The British Museum and the Bible

I thought I would put this link on here to get people's reaction, especially those who doubt the historical accuracy of the bible, but first a little history on the site itself.

It is in fact an unofficial Jehovah's Witness site, privately run and maintained by someone who claims to be a JW. Therefore it should not be assumed to be fully representative of the views of the Society, simply of an individual associated with it.

I have no idea of the accuracy of his claim. I can however vouch for the accuracy of much which he puts onto his site.

Yes that means it is biased, but what such site isn't? including the vast majority of sites that speak against the bible, the JWs, religion in general etc.. As always one simply has to filter out the bias.

OK, that should be enough, but I would now love to see how you feel about the video.

It isn't the first video on the page, so you'll have to scroll down to find it. The site is arranged a bit like a supermarket in that you have to "walk" by things you may not normally consider "buying" in the hope that you will be tempted by them. Feel free to look at anything you like, lol, but for the purposes of this thread please do look at the video first of all.

In fact I suppose it is more of a slide show than a video, and is not immensely informative, but does show a few things of minor interest, especially the Cyrus Cylinder, - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Cylinder - which confirms the date of 539 BCE, which is so pivotal in bible prophecy.

The link? https://www.ultimatebiblereferencelibrary.com/TheocraticExperiances.html

It only lasts a few minutes, but I hope you enjoy it, but more importantly I hope it makes some, or all, of you think. (and yes the background music is a piano rendition of what you would call a JW "hymn".)

What's with the cylinder MCB? That just says the tribes existed, that's not in question..is it??

If someone is saying they didn't, throw the Merneptah Stele at them. Even I won't try to say the Isrir weren't around then.

It also confirms the accuracy of biblical prophecy, at least in the case of Cyrus. That they existed is not in question, no; that Cyrus existed is not in question, no; what is in question, and that cylinder proves, is that the biblical prophecy abut Cyrus, was written 100 years before the event, and was accurate, even down to naming Cyrus well before he was even born.

That is therefore very powerful evidence that the bible truly is the word of God, because who else would know it in advance, or be able to make sure that it worked out that way? Either way, it was a demonstration of the power of God.

There are so many things like that which prove the historical accuracy, and in some cases the prophetic accuracy of the bible, as well as exposing the falseness of much so called Christian religion, and an awful lot of them are in the British museum. The trouble is people who don't want us to believe in the bible work quite hard at trying to bury the evidence, as Werner Keller found, and which prompted him to write, and later update, his book "The Bible as History".

Not only is that a large part of what people like me are fighting against, trying to open people's minds to the truth, a losing battle n most cases as we already know, but it means that we really are, as the bible calls us "a voice crying in the wilderness".

However we will never shut up even if no-one listens because, as the bible says "Let God be found true though every man be shown to be a liar".

Care to name and shame?



The majority are voices in the wilderness?



I really wish you hadn't said that, we are not popular here and they are gonna jump all over that.

Why would I not, and I have done on here before.

The classic example is on view in the British Museum (of course, lol), and I have seen it with my own eyes, though you do have to look closely.

If you go downstairs into the Assyrian Section, you will see a large wall frieze which depicts a procession to the Goddess Astarte, also known as Ishtar, and after whom Esater is supposed to be named. Should you look closely at said frieze, you will see, in the procession, priests carrying trays. Look eve closer and you will find, surprise, that at least some of those trays contain little buns with crosses on! The original Hot Cross Bun. All this shows that A) the belief of many that Easter is based on festivals to Astarte / Ishtar has some foundation, and the cross on the hot cross bun has absolutely nothing to do with the artifact on which Christ was impaled.

I did see others whilst I was there, though I only actually visited the Assyrian Section, but that is the one which stuck very firmly in my mind. I really must go again one day.

This one doesn't come from the British Museum, and is in fact only a legend, but I found it interesting.

Legend has it that when Nimrod died, his Mother Semiramis insisted that he had gone to heaven to be a god. To mark this event, she instigated a feast called "Natilis Invictii" or "The Birth of the Unconquered Sun". This festival was to be marked by the burning of a log overnight, and the erection of a decorated tree the next morning. The date is believed to have been December 22nd, and it is said to be the origin of both the Yule Log, and the Christmas Tree.



Not sure about the majority, though there are many voices in the wilderness, however only a very small minority of us are even trying to teach the truth about it all. Then again, as Christ assured us would be the case, only a small number have been shown the truth.



Oh, I have said that many times, and will continue to do so, lol. I feel I have no option because to speak out is a command from Christ and therefore in my eyes it has to be obeyed above all other commands, and only he or God can over rule it. Only death will silence me, and if I am judged worthy, only temporarily at that.

Wikipedia--The Old Testament
The first five books - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, book of Numbers and Deuteronomy - make up the Pentateuch, the story of Israel from the Creation to the death of Moses. Few scholars today doubt that it reached its present form in the Persian period (538-332 BC), and that its authors were the elite of exilic returnees who controlled the Temple at that time.[9] The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings follow, forming a history of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the fall of Jerusalem: there is a broad consensus among scholars that these originated as a single work (the so-called "Deuteronomistic history" ) during the 6th century Babylonian exile.[10] The two Books of Chronicles cover much the same material as the Pentateuch and Deuteronomistic history and probably date from the 4th century BC.[11] Chronicles links with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, which were probably finished during the 3rd century BC.[12] Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain two (Catholic Old Testament) to four (Orthodox) books of Maccabees, written in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC.

The history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. Of the remainder, the books of the various prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the twelve "minor prophets" - were written between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, with the exception of Jonah and Daniel which are much later,[13] and the "wisdom" and other books - Job, Proverbs and similar books - date from the 5th century BC to the 2nd or 1st, with the exception of some of the psalms.[14]


I know I'm spitting in the wind as far a getting through to MCB, but for the benefit of those who care about the Truth....

You are indeed spitting in the wind when it comes to trying to convince anyone whose research doesn't stop at the first thing they find that backs up their case, right or wrong, because it is so obvious that is exactly what you do.

Fine, that is what Wikipedia says, but is it right? Anyone who uses Wikipedia knows it is suspect because it is not an authoritative source, and it's information can come from anywhere.

True it often makes a good starting point, but it still needs to be checked out.

Here is a list from another source prove it wrong if you can:-

Name of Book: Genesis
Writer(s): Moses
Place Written: Wilderness
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 1513
Time Covered (B.C.E.): “In the beginning” to 1657

Name of Book: Exodus
Writer(s): Moses
Place Written: Wilderness
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 1512
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 1657-1512

Name of Book: Leviticus
Writer(s): Moses
Place Written: Wilderness
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 1512
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 1 month (1512)

Name of Book: Numbers
Writer(s): Moses
Place Written: Wilderness and Plains of Moab
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 1473
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 1512-1473

Name of Book: Deuteronomy
Writer(s): Moses
Place Written: Plains of Moab
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 1473
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 2 months (1473)

Name of Book: Joshua
Writer(s): Joshua
Place Written: Canaan
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 1450
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 1473–c. 1450

Name of Book: Judges
Writer(s): Samuel
Place Written: Israel
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 1100
Time Covered (B.C.E.): c. 1450–c. 1120

Name of Book: Ruth
Writer(s): Samuel
Place Written: Israel
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 1090
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 11 years of Judges’ rule

Name of Book: 1 Samuel
Writer(s): Samuel; Gad; Nathan
Place Written: Israel
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 1078
Time Covered (B.C.E.): c. 1180-1078

Name of Book: 2 Samuel
Writer(s): Gad; Nathan
Place Written: Israel
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 1040
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 1077–c. 1040

Name of Book: 1 Kings
2 Kings
Writer(s): Jeremiah
Place Written: Judah and Egypt
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 1 roll 580
Time Covered (B.C.E.): c. 1040-580

Name of Book: 1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Writer(s): Ezra
Place Written: Jerusalem (?)
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 1 roll c. 460
Time Covered (B.C.E.): After 1 Chronicles 9:44: 1077-537

Name of Book: Ezra
Writer(s): Ezra
Place Written: Jerusalem
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 460
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 537–c. 467

Name of Book: Nehemiah
Writer(s): Nehemiah
Place Written: Jerusalem
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): a. 443
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 456–a. 443

Name of Book: Esther
Writer(s): Mordecai
Place Written: Shushan, Elam
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 475
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 493–c. 475

Name of Book: Job
Writer(s): Moses
Place Written: Wilderness
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 1473
Time Covered (B.C.E.): Over 140 years between 1657 and 1473

Name of Book: Psalms
Writer(s): David and others
Place Written:
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 460
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Proverbs
Writer(s): Solomon; Agur; Lemuel
Place Written: Jerusalem
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 717
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Ecclesiastes
Writer(s): Solomon
Place Written: Jerusalem
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): b. 1000
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Song of Solomon, The
Writer(s): Solomon
Place Written: Jerusalem
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 1020
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Isaiah
Writer(s): Isaiah
Place Written: Jerusalem
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): a. 732
Time Covered (B.C.E.): c. 778–a. 732

Name of Book: Jeremiah
Writer(s): Jeremiah
Place Written: Judah; Egypt
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 580
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 647-580

Name of Book: Lamentations
Writer(s): Jeremiah
Place Written: Near Jerusalem
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 607
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Ezekiel
Writer(s): Ezekiel
Place Written: Babylon
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 591
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 613–c. 591

Name of Book: Daniel
Writer(s): Daniel
Place Written: Babylon
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 536
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 618–c. 536

Name of Book: Hosea
Writer(s): Hosea
Place Written: Samaria (District)
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): a. 745
Time Covered (B.C.E.): b. 804–a. 745

Name of Book: Joel
Writer(s): Joel
Place Written: Judah
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 820 (?)
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Amos
Writer(s): Amos
Place Written: Judah
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 804
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Obadiah
Writer(s): Obadiah
Place Written:
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 607
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Jonah
Writer(s): Jonah
Place Written:
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 844
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Micah
Writer(s): Micah
Place Written: Judah
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): b. 717
Time Covered (B.C.E.): c. 777-717

Name of Book: Nahum
Writer(s): Nahum
Place Written: Judah
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): b. 632
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Habakkuk
Writer(s): Habakkuk
Place Written: Judah
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): c. 628 (?)
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Zephaniah
Writer(s): Zephaniah
Place Written: Judah
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): b. 648
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Name of Book: Haggai
Writer(s): Haggai
Place Written: Jerusalem rebuilt
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 520
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 112 days (520)

Name of Book: Zechariah
Writer(s): Zechariah
Place Written: Jerusalem rebuilt
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): 518
Time Covered (B.C.E.): 520-518

Name of Book: Malachi
Writer(s): Malachi
Place Written: Jerusalem rebuilt
Writing Completed (B.C.E.): a. 443
Time Covered (B.C.E.):

Try this little lot https://www.mtio.com/articles/bissar35.htm. There is a section on who wrote them and when. It also talks of the regard shown for the OT scriptures by Jesus, and the witness he bore to them, as well as their inclusion in the OT.

As I have tried to get ThePainefulTruth to recognise more than once, there are two sides to every story, and truth is not necessarily what you like, but simply what is, like it or not.

I don't see how one or two prophecies being right proves the Bible is the word of God or even a historical document, when so many more others were wrong.

Sorry.

These guys seem to not agree with you MCB.

https://www.theology.edu/faq01.htm

1. Who wrote the Bible (and When)?

Old Testament

The following books of the Bible are of unknown authorship:

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

These books are traditionally assumed to have been written by Moses, though his authorship is not claimed internally. Since Deuteronomy records the death of Moses, it seems unlikely that he wrote it; certainly he didn't write the part that describes his death. Though some scholars would claim a composite authorship for these books starting around 950 BC with them reaching their final form during the time of Ezra around 500 BC, I would take a more conservative position and argue for a unitary authorship within fifty years of the Exodus (which would date from either around 1290 BC or 1440 BC; that is another whole area of controversy), with much of the material coming from Moses himself (not excluding some obvious editorial activity over the years; notice, for example, Deuternomy 2:10-12).

These threads are killing any ambition I have to be an RE teacher.

Are you serious??
How can any of that be verified? Simple answer, It can't.

oops. I take it you find them tedious?

Only in the way they're presented with the same people bleating on about something and then disregarding whatever everyone else says. You can't really distinguish one thread from another in this section anymore, which is a shame as this used to be my favourite part of the site.

That (obviously) is because only one religion gets looked at, the Abrahamic one. It should be a roller coaster ride through history, a sort of cross between Indianna Jones and the Da vinci code. Look at all aspects of all religions, look for connections, parallels, plagiarism etc.

But we just get "God did it", and "God loves you".

The British Museum and the Bible:

Interesting slide show that proves nothing except that Alexander the great looks a lot like Jim Morrison (of the Doors), Nero looks like he might have been Amish, Titus looks like a goofball, and the Egyptians had a "trinity" well before the christians did.