Hammer and Sickle: As Offensive as the Swastika?

[Ben Kenobi]

Kidicious:

Are you aware that Christ himself said that the Torah was written by Moses?

“For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”

John 5:46-7.

[onodera]

No, BK, we're not aware that someone we call John wrote down exactly what JC had said.

[Lonestar]

That's probably the only way Ben will ever get laid.

[Jon Miller]

Thinking that Moses wrote (at least part) of the Torah is a rational position to hold.

I am not sure why people are on Ben's case over this, when you have so much to be on Ben's case about.

There is more evidence for the Torah being written (at least in part) by Moses than for the Odyssey/Iliad to being written by Homer (although, of course, just limited evidence for both and some serious theories in opposition).

JM

[Jon Miller]

Thinking that Moses wrote (at least part) of the Torah is a rational position to hold.

I am not sure why people are on Ben's case over this, when you have so much to be on Ben's case about.

There is more evidence for the Torah being written (at least in part) by Moses than for the Odyssey/Iliad to being written by Homer (although, of course, just limited evidence for both and some serious theories in opposition).

JM

[Sava]

JM: It's not a hard fact. It's reasonable to think so, sure. But there is no proof. I accept the proposition as true... but from a position of complete ignorance. It's absolutely ridiculous to emphatically argue the point as if it were an unquestionable truth.

[giblets]

Thinking that Moses wrote (at least part) of the Torah is a rational position to hold.

I am not sure why people are on Ben's case over this, when you have so much to be on Ben's case about.

There is more evidence for the Torah being written (at least in part) by Moses than for the Odyssey/Iliad to being written by Homer (although, of course, just limited evidence for both and some serious theories in opposition).

JM

Parts of it could have been written by Moses, assuming he existed, but I don't think the evidence points to the Torah having a single author and claiming Moses wrote it is a bit inconsistent with declaring oneself a "skeptic". A skeptic doesn't say "well orthodox jews say so, so that's good enough for me" a skeptic says "no one really knows the identity of the author(s)".

[Jon Miller]

You can be skeptical to the serious theories in opposition, which have been dominant for the last ~200 years among scholars.

JM

[Jon Miller]

You can be skeptical to the serious theories in opposition, which have been dominant for the last ~200 years among scholars.

JM

[Kidlicious]

Kidicious:

Are you aware that Christ himself said that the Torah was written by Moses?

“For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”

John 5:46-7.

Christ was debating with the Pharisees. He wasn't making the point that the Torah was written by Moses. He was making the point that the Pharisees didn't believe their own scriptures.

[Kidlicious]

There is more evidence for the Torah being written (at least in part) by Moses than for the Odyssey/Iliad to being written by Homer (although, of course, just limited evidence for both and some serious theories in opposition).

JM

evidence, such as?

[MRT144]

Sorry, I just don't see a whole lot of 'love' there for Terri. Worked great for Michael - he disposed of his wife, got to move on.

I hope you never get married.

[molly bloom]

Does Thomas Hobbes provide an identity for the person who actually wrote these books since it wasn't Moses?

Given that the majority of the kind of texts that make up the Bible were originally anonymous, there is no need for Hobbes to assume that one author is responsible for the texts attributed to Moses.

throughout scripture.

Wow. Which is of course immune from revision.

Deuteronomy explicitly claims to be the work of Moses.

The text of 'Lolita' claims to be by Humbert Humbert. The letters in Richardson's 'Pamela' are supposedly by more than one person. Oliver Goldsmith wrote letters pretending to be Chinese. In French, there are the 'Lettres Persanes' of Montesquieu.

Why might someone born after the time Moses supposedly lived want to attribute the texts of Deuteronomy to Moses ? Why assign texts to someone who is meant to be a conduit for 'divine' laws ?

Is any of this getting through that granite impermeability that passes for your consciousness ?