arnoldo wrote:I’m actually reading a philosophy book to attempt to answer that question. Mortimer J Adler writes,
Both philosophy and history are reflexive in a way that empirical science is not. . . What is the scope of the philosophical enterprise? What is it’s method? How does philosophy relate to and differ from other intellectual disciple? This may come as a shock to many readers who have adopted the euphoric use of the word “Scientific” as if it were the mark of excellence in all intellectual work. If a piece of work is scientific, it is good; if it is not scientific, it is defective in one way or another.
So, my clairvoyant guess is that you will judge this article of Josephus to fall into the latter bolded category. This is based on my non scientific observation of your previous comments in another thread. Perhaps Avioz makes similar erroneous, non empirical judgement concerning Josephus’ portrait of Michal (
based on the ridiculous assumption that understanding human nature is valid form of understand ancient literary works). For example, this Taliban like statement is found in
1 Samuel 18:25. However, in Josephus accounts he changes Micah’s dowry price to 600 heads. Why? Avoiz claims that Josephus didn’t want to offend his Roman audience which were presumably uncircumcised or his ambivalence towards circumcision per se. As you point out there may be other reasons why Josephus changed the narrative in 1 Samuel 18:25 so Avoiz’s claim is probably bogus, non-empirical and basically not even worth arguing about.
arnoldo wrote:For example, this Taliban like statement is found in 1 Samuel 18:25.
King David murderer , messiah and serial killer,
" In Genesis 34, prince Shechem seeks to marry into Jacob’s family; as a result, he, his father Hamor, and all the men of their city are slaughtered by Jacob’s sons – Shechem’s potential in-laws. David marries into Saul’s royal house in 1 Samuel 18 but exterminates what is left of his in-laws in 2 Samuel 21:1-14.[7]
Amazingly, in both cases circumcision plays a major role. Jacob’s sons pretend to welcome Shechem into their family on the condition that he and all his subjects undergo the incapacitating procedure (Gen 34:13-17), which leaves the city without able-bodied defenders (v. 25). David wins the hand of Saul’s daughter Michal by not only meeting the bizarre bride-price set by the king – a hundred Philistine foreskins – but also doubling it (1 Sam 18:24-27).
[7] Not to mention that he may have had a hand in earlier deaths of Saul, Jonathan, Abner, and Ishbosheth – as suggested, for example, in Stefan Heym’s exquisite novel The King David Report (Northwestern University Press, 1973)
as well as in chapter 4 of Baruch Halperin, David’s Secret Demons: Murderer, Messiah, Traitor, King (Bible in its World; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), titled, “King David, Serial Killer.”"
http://thetorah.com/a-murderous-bridegroom/