Origins of the Judeo-Christian god and religion

Hi LfenOne of the problems with dating the events in the Old Testament is that the books are rife with anachronisms, although this makes it very difficult to date for certain when the said events were said to have happened, it does help to date when the stories, as we have them, were composed.Regarding the patriarchs, there are three different lines of enquiry that scholars have used to try and date this period. First, external points of contact between bible events and known non-biblical events, secondly, datable aspects of the texts themselves suchas personal names and legal features, thirdly chronological links between the patriarchs and later bible periods.Regarding external contact points, the real problem here is the severe limitation of the sources. Apart from the Bible there is no direct evidence of any of the patriarchs, which isnt surprising considering the bible describes a family history and not the history of an important monarch or well-known international figure.Also, in the search for contact points between the partriarchal events and known external history have drawn a complete blank. The famous one being the war mentioned in Genesis 14, where a total of nine kings were involved but not a single one has been identified outside of the Bible.There are no legal practices or customs mentioned that give a unique date, and the problem with chronological links between the patriarchal period and later biblical is that the chronological information is very unreliable, with artificial genealogies and internal inconsistencies hampering conclusions.It looks very likely that the Israelite prehistory narratives contain some plausible historical information but are padded out with fiction, mainly aetiologies.I'd say the patriarchal narratives are a mixture of folk tales and historical fiction.Brian.

Archaeology has disproven many biblical events, whether you acknowledge it or not. Not only has archaeology disproven major biblical events, it has also shown some relatively minor points inaccurate. For example, since we are really at the patriarchal period, Joseph didn't interpret any pharaoh's dream because archaeology has proven that there was no such thing as a pharaoh until Thutmosis III (c.1490). A small point but there was no such thing as a pharaoh in Joseph's time, by Bible chronology of course.Regarding major events, Joshua couldnt have attacked Jericho (uninhabited from 1560-1200), Ai (uninhabited from 2400-1200), Hazor (destroyed 1250), and Lachish (destroyed 1150).The 'nothing has disproven the Bible as history' is a lovely sound bite, and one that many fundy christian websites promote, but it is untrue. Surely this should make you suspicious about the accuracy of the 'historical' biblical events, I mean it is not as if we are talking about tiny little incidents here, some of the events would have impacted on neighbouring countries. If pharaoh's armies did die in the reed sea I find difficult to imagine no one noticing. Also, 2.5 million people staying at Kadesh-Barnea for 38 years would have left some evidence, but there is none.But, think about it, from Adam right through to Omri (which I would say is the first unambiguous contact point with known non biblical history), or even if we concede that it is David in the Tel dan stele, think about a preiod pf about 1000 years, all the people mentioned in the bible, all the incidents that were said to have occured, yet not a single person or event can be found in external records, it is a bit much to swallow.But, the Bible has been shown to be inaccurate on many occassions. No big del really when you take it in context.Brian.

So you are saying that Joseph did address a pharaoh?

Your arguments against archaeology and history impress me evenless.But don't let small things like facts get in the way.That is all, carry on.Brian.

You would agree that William Albright was a scholar of deep faith and immense scholarship?Or what about Nelson Glueck or George Wright, or John Bright?Do you agree that any or all of these men are men of deep faith and immense scholarship?Brian.

Is there anything that is absolute about archaeology, if so, can you give an example or two?Brian.

What about a few names of these great great men of deep faith so that we can examine their credentials for ourselves?brian