."

Doug

40

Why is the Watchtower petrified by Higher Criticism?

by Doug Mason in

what is it about higher criticism that petrifies the watchtower?

what are they trying to hide?.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism.

Doug Mason

What is it about Higher Criticism that petrifies the Watchtower? What are they trying to hide?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/higher%20criticism

Why are they opposed to Lower Criticism? Or are they?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lower+criticism

Doug

26

The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

by Doug Mason in

page 14 of the awake!

of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

Doug Mason

Firstly, I thank all of you for your kind support.

I want to thank Justitia Themis for pointing me to those most interesting words from the WTS' book, Live With Jehovah's Day in Mind .

And now a big "thank you" to Ann and to Atlantis for providing me the pages from that WTS book.

Because of your help, I have updated the file to include words from Live With Jehovah's Day in Mind .

Doug

26

The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

by Doug Mason in

page 14 of the awake!

of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

Doug Mason

Justitia Themis,

Are you able to provide a scan of that para or page?

Thanks,

Doug

26

The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

by Doug Mason in

page 14 of the awake!

of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

Doug Mason

I have updated the file to include additional information.

Doug

26

The June 2012 citation of Ephraim Stern

by Doug Mason in

page 14 of the awake!

of june 2012 cites ephraim stern.. .

his book, archaeology of the land of the bible: the assyrian, babylonian, and persian periods (732-332 b.c.e.

Doug Mason

Page 14 of the “Awake!” of June 2012 cites Ephraim Stern.

His book, “Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732-332 B.C.E.), Vol. II” shows that his position is totally at odds with the position held by “Awake!”.

http://www.jwstudies.com/The_June_2012_Awake_Citation_of_Ephraim_Stern.pdf

Doug