Something Else For Fundies to Piss and Moan About

[Minimalist]

I. Finkelstein tears apart their precious Nehemiah horseshit.

http://isfn.skytech.co.il/articles/Wall%...202008.pdf

Conclusion
The Persian-period finds in Jerusalem and the search for Nehemiah’s wall are additional cases in which archaeologists have given up archaeology in favor of an uncritical reading of the biblical text. The dearth of archaeological finds and the lack of extra-biblical texts on Persian-period Yehud open the way to circular reasoning in reconstructing the history of this period.

The finds indicate that in the Persian and Early Hellenistic periods Jerusalem was a small unfortified village that stretched over an area of c. 20 dunams, with a population of a few hundred people—that is, not much more than 100 adult men. This population—and the depleted population of the Jerusalem countryside in particular and the entire territory of Yehud in general—could not have supported a major reconstruction effort of the ruined Iron II fortifications of the city. In addition, there is no archaeological evidence whatsoever for any reconstruction or renovation of fortifications in the Persian period.

Taking these data into consideration, there are three ways to explain Nehemiah 3: (1) that it is a utopian list; (2) that it preserves a memory of an Iron Age construction or renovation of the city-wall; (3) that the list is influenced by the construction of the First Wall in the Hasmonean period. All three options pose significant difficulties—the first two more than the third. In any event, the archaeology of Jerusalem in the Persian period—as presented above—must be the starting point for any future discussion.

On a broader issue, the archaeological evidence from Jerusalem casts severe doubt on the notion that much of the biblical material was composed
in the Persian and Early Hellenistic periods. But this crucial issue is beyond the scope of this study and will be discussed elsewhere.

[KichigaiNeko]

drip...drip...drip...as science slowly chips away at myths and legends...

Great read Min

[Justtristo]

The archaeological evidence indicating Jerusalem was a small village during the Persian and Early Hellenistic eras, does bolster the argument that both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah being written a lot latter than they are supposed to be set in.

[Minimalist]

Precisely, Just. And facts like that make fundies shit their pants.

[Creed of Heresy]

I eagerly await the fundamentalists and their feeble attempts at arguing against this.

Probably more "it's taken out of context!" bullshit.

[Minimalist]

No, usually with archaeology they revert to the "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" bullshit. Then they smugly say "keep digging."

The problem in this case is that as, Finkelstein notes, people have already dug into the ridge known as the City of David on both sides and found NOTHING except in the center. Normal people would look at this and say "hmmm....so there's nothing "Persian" on the left....and then we find a section with "Persian remains" and then we find nothing on the right." They then draw the conclusion that the "Persian settlement" represents the tiny enclave in the middle.

But fundie brains do not work like normal brains....when they work at all. They will keep insisting that their bullshit is out there if only people will keep looking. Well, guess what assholes. There is no where else to look.

[Creed of Heresy]

No, usually with archaeology they revert to the "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" bullshit. Then they smugly say "keep digging."

The problem in this case is that as, Finkelstein notes, people have already dug into the ridge known as the City of David on both sides and found NOTHING except in the center. Normal people would look at this and say "hmmm....so there's nothing "Persian" on the left....and then we find a section with "Persian remains" and then we find nothing on the right." They then draw the conclusion that the "Persian settlement" represents the tiny enclave in the middle.

But fundie brains do not work like normal brains....when they work at all. They will keep insisting that their bullshit is out there if only people will keep looking. Well, guess what assholes. There is no where else to look.

Hence my eagerness to hear their bullshit. I would be lying if I said my excitement is not revved to full throttle.

Oh, maybe god magically teleported the rest of it away! You know, since he totally knew this would happen and wanted to, like, test our faith!

[Minimalist]

Yeah - the same way that fucking "god" now plants dinosaur fossils to fool people. That god...what a comedian he is!


Seriously, I know what you mean. They will always come up with some silly load of shit.

When confronted with facts they will frequently just retreat to the comforts of their fables and quote Ezra 2:

64 The whole company numbered 42,360, 65 besides their 7,337 male and female slaves; and they also had 200 male and female singers. 66 They had 736 horses, 245 mules, 67 435 camels and 6,720 donkeys.

Then they will wipe the diarrhea from their butts, change their underwear, and say simply " see... the bible says that they are wrong. Jerusalem was huge! Praise Jesus!!!!"

There really is no reasoning with first class shitheads like that.