Dating of ancient books and scripture.
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The "maximalists" do not think it is sleeping, my friend!
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
-- George Carlin
-- George Carlin
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I'm leaning more and more that way myself... with a few caveats like utilizing pre-existing folklore and writing ole Yahweh into it.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
-- George Carlin
-- George Carlin
There is certainly wiggle room for that sort of argument. Personally I think the majority of people in the region after the Persians took over were from other regions. The Post Babylonian population of Judah was probably a couple of thousand while Persian Judah had something closer to 50,000 people living in it which strongly suggests that there were a lot of people new to the area in Judah. They could have pushed almost any story as historical and, over time, with total control over all writing, made it the only history people knew.Minimalist wrote:I'm leaning more and more that way myself... with a few caveats like utilizing pre-existing folklore and writing ole Yahweh into it.
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Seeker is actually more of a "minimalist" than I am, guys.
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
-- George Carlin
-- George Carlin
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Pardon my idiocy but I always thought you'd chosen your username because... dunno... maybe you don't like having too much furniture or something... Now I suspect I may have been mistaken. So in one sentence, what is this "minimalist-maximalist" debate of which ye doth speaketh?Minimalist wrote:Seeker is actually more of a "minimalist" than I am, guys.
(and if this question is equivalent to 'Stonehenge? What's that?' I offer no apology - never claimed to be that broad in my areas of study!)
He says he only chose the name Min to annoy, Arch, WA - like I chose mine solely to annoy Marduk.
Ishtar of Ishtar's Gate and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
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In one sentence, maximalists believe the bible contains historical truth and relevence while minimalists believe it's history is a collection of myths and fictions (possibly loosely based on real locations, events, or people) as it really an attempt for the compilers to gain an identity.War Arrow wrote:So in one sentence, what is this "minimalist-maximalist" debate of which ye doth speaketh?
FM is pretty much right. Maximalists tend to take the bible literally as a historical record. The turning point in the debate is the archaeological record which pretty consistently points to a lower chronology and contradicts a good deal of the biblical record. People in the Maximalist camp like William Dever began to find that they simply couldn't support the Exodus, Conquest etc based on the evidence.
Minimalism takes the view that the bible is a series of stories composed in the post Persian period for political reasons. Scholars like Davies and Thompson point out that rather than a history the bible should be looked at as a propaganda tool used to gain support for various factions. In this view you end up with a clear division of stories that reflect a Persian perspective and a Hasmonean perspective (I'm simplifying and ignoring some of the internal factionalism that occurred).
That's as close to one sentance as I can explain it in.
Minimalism takes the view that the bible is a series of stories composed in the post Persian period for political reasons. Scholars like Davies and Thompson point out that rather than a history the bible should be looked at as a propaganda tool used to gain support for various factions. In this view you end up with a clear division of stories that reflect a Persian perspective and a Hasmonean perspective (I'm simplifying and ignoring some of the internal factionalism that occurred).
That's as close to one sentance as I can explain it in.