Our April session looks at three schools of thought regarding authorship of the Hebrew Bible: traditional, academic and minimalist. We will discuss each of these, paying particular attention to the academic approach, which combines with ancient history to explain the different "layers" of the Bible. Our May discussion will then relate analysis of the Torah and archaeological findings to the exodus from Egypt that we celebrate on Passover. Facilitated by Jackie Braverman
As you may know, Jack and I recently returned from Israel where we devoted 10 days to studying ancient history based on the archaeology of the region. Little did we know at first that the story of the early Israelites is not only fascinating but highly controversial, a mystery story in which each new archaeological discovery turns previous knowledge upside-down. Along with that goes the dispute about authorship of the Torah – was it written by Moses, as you may have learned in school, or has that story also been turned upside-down?
For the April and May sessions, I will facilitate our discussion of these mysteries, beginning with the question “Who wrote the Bible?” From there we will move onto a discussion of the origins of the Israelites, including in our May session the exodus tale we will have just celebrated on Passover. Be prepared for some big surprises, not to mention some different ways of looking at things.
For the April session, numerous readings are attached pertaining to the authorship of the Bible. They represent three schools of thought: The Torah was:
(a) handed down to Moses on Mt. Sinai – the traditional story (b) written over several centuries by four schools of authors beginning in about the 9th century BCE - the Documentary Hypothesis and (c) written in the Persian and Hellenic periods after the First Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE – the “minimalist” position
(a) handed down to Moses on Mt. Sinai – the traditional story
(b) written over several centuries by four schools of authors beginning in about the 9th century BCE - the Documentary Hypothesis and
(c) written in the Persian and Hellenic periods after the First Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE – the “minimalist” position
Click here for the April readings.
Five of the 10 articles are marked with three asterisks (***). Please try to read at least these five. This is a gigantic topic that has consumed the minds of biblical scholars, so, unless you want be like Donald J.Trump who proudly relies only on his own “very good brain,” please come prepared. As always, we will be sharing our opinions and experiences, but information will make the discussion even better!
Details for the May session will be posted when they are available.