Steven Carr

Yes, Robert (No Link) Turkel is arguing out of both sides of his mouth at once

<a href="http://www.tektonics.org/tekton_03_01_01.html" target="_blank">http://www.tektonics.org/tekton_03_01_01.html</a>

'Rabbis were encouraged to memorize entire books of the OT, indeed the whole OT, and all of Jewish education consisted of rote memory....

This was a society well-attuned to preserving oral tradition; and as Charlesworth notes, "Oral tradition is not always unreliable; in fact, sometimes it is more reliable than the written word.'

<a href="http://www.tektonics.org/rezrvw.html" target="_blank">http://www.tektonics.org/rezrvw.html</a>

'Albert Lord, in his essay entitled "The Gospels as Oral Traditional Literature" which appears in The Relationships Among the Gospels: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue, remarks generally upon oral traditional narratives as having "textual fluidity", such that they are "constantly being repeated without concern for word-for-word retelling of a set, established text."'


Turkel also writes 'But even these variants, Vansina adds, are minor, and seldom occur, so that even within one or two generations "beyond the eldest living members of a community," there is little change.'

<a href="http://www.tektonics.org/oral2.html" target="_blank">http://www.tektonics.org/oral2.html</a>
Turkel continues 'Lord notes as well that these variations come from two versions by the same singer; different singers can show greater divergence, as in this example from "Marko Kraljevic and Musa the Highwayman":'

So there is little change ,and variants seldom occurs, while Turkel himself gives examples of increasing divergence.


Amazing how apologists can contradict themselves! Such is the attitude to Bible Criticism of fundamentalists.

Boro Nut

I'm right with you on this one Steve, although I have heard it is possible with no hands.

Boro Nut

Butters

This reminds me of one of my first incounters with a "fundi". He claimed we know the Bible is accurate as it was written, because Jewish scholars took such pains to copy it out word for word. Of course what he didn't mention was that Christians were'nt quite so carefull with the NT, and have no idea what the originals really said!