tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post4927769281846165426..comments2023-09-02T07:14:49.753-04:00Comments on Atheism And The City: The Bible Unearthed: Why The Bible As We Know It Is BullshitUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post-56724509210307340342013-08-01T14:36:46.566-04:002013-08-01T14:36:46.566-04:00Absence of evidence is not evidence.
It absolutely...<b>Absence of evidence is not evidence.</b><br />It absolutely can be (and in the case of much of so called biblical history, actually is) evidence of absence.<br />For instance, if the Exodus as presented in the bible occurred, we would expect to find evidence of the passage of the Israelites, especially where they supposedly camped for many years. We do not find any such evidence, and therefore we can confidently say the Exodus as presented in the bible did not happen.<br /><br />To put it another way, if some piece of evidence would increase the probability of an hypothesis should it have existed, it's non-existence MUST serve to decrease the probability of this hypothesis.Rianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08021810579773953296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post-38813558580502199602013-08-01T14:32:55.420-04:002013-08-01T14:32:55.420-04:00Frank, how many of the experts who disagree with F...Frank, how many of the experts who disagree with Finkelstein are reasonable in their disagreements?<br />How many of those claim the evidence supports the bible as being an historically accurate record of history?<br /><br />I suspect the number of those in the latter category approaches 0.Rianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08021810579773953296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post-12676332211886302812013-08-01T14:31:37.618-04:002013-08-01T14:31:37.618-04:00Finkelstein's claims do in some cases go beyon...Finkelstein's claims do in some cases go beyond the evidence, but for the most part, he's on the money.<br /><br />I'd suggest a reading of Dever for a more "balanced" view of the Archaeological evidence (hint: The exodus still never happened, and the Israelites still arose in Canaan) - http://www.amazon.com/Were-Early-Israelites-Where-They/dp/0802809758/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375381684&sr=1-2<br /><br />For the Maximalists I've read (ie. those who assume the bible is true), they tend to try to make room for the possibility of these things, rather than trying to show they were probable.<br />Is it possible that a large group of Semetic slaves escaped Egypt and fled to Canaan, through territory occupied by the Egyptians, over the course of some 40 years without leaving a trace of their occupation, even in places they stayed for many years, even when we have evidence of much smaller and older populations migrating through those same regions? Yes, of course it is possible. Is it remotely probable? No, of course it is not.Rianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08021810579773953296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post-89443182015077480552013-07-21T19:30:22.474-04:002013-07-21T19:30:22.474-04:00I checked them out already, most of them are prett...I checked them out already, most of them are pretty positive. I would love to watch a good debate among experts in this field who disagree.The Thinkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14303015383137218932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post-44920184157987976592013-07-21T12:40:14.847-04:002013-07-21T12:40:14.847-04:00There is a lot out there on both sides. Look at th...There is a lot out there on both sides. Look at the Amazon reader reviews + and - and you get a pretty good overview of the angles on this.Frank Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12118227330790264088noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post-59480236839791432872013-07-19T20:36:31.188-04:002013-07-19T20:36:31.188-04:00Thing is, if the absence of evidence is not eviden...Thing is, if the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, that saying can be used to justify anything that is asserted with out evidence. So I'm not fond of it. <br /><br />I'm willing to hear both sides. If you know of any good debates on this subject I'd be willing to look into it. The Thinkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14303015383137218932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7110460687773644977.post-41035491520143457152013-07-19T17:05:52.339-04:002013-07-19T17:05:52.339-04:00Finkelstein is a notorious revisionist, and most a...Finkelstein is a notorious revisionist, and most archaeologists disagree with his interpretations. They interpret the pottery shards one way, he interprets them another way. So what? Absence of evidence is not evidence.Frank Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12118227330790264088noreply@blogger.com