DOCSLIB.ORG

God and the Quest for Authenticity

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
God and the Quest for Authenticity GOD AND THE QUEST FOR AUTHENTICITY IN MOSES MENDELSSOHN AND IMMANUEL KANT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by James W. Haring _______________________________________ Gerald P. McKenny, Director Graduate Program in Theology Notre Dame, Indiana December, 2020 © Copyright 2020 James W. Haring GOD AND THE QUEST FOR AUTHENTICITY IN MOSES MENDELSSOHN AND IMMANUEL KANT Abstract by James W. Haring Though personal authenticity is an organizing ideal of late-modern Western societies, it also is a site of some of our most contentious disagreements, lacks coherence in many of its formulations, is not fully understood in all of its implications, and is often unidentified in its function as a marker of social distinction. There is a need for conceptual clarification and deeper historical understanding of the ideal of authenticity. Scholarship on authenticity has argued that it was birthed by nineteenth-century Romanticism and popularized in the counter-culture movements of the 1960’s. On this understanding, authenticity is distinct from previous moral ideals, especially rationalist ones, exemplified by Immanuel Kant’s notion of autonomy. But pre-romantic moral rationalism was itself motivated by an ideal of authenticity. Authenticity is not a deviation from the ideal of rational autonomy. On the contrary, rational autonomy is one of a long series of attempts to generate philosophical and religious programs which meet the requirements of authenticity understood as a norm of validity applicable across diverse but analogous domains, such as aesthetics, metaphysics, semantics, and ethics. James W. Haring This study analyzes the concept of authenticity as it appears in the writings of Kant and his contemporary, Moses Mendelssohn. Their writings reveal the religious shape of the ideal of authenticity in two religious traditions and illustrate how authenticity as a moral ideal is best understood as an attempt to overcome religious and philosophical idols. Both Mendelssohn and Kant rely on the Pauline distinction between the spirit and the letter as a shorthand for the distinction between the authentic and the idolatrous. Both retain a place for ‘the letter,’ which mitigates the rigorous demands of authenticity, but they configure the relationship between spirit and letter differently, in ways that track with broader commitments about the relationship between signs and meanings, body and soul, and historical and natural religion. The study concludes by observing how authenticity can be used as a tool for social exclusion and intolerance, while pointing toward the possibility of constructing more inclusive conceptions of authenticity by retrieving the best insights of the past from authors such as Mendelssohn and Kant. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................... iv Citations and Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Methodological considerations ...................................................................................... 3 1.2 Authenticity: a preview ................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Précis ...................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 2: Authenticity: historical and conceptual considerations .................................. 23 2.1 Authenticity as a norm of validity .............................................................................. 26 2.2 Authenticity and idolatry ............................................................................................... 29 2.3 Authenticity and the spirit-letter distinction ........................................................ 38 Chapter 3: Authenticity and the spirit-letter distinction in Moses Mendelssohn .......................................................................................................................................... 48 3.1 Mendelssohn’s writings and influence .................................................................... 51 3.2 Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem: intellectual and historical context ...................... 58 3.3 Authenticity, the spirit, and the letter in Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem ................................................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 4: Idolatry: semiotics and metaphysics ........................................................................ 87 4.1 Mendelssohn’s theory of signs .................................................................................... 88 4.2 Plato’s Phaedrus and Mendelssohn’s critique of writing ............................. 104 4.3 Maimonides on idolatry and divine attributes ................................................. 113 4.4 Mendelssohn on idolatry and divine attributes ............................................... 120 Chapter 5: Divine beauty, veiled lightly: The moral aesthetics of ceremonial law ................................................................................................................................... 132 5.1 Ceremonial law as symbolic language .................................................................. 136 5.2 Pleasure and mixed sentiments .............................................................................. 148 5.3 The sublime ...................................................................................................................... 155 5.4 Naive signs ........................................................................................................................ 160 5.5 Ceremonial law and moral formation .................................................................. 168 ii 5.6 Authenticity in Mendelssohn: Retrospective and Objections ..................... 185 Chapter 6: Authenticity and the spirit-letter distinction in Immanuel Kant .............. 190 6.1 Kant’s relationship to Mendelssohn ....................................................................... 196 6.2 Authenticity, purity, and sincerity in Kant’s philosophy .............................. 205 6.3 Authentic moral dispositions and the spirit-letter distinction ................... 223 Chapter 7: A dazzling yet defrauding semblance: Idolatry and the letter in Kant’s philosophy ............................................................................................................................. 228 7.1 A matter of translation: semblance and illusion ............................................... 233 7.2 The types of semblance ................................................................................................ 246 7.3 Idolatry and transcendental semblance ............................................................... 254 7.3.1 Spinozism, atheism, and nihilism .......................................................... 255 7.3.2 Anthropomorphism and the transcendental ideal ........................ 264 7.4 Interlude: Idolatry, the spirit, and the letter in Kant and Mendelssohn ........................................................................................................................ 280 7.5 The nature of delusion ................................................................................................. 284 7.6 Delusion and the moral law ....................................................................................... 289 7.7 Idolatry as religious delusion .................................................................................... 296 Chapter 8: Spirit, authenticity, and the indispensability of the letter ........................... 301 8.1 Authenticity and the letter in Kant’s political philosophy ........................... 302 8.2 Authenticity and the letter in Kant’s moral philosophy ................................ 309 8.3 Authenticity and the letter in Kant’s aesthetics ................................................ 312 8.4 Authenticity and the letter in Kant’s philosophy of religion ....................... 325 8.4.1 The spirit-letter distinction as a principle of biblical interpretation ........................................................................................................ 326 8.4.2 The spirit and the letter in Kant’s ecclesiology ............................... 335 8.4.3 The letter as a provisional but indispensable means to the end of pure religion ..................................................................................... 340 8.4.4 The indispensability of the letter in the religious education of the human race .......................................................................... 345 8.4.5 Kant and Mendelssohn on oaths ............................................................ 354 8.5 Moral progress, grace, and the letter .................................................................... 357 8.6 The letter, the body, and the resurrection of the dead ................................... 374 Chapter 9: Conclusion ........................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Religion Senior Seminar: Authority of Torah
    Religion Senior Seminar: Authority of Torah Religion 370 Professor: Jason Radine Classroom: 114 Comenius Hall Office: 108 Comenius Hall, x1314 Class times: TTh 2:35-3:45 Office Hours: Tuesdays 4:00-6:00pm E-mail: [email protected] and by appointment The Senior Seminar in Religion This course is the Senior Seminar in Religion, which is intended to form part of the “capstone” in your senior year as a Religion major or minor. The Senior Seminar is a research-based course, which emphasizes research methods and writing skills within the discipline of religious studies. For Religion majors, this course can serve as excellent preparation for Religion 385, the independent study program within the Religion Department. For Religion minors, this course can serve as an excellent stand-alone capstone to the minor. For both majors and minors, this course will utilize many of the skills that you have developed throughout your time with the Religion Department, including interpretation, close reading skills, research methods and academic writing. Four Views on the Authority of Torah Every year the Senior Seminar is different. This year, we will be studying a classic debate on the authority of the Bible, specifically of the Torah/Pentateuch (the first five books). We will be studying the writings on this topic by four key figures in the discussion; three Jews and one Christian. These will be the Dutch-Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), the German-Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), the German Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), and the German Protestant biblical scholar Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918).
    [Show full text]
  • Rabbi David Fränckel, Moses Mendelssohn, and the Beginning of the Berlin Haskalah
    RABBI DAVID FRÄNCKEL, MOSES MENDELSSOHN, AND THE BEGINNING OF THE BERLIN HASKALAH. REATTRIBUTING A PATRIOTIC SERMON (1757) Addenda Gad Freudenthal On December 10, 1757, R. David Fränckel (1707–1762), Chief Rabbi of Berlin Jewry, delivered in German a sermon on the occa- sion of Frederick the Great’s victory at Leuthen five days earlier (5 December). Volume 1 of EJJS carried my article describing the genesis of this so-called “Leuthen Sermon” and established that (contrary to previous consensus) it was written by David Fränckel and not by his former student Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1796).1 Rather, it was written in Hebrew by Fränckel and only translated into German by Mendelssohn. In an appendix, I described the very rich aftermath of the sermon: after having been very elegantly translated into English (we do not know by whom) and published by the ephemeral London publisher W. Reeve in 1758, the translation was reprinted no less than four times in New England. Mr. Shimon Steinmetz from Brooklyn (N.Y.) kindly drew my attention to three earlier relevant items that had escaped my atten- tion. He also supplied copies of them. I herewith thank him warmly for his generous and erudite help and share his findings with readers of EJJS: [1] As early as March 1758, The Scots Magazine, published in Edinburgh, carried the following entry in the section “New Books”: A thanksgiving-sermon from Psal xxii. 23.24 for the King of Prussia’s victory Dec. 5. Preached on the sabbath of the 10th, in the synagogue of the Jews in Berlin.
    [Show full text]
  • Hebrew Calendar “End Times” Floyd R
    CODE 166 CODE 196 CODE 228 CODE 243 CODE 251 CODE 294 CODE 427 CODE 490 CODE 590 CODE 666 CODE 01010 CODE 1260 CODE1447 CODE 1900 CODE 1975 CODE 2300 CODE 6000 CODE 144000 Hebrew Calendar “End Times” Floyd R. Cox (9-18-2018) (Translation: Copy & paste into: https://www.freetranslation.com/) The Hebrew Calendar covers 6,000 years, from 3761 BC to 2240 AD, and another 1,000 years, from 2240 to 3240 AD. This would include the “time of the end” (after 6,000 years), but Christ said he and his angels do not know when that will be (Mat 24:36). God, the Father only knows. PART I. 6,000 years in the Hebrew Calendar http://code251.com/ It becomes futile to understand the “time of the end” without first finding the beginning. A good example of taking things literally is found in the 6,000 years found in the Hebrew Calendar. This seems to support the 1,000 years in Revelation 20. Related Topics As explained HERE, the Hebrew calendar places creation in -3760 (3761 BC), and 6,000 years would thus end in year 2239 AD. This would mean the Messiah, the “Anointed One” Final Proof for Sabbatical in 27 AD would rule, beginning in year 6,000, for 1,000 years, from 2239 to 3239 AD (6,000 – 3761 = 2239). These are the dates proposed by the Hebrew calendar. Hebrew Calendar End Times 27 AD 6000 years after creation Ancient Riddle Solved 3761 BC NASA vs Hebrew 2239 AD = 2240 AD end of 6,000 years Context of Daniel 6000 years after 3761 BC (creation) would end in the fall of 2240 AD Context of Revelation 7000 years after 3761 BC (creation) would end in the fall of 3240 AD Utopia Unveiled Other Jewish Documents Eleven Forms The Book of Jubilees supports this view.
    [Show full text]
  • Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School April 2021 Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis William A. B. Parkhurst University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Philosophy Commons Scholar Commons Citation Parkhurst, William A. B., "Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis" (2021). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/8839 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis by William A. B. Parkhurst A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy Department of Philosophy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Joshua Rayman, Ph.D. Lee Braver, Ph.D. Vanessa Lemm, Ph.D. Alex Levine, Ph.D. Date of Approval: February 16th, 2021 Keywords: Fredrich Nietzsche, Eternal Recurrence, History of Philosophy, Continental Philosophy Copyright © 2021, William A. B. Parkhurst Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my mother, Carol Hyatt Parkhurst (RIP), who always believed in my education even when I did not. I am also deeply grateful for the support of my father, Peter Parkhurst, whose support in varying avenues of life was unwavering. I am also deeply grateful to April Dawn Smith. It was only with her help wandering around library basements that I first found genetic forms of diplomatic transcription.
    [Show full text]
  • 648 Notes, June 2019 Based on Their Musical
    05_907-146_BkRevs_pp637-687 4/22/19 7:32 AM Page 648 648 Notes, June 2019 based on their musical traditions. For baroque language and references with- example, he describes the music of out cluttering the text of the translation “heathens” thus: “For just as they had itself. no true knowledge of God in that they Kimberly Beck Hieb did not recognize the Trinity in God, West Texas A&M University they also could not recognize the har- monic triad, for they did not consider the third to be a consonance, even Sara Levy’s World: Gender, Judaism, though harmony without the addition and the Bach Tradition in Enlighten - of the third is quite deficient and in- ment Berlin. Edited by Rebecca Cypess complete, yea, even lifeless” (p. 83). and Nancy Sinkoff. (Eastman Studies Finally, Werckmeister wishes to con- in Music.) Rochester, NY: University of firm the subordinate position of linear Rochester Press, 2018. [x, 292 p. ISBN staff notation in relation to its superior 9781580469210 (hardcover), $99.00.] counterpart, German organ tablature. Illustrations, music examples, appen- He spends several chapters denigrating dices, bibliography, index, online au- the linear staff system, pointing to the dio files. inconvenience of having to read all the different clefs and the confusing This well-written, insightful, interdis- process of adding sharps and flats to ciplinary, and excellent work is an ef- pitches, which to him suggests unneces- fort to explore the facets of Sara Levy’s sary chromatic semitones. The new and complex world and in so doing bring practical equal temperament tuning is that remarkable woman from the mar- central to Werckmeister’s argument gins of intellectual and cultural history.
    [Show full text]
  • Sociomaterial Movement Learning in Evangelical Student Activism: a Case Study in Environmental Education
    Forum on Public Policy Sociomaterial Movement Learning in Evangelical Student Activism: A Case Study in Environmental Education Sherrie Steiner, Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne Abstract What began as a professor’s classroom illustration to encourage students to take climate change seriously sparked a student movement that transformed Eastern University into a leader in environmental stewardship and social responsibility. How did this happen at an evangelical university in a conservative coal state that, at the time, was producing 1% of the world’s climate change gases? Using the method of autoethnography, the author provides an explanation that involves political opportunity structures (recent legal changes now allowed consumers to purchase clean energy from the electrical grid), the influence of ideas (the professor had published a theory about the transformative influence of environmental education—students challenged her to operationalize the theories), intentional strategizing (by students who implemented best practices from other universities), student government (who conducted meetings across campus before holding a senate vote) and political struggle between university administrators and students that was only resolved after the student body president obtained media coverage by The Philadelphia Inquirer. What really lit a fire under the student body, however, went beyond theory frames, politics, legal changes, social movement strategies, student government or individual charisma. Some might call it serendipity. By 2003, 37% of Eastern University’s electricity came from wind energy. Within two years, Eastern University had 100% of the electricity for the main campus generated by wind energy. In 2004, they added a 56 kilowatt solar system to the roof of the Eagle Learning Center.
    [Show full text]
  • Introductory Notes for Readers of This Thesis
    ‘A Spirituality of silence’ An interpretation of Karl Rahner and his importance as a resource for contemporary initiatives in spiritual formation A thesis by Philip John Daughtry for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Student ID: 2029080 School of Theology (Adelaide College of Divinity) Faculty of Education, Humanities, Law and Theology Flinders University Submitted on: 8 September 2009 Table of Contents An Introduction to this Thesis............................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: The deep silence of the pastoral theologian who listens before speaking......... 1 Family setting and influence ........................................................................................... 1 Emerging Spirituality ...................................................................................................... 2 Theological Context and Approach ................................................................................ 7 Style: Two Genres, One Theologian ............................................................................. 17 Content—theological compression and unfolding ........................................................ 19 Rahner’s legacy ............................................................................................................. 22 Reflection: ‘Spirituality of Silence’ in Karl Rahner’s life and work ............................ 27 Chapter 2: Ignatian spiritual roots—the silence of direct encounter and the dynamic element in the church .......................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation, Homework and Teacher Support
    Waldorf Journal Project #5 June 2005 AWSNA Evaluation, Homework and Teacher Support Compiled and edited by David Mitchell We measure the success of schools not by the kinds of human beings they promote, but by whatever increases in reading scores they chalk up. We have allowed quantitative standards, so central to the adult economic system, to become the principal yardstick for definition of our children’s worth. — Kenneth Keniston, Professor of Human Development at MIT 1 Printed with support from the Waldorf Curriculum Fund Published by: AWSNA Publications The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America 3911 Bannister Road Fair Oaks, CA 95628 © 2005 byAWSNA Publications Waldorf Journal Project #5 Title: Evaluation, Homewok, and Teacher Support Translators: Nina Kuettel, Jon McAlice, and Karin DiGiacomo Editor: David Mitchell Copyeditor and Proofreader: Ann Erwin Gratitude expressed to the editors of Erziehungskunst and Das Goetheanum for permissions granted to translate the essays. 2 Contents Foreword ........................................................................................... 5 The Quest for Wholeness in the Waldorf Curriculum by Erhard Fucke ...................................................................... 7 What Wants to Emerge? by Claus-Peter Röh ................................................................. 13 Evaluating, Judging, Testing, and Learning by Robert Thomas .................................................................. 19 The Role of Evaluation and Examinations within Waldorf Education
    [Show full text]
  • Kant and Spinozism
    Kant and Spinozism Transcendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze Beth Lord Renewing Philosophy General Editor: Gary Banham Titles include: Lou Agosta EMPATHY IN THE CONTEXT OF PHILOSOPHY Karin de Boer ON HEGEL The Sway of the Negative Kyriaki Goudeli CHALLENGES TO GERMAN IDEALISM Schelling, Fichte and Kant Keekok Lee PHILOSOPHY AND REVOLUTIONS IN GENETICS Deep Science and Deep Technology Beth Lord KANT AND SPINOZISM Transcendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze Vincent W. Lloyd LAW AND TRANSCENDENCE On the Unfi nished Project of Gillian Rose Jill Marsden AFTER NIETZSCHE Jean-Paul Martinon ON FUTURITY Malabou, Nancy & Derrida Simon O’Sullivan ART ENCOUNTERS DELEUZE AND GUATTARI Thought Beyond Representation Peg Rawes SPACE, GEOMETRY AND AESTHETICS Through Kant and Towards Deleuze Celine Surprenant FREUD’S MASS PSYCHOLOGY Alberto Toscano THE THEATRE OF PRODUCTION Philosophy and Individuation Between Kant and Deleuze Vasiliki Tsakiri KIERKEGAARD Anxiety, Repetition and Contemporaneity Philip Walsh SKEPTICISM, MODERNITY AND CRITICAL THEORY Martin Weatherston HEIDEGGER’S INTERPRETATION OF KANT Categories, Imagination and Temporality Renewing Philosophy Series Standing Order ISBN 978–0–333–91928–6 (hardback) 978–0–230–20086–9 (paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of diffi culty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Faith and Finance Works Cited Part 1 Addis, James. “How A
    Faith and Finance Works Cited Part 1 Addis, James. “How a Texas Church Drove Out the Predatory Loan Industry.” CTPastors.com. March 2016. Accessed August 30, 2017. http://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2016/march-web-exclusives/how-texas-church- drove-out-predatory-loan-indu.html. Claiborne, Shane and Chris Haw. Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2008. Day, Dorothy. “This Money is Not Ours.” The Catholic Worker (September 1960): 1-2. Accessed August 30, 2017. http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/768.pdf. Moffett, Jamie. “Wall Street Money Drop with Shane Claiborne.” Volume II – Poverty: Another World is Possible DVD Series. Jamie Moffett Media Production and Design. O’Connor, Elizabeth. “Faith and Money Autobiography.” Faith and Money Network. Adapted by Boston University School of Theology for use in Faith and Finance. http://www.faithandmoneynetwork.org. Part 2 Brueggemann, Walter. "The Liturgy of Abundance, the Myth of Scarcity." The Christian Century 116, no. 10 (1999): 342-47. Catholic Education Service. "A Catholic Guide to the Living Wage.” Accessed August 21, 2017. https://www.catholiceducation.org.uk/images/LivingWageResource.pdf. Copeland, Gloria and George Parsons. “A New Realm of Super Prosperity.” Believer’s Voice of Victory. Series: No More Limits – Part 2, Day 5 of 5. Accessed August 30, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1244&v=8ADiqSc5tpM. Grant, Jacquelyn. “Poverty, Womanist Theology, and the Ministry of the Church.” In Standing With the Poor: Theological Reflections on Economic Reality, edited by Paul Plenge Parker, 47-59. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1992. Interfaith Worker Justice, ed. “Celebrating Labor Day: Buddhism on Worker Justice Issues.” Interfaith Worker Justice Labor Day Resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Complete Issue
    Center for Open Access in Science Open Journal for Studies in Philosophy 2019 ● Volume 3 ● Number 1 https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojsp.0301 ISSN (Online) 2560-5380 OPEN JOURNAL FOR STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY (OJSP) ISSN (Online) 2560-5380 https://www.centerprode.com/ojsp.html [email protected] Publisher: Center for Open Access in Science (COAS) Belgrade, SERBIA https://www.centerprode.com [email protected] Editor-in-Chief: Tatyana Vasileva Petkova (PhD) South-West University “Neofit Rilski”, Faculty of Philosophy, Blagoevgrad, BULGARIA Editorial Board: Jane Forsey (PhD) University of Winnipeg, Faculty of Arts, CANADA Cristóbal Friz Echeverria (PhD) University of Santiago de Chile, Faculty of Humanities, CHILE Plamen Makariev (PhD) Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Faculty of Philosophy, BULGARIA Antoaneta Nikolova (PhD) South-West University “Neofit Rilski”, Faculty of Philosophy, Blagoevgrad, BULGARIA Adrian Nita (PhD) Romanian Academy, Institute of Philosophy and Psychology, Bucharest, ROMANIA Hasnije Ilazi (PhD) University of Prishtina, Faculty of Philosophy, KOSOVO Copy Editor: Goran Pešić Center for Open Access in Science, Belgrade Open Journal for Studies in Philosophy, 2019, 3(1), 1-24. ISSN (Online) 2560-5380 __________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1 Hellenistic Philosophy in Greek and Roman Times Ioanna-Soultana Kotsori 6 Pedagogical Views of Plato in his Dialogues Marina Nasaina 17 The Idea of Tolerance – John Locke and Immanuel Kant Tatyana Vasileva Petkova Open Journal for Studies
    [Show full text]
  • A Y2K Solution to the Chronology Problem
    67 A Y2K Solution to the Chronology Problem By: SHELDON EPSTEIN, BERNARD DICKMAN and YONAH WILAMOWSKY Introduction Scholars have long grappled with the apparently differing chronological dating for the Second Temple implied by the Talmud date the עבודה זרה ח:-ט. and historical records: Seder Olam and building of the Temple to about 350 BCE; Historians date it to about 516 BCE. In general three approaches have been taken to address the chronological differences, i.e. Historical dating is in error; the Talmud’s chronology is in error; the Talmud purposely manipulated the dating to achieve some important objective. The first approach would have us reject the objectivity and integrity of the historical records. The problem with this approach is that there is a substantial amount of available historical evidence that is difficult to refute. In a 1962 essay Rabbi S. Schwab found this discrepancy a “truly vexing problem” and wrote1 that the historical chronological dating: “can hardly be doubted for they appear to be the result of painstaking research by hundreds of scholars and are borne out by profound erudition and by ever increasing authoritative evidence … we are compelled to admit that the Bayis Sheni must have existed for no less than 586 years.” The second approach, that the Gemara erred, is equally unacceptable. Without resorting to arguments about the infallibility ______________________________________________________ Sheldon Epstein, Bernard Dickman and Yonah Wilamowsky are professional educators. Their joint works on Biblical and
    [Show full text]