Mark Mittelberg On 7 More Arrows That Point To The Bible, Part 18
I'm still working through Mark Mittelberg's apologetical book. It's a good one, better than most in that it's a unique, easily accessible one for popular readers, and better than Lee Strobel's type of books. Click on Mark's name below to see where we've been so far. Now on with the show for his chapter 11, where he shares 7 more arrows that point to the Bible as true. No, I'm not going to be comprehensive in responding here.
Arrow 6: "The Bible shows itself to be a uniquely consistent religious book."
Oh yeah? It is clear at this point that Mark has not studied the Bible in any great depth. Maybe all he's read is defenses by other fundamentalist apologists for the Bible? He should read books by liberals. There he'll discover the evidence of the JEDP theory in the Hebrew Scriptures. Here's something about it. To see this evidence in more detail Mittelberg needs to read Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliott Friedman, one of the premier bible scholars of today.
Biblical scholars have also discovered there are different gods and spiritual beings in the Bible, along with different theologies among New Testament writers (or schools of thought), and even different views of Jesus, soteriology, eschatology, hell, the role of women, ecclesiology, and so forth. Just see the four- five- six views books put out by Baker Books, IVP Press, and Zondervan. Then he should consider the many Bible discrepancies, since he's an inerrantist. Perhaps just one book might suffice initially, The Bible Against Itself: Why the Bible Seems to Contradict Itself, by Randel McCraw Helms.
Arrow 7 "The Bible is a uniquely historical religious book."
Oh yeah? One might just consider whether Moses existed. Hint, he most assuredly did not.
Or, consider the meager evidence for the Jesus in the New Testament. Hint, it’s not much at all.
If it's historicity he wants, Mittelberg needs to understand why historians cannot conclude a miracle took place, since by definition, a miracle is an improbable event. It's something outside the parameters of the historical method, as Bart Erhman explains.
Arrow 8 "The Bible is a uniquely preserved work of antiquity."
Oh yeah? On this see the work of Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible, and his more scholarly book on the this issue, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament.
Arrow 9: "Archeology shows the Bible to be a powerfully verified book."
Oh yeah? See Dr. Hector Avalos: How Archaeology Killed Biblical History.
See also Israel Finkelstein's work, especially The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, along with the work of William Dever.
Arrow 10: "The Bible shows itself to be a uniquely honest religious book."
Oh yeah? See the book Honest to Jesus: Jesus for a New Millennium, by Robert Funk, who was chairman of the graduate department of religion at Vanderbilt University and executive secretary of the Society of Biblical Literature.
See also Bart Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible, for an over-all debunking of several of these "arrows."
Arrow 11: "Miracles point to the prophets, apostles, and Jesus as messengers of God."
Oh yeah? See this book of mine, The Case against Miracles. Look no further, methinks! ;-)
Arrow 12: "Fulfilled prophecies point to the Bible as a divinely inspired book and to Jesus as the unique messiah of God."
Oh yeah? On this see these five powerful books.
See also, Dr. Timothy McGrew's Sermon Response To Me About Prophecy.
The problem with Mark Mittelberg's research is that, while I have read the works he has read and studied under the same professors he did, I have read outside my comfort zone.
I invite further comments and discussion.
--------------
John W. Loftus is a philosopher and counter-apologist credited with 12 critically acclaimed books, including The Case against Miracles, God and Horrendous Suffering, and Varieties of Jesus Mythicism. Please support DC by sharing our posts, or by subscribing, donating, or buying our books at Amazon. As an Amazon Associate John earns a small amount of money from purchases made from Amazon. Buying anything through them helps fund my work here, and is greatly appreciated!
Arrow 6: "The Bible shows itself to be a uniquely consistent religious book."
Oh yeah? It is clear at this point that Mark has not studied the Bible in any great depth. Maybe all he's read is defenses by other fundamentalist apologists for the Bible? He should read books by liberals. There he'll discover the evidence of the JEDP theory in the Hebrew Scriptures. Here's something about it. To see this evidence in more detail Mittelberg needs to read Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliott Friedman, one of the premier bible scholars of today.
Biblical scholars have also discovered there are different gods and spiritual beings in the Bible, along with different theologies among New Testament writers (or schools of thought), and even different views of Jesus, soteriology, eschatology, hell, the role of women, ecclesiology, and so forth. Just see the four- five- six views books put out by Baker Books, IVP Press, and Zondervan. Then he should consider the many Bible discrepancies, since he's an inerrantist. Perhaps just one book might suffice initially, The Bible Against Itself: Why the Bible Seems to Contradict Itself, by Randel McCraw Helms.
Arrow 7 "The Bible is a uniquely historical religious book."
Oh yeah? One might just consider whether Moses existed. Hint, he most assuredly did not.
Or, consider the meager evidence for the Jesus in the New Testament. Hint, it’s not much at all.
If it's historicity he wants, Mittelberg needs to understand why historians cannot conclude a miracle took place, since by definition, a miracle is an improbable event. It's something outside the parameters of the historical method, as Bart Erhman explains.
Arrow 8 "The Bible is a uniquely preserved work of antiquity."
Oh yeah? On this see the work of Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible, and his more scholarly book on the this issue, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament.
Arrow 9: "Archeology shows the Bible to be a powerfully verified book."
Oh yeah? See Dr. Hector Avalos: How Archaeology Killed Biblical History.
See also Israel Finkelstein's work, especially The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, along with the work of William Dever.
Arrow 10: "The Bible shows itself to be a uniquely honest religious book."
Oh yeah? See the book Honest to Jesus: Jesus for a New Millennium, by Robert Funk, who was chairman of the graduate department of religion at Vanderbilt University and executive secretary of the Society of Biblical Literature.
See also Bart Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible, for an over-all debunking of several of these "arrows."
Arrow 11: "Miracles point to the prophets, apostles, and Jesus as messengers of God."
Oh yeah? See this book of mine, The Case against Miracles. Look no further, methinks! ;-)
Arrow 12: "Fulfilled prophecies point to the Bible as a divinely inspired book and to Jesus as the unique messiah of God."
Oh yeah? On this see these five powerful books.
See also, Dr. Timothy McGrew's Sermon Response To Me About Prophecy.
The problem with Mark Mittelberg's research is that, while I have read the works he has read and studied under the same professors he did, I have read outside my comfort zone.
I invite further comments and discussion.
--------------
John W. Loftus is a philosopher and counter-apologist credited with 12 critically acclaimed books, including The Case against Miracles, God and Horrendous Suffering, and Varieties of Jesus Mythicism. Please support DC by sharing our posts, or by subscribing, donating, or buying our books at Amazon. As an Amazon Associate John earns a small amount of money from purchases made from Amazon. Buying anything through them helps fund my work here, and is greatly appreciated!
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