As someone who studied ancient history, I'm familiar with what Wright is saying. Of course there's little archaological evidence for Biblical events: there's little evidence for much of anything of the ancient Near East. Many sites - Jerusalem, Damascus, etc - are still inhabited by people, so excavation is very difficult. Our knowledge of the period is sketchy at best. Some scholars even say our chronology for ancient Egypt might be off by 400 years, necessitating a re-dating of the dynasties.
I admire N.T. Wright for the articulate & emotionally literate way he expresses his ideas. He comes close to saying that the stories in the O.T. are just records or fictional tales of what people did & are probably not what a good or real God actually directed them to do. The characters thought that their actions might please a God. Maybe the progressive realisation of humanity is that those ancient ideas were just plainly mistaken.
How can a modern person think that a God would think that having people kill pigeons would fix something? See Leviticus12v6- 8 or Lev 14 v22 &30 ? Shooting/scaring pigeons helps prevent damage to crops. I can see a link there. But just imagine you had an affair, then your wife found out, but you told her, don't worry, I've shot a couple of pigeons to make up for it. Would she be appeased ? Doubt it. Sacrificing animals was wide spread through out the world-see The Golden Bough by James Frazer.
Try reading the Epic of Gilgamesh & E.A.Wallis Budge translation of, 'The Papyrus of Ani' (1500BCE comp O.T.800-300BCE ish), other great writings are by Donald A. Mackenzie,' Egyptian myth and legend', James G Frazer, 'The Golden Bough', For sceptical Bible scholars try Robert M Price, Valerie Tarico, Dan Barker, John W. Loftus, Bart Ehrman, Gary Greenberg book '101 myths of the Bible', Richard Carrier, David Mills, Ken Humphreys, archaeologist Israel Finkelstein
The question assumed a self-evident premise, that the OT cannot be held to be true apart from solid corroborating evidence from extrinsic sources. NTW gave a very thoughtful answer which revealed the deficiency of that premise. I didn't hear him evade anything.
Sorry Galatians4v28, I think I misread your statement. I don't think I'd agree with the last part anyways. Probably, only the most extreme skeptics, who know there stuff, would say that believe in them can only rest in faith alone.
Wright dealt with the question of the authority of scripture in his book "The Last Word". So, if he didn't adequately cover the issue it probably wasn't intentional. Also, Galatians4v28, I don't think that Wright would agree with that statement. Check out his book "The Resurrection of the Son of God". His opinion on the matter is a bit more weighty than ours, not least on the issue of the Resurrection. Check out his credentials.
@bqe87 "His opinion on the matter is a bit more weighty than ours, not least on the issue of the Resurrection."
What an extraordinary statement. I'm sorry, but his opinion on miracles should not matter to anyone. While he may well be widely read, no amount of n-th hand claims should cause anyone to even consider the idea that the laws of nature were suspended. That would be like believing your kid when he comes home and says he flew home from school.
@Gnomefro right, I see your point. However, why should we presuppose a metaphysical naturalism? Would that not beg the question in favor of atheism? In that case, when dealing with the question of Jesus resurrection from the dead, we should first consider the existence of God. Perhaps, to that end, you could consider reading the Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology or perhaps watch some of William Lane Craig's or Alvin Plantinga's videos and debates on youtube?
i think the only miracles that have been recorded in the bible that we can actually historically attest is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the red see crossing and the resurrection.... the rest of them are by faith alone
As someone who studied ancient history, I'm familiar with what Wright is saying. Of course there's little archaological evidence for Biblical events: there's little evidence for much of anything of the ancient Near East. Many sites - Jerusalem, Damascus, etc - are still inhabited by people, so excavation is very difficult. Our knowledge of the period is sketchy at best. Some scholars even say our chronology for ancient Egypt might be off by 400 years, necessitating a re-dating of the dynasties.
AchillesShield 4 months ago
I admire N.T. Wright for the articulate & emotionally literate way he expresses his ideas. He comes close to saying that the stories in the O.T. are just records or fictional tales of what people did & are probably not what a good or real God actually directed them to do. The characters thought that their actions might please a God. Maybe the progressive realisation of humanity is that those ancient ideas were just plainly mistaken.
zytigon 6 months ago
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How can a modern person think that a God would think that having people kill pigeons would fix something? See Leviticus12v6- 8 or Lev 14 v22 &30 ? Shooting/scaring pigeons helps prevent damage to crops. I can see a link there. But just imagine you had an affair, then your wife found out, but you told her, don't worry, I've shot a couple of pigeons to make up for it. Would she be appeased ? Doubt it. Sacrificing animals was wide spread through out the world-see The Golden Bough by James Frazer.
zytigon 6 months ago
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Try reading the Epic of Gilgamesh & E.A.Wallis Budge translation of, 'The Papyrus of Ani' (1500BCE comp O.T.800-300BCE ish), other great writings are by Donald A. Mackenzie,' Egyptian myth and legend', James G Frazer, 'The Golden Bough', For sceptical Bible scholars try Robert M Price, Valerie Tarico, Dan Barker, John W. Loftus, Bart Ehrman, Gary Greenberg book '101 myths of the Bible', Richard Carrier, David Mills, Ken Humphreys, archaeologist Israel Finkelstein
zytigon 6 months ago
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Wright is a very smart man - but he is a fool according to the scripture.
No1Seeks311 1 year ago
@No1Seeks311
Friend please share with us who'd you recommend?
ChristianEastern 1 year ago
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Wright is a fool.
No1Seeks311 1 year ago
The question assumed a self-evident premise, that the OT cannot be held to be true apart from solid corroborating evidence from extrinsic sources. NTW gave a very thoughtful answer which revealed the deficiency of that premise. I didn't hear him evade anything.
gregormann7 2 years ago
Sorry Galatians4v28, I think I misread your statement. I don't think I'd agree with the last part anyways. Probably, only the most extreme skeptics, who know there stuff, would say that believe in them can only rest in faith alone.
bqe87 2 years ago
Wright dealt with the question of the authority of scripture in his book "The Last Word". So, if he didn't adequately cover the issue it probably wasn't intentional. Also, Galatians4v28, I don't think that Wright would agree with that statement. Check out his book "The Resurrection of the Son of God". His opinion on the matter is a bit more weighty than ours, not least on the issue of the Resurrection. Check out his credentials.
bqe87 2 years ago
@bqe87 "His opinion on the matter is a bit more weighty than ours, not least on the issue of the Resurrection."
What an extraordinary statement. I'm sorry, but his opinion on miracles should not matter to anyone. While he may well be widely read, no amount of n-th hand claims should cause anyone to even consider the idea that the laws of nature were suspended. That would be like believing your kid when he comes home and says he flew home from school.
Gnomefro 5 months ago
@Gnomefro right, I see your point. However, why should we presuppose a metaphysical naturalism? Would that not beg the question in favor of atheism? In that case, when dealing with the question of Jesus resurrection from the dead, we should first consider the existence of God. Perhaps, to that end, you could consider reading the Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology or perhaps watch some of William Lane Craig's or Alvin Plantinga's videos and debates on youtube?
bqe87 5 months ago
Respond to this video... Also, in regards to my previous post, I was trying to be congenial not caustic
bqe87 5 months ago
This whole response was a neat evasion of the actual question.
thomstark 2 years ago
i think the only miracles that have been recorded in the bible that we can actually historically attest is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the red see crossing and the resurrection.... the rest of them are by faith alone
Peace
Galatians4v28 2 years ago
He didn't evade anything, he answered every question he was asked.
freezingstill 2 years ago 6
Thank you! N.T. Wright is awesome!
wyattroberts 2 years ago 5