JERRY SHEPHERD wrote: ..... The first three days of creation, then, describe the process by which God brought order out of that chaos, turning disorder into order: separating between day and night, separating between waters above the sky (vault, dome). ----------------------------------------------------------------
ISHINAN: Dear Jerry & all, It is well known that writers in general tend to use themes and topics which closely reflected the culture in which they live. Authors of the Bible were no exception. The recent debate about the nature of Sky/Heaven raises many more questions than answers. Ironically, this has little to do with any theological concern, but rather it has to do with textual interpretation which is very much at odds with the period it purports to have been written in. In fact, a discussion about a metal 'dome' implies the knowledge of a term referring to the construction of an intricate architectural element which was only developed for the first time in history circa the 2nd century A.D. Then, throughout the Roman empire, and for the first time engineers and architects began to erect arch structures such as bridges, aqueducts, and gates. They also introduced the triumphal arch as a military monument. Vaults began to be used for roofing large interior spaces such as halls and temples, a function which was also assumed by domed structures. Hence, if we cling to this 'dome' theory, then, we are facing a serious problem in reconciling the 2nd Century A.D. * date of the Roman Architectural Revolution. Such a revolution which gave us the 'vault' and the 'dome' would naturally conflict with the tradition that credits Moses as the author of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, or even with modern scholarship which increasingly sees these as a product of the 6th and 5th centuries BC. So, for those who insist on the 'dome' interpretation, are you inadvertently endorsing a new theory about the date of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy? If so why not saying it out loud. :-) Best regards, Ishinan Ishibashi --------------------------------------------------------------------- *The most famous and best preserved Roman dome - and the largest - is that of the Pantheon, a temple in Rome built by Emperor Hadrian as part of the Baths of Agrippa Dating from the 2nd century, _______________________________________________ b-hebrew mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
