[ModelBreaker]

It is obvious that from the days of at least the Babylonian Captivity the Jews had a reputation as a highly learned and competent population.

It's interesting. A good friend of mine recently told me that there was no evidence of any exodus across the desert from Egypt. But "modern scientists" thought it was possible that Moses and the Jews were actually a band of about 20 raiders who crossed the desert--and then the story just got out of hand over time.

I pointed out that the Old Testament has no peer in the pre-Greek world. It stands utterly by itself. For example, almost every major idea in modern philosophy appears in Genesis, well developed and well thought out. The culture required to sustain such an oral (later a written) tradition could not possibly have been 20 guys raiding caravans. Surprisingly, other civilizations of that time (the Babylonians and Egyptions) were much more powerful and wealthy. But they produced nothing comparable to Pentateuch, which is the granddaddy of one of the two intellectual traditions that produced the modern world.

I don't think most people stop and think about what truly remarkable folks the ancient Jews really were. The Torah and the Bible are just facts of life to us today. It is uttely astonishing the Torah was produced at that time.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

From a secular, non-religious view, both Babylon and Egypt produces great writings.

And from a Christian view, it could be pointed out that God gave the Jews (and Mankind) the Torah; the Jews didn't 'invent' the Old Testament.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

From a secular, non-religious view, both Babylon and Egypt produced great writings.

And from a Christian view, it could be pointed out that God gave the Jews (and Mankind) the Torah; the Jews didn't 'invent' the Old Testament.