Jul 24 2008
PBS’s “The Bible’s Buried Secrets” claims Bible is made up.
[CW Newz]
New PBS documentary called ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’ says, Abraham didn’t exist? The Exodus didn’t happen? William Dever, an archaeologist who specializes in Israel’s history says, “It challenges the Bible’s stories if you want to read them literally, and that will disturb many people, but it explains how and why these stories ever came to be told in the first place, and how and why they were written down.”
The program says the Bible was written in the sixth century BC and that hundreds of authors contributed. “At least the first five books of the Bible come together during the Babylonian exile,” says producer Gary Glassman.
The program challenges long-held beliefs. Abraham, Sarah and their offspring probably didn’t exist, says Carol Meyers, a religion professor at Duke University.
Read more here.
[From me]
If someone wants to believe that and make a TV documentary then get advertisers and put it on the History Channel. My only beef with this is “My” tax dollars went to make this and I don’t like it. I don’t even understand why we still have PBS.
What do you think?
12 responses so far
There is no reason for tax $ to fund PBS.
Looks like another joke of a “religious” show for them. Do they trot out their usual Jesus Seminar cast? Do they include any counterpoints?
What is ironic is how they’ll expect us to take their findings “literally” when the conclusions about why they were written and such are all speculation.
Archeology is the Bible’s best friend. Again and again over the centuries archeological finds support things the skeptics were just sure didn’t exist.
Neil’s last blog post..Dalmatian Theology
PBS and NPR…good reasons to keep them around…they are about the only place where the liberal agenda keeps even a small foothoot in everyday society…otherwise, no one would ever hear or see it!
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Don’t Forget the Condiments
So the Bible was written in the Sixth Century BC?
I guess it was pretty prophetic, huh? How did those 6th Century BC writers know a guy named Caesar would come along 500 years later?
Michael’s last blog post..Jude Chapter 1: Be Weary of False Teachings
Actually I enjoy PBS. Their documentaries on American Experience are most enjoyable to me. However, I agree that they cross the line in many ways, including the garbage like this about the Bible.
Les
Nothing more than the “Documentary Hypothesis” repackaged for sound-bites.
Scott’s last blog post..Todd Bentley makes God move!
Interesting thought Michael. Wonder if they will address that or just let it be.
I would be interested to hear what A3 has to say if he is out there.
Bill(cycleguy)’s last blog post..A Little (Big) Financial Reminder
Just by happenstance, I was looking up CPB’s funding today -15% comes from our tax dollars ($300 million)…their orginal intent was to provide programming outside the norm (in 1960 terms, that would have been ABC, CBS and NBC). Doesnt cable, the internet and satellite service kind of make CPB’s reason for existence obsolete.
There is only one other more egregious example of our tax dollars going to work, which is Planned parenthood, to the tune of another $300 million a year.
Both entities, by the way, are very profitable. So why give them federal grant money from our pockets.
Bill(cycleguy)
Bill,speaking of prophetic! I was just about to start responding to Michael when I saw your comment below his! :))
Michael
I was wondering - do you believe that the PBS special really made the claim that the Bible was written in the 6th century bce (if you were just kidding around - it actually was a pretty funny statement! :^D )
I didn’t see the special myself so I don’t know for sure. However, judging by the quality of PBS broadcasts in general, I find it hard to believe that they would air a program that would make that claim. If it turns out that they really did it, then I’ll agree with Keven - pull the funding.
Bret
You raise an interesting point! I’m for PBS but really, I’m for the original intent of PBS. I don’t know if I agree that commercial stations on cable fills this void, but I think the internet (Podcases, etc.) well may. I’ll have to rethink… Good comment!
Kevin…I’ve also realized that when I don’t agree with what is broadcast, I simply vote with my pocketbook…
What I don’t appreciate is using my tax dollars to fund this…
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Is This Where Worship is Heading?
I for one really like having PBS around. We cannot afford more than basic cable and getting over the air broadcast can be hit or miss. We are able to enjoy some nice and safe children’s programing. I am also able to watch something besides a lot of the junk on regular tv.
It does not bother me that my tax dollars go towards this. I am called to give to the govt what is theirs and God what is His. I do not expect the govt to follow my religious convictions when it uses the money. I would prefer that they do but I am not overly upset when they don’t. Just my thoughts.
Patrick’s last blog post..Look At Him Grow!!!
Critics of pbs in my sunday school class are much more offended because of their politics and not their faith.
For what its worth, I can’t get too upset with the best children’s programming available on any network. There are a lot of other things the government spends money on that offend me much more than sesame street.
Did you ever sit down and just think about why you believe what you believe? I’ll list some reasons:
1. An adult told you to believe something when you were a child.
2. Other people around you believed it.
3. It was interesting and made you feel good.
4. You just knew in your heart it was true.
5. It seemed like to fit in, you needed to believe.
6. It provided some meaning to your life that you could not develop
on your own.
7. Everything that went against that belief must have been wrong.
Are these really the reasons you want as the foundation for your worldview?
Higher education lets you develop your worldview beyond one book. Don’t be afraid to let go. Freedom of thought is wonderfully liberating. Don’t let others tell you “have to” believe. Education isn’t threatening. It’s enlightening. There are many explanations that are substantiated by evidence discovered by people without an agenda to distort the truth to fit a dogmatic worldview. Higher education only seeks the truth as it is discovered through the scientific method and peer review. This is the modern method of discovery. I encourage you all to seek the truth through higher education which requires that you read more than one book.