Texts · Introduction
When a scholar tried to cancel the Old Testament
In lectures before the German emperor in 1902–1903, Assyriologist Friedrich Delitzsch claimed the Old Testament was a poor copy of Babylonian ideas. He later urged Christianity to drop it entirely.
Parallels don't erase what is distinctive.
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The 'Babel-Bible' controversy shows how archaeological discoveries were quickly enlisted in theological and political battles. Parallels with older texts are real, but what sets the Bible apart is how it reframes inherited material for a new kind of community.
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 7–8
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