Why not? What does it change, except in small minds who think of inspiration as psychic downloading?
Quite so.
Hmm
There is an assumption here.
Are the Jews that gullible? or naive?
Perhaps we need to know what Scripture means to the Jews?
My experience of Jews is that they are much more pragmatic than you seem to be claiming.
If AI has any knowledge it would appear that the designation of Moses did not occur until late 2nd Temple Judaism. As such, it would be low on the importance scale.
Everyone knows that the two stories have different purposes, why not different authors? And who cares! By all accounts the Torah is primarily written down Oral Tradition so the original authorship will be lost in the eons of time, even if Moses did write it all down.
Richard
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The Torah was the property of priests and scribes for most of early Jewish history. It’s not much different than Christianity in Europe from the time of the Vulgate until the 1960s. The scriptures were written and discussed in Latin until Luther, and the Mass was said in Latin until the Second Vatican Council in 1969.
This isn’t a theological question. It’s a historical question open to evidence.
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Here is a challenge from another person which I am unable to answer: “If the Torah was only meant to make sense to the ancient Israelites, why hasn’t God revealed more through prophets in modern times using language we can better understand today?”
This question does not come from a place of disbelief in God and the Bible, but from a pastor who is fully devoted to serving ‘the last and the least.’ He is struggling because even though he feels he understands God’s leading, he cannot see any hope.
- Christianity traditionally claims that God’s decisive revelation is not an endlessly updated textbook about the world. It culminates in a person: Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:1–2 says this right up front: formerly God spoke “by the prophets”; now God has spoken “by his Son.” That does not mean that Christians cease learning. It means that what develops is our understanding and application of the revelation already given.
- That is why we don’t expect a modern prophet to receive Genesis 2.0, explaining creation in terms of DNA, plate tectonics, stellar nucleosynthesis, and evolutionary biology. We investigate those things through the faculties God has given us. Scripture’s ancient cosmological language does not become defective merely because we now know things its original audience did not.
- Christianity makes the rather remarkable claim that God’s final answer to hopelessness wasn’t a clearer book. It was Christ.
- God didn’t give ancient Israelites a primitive version of information that ought periodically to be updated. Instead, He revealed Himself within history, necessarily using the language and conceptual categories of the people receiving that revelation. We Christians–at least some of us–believe that revelation reaches its climax in Christ. What’s needed after Jesus isn’t “new Scripture for every succeeding culture”, but the continuing task of understanding what that revelation means in circumstances its original recipients could never have imagined.
- Looks like your pastor friend just hasn’t figured out how to make Jesus relevant where he lives today.
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One wonders what theological benefit there would be to rewriting the creation story to account for modern science? Would we gain anything other than some partially satisfied scientists, many of whom are not interested in theology.
Richard
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Why send prophets when God has supplied us with more knowledge about the ANE than the scholarly community can even absorb? That knowledge allows us to “think like an ancient Israelite” and thus learn from them – and God has sent teachers who explain how.
I’d say buy this pastor a copy of The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser.
Tell your pastor friend not to worry so much. The Torah wasn’t only meant to make sense to the ancient Israelites. It remained relevant throughout the centuries while pagan religions faded into dust and were forgotten until the 19th century. It didn’t really matter that the original context was unknown to later interpreters, or that they assumed the basic events were “real” history. The Torah wasn’t written to tell us about historical events. It was written to help humanity find its way back home to God.
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I like this God’s final answer to hopelessness wasn’t a clear book but Jesus Christ, and the Cross. I understand all of this theology. he was a PCA pastor, then moved to other denomination. I know he have those knowledge too, that we are now leaning entirely on the Lord Jesus. But in some more charismatic or non-traditional churches, they believe the Holy Spirit is active in every area. When he asked that question, it is not that simple. You are right at this time point he cannot make Jesus relevant where he lives.
When I wrestle with how Catholicism treated Martin Luther and John Calvin, and the slaughter that took place among the laity, I am forced to consider whether we might also be clinging to certain beliefs that do not originate from God.
I will check that book.
That is a can of worms you do not wish to open.
Unfortunately, God knows whether we open it or not.
In many ways, religion is going to introduce elements for its own coherence that as an individual are probably not necessary. However, going it alone has its own problems. Hobson’s choice perhaps?
Richard
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