A Virtual File Cabinet for Our Studies of Christian Origins & Hebraic Faith
In Joel Baden’s lecture in NIHB 2026, he makes the case that when one takes the J source without the E and P, then we find a compassionate God. He uses the story of Abraham negotiating with God to spare Sodom to show that Abraham is not negotiating and God is compassionate about the people […]
Continue ReadingBelow is Claude.ai’s summary of Richard Elliott Friedman’s paper titled “Taking the Biblical Text Apart”. A PDF version is in his directory in Dropbox. Overview Richard Elliott Friedman’s article introduces and defends the Documentary Hypothesis, the most widely accepted scholarly explanation for how the first books of the Bible were composed. Rather than being written […]
Continue ReadingExtract from Wikiversity here. The documentary hypothesis hypothesizes four primary sources (traditionally known as J, E, P, and D) for the Torah. These translations are based on the King James version of the Bible. This learning resource employs the latest iteration of the Documentary Hypothesis, known as the New Documentary Hypothesis. The New Documentary Hypothesis considers the four main sources […]
Continue ReadingBelow is ChatGPT’s summary of the transcript of the above very interesting video interview. The transcript is in his directory in DropBox. The transcript of Russell E. Gmirkin – Plato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible (History Valley Podcast) presents Gmirkin’s argument that the Pentateuch was composed in the early Hellenistic period (around 270 […]
Continue ReadingDifferences in the Two Creation Stories [In addition to the information below, see the Genesis page on this site.] From OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com, 11/19/2024 The two creation stories in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis reflect differences in style, content, and emphasis. Scholars often attribute these to different sources: J (Yahwist) and P (Priestly). […]
Continue ReadingFrom the BAS Library’s page The Sources of Genesis 1–11 According to the Documentary Hypothesis Sidebar to: The Documentary Hypothesis in Trouble Blenkinsopp, Joseph. “The Documentary Hypothesis in Trouble,” Bible Review 1.4 (1985): 22–26, 28–30, 32. Modern source critics usually divide the primeval history in Genesis 1–11—from the Creation through the Tower of Babel— into two major strands or […]
Continue ReadingBart Ehrman’s Series of Posts Genesis and the Moses Story By Konrad Schmid, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism, University of Zurich, Switzerland, October 2010 Genesis and the Moses story were two competing myths of origin for Israel that were literarily and conceptually independent from each other. They both explained in different ways how […]
Continue ReadingBelow are responses from Chat GPT and Claude.ai to the same prompt on 2/12/2025. Prompt: Who are the scholars that recognize the H source and what are their arguments for it? Cite all sources. From ChatGPT Several biblical scholars have identified the “H” source, known as the Holiness Code, as a distinct component within the […]
Continue ReadingFrom Chat GPT on 1/28/2025. Prompt: How do critical bible scholars explain how the original 10 commandments were preserved when the tablets were broken? Cite the names of the scholars and where their argument are recorded. Critical biblical scholars have proposed various explanations regarding the preservation and transmission of the original Ten Commandments after Moses […]
Continue ReadingBelow are multiple ChatGPT requests/responses as cited here where the second and third response is drilling deeper into the first response. The sources for each response are listed separately at the bottom of this page. Prompt – Provide information about how the Persians defeated the Babylonians. The defeat of the Babylonians by the Persians, led […]
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