• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Historical vs Religious Interpretations

nPeace

Veteran Member
As you wish. :)
Of course. Far better than running away from facing the facts.
The Israelite armies probably uttered these words... "Flee in terror, you Canaanite armies." :tearsofjoy:

I wonder what the experts think of archaeologists Eli Shukron and Gershon Galil.

Concerning the 2,731-year-old inscriptions these Biblical archaeologists, consider it "one of the most important discoveries in Israel in recent years". Why?
Of the three reasons given, two were, the age - hundreds of years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls o_O, and the accuracy in terms of historical, geographical and religious data. :nomouth:

The portrayal of Hezekiah in the inscriptions is consistent with the biblical account, which identifies him as one of the key kings in the consecration of Israel to Yahweh by destroying other cultic and superstitious elements of the time, as is also specified in the inscriptions now discovered.

The findings “support the claim that scriptures in the Book of Kings are based on texts originating from chronicles and royal inscriptions, and that the Bible reflects historical reality and not imagination”, stressed Galil.


:nomouth: Did he just say that!!!
Dude... you're in trouble. Let's strike you off the list of experts. Lol
 

nPeace

Veteran Member
And the meteorological and agrarian history of Kansas is consistent with the account found in the Wizard of Oz.
Build another strawman. That one blew away in the wind.
You obviously didn't read the article. Try it, and see why your strawman didn't get off the ground.
 

nPeace

Veteran Member
@Jayhawker Soule I think it's admirable for a secular "historian" to say this... "the inscriptions have changed how archaeologists see the biblical kings".
Don't you?

These guys are really excited!
“The Israeli kings were indeed mentioned in extra-biblical Assyrian, Babylonian, Aramaic, Moabite inscriptions as well as on Hebrew seal impressions, but this is the first time that a fragment of a monumental Hebrew royal inscription has been deciphered that mentions the name of the king whose achievements were detailed in it,” he said.

More significantly, the newly deciphered inscriptions strengthen researchers’ belief that the Bible is a reliable source that reflects historical facts.


I get the feeling you are not liking this Jay... but shouldn't every honest scholar be rejoicing, since "In these new inscriptions, there are answers to many issues that scholars have debated for years"?

If these new inscriptions provide answers to contentious issues that went unanswered for years, isn't that a time for every sincere scholar to be elated about this find?

Guess not. :( Lol
 

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
And the meteorological and agrarian history of Kansas is consistent with the account found in the Wizard of Oz.
I don't understand why some Christians seem to believe that others do not believe one word of the Bible. It is almost all they can do is think in black and white. In fact when one refutes one small part of the Bible they often react as if one is trying to refute the whole thing. That seems to be a common stance among fundamentalists.
 

Elihoenai

Well-Known Member
It seems that historical and archaeological interpretations of various texts can often be dramatically different from the religious interpretations of these texts.

You see this most commonly exemplified in debates like the one between historian Bart Ehrman and theologian William Lane Craig on whether Jesus was resurrected from the dead or not. However, this is not solely relegated to Western religions.

Vedic texts and Buddhist sutras are also filled with accounts that historians find dubious. There is even Taoist folklore about Laozi correcting Confucius, even though they lived too far apart to have known one another.

For those who believe the claims of religious authorities over historical consensus, why?

Is there a way for the two approaches to work together to provide insight into these texts, without contradiction?
True Religion is Timeless and is not Bound by History/Time. Therefore, for True Religionist historical discussion is Irrelevant.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
@Jayhawker Soule I think it's admirable for a secular "historian" to say this... "the inscriptions have changed how archaeologists see the biblical kings".
Don't you?
No, I think it's to be expected. Discoveries such as this are inherently exciting.

What you fail to understand is that many, if not most, archaeologists and historians grant that the historical content of the Tanakh increases as we come to Samuel and Kings. The Israelites were a real culture with a real impulse to tell their story, and to cohere a society around that story. This was extremely important at two points in their history, (a) upon return from exile, and (b) during the early days of its Hasmonean Dynasty.

The problem, of course, is that such "history" was written (and redacted) by those with a theological and socio-political bias and agenda.

Your problem is self inflicted and much more serious. You infer from the intersection of biblical text and archaeological discovery that the biblical record is accurate in its entirety. It is the classic fallacy that says, in effect:

They found evidence of Hezekiah therefore the exodus/conquest is an accurate depiction of Israelite ethnogenesis.​

The attitude is both ignorant and childish. If and when you find yourself interested in developing a more rational and balanced perspective, I'll be happy to recommend some reading. Until then, take care and stay warm.
 

nPeace

Veteran Member
No, I think it's to be expected. Discoveries such as this are inherently exciting.

What you fail to understand is that many, if not most, archaeologists and historians grant that the historical content of the Tanakh increases as we come to Samuel and Kings. The Israelites were a real culture with a real impulse to tell their story, and to cohere a society around that story. This was extremely important at two points in their history, (a) upon return from exile, and (b) during the early days of its Hasmonean Dynasty.
You want someone to pin ignorance on.
Maybe you should go looking for those individuals. They are not here.

Oh wait. Do you count?

The problem, of course, is that such "history" was written (and redacted) by those with a theological and socio-political bias and agenda.
Prove that. You can't. So another failure on your part.
You beg for your beliefs and one-sided opinions to be true.
They aren't.

Your problem is self inflicted and much more serious. You infer from the intersection of biblical text and archaeological discovery that the biblical record is accurate in its entirety. It is the classic fallacy that says, in effect:

They found evidence of Hezekiah therefore the exodus/conquest is an accurate depiction of Israelite ethnogenesis.​

The attitude is both ignorant and childish. If and when you find yourself interested in developing a more rational and balanced perspective, I'll be happy to recommend some reading. Until then, take care and stay warm.
There you go. Pinning something on people so you can criticize them. That's dishonest.
Worst than someone being a child actually.

I have repeatedly said we don't need the archaeologist to give us anything.
You know this, because you read my posts.
Both myself and @3rdAngel have said that these historians are often inaccurate. Not so the Bible.
The findings always bear out that fact... and yeah the findings are what makes critics squirm.

So, again you failed.
I would suggest you learn how to build a good strawman, before attempting to build them.
I never met anyone so lousy at building strawman.

Guess there is a first for everything. :innocent:
 
Last edited:

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
You want someone to pin ignorance on.
Maybe you should go looking for those individuals. They are not here.

Oh wait. Do you count?


Prove that. You can't. So another failure on your part.
You beg for your beliefs and one-sided opinions to be true.
They aren't.


There you go. Pinning something on people so you can criticize them. That's dishonest.
Worst than someone being a child actually.

I have repeatedly said we don't need the archaeologist to give us anything.
You know this, because you read my posts.
Both myself and @3rdAngel have said that these historians are often inaccurate. Not so the Bible.
The findings always bear out that fact... and yeah the findings are what makes critics squirm. Maybe that's why you don't like whan the turn up, because they turn your beliefs on its head.

So, again you failed.
I would suggest you learn how to build a good strawman, before attempting to build them.
I never met anyone so lousy at building strawman.

Guess there is a first for everything. :innocent:
Perhaps it would help if you explain what @Jayhawker Soule got wrong. It appears to be fairly accurate to me. As to the Bible being wrong at times we have many ways of knowing this. History refutes Luke's nativity. Science refutes the creation myth and the Noah's Ark myths. Archaeology refutes the Exodus myth. The list is pretty long when it comes to failures if one makes the error of reading the Bible literally.
 

Ella S.

Well-Known Member
True Religion is Timeless and is not Bound by History/Time. Therefore, for True Religionist historical discussion is Irrelevant.

These are interesting statements to me.

What do you mean by "true religion?" When I hear that phrase, I think it means a religion whose beliefs are in accordance with objective reality. However, I have seen people use this phrase with different implications, so I think it's worth asking just to clarify.

I also have to ask what you mean by being timeless. To me, I see "timeless" as a poetic way of referring to something that doesn't lose its quality over time, such as when someone says that the Epic of Gilgamesh is a "timeless classic." If that's the case, though, wouldn't history be very important for determining which religions are actually timeless and which are not?
 

Ella S.

Well-Known Member
It was a hopeless request anyway.

The post you were replying to already answered your question for you:

I have repeatedly said we don't need the archaeologist to give us anything.
You know this, because you read my posts.
Both myself and @3rdAngel have said that these historians are often inaccurate. Not so the Bible.
The findings always bear out that fact... and yeah the findings are what makes critics squirm.

So, in other words, whenever any findings based on reason or evidence contradict the Bible, they must be dismissed as inaccurate. Anyone who makes claims that contradict the Bible (or at least, these users' interpretations of the Bible and whatever in it they consider to be meant literally) are dismissed entirely out-of-hand.

Their position is clear and firm. The Bible is right, so any historians that contradict it must be wrong.

It's trivial to demonstrate that the Bible is wrong. Anyone with a decent education in history can do that. It's much more difficult to get people to recognize when their faith is actually misplaced confirmation bias, because then you're dealing with their entire identity, their values, their concept of reality, and their very way of thinking. You can't really do all of that in a single thread.

This thread's purpose is, in my eyes, already concluded. We've now laid bare the mechanisms in play when people choose to believe religious interpretations of scriptures over the expert opinions of historians. What a shocker, but they're the same mechanisms behind Young-Earth Creationism and the Flat-Earth Movement. They're the same devils you and I have been fighting all this time, and we aren't really getting anywhere this way.
 

Elihoenai

Well-Known Member
These are interesting statements to me.

What do you mean by "true religion?" When I hear that phrase, I think it means a religion whose beliefs are in accordance with objective reality. However, I have seen people use this phrase with different implications, so I think it's worth asking just to clarify.

I also have to ask what you mean by being timeless. To me, I see "timeless" as a poetic way of referring to something that doesn't lose its quality over time, such as when someone says that the Epic of Gilgamesh is a "timeless classic." If that's the case, though, wouldn't history be very important for determining which religions are actually timeless and which are not?
Good questions.

On True Religion:

When I say True Religion, this means Authentic or Real Religion. In other words, Authentic/True/Real Religion is the same as Transformational Religion. You can identity True/Real/Authentic Religions from its Transformational Powers.


On Timeless:

When I say Timeless, this means Teachings/Doctrines that are Equally Valid in any Time and in any generation throughout history. Readers might see as similar to your "something that doesn't lose its quality over time". Timeless Religions Doctrines/Teachings Perpetually Holds Validity and Quality not being Bound by Time/History.
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
"True," in the sense of authentic or legitimate can be applied to many different belief systems.
In the sense of ontologically accurate or correct however, Christianity has some serious challengers.
 

nPeace

Veteran Member
So, in other words, whenever any findings based on reason or evidence contradict the Bible, they must be dismissed as inaccurate.
Name one.

To the contrary, I said that the findings always support the Bible, whether they come late... or not.
What is called "evidence contradicting the Bible", are people sitting on their behind and giving their opinion... dare I say, flawed reasoning, on what they think about what they read in the Bible.
They often have zero evidence.
They have absence of evidence arguments.

How is that different to "apologetics" giving their opinion on what they read in the same texts?
What about the scholars who disagree with the majority.
I guess they don't have evidence and reason, right?

The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah ... A version of the documentary hypothesis ... posited that the Pentateuch is a compilation of four originally independent documents... The sources would have been joined together at various points in time by a series of editors or "redactors.

The consensus around the classical documentary hypothesis has now collapsed. This was triggered in large part by the influential publications of John Van Seters, Hans Heinrich Schmid, and Rolf Rendtorff in the mid-1970s, who argued that J was to be dated no earlier than the time of the Babylonian captivity (597–539 BCE), and rejected the existence of a substantial E source. They also called into question the nature and extent of the three other sources. Van Seters, Schmid, and Rendtorff shared many of the same criticisms of the documentary hypothesis, but were not in complete agreement about what paradigm ought to replace it. As a result, there has been a revival of interest in "fragmentary" and "supplementary" models, frequently in combination with each other and with a documentary model, making it difficult to classify contemporary theories as strictly one or another. Modern scholars also have given up the classical Wellhausian dating of the sources, and generally see the completed Torah as a product of the time of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (probably 450–350 BCE), although some would place its production as late as the Hellenistic period (333–164 BCE), after the conquests of Alexander the Great.


Wow. That's some evidence - people arguing about what they think. Lol.

Seems more like lazy people to me. "Let's just throw away the book - lump one date to it. Done."
The donkeys have spoken. Let's all just accept it, and go home.

If that's what you are saying, yes, that's how it is.

Since when is evidence arguments from subjective opinions?

Anyone who makes claims that contradict the Bible (or at least, these users' interpretations of the Bible and whatever in it they consider to be meant literally) are dismissed entirely out-of-hand.
Well no, but anyone is free to have their opinion.
It's not like there is only one.

I actually have a scholarly document that supports the authenticity of the writings of the Gospel... giving them early dates, contrary to the majority of scholars, and I accept these, not because I want to, but because they are supported by the internal evidence - what's actually there in scripture - writen for everyone to see, and form their opinion, and the external - early historians from as early as the first century.

That... is evidence. Not biased opinions and arguing for those.

Their position is clear and firm. The Bible is right, so any historians that contradict it must be wrong.
So your view is that any historian that agrees with the Bible is wrong?
The Bible proves to be right. The evidence supports that. The arguments don't
I go with the evidence. So do the minority scholars.
Something is not to be accepted on the basis of numbers - the number of people that say "Aye!".

It's trivial to demonstrate that the Bible is wrong. Anyone with a decent education in history can do that. It's much more difficult to get people to recognize when their faith is actually misplaced confirmation bias, because then you're dealing with their entire identity, their values, their concept of reality, and their very way of thinking. You can't really do all of that in a single thread.
Let's turn the tables.
i don't play one sided games.

The scholars who have a decent education in history, is not a scholar that disproves the Bible.
Many scholars with a decent education have demonstrated the Bible is true.
A List Of Conservative And Liberal Bible Scholars
Modern atheists often say that “a majority of scholars…” say certain things regarding the reliability of the Bible. When we press these individuals on precisely who these scholars are, we find that they are most often atheist of progressive scholars who do not believe God exists in the first place.

Unknown to a majority of people is the existence of the atheist New Testament scholar. These are people who don’t believe God exists, or that the Bible is true, yet seek to write about these important subjects as experts. Imagine going to a doctor for medical advice and he tells you that he doesn’t believe in medicine. Today many people accept the conclusions of atheists [or those leaning toward atheism] regarding whether the New Testament is a reliable record of truth.


Now tell me, why would I accept the views of someone who does not believe in God, or the Bible... unless I'm an idiot.

It's more difficult to get opposers of faith to recognize when their beliefs and ideologies are actually misplaced confirmation bias, because then you're dealing with their entire identity, their values, their concept of reality, and their very way of thinking.

This thread's purpose is, in my eyes, already concluded. We've now laid bare the mechanisms in play when people choose to believe religious interpretations of scriptures over the expert opinions of historians. What a shocker, but they're the same mechanisms behind Young-Earth Creationism and the Flat-Earth Movement. They're the same devils you and I have been fighting all this time, and we aren't really getting anywhere this way.
Expert opinion of historians? Which ones? The ones you prefer?
Well there is your confirmation bias right there, because expert opinions of historians do not lie in one camp.

You are basically saying every believer should come over to your side.
I find that die hard atheistic faith to be very demanding.
It's worst than wayside preachers who try to force people to accept their message... imo.
 
Last edited:

nPeace

Veteran Member
That's all you've done in this whole thread and I'm not continuing them with you.
We both know that's not the truth.
I'm not the one calling expert historians, non expert historians because they accept the Bible's authenticity.
...but what else can we expect from atheistic world views.

Adios.
 

sayak83

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
It seems that historical and archaeological interpretations of various texts can often be dramatically different from the religious interpretations of these texts.

You see this most commonly exemplified in debates like the one between historian Bart Ehrman and theologian William Lane Craig on whether Jesus was resurrected from the dead or not. However, this is not solely relegated to Western religions.

Vedic texts and Buddhist sutras are also filled with accounts that historians find dubious. There is even Taoist folklore about Laozi correcting Confucius, even though they lived too far apart to have known one another.

For those who believe the claims of religious authorities over historical consensus, why?

Is there a way for the two approaches to work together to provide insight into these texts, without contradiction?
I will speak that when it comes to the Bible, neither the theological nor the Biblical historical narratives are reliable. The first is primarily based on apriori faith. The second is unreliable because it is trying to achieve to much using too little. In no other topic in history apart from Biblical history or historical Jesus are there hundreds of 1000 page tomes based on so little good quality evidence. The reason is there is a lot of religiously driven interest in the topic that has made this inconceivably narrow subfield of history have a life of it's own. These historical writings are filled with plausible but ultimately unverifiable conjectures as must be if you want to say so much based on so little. Just because a (possibly historical) obscure Jewish person started a heretical Jewish religious movement that later became a large religion does not mean that there is lot of evidence regarding his life. There isn't. That is normal. There are entire Roman emperors for whom we know very little from their contemporary source that is reliable. So what we know is this
Jesus probably existed and somehow inspired a heretical Jewish sect who considered him to be a messiah of some sort. They wrote stuff about him whose reliability is difficult to evaluate.
The end.
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
We both know that's not the truth.
I'm not the one calling expert historians, non expert historians because they accept the Bible's authenticity.
...but what else can we expect from atheistic world views.
Disinterested investigation? Logic? Reason?
 
Top