Freethought & Rationalism Archive

ImaAtheistNow · 04-28-2008, 07:52 PM

In another thread here, self-mutation said ...

Quote:

self-mutation: Well I believe the Bible because so many historical facts go with it and not against it. This can't be said for any other holy book.

I beg to differ. I'll give just one example: the city of Jericho, which the Bible claims Joshua conquered when the walls came falling down.

Quote:

“Myth #83
Joshua tumbled the walls of Jericho

The Myth: So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. (Josh. 6:20)

The Reality: Archaeological data shows that the walls of Jericho were destroyed over three hundred years before Joshua arrived.

…

[A]rchaelological evidence shows that at the time of Joshua, Jericho had neither walls nor residents. The city had been vacated centuries earlier.

Jericho was one of the earliest and most ancient cities in the world. Archaeological data suggests an inhabitation going back to the eighth millennium B.C. Evidence for a destruction of the walls dates to about 2300 B.C., but inhabitants rebuilt the town and erected new fortifications. Jericho appears to have been thoroughly destroyed by fire during the sixteenth century B.C., and, at best, only sparsely populated thereafter. Prior to 1300 B.C., the fortifications had been destroyed, leaving no walls to tumble down before Joshua. At the time of the biblical battle, the city had been completely abandoned for at least a century or two. Not until about the seventh century B.C. do we see evidence for a repopulation of the city.”
(Gary Greeburg, 101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History, Sourcebooks Inc., 2002, p239-240)

Quote:

“C. Josh. 1-11 contains several etiologies
…
2. The Jericho tel (an artificial mound of city debris) indicates consistent inhabitation from the Calcolithic (4,000 – 3,000 B.C.E.) through the Middle Bronze (1800 – 1500 [B.C.E.]) Ages, but not in the Late Bronze Age (1500 – 1200 [B.C.E.]), (although the tel experienced severe erosion), which is the time of the conquest. Perhaps the prostitute Rahab’s story is an etiology explaining Canaanite presence in the community, even as the story of Jericho explains the ruins.”
(Amy-Jill Levine, “The Old Testament”, The Teaching Company (www.teach12.com), 2001, p54-55 of the course guidebook)

Quote:

“It should be understood that I am not discussing what actually happened when a group of exiles from Egypt entered the land of Canaan and took up residence there. Historians have long wrangled over the historical realities behind these stories – there is no archaeological evidence, for example, to support the claim of the complete destruction of Jericho in the thirteenth century BCE.”
(Bart D. Ehrman, God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question – Why We Suffer, HarperOne Publishers, 2008, p71)

nanaimo · 04-28-2008, 08:15 PM

Don't forget the evidence against the Flood, Exodus and the most obvious of all Genesis.

Sapho · 04-28-2008, 09:07 PM

IIRC its reasonably accurate from about the 6th or 7th century BCE onwards, thats when they started to write it Ibelieve.

ImaAtheistNow · 04-28-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sapho

IIRC its reasonably accurate from about the 6th or 7th century BCE onwards, thats when they started to write it Ibelieve.

Maybe a lot of it, but not the Book of Daniel. It has multiple historical errors.

Sapho · 04-28-2008, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImaAtheistNow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sapho

IIRC its reasonably accurate from about the 6th or 7th century BCE onwards, thats when they started to write it Ibelieve.

Maybe a lot of it, but not the Book of Daniel. It has multiple historical errors.

wasnt that suposed to be earlier?

marc · 04-29-2008, 05:36 AM

Don't forget later editing of many books. Some have had two or three authors from different times.

Even after 7th Century BCE there are a number of mythical events, such as Herod's slaying of all children forcing Joseph and Mary to go to Egypt. That never happened.

Equinox · 04-29-2008, 09:55 AM

the book of Daniel claims to be written in the 6th or 7th century BCE, and has "prophesies" about "later" events in the second century BCE.

However, it is dated conclusively by a number of converging lines of evidence to the year 167 BCE, and so some of the "historical" events are right (those that happened before 167 BCE), others are wrong (the ones that happened after 167 BCE). There are plenty of other historical problems throughout the bible (whichever Bible is chosen).

_Naturalist_ · 04-29-2008, 10:21 AM

If it's accuracy the believers like so much, imagine how much they would love science text books!

Lógos Sokratikós · 04-29-2008, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Naturalist_

If it's accuracy the believers like so much, imagine how much they would love science text books!

Many do. But then they still think somone has to read them mythbook excerpts once a week to get a flavor of the unlikely unreasonable unseen that lies beyond −go figure. It definitely *lies* beyond...

makerowner · 04-29-2008, 12:13 PM

What are the odds that S&M actually shows up in this thread? <edit>

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04-28-2008, 08:15 PM	#2
nanaimo Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 549	Don't forget the evidence against the Flood, Exodus and the most obvious of all Genesis.

04-28-2008, 09:07 PM	#3
Sapho Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brisbane in the land of Oz Posts: 1,088	IIRC its reasonably accurate from about the 6th or 7th century BCE onwards, thats when they started to write it Ibelieve.

04-29-2008, 05:36 AM	#6
marc Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: NE Posts: 801	Don't forget later editing of many books. Some have had two or three authors from different times. Even after 7th Century BCE there are a number of mythical events, such as Herod's slaying of all children forcing Joseph and Mary to go to Egypt. That never happened.

04-29-2008, 09:55 AM	#7
Equinox Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 897	the book of Daniel claims to be written in the 6th or 7th century BCE, and has "prophesies" about "later" events in the second century BCE. However, it is dated conclusively by a number of converging lines of evidence to the year 167 BCE, and so some of the "historical" events are right (those that happened before 167 BCE), others are wrong (the ones that happened after 167 BCE). There are plenty of other historical problems throughout the bible (whichever Bible is chosen).

04-29-2008, 10:21 AM	#8
_Naturalist_ Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 5,914	If it's accuracy the believers like so much, imagine how much they would love science text books!

04-29-2008, 12:13 PM	#10
makerowner Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 1,962	What are the odds that S&M actually shows up in this thread? <edit>

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