Q&A: Biblical Criticism
Biblical Criticism
Question
Hello Rabbi, I have a brother who has gone off the religious path and tries to justify his ways because of biblical criticism. In truth, my brother really is an idiot, but he reads all kinds of nonsense and floods the house with it. I’d be happy for a general response (and, if possible, a more specific one) as to why biblical criticism is not correct. What are the flaws and problems it suffers from? I’d very much appreciate examples.
In practice, I kind of know by myself that it’s nonsense, because how do you observe “a day of blowing” and how do you observe “remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it”? So I understand that we’re not dealing with anything serious, but I don’t have the tools to answer.
Also, Rabbi, basically on the same issue, he claims that the Torah was invented, and I’m trying to explain to him that it isn’t possible, because a message that so-and-so did something, that I did something, and so on, can be planted into history, but there’s no way to convince people that today they did “with you the Lord spoke.” So he claims that maybe they deceived them that “with you the Lord spoke” and the like was referring to the grandparents of the first recipients of the invented Torah, and in addition he suggests that maybe there was some ancient legend like that, and one day the Jewish people decided to live according to that legend… I’d be glad for the Rabbi’s response, because he’s stirring up the whole family in the WhatsApp group!! and so on
Answer
I can’t answer such general questions here.
The declaration that it’s all nonsense will not convince anyone, because it isn’t correct. The treatment has to be more subtle and more precise.
You can read my columns on the witness argument, and “The First Available.” You will not find specific treatment of biblical criticism there, only general principles. You can try contacting the site “To Know and Believe” with concrete questions on the matter.
Discussion on Answer
I’ll just note that your brother may be an idiot, but his arguments don’t sound all that idiotic. Maybe he just isn’t managing to formulate well the convincing arguments he has heard. It might be worth trying to understand his claims and examine them honestly.
The questions I was able to make out from the jumble of words you wrote are definitely serious questions that deserve sincere attention. And in my opinion, they do have satisfactory answers.
In general, if you think there is something emotional going on there and you want to bring him closer, that happens through serious listening, not through contempt.
If you don’t want other siblings to be taken in, same thing.
You can of course tell him that his questions are currently beyond you and that you’re not interested in getting into the depths of every question he brings up every other day, and refer him to Rabbi Michi’s site. And to the site “To Know and Believe” that Rabbi Michi mentioned above.
Tell him that you saw there are answers here, but you have no desire to immerse yourself completely in the matter.
Write this in the family WhatsApp group:
“The questions you wrote are well known and widely discussed, and they absolutely require answers. It’s possible to delve into them very deeply, and I recommend these sites …………. in order to get a balanced picture of the various sides making the arguments.”
It’s neither wise nor useful to answer someone who is only looking to attack and has no interest in answers.