Mind blown. 47 years in Christianity and 25 of them in pastoral teachings roles and never heard all the timeline put together so well. Thank you for this.
Such a great lecture. I love Bill’s soft spoken style. I was never a Christian so I can’t even imagine what it must be like to have your religious bubble popped with this information. Even as a non-indoctrinated person my mind is blown! The way he uses the OT’s own “fossil record” to unravel the entire narrative of the NT is brilliant. Checkmate. Living in the Information Age is exciting because we can see the potential undoing of the mind virus of religion.
To learn more check out the lecture series "Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (RLST 145) with Christine Hayes" on the YaleCourses TH-cam.
I just got back from listening to her lecture, and she did such an awesome job dissecting the Old Testament as if it were an effortless thing. And the funny thing about it too is that, while that took place back in 2006, it's crazy how accurate she's been when mentioning the lack of change in Christianity years later. .and here we are and ongoing. In similarity to the rapture. It's laughable.
Bravo! I like very much the idea of being both an atheist and an agnostic at the same time. That describes me as well. This is a wonderful testament in the quest for humans getting over religion (5000 years of failure). It's a tough sell, although it shouldn't be. How can we accelerate the progress? I'm about half way through reading Kugel, "The Great Shift: Encountering God in Biblical Times". Let's say I was 95% certain God does not exist when I started reading Kugel, now I'm 99% certain of it. Kugel, in spite of likely agreeing with virtually everything presented about the OT in this lecture, is still a Jewish believer. What's that about? Thank you. Carry on, Mr. Zuersher. Please!
This is such a tremendous lecture. I’d love to see it presented on a greater known channel such as Holy Koolaid, Genetically Modified Skeptic, or similar.
So, basically, each of the various gods in the Old Testament were totems of different tribes. Those tribes, with their totems, warred against each other, until one murderous, territorial tribe outdid the others. And, as we know, the victors write the stories. The stories did not have to be true - obviously, since they were lardened up with obfuscating propaganda - but the stories functioned to justify the positions of the privileged power-brokers - who were real people - in their positions of the bureaucratic-religious-military complex.
Sort of, but replace "victors write the stories" with "people can make up stories where they're the victors without ever actually winning or even fighting anyone; and arguably nobody even existed to fight because we've been here this whole time".
@@larryparis925 Not my exact words but a proper characterization overall. They are some very good fairy tales around which to organize a civil society.
The sooner we evolve beyond this foolishness called "religion", the better off all of us will be! Ever so slowly it seems that we are moving in the right direction. But, needless to say, taking leave of this soothing mental opiate will be a centuries long process. As that old adage reminds us: "you have to walk before you can run".
[minute 1:17:29] Regarding the question about the Jewish Babylonian exile: the answer that Mr. Zuercher gave is cogent & persuasive. However, the question was not if the story about rounding up only the Jewish elite makes sense, but rather, is there any evidence for it? What evidence there is that only the elite was exiled? "Historians agree that several deportations took place (each the result of uprisings in Palestine), that not all Jews were forced to leave their homeland, that returning Jews left Babylonia at various times, and that some Jews chose to remain in Babylonia-thus constituting the first of numerous Jewish communities living permanently in the Diaspora." Britannica. "The exile in Babylon-which directly affected mainly those of the upper class of society-occurred in three waves from 597 to 581 B.C.E. as a result of Judean rebellions against Babylonian rule." New World Ecyclop.
El means 'on' in Hebrew and Elohim simply means 'God' (Big G). Can you explain 'El Shaddai' because I cannot find it in Genesis. I'm not trying to be argumentative...I am currently trying to leave a Christian Cult and I'm so so struggling. These videos help me but I need to work out what info I can trust... your reply would be very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Hi, sorry for the delay in responding. You can find 'El Shaddai' in the Hebrew text (not necessarily in an English translation) in the following locations: Gen 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, and Exodus 6:2-3. The shorter term 'Shaddai' by itself is also found many more times.
Its important to know that the seputariant hebrew scriptures is not the same as the hebrew The english translation is a translation of a translation See Rabbi Singer on this. Quite eye opening.
El had many sons, Yahweh among them. Each son of El became the tribal deity of a different tribe / nation, with Yahweh assuming his position over the Hebrews. As time passed, Yahweh became conflated with El and the distinction was lost - El simply became the term for God, with Yahweh (YHWH) the holy, unspeakable name of the god of Israel And yes, El (and later Yahweh) had a consort, Asherah. She was all but completely expunged from the literature, though she still shows up once or twice in the OT.. in particular, read up on the story of the bronze serpent.
[Minute 24:00] Not a facetious question, but a sincere one: What kind of evidence--archeological evidence--would 2 mil campers wondering an area would leave behind? Corpses (bones)? Animal bones? Artifacts (material culture items) like tools? Weapons? Coinage? Bowls? Jewelry?
Interesting info. The explanations of Christian thought presented here are quite flawed though (for example, saying that all Christians believe in atonement sacrifice - not true - study Orthodox theology), but that’s understandable in just one lecture. For a Christian perspective on the divine counsel, one can read Michael Heiser’s books or watch his TH-cam videos.
@@BlGGESTBROTHER erhman is very careful to upset the establishment,, he doesn’t take a strong position on things that could put his income in jeopardy.. let’s take for instance the historical Jesus ,, he could well assert that magical Jesus it’s almost impossible to have been existed but he takes a historical approach that equates Cesar with Jesus. But forgets that everything said about Cesar is probable as oppose to magical Jesus , anyhow. Hope you have a great day
40:00 No. I am going to argue Apocalyptic jud-sm arose due to Yahweh foreskin covenant failing to fight off other powerful nations and the jealousy towards Romans and ancient Egyptians. A group of regularly defeated group of tribal people who out of sheer jealousy of spitefulness wanted the world to end.
The Spiritually DEAD - IN THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF DEPRAVED "MINDS" RENDERED SENSELESS & USELESS - ROMANS 1:18-32 - But "Congratulations" - GOD'S ABSOLUTE TRUTH CONFIRMED 🙏🤗🙏
@drlegendre I think @tom brown is trying to say that Romans 1:18-32 is condemning Bill Zuersher for actually using his brain. But what @tom brown doesn’t understand is that A person in a religion other than his can quote from their own religious text to condemn tom brown for being a Christian. Because as we all know only Christians have THE TRUTH and they can only send thoughts and prayers because they, along with their all powerful god can’t do anything. Guess none of them have the faith of a mustard seed.
Poor deluded Tom. With all we now know about his fictitious, mythological religion and the other profusive faiths that sprang up in abundance from that part of the world and in that time, like the stupefied and credulous pre-scientific goat herders Tom stubbornly clings to ancient stories that are destitute of evidence or fact. How I wish that people like Tom would use the same powers of fact-finding, exhaustive research and logical deduction that he considers so important in other areas of his life such as buying a car or a house, planning a marriage and family, etc. Yet without a shred of evidence Tom makes silly assertions that he cannot support with evidence. Poor ignorant Tom doesn't realize that if he were born in the Middle East he'd most assuredly be a Muslim. If he were born in India he'd be a Hindu. Poor Tom has lived a life embued with inculcation and indoctrination and is seemingly unable to think for himself.
Thank you.... Excellent research...good structure.
Mind blown. 47 years in Christianity and 25 of them in pastoral teachings roles and never heard all the timeline put together so well. Thank you for this.
The whole Bible in one talk! - Super-impressed!
Richard Carrier sent me. 🙂
Harmonic Atheist sent me :)
Such a great lecture. I love Bill’s soft spoken style. I was never a Christian so I can’t even imagine what it must be like to have your religious bubble popped with this information. Even as a non-indoctrinated person my mind is blown! The way he uses the OT’s own “fossil record” to unravel the entire narrative of the NT is brilliant. Checkmate. Living in the Information Age is exciting because we can see the potential undoing of the mind virus of religion.
This was very interesting and helpful in seeing the big picture of Christianity's development. Fantastic presentation!
Brilliant. Great video. Great questions at the end. I would wish this video be seen by everyone worldwide.
Great presentation on how all this came about. The book Seeing through Christianity is excellent also.
Thank you. This was amazing.
This video is pure gold! 🥇
Very well put together 👍
Very beautiful presentation.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍Good and Evil is just point of view.
Great information! Thank you!
To learn more check out the lecture series "Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (RLST 145) with Christine Hayes" on the YaleCourses TH-cam.
I just got back from listening to her lecture, and she did such an awesome job dissecting the Old Testament as if it were an effortless thing. And the funny thing about it too is that, while that took place back in 2006, it's crazy how accurate she's been when mentioning the lack of change in Christianity years later. .and here we are and ongoing. In similarity to the rapture. It's laughable.
Great work! Thank you.
Thanks.This was great. Could you link the slide in print out notes form?
Bravo! I like very much the idea of being both an atheist and an agnostic at the same time. That describes me as well.
This is a wonderful testament in the quest for humans getting over religion (5000 years of failure). It's a tough sell, although it shouldn't be. How can we accelerate the progress?
I'm about half way through reading Kugel, "The Great Shift: Encountering God in Biblical Times". Let's say I was 95% certain God does not exist when I started reading Kugel, now I'm 99% certain of it. Kugel, in spite of likely agreeing with virtually everything presented about the OT in this lecture, is still a Jewish believer. What's that about?
Thank you. Carry on, Mr. Zuersher. Please!
Many Jews are atheists and practice a form of cultural Judaism.
This is such a tremendous lecture. I’d love to see it presented on a greater known channel such as Holy Koolaid, Genetically Modified Skeptic, or similar.
Some people won't believe until they stand in front of their creator and face eternity! And eternity is a long time!
Yawn!
So, basically, each of the various gods in the Old Testament were totems of different tribes. Those tribes, with their totems, warred against each other, until one murderous, territorial tribe outdid the others. And, as we know, the victors write the stories. The stories did not have to be true - obviously, since they were lardened up with obfuscating propaganda - but the stories functioned to justify the positions of the privileged power-brokers - who were real people - in their positions of the bureaucratic-religious-military complex.
Sort of, but replace "victors write the stories" with "people can make up stories where they're the victors without ever actually winning or even fighting anyone; and arguably nobody even existed to fight because we've been here this whole time".
Great comic books you're reading there.
@@saykhelrachmones8668 Glad you agree the bible is a collection of fairy tales.
@@larryparis925 Not my exact words but a proper characterization overall. They are some very good fairy tales around which to organize a civil society.
The sooner we evolve beyond this foolishness called "religion", the better off all of us will be! Ever so slowly it seems that we are moving in the right direction. But, needless to say, taking leave of this soothing mental opiate will be a centuries long process. As that old adage reminds us: "you have to walk before you can run".
[minute 1:17:29] Regarding the question about the Jewish Babylonian exile: the answer that Mr. Zuercher gave is cogent & persuasive. However, the question was not if the story about rounding up only the Jewish elite makes sense, but rather, is there any evidence for it? What evidence there is that only the elite was exiled?
"Historians agree that several deportations took place (each the result of uprisings in Palestine), that not all Jews were forced to leave their homeland, that returning Jews left Babylonia at various times, and that some Jews chose to remain in Babylonia-thus constituting the first of numerous Jewish communities living permanently in the Diaspora." Britannica.
"The exile in Babylon-which directly affected mainly those of the upper class of society-occurred in three waves from 597 to 581 B.C.E. as a result of Judean rebellions against Babylonian rule." New World Ecyclop.
El means 'on' in Hebrew and Elohim simply means 'God' (Big G). Can you explain 'El Shaddai' because I cannot find it in Genesis. I'm not trying to be argumentative...I am currently trying to leave a Christian Cult and I'm so so struggling. These videos help me but I need to work out what info I can trust... your reply would be very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Hi, sorry for the delay in responding. You can find 'El Shaddai' in the Hebrew text (not necessarily in an English translation) in the following locations: Gen 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, and Exodus 6:2-3. The shorter term 'Shaddai' by itself is also found many more times.
Its important to know that the seputariant hebrew scriptures is not the same as the hebrew The english translation is a translation of a translation See Rabbi Singer on this. Quite eye opening.
Him, as a suffix, indicates plural, doesnt it?
El had many sons, Yahweh among them. Each son of El became the tribal deity of a different tribe / nation, with Yahweh assuming his position over the Hebrews. As time passed, Yahweh became conflated with El and the distinction was lost - El simply became the term for God, with Yahweh (YHWH) the holy, unspeakable name of the god of Israel
And yes, El (and later Yahweh) had a consort, Asherah. She was all but completely expunged from the literature, though she still shows up once or twice in the OT.. in particular, read up on the story of the bronze serpent.
'violent' translates as אלים
Another good book is ‘The Jesus Fallacy’ by Nicholas Allen.
Jeepers!!!
[Minute 24:00] Not a facetious question, but a sincere one: What kind of evidence--archeological evidence--would 2 mil campers wondering an area would leave behind? Corpses (bones)? Animal bones? Artifacts (material culture items) like tools? Weapons? Coinage? Bowls? Jewelry?
Interesting info. The explanations of Christian thought presented here are quite flawed though (for example, saying that all Christians believe in atonement sacrifice - not true - study Orthodox theology), but that’s understandable in just one lecture. For a Christian perspective on the divine counsel, one can read Michael Heiser’s books or watch his TH-cam videos.
This guy males me think erhman is overrated , i like erhman but always felt his position its a little baised ,
Both are brilliant
@@drgeorgek agree
And his loud, pleading "believe me" delivery gets quite tedious after awhile. I concur. Bill is a bit better at this.
In what way do you mean Erhman is biased?
@@BlGGESTBROTHER erhman is very careful to upset the establishment,, he doesn’t take a strong position on things that could put his income in jeopardy.. let’s take for instance the historical Jesus ,, he could well assert that magical Jesus it’s almost impossible to have been existed but he takes a historical approach that equates Cesar with Jesus. But forgets that everything said about Cesar is probable as oppose to magical Jesus , anyhow. Hope you have a great day
40:00 No. I am going to argue Apocalyptic jud-sm arose due to Yahweh foreskin covenant failing to fight off other powerful nations and the jealousy towards Romans and ancient Egyptians. A group of regularly defeated group of tribal people who out of sheer jealousy of spitefulness wanted the world to end.
im getting the hebrew for 'gods' small g was אלים
My Judaism is built on fiction, and that’s ok. Christianity is built on fiction, but it falls apart therefore.
Are You A Jew or A Zoroastrian
@@ADeeSHUPA I am a Jew.
@Saykhel what do you mean by “and that’s ok”?
Do you believe in God?
🌻
@@womensrights3108 "My Judaism" tells you all you need to know about my relationship with HaShem.
@@saykhelrachmones8668 please forgive my ignorance and help me understand more your position. 🌻
El is על
The Spiritually DEAD - IN THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF DEPRAVED "MINDS" RENDERED SENSELESS & USELESS - ROMANS 1:18-32 - But "Congratulations" - GOD'S ABSOLUTE TRUTH CONFIRMED 🙏🤗🙏
"A series of bizarre statements, later attributed to an overly-tight necktie."
@drlegendre I think @tom brown is trying to say that Romans 1:18-32 is condemning Bill Zuersher for actually using his brain. But what @tom brown doesn’t understand is that A person in a religion other than his can quote from their own religious text to condemn tom brown for being a Christian. Because as we all know only Christians have THE TRUTH and they can only send thoughts and prayers because they, along with their all powerful god can’t do anything. Guess none of them have the faith of a mustard seed.
This is your brain on religion, folks. Don't do religion!
Poor deluded Tom. With all we now know about his fictitious, mythological religion and the other profusive faiths that sprang up in abundance from that part of the world and in that time, like the stupefied and credulous pre-scientific goat herders Tom stubbornly clings to ancient stories that are destitute of evidence or fact. How I wish that people like Tom would use the same powers of fact-finding, exhaustive research and logical deduction that he considers so important in other areas of his life such as buying a car or a house, planning a marriage and family, etc. Yet without a shred of evidence Tom makes silly assertions that he cannot support with evidence. Poor ignorant Tom doesn't realize that if he were born in the Middle East he'd most assuredly be a Muslim. If he were born in India he'd be a Hindu. Poor Tom has lived a life embued with inculcation and indoctrination and is seemingly unable to think for himself.