ORigins of the Bible?

[vashon]

I have read a number of books lately that have to do with religious history and important timelines for religion. I have to ask myself if any of these “true believers” ever have the courage to question just what it is they believe in. I will use Christianity since it dominates a large portion of the religions. The bible itself is suspect since it would seem that it was written after Jesus left and heavily influenced by a man that was a self proclaimed Pharisee who never met Jesus. I also find it interesting that many of the stories that are told in the bible are the same stories told in other older religions or mythologies. Only the names and places have been changed to protect the innocent. Why would a book that should be clearly suspect as to its origin of content and intent be followed? Do so many out there just wish to be led around blindly by the nose? No wonder God calls his flock of follower’s lambs.

[rustypouch]

I totally agree.

The first example of a Judeo-Christian myth taken from another religion that comes into my head is the great flood.

The events in the biblical flood are almost exactly identical to the flood in the epic of Gilgamesh, which was recorded about one thousand years before Moses wrote the first books of the bible.

I have yet to recieve a straight answer from a creationist about why they treat myths taken from other cultures as facts, or why they will not discuss the possibility that the bible might be flawed.

[triadboy]

Originally posted by rustypouch
...which was recorded about one thousand years before Moses wrote the first books of the bible.

I wasn't sure how you meant this - so I wondered if you are aware the first five books were written by at least 4 different authors. (J, E, P, D). [the last book talks about the death of Moses anyway, so that poses a difficulty]

I don't think Moses ever existed. His childhood is too much like Sargon and his life is too unbelievable.

[Abdul Alhazred]

First of all, you need to define your terms.

The origin of "The Bible" considered as a single unit comes centuries after any of the included writings were written.

The origins of the various writings are, well, various. There is no single central explanation.

For example, the five books of Moses in their current form were most likely assembled from previous writings with a bit of confabulation by priests around 450 BCE. But what were the previous writings? And when? Maybe as long ago as 3000 BCE according to some (reasonable, non-religious) authorities.

On the other hand the book of Jonah was most likely penned by a single individual in one sitting around 200 BCE.

[Chaos]

A remark on Moses:
The book "The Key - the Power of Myth" by James N. Frey points out that the different stations of the life of Moses very closely resemble the pattern of the lives of most heroes of Greek mythology. (I think it was 19 out of 22 key events that are present in those myths).
I see this as a very strong hint that the biblical story of Moses (even if you don´t count all the miracle stuff) was, at best, rather loosely based on a historical leader of the Israelites.

[pupdog]

We see some repitition and contradiction because of the multiple authorship. The sources for the J, E, D, & P materials include a lot of common oral tradition, no doubt shared with others who did not become part of the community of Israel.

[triadboy]

Originally posted by pupdog
We see some repitition and contradiction because of the multiple authorship. The sources for the J, E, D, & P materials include a lot of common oral tradition, no doubt shared with others who did not become part of the community of Israel.

Some of the religious traditions and writings were carried south into Judah by fleeing Israelites after the Assyrians smashed the 10 tribes of Israel. Hundreds of years later, the redactor (460BC) had to interlink these stories with the Judean stories and the new Babylonian-influenced creation stories. No wonder the bible is so screwed up!

[jj]

Constantine? :D

[rustypouch]

I apologize if I got the dates and/or authors of the first books of the bible wrong.

I have lately been recieving visits from the J.W.'s, and I was just going by when they claimed the oldest parts of the bible were written, which in retrospect might not have been a good idea.

Anyway, I will no longer use any of their pubilcations as a source. They only thing I can say about them without being insulting is that they are an interesting bunch of folks...