Freethought & Rationalism Archive

mopc · 10-11-2005, 07:14 AM

Questions that have been hanging on my mind for a while as a very amateur student of Bible and Religion in general. I´ll try to remember them all...

1-The Hebrew of the Old Testament: does it hint at a specific age of the composition of the Texts we know? I heard once that the Hebrew of the Torah would suggest 900-700 bC., though that is the age of the "oral text", the actuall writing would be later.

2-The actual composition of the written texts of Torah and Ketuvim. I would believe most of it happened after Cyrus set the israealis free from Babylon, i.e. during the Persian times. Before it was all oral tradition...or was it?

3-What are the early historical accounts of the existence of a Jewish holy writ? Did Herodotus or the ancient pre-Alexander Greeks mention it?

4-Does the Bible mention itself in the OT?

5-Is it true that in the Torah, no mention is made of angels, the devil, paradise-vs-hell, judgement day, immortality of the soul. When do these elements appear? Was their appearance a result of Zoroastrian influence during Persian times?

6-What does the Bible actually say on the after-life? As you die, what happens? Your soul goes to hell/heaven, or does it stay in you corpse awaiting for the judgement day, when the soul AND the body are brought back to life?

7-How do Christians explain the two totally incompatible genealogies of Jesus that appear on two gospels?

8-What are the internal contradictions found in the Bible?

9-What are the anachronisms found in the Bible? Could the presence of camel´s in Abraham´s time be considered an anachronism, since camels were only domesticated later? But no one knows when Abraham lived...

well, that´s it for now!

Amaleq13 · 10-11-2005, 08:53 AM

I don't think a single thread can contain discussions of all these questions. In fact, I believe you will find threads on just about every subject mentioned above if you use some of the key words in the search engine. For example, putting "anachronism" as the key word for a title search in BC&H provides this thread:

Anachronisms in the Bible

I suggest you see what has already been discussed on a given subject and, if you still have questions, start a new thread for that specific topic.

Amaleq13, BC&H moderator

10-11-2005, 07:14 AM	#1
mopc Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: São Paulo, Brazil Posts: 1,504	General Questions on Bible History and Contents Questions that have been hanging on my mind for a while as a very amateur student of Bible and Religion in general. I´ll try to remember them all... 1-The Hebrew of the Old Testament: does it hint at a specific age of the composition of the Texts we know? I heard once that the Hebrew of the Torah would suggest 900-700 bC., though that is the age of the "oral text", the actuall writing would be later. 2-The actual composition of the written texts of Torah and Ketuvim. I would believe most of it happened after Cyrus set the israealis free from Babylon, i.e. during the Persian times. Before it was all oral tradition...or was it? 3-What are the early historical accounts of the existence of a Jewish holy writ? Did Herodotus or the ancient pre-Alexander Greeks mention it? 4-Does the Bible mention itself in the OT? 5-Is it true that in the Torah, no mention is made of angels, the devil, paradise-vs-hell, judgement day, immortality of the soul. When do these elements appear? Was their appearance a result of Zoroastrian influence during Persian times? 6-What does the Bible actually say on the after-life? As you die, what happens? Your soul goes to hell/heaven, or does it stay in you corpse awaiting for the judgement day, when the soul AND the body are brought back to life? 7-How do Christians explain the two totally incompatible genealogies of Jesus that appear on two gospels? 8-What are the internal contradictions found in the Bible? 9-What are the anachronisms found in the Bible? Could the presence of camel´s in Abraham´s time be considered an anachronism, since camels were only domesticated later? But no one knows when Abraham lived... well, that´s it for now!

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10-11-2005, 08:53 AM	#2
Amaleq13 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Eagle River, Alaska Posts: 7,816	I don't think a single thread can contain discussions of all these questions. In fact, I believe you will find threads on just about every subject mentioned above if you use some of the key words in the search engine. For example, putting "anachronism" as the key word for a title search in BC&H provides this thread: Anachronisms in the Bible I suggest you see what has already been discussed on a given subject and, if you still have questions, start a new thread for that specific topic. Amaleq13, BC&H moderator

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