Code of Hammurabi: Briefly II
Preface
The archived link from the original article is below.
I represent the original video and full short article for context, but part two follows under today's date.
Code of Hammurabi: Briefly
Moses and the Code of Hammurabi
Bruce Gore
April 15 2015
Quote:
'The most enlightened example of civil legislation prior to Moses comes from the Babylonian ruler Hammurabi, who pre-dates Moses by at least 200 years. In this discussion, a comparison and contrast between the two great law-givers is provided, with a focus on the extent to which the law given through Moses shows a clearly superior approach to jurisprudence. For more free resources, please visit www.brucegore.com.'
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In his brief lecture, Professor Bruce Gore with reasonable objectivity acknowledges the critiques of higher criticism that aspects at least, of the Mosaic Law, are borrowed from earlier ancient sources. Gore briefly admits a few of the similarities and also briefly explains a few crucial differences that counter claims from higher criticism and modern critiques that the Mosaic Law is 'other' ancient mythology. In other words, with no divine source.
Not surprisingly for me, based on Canadian Christian, bible school and seminary training, and British secular education, ancient morality, ethics and law is documented in non-biblical, religious and non-religious contexts. From non-biblical sources, the morality, practical ethics and law would be presented from significantly different worldview perspectives. As I have noted in another recent post, rather than making the Hebrew Bible a 'rip-off' of older versions of world events, and therefore just different mythology, the Hebrew Bible versions claim and present as legitimate religious history with God that revealed self in several texts through scribes and prophets.
Within Christian tradition, this religious history culminates in New Testament era manuscripts and the New Testament books of the modern Bible.
As my background is British, MPhil/PhD work with both theology (biblical) and philosophy of religion (non-biblical) there are many parallels in regards to reasonable truths for God, humanity and reality. There are also significant differences and the revelatory nature of biblical theology and the bible on philosophical theology, as God communicates to humanity in reason, adds the component of God 'speaking for self' through scribes, prophets and apostles. This is different to philosophy of religion that on points can equally be God's truth, but relies on philosophy both religious and secular, with human reason, apart from revelation, in regards to God, humanity and reality.
LA SOR, WILLIAM SANFORD, DAVID ALLAN HUBBARD, AND FREDERIC WILLIAM BUSH. (1987) Old Testament Survey, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
December 23, 2020
Browning is helpful here. He reasons that in modern parlance (269) a myth is a 'fairy story', or something that is unbelievable and untrue (269).
This modern meaning of myth is often used by biblical critics and is rejected by biblical scholarship and theology within a legitimate, reasonable, historical, Christian faith and philosophy. The biblical authors and the religious traditions that support the Hebrew Bible and New Testament are reasoned to not have presented myth as in fiction.
If I state, the bible is not myth or the bible is not mythology or mythological, I am denying this modern meaning.
There is a more technical meaning in biblical studies (269) as myth covers those stories and narratives in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament that are 'otherworldly' (269). Or in my words, of supernatural origins. Browning opines that in the past many 'expositors and preachers' were in error to assume that creation and fall accounts were historical because the Genesis accounts had similarity with Near Eastern neighbours of Israel (269).
But, I think Gore answers this biblical cultural use of ancient mythology in his video.
Again...
Professor Bruce Gore with reasonable objectivity acknowledges the critiques of higher criticism that aspects at least, of the Mosaic Law, are borrowed from earlier ancient sources. Gore briefly admits a few of the similarities and also briefly explains a few crucial differences that counter claims from higher criticism and modern critiques that the Mosaic Law is 'other' ancient mythology. In other words, with no divine source.
Old Testament Survey agrees that 'Near Eastern material' was used by Israel to tell the primeval (earliest history, my add) story. (70). The biblical author used literary traditions to describe primeval events through the use of symbol. (79). The text states this is similar to apocalyptic symbolism in much of the Book of Revelation.(79).
Key:
Quote
'Far more evident than the similarities are the dissimilarities and differences of these narratives from Mesopotamian literacy devices'. (74). The Near East, my add. To just state the similarities is misleading, states the text. (75). Instead, there are obvious distinctive differences between the biblical literature (Hebrew Bible manuscripts, my add).
Quote
'In absolute contrast, the biblical narratives present one, true, all holy and omnipotent God, who as Creator stands prior to and independent of the world.' (75).
Importantly, the creation and fall accounts were not the very same as earlier sources, just as law, morality and ethics were not identical from earlier sources to Genesis/Exodus and the Pentateuch. These mythologies provide a limited, non-modern, 'history', of sorts, including oral tradition, and symbolic, story-telling genre (s) that are biblically used to present the God of Genesis and Israel as the one true God and creator. The accounts are not scientific and rely on degrees of literalness in language which includes symbolism and metaphor.
Genesis, states Old Testament Survey, and therefore the creation and fall narratives, came from an inspired author (or authors, my add) informed by God's revelation. (75). Yet, using a symbolic literary genre (s) that made use of known mythology. (75). Genesis does not provide a 'biological' and 'geological' (75) history. It is religious history and divine revelation with human authors.
Genesis/Exodus and the law had similar non-biblical, cultural influences also within biblical revelation and inspired human authorship.
BROWNING, W.R.F. (1997) Oxford Dictionary of the Bible, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
COURSON, JON (2005) Application Commentary, Thomas Nelson, Nashville.
ELLISON, H.L. (1986) ‘Genesis’, in F.F. Bruce (ed.), The International Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids, Zondervan.
ELWELL, WALTER AND YARBROUGH, ROBERT W., Third Edition (2013) Encountering The New Testament, Grand Rapids, Baker Academic.
FRETHEIM, TERENCE E. (1985)(2005) ‘The Suffering of God: An Old Testament Perspective’, in Theology Today, Volume 1, Number 1, Bookreview17. Princeton, Princeton Theological Seminary. http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1985/v42-1-bookreview17.htm
FRETHEIM, TERENCE E. (1994) ‘Is Genesis 3 a Fall Story?’, in Word and World, Luther Seminary, pp. 144-153. Saint Paul, Luther Seminary.
GORE, BRUCE (2015) Moses and the Code of Hammurabi, April 15 2015, You Tube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWXbt667Y6U&t=2s
HAMILTON, VICTOR P. (1988) Handbook on the Pentateuch, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
JACKSON, JOHN G. (1941)(2006) Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth, New York, Truth Seeker Co. http://www.nbufront.org/html/MastersMuseums/JGJackson/ChristMyth/ChristMythPart1.html
LA SOR, WILLIAM SANFORD, DAVID ALLAN HUBBARD, AND FREDERIC WILLIAM BUSH. (1987) Old Testament Survey, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
MCDONALD, H.D. (1996) ‘Bible, Authority of', in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.
MCRAY, J.R. (1996) ‘Bible, Canon of', in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.
PAILIN, DAVID A. (1999) ‘Deism’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds.), A New Dictionary of Christian Theology, Kent, SCM Press Ltd.
PAILIN, DAVID A. (1999) ‘Enlightenment’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds.), A New Dictionary of Christian Theology, Kent, SCM Press Ltd.
PAILIN, DAVID A. (1999) ‘Process Theology’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds.), A New Dictionary of Christian Theology, Kent, SCM Press Ltd.
SCHULTZ SMAUEL J, AND GARY V. SMITH, (2001) Exploring the Old Testament, Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books.
I have a version of this article on academia.edu, posted August 19, 2023
