Sun Feb 9 12:26:42 1997

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Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 11:23:00 -0700
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From: "Robert B. Waltz" 
Subject: Re: Equidistant letters
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On Sun, 9 Feb 199, nichael@sover.net (Nichael Lynn Cramer) wrote:

[ ... ]

>For example:  Let us assume for the sake of argument that such sequences of
>letters really exist and all that Dr Riplinger and the author of the BR
>article claim them to be.  In that case, what are we to make of those
>unfortunate souls who happened to have lived during those centuries before
>the MT took its final --and presumably divinely authorized-- form?
>
>To name one such group: the members of the early Christian church and, in
>particular the writers of the NT.  Setting aside the fact that they
>primarily used the LXX, are we not then forced to accept that these writers
>didn't even have _access_ to an authentic, inspired text of the Hebrew
>Scriptures?

It seems to me that, *if* one accepts that assumption, then the
conclusion is obvious: The MT is *the* divinely inspired text, and
so presumably the original text. Divergences from it, as found e.g.
in LXX, are errors.

A secondary conclusion, it seems to me, is that Judaism is the
divinely inspired religion, rather than Christianity.

But, of course, this still ignores the other possibility: Coincidence.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

                            Robert B. Waltz
                         waltzmn@skypoint.com

Want more loudmouthed opinions about textual criticism?
Try my web page: http://www.skypoint.com/~waltzmn
(A very rough draft of part of the Encyclopedia of NT Textual Criticism)



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