When will they ever learn?
Dear Professor Dawkins,
Your new book, The Greatest Show on Earth, is both entertaining and informative when you are dealing with biology. Please get this straight, however: the Hebrew Bible was not written by “Bronze Age desert tribesmen.” This is not the first book in which you have propounded this error. Please let it be the last.
Sincerely,
Chris Heard
11 comments Christopher Heard | Bible (general), biblical world, books
Sadly, I doubt he heeds the admonition.
As one whose admiration for Dawkins extends well beyond biology, his remarks about the Bible often upset me too. The thing that really drives me crazy is that he could make all his real points and still get his facts correct. He correctly asks that we get biology right. I do wish he would make a greater effort to get his Bible right.
Is there a “like” button?
For those of us who aren’t biblical scholars, can you please specify by whom the Hebrew Bible was written? Are you saying that it was not written during the Bronze age, or are you saying that is was written by someone other than desert tribesmen?
I want a “like” button too. well done. I got the book but haven’t started reading it. I think the SBL should go on a major “It wasn’t written by Bronze Age Goat-herders, you Dipwit!” campaign.
How do you manage to read so many terrific, thought-provoking, intellectually stimulating books by smart people, & still find the time to read Dawkins?
Audibooks, G.M. Audiobooks. I “read” Dawkins while I’m mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, or commuting. Same scenario for Dan Brown.
You must have a big lawn, an awful lot of dirty dishes, &/or a very long commute (!), in which case it’s amazing that you have time for any of your regular classwork & research. Somewhere along the way you must be cheating … must be some connection with that 666 thing … can’t quite put my finger on it yet, but I’m onto you…
I’ve noticed before that the phrase “Bronze Age” is a common one in the atheist blogosphere. “Bronze Age myths,” “Bronze Age tribesmen,” “Bronze Age god,” and so on. Duane’s comment is a good one, and even made by many atheists against, for example, Bill Maher’s “Religulous.”
The page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dating_the_Bible
says the Torah was composed around 1400 BCE.
The chronology here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age
would put that in the late Bronze Age.
Can someone more scholarly than I please state during which age the Hebrew Bible was composed?
More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_authorship
and here:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1985/who-wrote-the-bible-part-1
And by whom was the Hebrew Bible written, if not by “desert tribesmen”?
Do we know anything about E, J, P, and D?
@Brooke,
The most common term I see (and have used when I’m in a pissy mood) is “bronze age goatherders”.