Hi Billy,
On May 21, 2009, at 2:51 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Exodus 22 : 20 specifically applies to Jews living in a Jewish nation,
or cie vous plait, about to live in such a nation in the near future.
It is not a universal that applies to all people , everywhere.
This strikes me as one of those interpolation for which we have
that racial bigot Ezra to thank, putting words into Moses' mouth,
and in
clear contradiction to Deuteronomy 32: 8 & 9, the mixed multitudes
in Numbers,
and such later verses as Malachi 1 : 11 ( which in Hebrew is present
tense,
NOT future tense as in the NIV ) .
I still think you're stretching to avoid the comparison. Specifically:
a) Weren't the words of the Koran also intended for Muslims living in
a Muslim nation?
b) Even if you blame Ezra for their presence, I think it is safe to
say that observant Jews from post-Exlic times forward have all treated
them as legitimate portions of the Torah, and thus (modern) orthodox
Jews considered them normative. Right?
My point is: if serious, religious Jews who consider such words a
central part of their religious scriptures have found a way to work
around extreme intolerance, is not reasonable to hope that serious,
religious Muslims might as well?
True, you could certainly make a case that it could only happen via
conquest and minority status over a thousand years, but at least we
could have the discussion...
-- Ernie P.
Are all such passages redactions by Ezra ( or Nehemiah ) ? No. just
the majority of them. See Richard Elliott Freidman's "Who Wrote the
Bible ? "
for a solid case to this effect. For another extensive set of
redactions
( falsifications ) see Raphael Patai's "The Hebrew Goddess."
That is, while for me the clear majority of verses in the OT are
inspired and reliable,
this means much more than 51 % but nothing like 99 %, although I
cannot be
more precise than this.
Essentially all judgements of this kind need to be case by case.
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