[Zionist Conspirator]

Traditional Jews may see the problem, but they do virtually nothing to address it. The Orthodox community, to which I belong, invests generous resources in Torah for consumption by other Orthodox Jews. That’s wonderful. But we don’t see the need when it comes to defending Judaism’s honor before the world — as the future King David did in facing down Goliath, who had “disgraced the battalions of the living God” (I Samuel 17:36).

Thank you David Klinghoffer!!!

[Oberon]

For example, best-selling atheist author Richard Dawkins mocks the God of the Hebrew Bible as “arguably the most unpleasant character in fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

Everyone take several steps away from Mr. Dawkins...

Actually, it's very fortunate for Mr. Dawkins that God is not as Dawkins describes.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Ping.

[wideawake]

Thank you for the ping.

He makes an interesting point about the Zohar. As far as I can tell, the argument against the traditional dating of the Zohar seems to be predicated on three arguments:

(1) No copies of the Zohar appear to have existed before the 1200s.

(2) The Zohar's Aramaic contains certain loan words and constructions that appear to be imported from Romance languages - like the Castilian of Moises de Leon.

(3) The narrative framework of the Zohar is that of a rabbi and his companions journeying to Jerusalem - it has some similarities to the narrative structure of the Gospels, which were popular texts in Moses de Leon's day.

Of course, the earliest copy of the Tanakh we have dates to 1009, but even the most liberal historicocritical analysis agrees it was written at least 1400 years before then.

And, of course, Shimon bar Yochai lived in a Judaea where many people spoke Latin - which would explain loanwords of a Romance nature just as easily.

And, of course, even if the narrative framework of the Zohar was cribbed from the Gospel (the parallels are really very vague, though) Shimon Bar Yochai lived well after the destruction of the Temple.

It's the same shoddy scholarship that's applied to the Scriptures.

[Tax-chick]

We thus teach our children, implicitly, that their religion is either indefensible or not worth defending.

Excellent observation. This is a very well-done article.

[John Philoponus]

““Letter to a Christian Nation.” Despite the title, the crudest caricature he draws is of the Hebrew Bible.”

Maybe because the OT portrays God in a less than favorable light. Every atheist and pagan I’ve discussed religion with always, without exception, takes issues with the way God behaves in the OT. Sure they nitpick certain NT passages here and there, but the overwhelmingly bloodthirsty picture of God in the OT makes an effective apology extremely difficult. If you know of any websites or books that present a good apology, not written by Christians (since they can fall back on Jesus), please PM me.

[xJones]

a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

Wow, I notice he left out a mother-raping cannibal.

Actually, this tells anyone far more about Dawkins than anything else. He hates God of the Bible for whatever personal reasons, and ignores all the beauty and wisdom of it. He's got a problem, and he's on a mission. God help him....

[Alexander Rubin]

Amen.