Who Wrote The Bible is a book that describes
the land in which the Bible was born as being about the size
of a large North American county, which makes it possible for
me to imagine walking from place to place. It also illustrates
the proximity of the tribal armies as well as the over-population
that could occur without constant wars among them. Good geography
lesson.
Author Richard Elliott Friedman explains the
rise and sequence of the biblical monarchy which is helpful
as he goes on in later chapters to shed light on authorship
of those times. The land became two nations, Israel and Judah.
Friedman writes: During the two hundred years that those two
kingdoms existed side by side, there lived two of the writers
we are seeking. Each composed a version of the people's story.
Both versions became part of the Bible.
Although two writers have been identified,
in the span of two hundred years could one individual have lived
and personally documented the kings stories as written? Each
composed their version of the people's story. What a wealth
of fiction could be introduced into the composition of each
writer to fill in events that he (or maybe she) did not witness.
Friedman goes on to identify those two of the
writers showing how they were identified by centuries of patient
research. Investigators, whom Friedman documents, saw that the
confusion was not simple contradiction but two separate works
that someone had cut up and combined into one. The book is well-written
as far as it goes. There is no evidence brought to light, or
even mentioned, as to whether or not subsequent copiers rewrote
passages according to their own consciences. Remember that every
reproduction was made in long hand (think of all those words)
until the invention of the printing press.
For those seeking answers to the contradictions
in the Bible because they want to keep their faith this book
puts doubts to rest. A great deal of history from two writers
perspective is revealed. However the validity of that history
is still based on the revelations of a supernatural being. To
think that meticulous research makes Judaism or Christianity
any more acceptable as human law is ignorance or denial.
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