“Documentary hypothesis” for Old Testament.

[Multicolored Lemur]

The Documentary Hypothesis

Part Of: Demystifying Religion sequence Followup To: A Secret in The Ark Content Summary: 1900 words, 19min read. Who Wrote The Hebrew Bible? A close reading of the Hebrew Bible reveals the existen…

kevinbinz.com

“ . . the existence of doublets: two stories that describe the same event. A few examples:

• Abraham’s covenant (Genesis 15:1-21 and 17:1-27),
• Jacob becoming Israel (Genesis 32:25-33 and 35:9-15),
• Yahweh summons Moses (Exodus 3-4 and 6:2-30)
• Water in the wilderness (Exodus 15:22b-25a and 17:1-7)”

J = Jahwist source

E = Elohim source

P = Priestly source

R = Redactor , or editor

D = Deuteronomist source

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This guy is explaining why he agrees with the Documentary Hypothesis.

He’s saying Ezra was the last editor or “redactor.”

 

[AgnosticBoy]

I agree with the Documentary Hypothesis in general. Here's one good sum up that I found from one source:

Contemporary critical scholars disagree with Wellhausen and with one another on details and on whether D or P was added last. But they agree that the general approach of the Documentary Hypothesis best explains the doublets, contradictions, differences in terminology and theology, and the geographical and historical interests that we find in various parts of the Torah.

Source: https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~jtreat/rs/002/Judaism/jepd.html

If anything, seeing how the Bible was compiled in such an ordinary way takes away the aura that it is more special than any other book. Even the books to include in what we call the Bible has been disputed throughout history. That's not to say that the details in the Bible are false, but it certainly goes against what we'd expect for a book that God wants us to know all about.

This guy is explaining why he agrees with the Documentary Hypothesis.

I liked the topics that he covers, especially the evidence and open questions section.

Here's the best part I got from the article which is the explanatory power of the Documentary Hypothesis:

• Contradictions are explained.
• The within-source stories flow much better.
• It is easier to understand the narrative discontinuities in the composite.
• The diverse perspectives can be situated within their originating cultural milieu.

Source: Refer to the article in post #1.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

That's not to say that the details in the Bible are false, but it certainly goes against what we'd expect for a book that God wants us to know all about.

A whole lot of individual Christians focus on believing in God and believing in Jesus. And the details of a minister’s sermon, for example, can leave them dry.

Plenty of moral people and community builders among both atheists / agnostics and among Christians, as well as plenty of immoral people in various ways. I mean, the “within group” differences are bigger than the “between group” averages.

I’m saying there’s a lot more overlap between human groups than differences.

You kind of have to work hard to find the exceptions and/or work at defining things carefully.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

This book is about anti-war activists who broke into an FBI office back in 1971. They stole every piece of paper in that office!

They wanted to show surveillance of anti-war groups, groups favoring equal rights for black people, etc. They returned the files on legit criminal cases.

Well, certainly there has to be a better way that breaking into the dang office … right ? ! ?

You decide. My advice is to read till you come across someone interesting, and then use the index to read more about that particular person. And then …

Move on to the next book.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Ralph Abernathy was Martin Luther King, Jr’s best friend. He became leader when Martin went down to an assassin’s bullet. And unlike Martin, Ralph died a natural death.

My advice is to use the table of contents and pick one of the major Civil Rights campaigns, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Birmingham, or the Selma March. See how you like Ralph’s writing style. And when it’s time …

Move on to the next good book.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

This book is about the 1918 & 1919 “Spanish” flu pandemic, only called that because there was not wartime censorship in Spain.

My goal is to get 5 good books out there, in addition to the Bible, which people can read for any reason they like, including literary and historical interest.

And,

next promising book.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

1983

“Feminism is the radical theory that women are human beings, too!”

And that spirit is certainly in this book. Although that actual saying I think I saw on someone’s door at a university.

Gloria Steinem is an above-average writer. The book is largely stand alone chapters, and you don’t need to read all of it.

I mean, the book has its moments and she makes some excellent points. But anytime you like, you can move onto …

the next promising book.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Just for fun!

This is one of the better business books I’ve read. It’s about U.S. airline deregulation in the 1970s and 80s. I recommend using the index to read the sections about Bob Crandall at American Airlines. Of course, “frequent flyer miles” are a type of cheating! It’s also a type of kickback to corporate employees who fly on the company dime.

But—

Since it wasn’t in cash, since employees were viewed as sacrificing family time and personal time, and since American Airlines was reasonable on cost anyway [ I’m guessing] — Hardly any companies made a big deal about it.

Illustrating the deep truth,

“Clean’s good for business.”

“But squeaky isn’t.”

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

The movie —

——————-//////—————-///———

The book —

And that’s how I read them!

First the movie, then the book. And this worked for me.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

I first saw the movie and then read the book. This is probably my favorite mob movie.

And …

I’m going to go ahead and just say it. Some parts of the Bible are as bad as a mob movie.