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Introduction

Started by lmbarre, December 04, 2011, 12:52:27 AM

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lmbarre

I am a retired professor, having taken my doctorate in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt University.   My specialty is the literary criticism.
puppet

BullyforBronto

Greetings!
My sister went to Vanderbilt; Nashville's a great town. I hold a graduate degree from UF in literary theory (with a focus on the history/philosophy of science), so I suppose we may have something in common. Actually, one of my mentors at Florida taught at Vanderbilt for a stint, so there's that, too.

I look forward to reading your contributions.

xSilverPhinx

Welcome! I'm also looking foward to what you have to say on the bible.

Are you an atheist? ???
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Asmodean

#3
Welcome!

A question: What posessed you to take a doctorate in that particular book..? It's a personal thing, I suppose, but I think I would find a doctorate in Star Wars more meaningful (Although, I guess, equally useless).

EDIT: I should probably specify to avoid future misunderstandings.

By wording, it appears your doctorate is in the book's contents, as opposed to its history, its creators or the like, yes..?

How much is there to say, when it comes to a book of poorly made ancient stories..? I guess I just find it surprising that something like the bible is enough for a doctorate, no matter its language.
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Sovereign_Reason

Quote from: Asmodean on December 04, 2011, 02:13:50 AM
It's a personal thing, I suppose, but I think I would find a doctorate in Star Wars more meaningful (Although, I guess, equally useless).

There's actually a lot of things you can learn about the Bible, really.  The laws concerning god-sanctioned rape, child-killing and bear-mauling... to name a few.  :)

squidfetish

Biblical literary criticism is a fairly large topic. 
reptilian overlord

unholy1971

Welcome.  I look forward to reading your post.

Tank

Quote from: unholy1971 on December 19, 2011, 04:44:36 AM
Welcome.  I look forward to reading your post.
I hope he does more than one!
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Crow

What are your thoughts on Yahweh actually being El from the Canaanite pantheon? As you can actually understand Hebrew (well I assume so due to your doctorate) I would be really interested in your take on this theory. I understand that El can generally mean god in Hebrew but rather there are references to Yahweh referring directly as being named El in exodus, i.e. "I am Yahweh I reveled myself to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob as El of the wilderness but by my name Yahweh I did not make myself know".
Retired member.

lmbarre

I think that El and Yahweh were originally separate deities.  El is a northwest Semitic god, venerated by the Canaanites, the Arameans and the Israelites.  This essay discusses the differences between El and Yahweh:

http://www.biblicalheritage.org/God/el-goi.htm

Texts that distinguish El from Yahweh are found in Deut 32:8ff and Psalm 29.  In Exodus 6, the Priestly writer claims that "El" was an alias that Yahweh used when dealing with the patriarchs!  This attempt to syncretized Elism with Yahwism ends up showing that El and Yahweh were two distinct gods that the Priestly writer sought to identify as the same deity.
puppet

lmbarre

My brand of literary criticism might be called "diachronic," tracing the growth of traditions through the application of standard, exegetical methods:

Textual criticism
Linguistic analysis
Composition criticism
Form criticism
Rhetorical criticism
Redaction criticism
Tradition history
puppet

Crocoduck

Hi lmbarre Welcome to Happy Atheist Forum.
As we all know, the miracle of fishes and loaves is only scientifically explainable through the medium of casseroles
Dobermonster
However some of the jumped up jackasses do need a damn good kicking. Not that they will respond to the kicking but just to show they can be kicked
Some dude in a Tank

xSilverPhinx

I'm interested in reading future posts about literary criticism of the bible, though I don't know nearly enough to contribute. :)

What do you think of Bart Ehrman?
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey