The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> Bill O'Reiley and Fred Aprim...

Bill O'Reiley and Fred Aprim...
Posted by pancho (Moderator) - Monday, October 7 2013, 23:48:39 (UTC)
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O'Reiley has written a book about the murder or death of Jesus...it's the hottest book in the nation but we know that con...religious groups and conservative foundations buy up massive amounts at discounted prices then hand them out...it's an old trick.

Anyway, and article points to five things Bill got wrong...I was struck by the last one, especially it's title...

5. History isn’t just a word, it’s a discipline

AMEN!!!...have to interrupt here because this exactly what we've been telling Taco and the rest who read a book and then write about what they liked and leave out what they didn't..and call THAT writing "History"...it is a DISCIPLINE..it has rules and procedures and what Bill and Aprim do has nothing to do with History, as a discipline....they both write propaganda, period.

O’Reilly acknowledges (correctly) that it’s difficult to look past the agendas of his sources and separate the myth from the history.

Historians prefer early sources and events that are documented in multiple (preferably independent) sources. O’Reilly puts all of this aside and cherry-picks episodes from whichever Gospel version he seems to prefer.

He will sometimes omit stories if they seem historically implausible, but he doesn’t do this consistently. He omits Jesus' words, from the Gospel of Luke, as he is being crucified: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” In his CBS interview he explained that it was impossible for people to speak audibly while they were crucified. Fair enough; but then why does he include Jesus’s final words from the Gospel of John: “It is finished”? Is there something about the word “forgiveness” that sticks in the throat?

Apart from the methodological problems, the entire book is written in the style of a novel, not a history book. We hear the thoughts of Herod as he orders the execution of the male children of Bethlehem, for instance. It’s entertaining, but it’s historical fan fiction, not history.



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