GPLindsey

If anyone out there has some good referrals to books or web sites on this subject, I'd appreciate it. The Code of Hammarabi, if I got my few facts right, was a Babylonian legal code that predated the alleged Moses period by a few hundred years. The code contained the phrasing "an eye for an eye," and some other references that made it sound suspiciously like the Mosaic laws of the Old Testament. I'm thinking there is a basis for arguing that the ancient Jews simply adopted laws/traditions from the cultures around them and claimed they were devinely inspired. There are also questions about whether the Biblical concept of Hell was simply a reworking of Hades from Greek (Roman?) mythology.

Does anyone know of any good references that covers how the Bible could have been pulled together from non-inspired sources or other cultures (myths, existing laws/traditions, etc.)?

AquaVita

I think this belongs in BC&A

Llyricist

Go to the Biblical Criticism and History forum, the top sticky post has links to much of what you are looking for