NO BIBLICAL MANUSCRIPTS BEFORE 250 BC (PART ONE) But wait…Didn’t Moses write the Pentateuch in 1400 BC? NO. Lets be honest and face reality: There is no Biblical manuscript (I repeat), NOT ONE single section of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) OLDER THAN 250 BCE AT THE EARLIEST! An ironic and alarming reality check for a text claiming to record over 4,000 years of divinely guided history! This presents a huge problem for believers in that a falsified historical record means a death blow for theology. [The oldest Biblical texts are from Qumran in the Judean Desert where the remnants of 930 Biblical and non-Biblical scrolls have been found. (Tov: 93 – 99) For Current research on the Discoveries in the Judean Desert… orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/index.html Christians who inquire (usually to their minister) as to the age of the Old Testament are given some vague explanation mixed with theology that God’s Word has been preserved from Creation to Redemption in such ancient texts as the Dead Sea Scrolls (now for the average laymen, the term “Dead Sea Scrolls” sounds very ancient indeed and based on their willingness to believe or need to keep their faith in tact, the discussion usually ends). Then too, many times a minister or seminary professor may describe the first 39 books of the Protestant Bible as the O-L-D (holding “Old” for two beats) Testament giving the impression that this document is indeed an ancient book of truth recording the mighty acts of God. A conservative professor will likely discuss Mosaic authorship (as state by Jesus: “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” John 7:19) …making it clear that parts of the Torah were composed by Moses himself (Deut. 4: 44; 31:24; 32:45; Joshua 8:31; 23:6; I Kings 2:3; 23:5; Nehemiah 8:1, 13 – 18) but this line of logic is simply USING THE BIBLE TO PROVE THE BIBLE. As for as ancient literacy in the Biblical goes, Genesis has the father of the Israelites (Abraham) coming from Ur (or Haran) in Mesopotamia (Genesis 11: 27 – 32; 15: 7) just southeast of Uruk on the Persian Gulf where writing can be traced to Uruk IV or 3,500 BCE. There we have textual finds of pictographs and scripting in proto-cuneiform appearing in Abraham’s home city; the first dynasty of Ur (circa 2575 -2400) (Driver: 1 – 8). Support for this can be found the earliest material used in Assyria and Babylonia for writing was clay which was inscribed with a reed stylus leaving scholars with a printed record of the evolution of the cuneiform scripts. These ancient records were usually preserved to prevent from textual tampering and corruption by having the inscribed clay tablets baked over a fire (Driver: p. 10). For storage of these clay texts, temple-libraries were often used such as those found at Mari and Ugarit (Driver: 73 – 77). Yet even with a system of writing and preservation long in place, WE HAVE NOT EVEN ONE SMALL PIECE OF TEXT TO SUPPORT ANY READING FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT! Fact is, important texts could be written and preserved such as in the case of the Laws of Hammurabi (ca. 1792 – 1750) which was cut into a hard rock stele measuring seven and half feet tall with 4,000 lines of cuneiform text direct to Hammurabi by the gods (likely the very emulation for the Mosaic commandment stories on Sinai). Yet with all this recording in cuneiform scripts in the very area where the Bibles historical events were to have taken place, it is not until we get WITHIN 250 YEARS of the Christian era before we have one single shred of recorded text of the Old Testament! The facts prove that the eternal god of the Israelites (Yahweh) along with Israels divine history and laws SIMPLY DIDNT EXIST . . . ZILCH!
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 12:46:39 +0000
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