Why I Bother to Study the Bible
When I am not even Christian
Oftentimes people ask me why I bother studying and writing about the Bible.
For instance, one Medium writer, Allan Milne Lees, wrote (not to me, but in reply to an article by Lisa Swain, PhD):
“The implicit assumption that the tribal myths of a small group of profoundly ignorant goat-herders who lived 3,000 years ago can be in any way relevant to any aspect whatsoever of modern life is, to be polite, rather optimistic. In fact there is zero value in debating conflicting interpretations of any myth because they are all the products of limited intellect and even more limited knowledge of reality.”
I agree completely with the sentiment. Evangelicals are interpreting the text in a manner that is totally illogical and inappropriate given the age and the world in which we live.
However, I disagree with the premise of this argument. I don’t accept that the core of the text was created by ignorant goat herders living around 3,000 years ago. I believe that Genesis and the core texts were created during the post-exilic period after the Persian empire had conquered Babylon.
Two apparently unrelated cultural artifacts with major staying power were created in Babylonia in the 6th century BC: astrology and the opening books of…
