This evidence, that should have been made to support the truth of the Bible, was quickly twisted and turned against it. Archeologists were uncovering data that showed themes of parallel theologies to the Old Testament. This could have gone one of two ways. Either the popular opinion would be that the Old Testament influenced the theology of these societies, or that these societies inspired the Old Testament. Unfortunately, scholars…
In the introduction, he provides a brief overview of scholarly thought regarding the Old Testament literature and Ancient near East literature and how perspectives have changed over the last 50 years. Oswalt states at the time he was introduced to the subject, scholars believed the Old Testament and its theology stood alone from other Ancient Near East religions. He now contends that present day scholars believe the Old Testament is just one of many Ancient Near East religions. Oswalt concludes his introduction with a substantial claim. He emphasizes that theological claims are inseparable from historical claims. Oswalt states that trustworthiness must be contingent upon both the theological and historical claims. If the historical claims are patently…
Some of the more remarkable archaeological discoveries in the 20th century were made by Dame Kathleen Kenyon. Kathleen Kenyon was born into the heart of the English scholarly community and with all the help that influence and connections could provide became one of the foremost excavators in Great Britain. Even though Miss Kenyon was purported to be a Christian, she did not argue for the biblical account perspective when referencing her excavations. She believed that archaeology was needed to prove the historicity of the Bible; but more importantly, that archaeology was needed to aid us in the interpretation of the "older parts of the Old Testament, which from the nature of their sources cannot be read as a straightforward record (Kenyon, 266). Remembered for her substantial contributions to the field of archaeology Miss. Kenyon brought with her refined versions of the excavation method pioneered by Mortimer Wheeler. Along with inventing field methods that strengthened the science, Kathleen shaped the discipline of archaeology with her contribution to institutions, training of future archaeologists and publications. Another important aspect of Kathleen Kenyon's archaeological career was her role as a teacher. From 1948 to 1962 she lectured in Levantine Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Kenyon's teaching, complemented by her excavations at Jericho and Jerusalem (which successively formed her 'field school'), helped to train a generation of archaeologists, who went on themselves to teach in Britain, Australia, Canada, the United States, Denmark and elsewhere.…
These Hebrew writings were known as the Tenach. The writings remained in the Semitic languages until 280-150 B.C. when they were translated by Jewish scholars and Scribes into Greek at Alexandria, Egypt. This translation was known as the Septuagint, the manuscript’ accuracy and reliability was confirmed by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 900 in all, between 1947 -…
The author of our textbook-John N. Oswalt has spent a significant amount of time researching and studying the Ancient Near East. Oswalt’s work began in the 1960’s while taking a course called “The Literature of the Ancient Near East”. After his time at Asbury Theological Seminary, Oswalt continued his studies in the Mediterranean Studies Department of Brandeis University. While there, he expanded his knowledge and understanding of the Ancient Near East and later, further developed said knowledge by means of a professor. John Oswalt teaches at Asbury Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Wesley Biblical Seminary. In our course textbook, The Bible Among the Myths, the author presents his main theme-the Bible is unique…
The Four Source Theory is the idea that the Torah, the Jewish Bible, originated from four separate sources. Each one was written and developed over a different period of time. Each part teaches its reader something that the other three cannot. The four sources were combined to be a single document containing all their different ideas. The earliest source is the Yahwist source (J). Written between 1000 and 950 B.C. in Jerusalem under King Solomon, the Yahwist source discusses stories and traditions that are relevant to God’s plan for his chosen people (Nourse). In this source, God is very prominent. The intimacy of God comes from the notion of Yahweh, which means “I am”. Unlike the J source, the Elohist source uses the term Elohim or El which…
King James I, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was coronated to king of England in the year 1603 in which he was already an experienced monarch due to the fact that he has been ruling over Scotland since 1567. James believed that kings are a representation of god on earth and that kings cannot be judged or punished by the “mere” humans but by god. Even though he did not have any obligations to obey the law he did anyways to be an example to his followers. One significant attribute of King James was that he was the first one to reign sovereignly in the three monarchical kingdoms…
John Oswalt, in his book The Bible among Myths, provide the readers with a brief, yet extensive of the variance and likeness Old Testament and Ancient near East religions. In the introduction he provides a brief outline of scholarly concerning the Old Testament literature and Ancient near east literature and how viewpoint change in nearly 50 years. Oswalt states at the time he was acquaint with to the subject scholar believe the Old Testament and its religious studies stood alone from others ancient near east religions.…
First the paper will focus on the southern site named Bab edh-Dhra, and then an analysis of the Tall el-Hammam will be done. Bab edh-Dhra is the excavated site along the Valley of Siddom, South of the Dead Sea. Many proponents of this site suggest that this site is located precisely on the eastern fault, which provides evidence for it’s destruction.[1] Furthermore, they indicate that the Bible historically supports this location in Genesis 13:10, Genesis 14:10 and Genesis 19:24. J. Penrose Harland explains that an overall agreement between the southern supporters and northern supporters is that the cities of the Plain are to be found in Ghor, or Valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea. However, Harland states, “the…
In our history, the Bible is a contribution to history that roots in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. It focuses on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Old Testament is the original Bible written by many different people with composite text. The Bible is a Monotheistic faith and is also impossible to date in time. This religion changed many people’s beliefs and traditions.…
The book opens with an introduction comparing the study of the Old Testament and the other religions and cultures of other peoples from the Ancient Near East. Scholars used to believe that the Old Testament was unique among other beliefs in the Ancient Near East but they now view the Old Testament as identical to other religions of its day and time.…
Based on the reading and notes thus far, it is plainly evident that this class will entail no more than the history and methods of the New Testament and other Early Christian Writings. This is a class of neutral sides working together to become historians of the ancient world.…
He points out how the modern-day scholars are now comparing the Bible to other religious documents and considering it as just another mythical belief. Oswalt credits this world-view change to a study of similarities between the Bible and like Near Eastern writings rather than before when perhaps more interest was placed on viewing the differences. These studies are explained in the first half of this publication and sub-titled The Bible and Myth.…
Wisdom literature in the Bible comprises the three books known as Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The Mercer Dictionary of the Bible defines “wisdom literature” as “a distinctive intellectual tradition extended throughout the ancient Near East.”1 Wisdom literature in the bible includes the three books known as Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. “Ancient Israel’s sages preserved their teachings in two forms: meshalim and reflections. The former included both instructions (Prov 1-9), SIRACH) and shorter aphorisms (most of Proverbs).”2 Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart explain in their book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth that “the book of Proverbs is the primary locus of ‘prudential wisdom’ –that is, memorable aphorisms (maxims) people can use to help themselves make responsible choices in life. In contrast to Ecclesiastes and Job, which use speculative wisdom as a way of wrestling with the great issues of life, proverbial wisdom concentrates mostly on practical attitudes and behavior in everyday life.”3…
The first 39 books of the larger work called the Bible, is called the Old Testament. The Bible itself is arguably the best selling and most read book of all time, yet it’s well known to be quite challenging to read through and understand. The Old Testament portion of the Bible, notably the most difficult portion of the Bible for most to study and follow, yields 39 books from multiple authors, and spans over 4000 years of crucial world and church history. If that were not enough to take on, the Old Testament comes our way through multiple styles of authorship and formats, including but not limited to, books of history, law, proverbs, ethics, philosophy, treatises, dramas, songs, epics, biographies, and letters. There have been many books written and published to survey, explain, and/or bring to light the Old Testament, but none more helpful to me than the review subject of this paper, the work of Dr. Elmer L. Towns, entitled “A Journey Through the Old Testament”.…