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David Bethea's avatar

Good one. I've been a student and textual analyst of the great works of Russian literature my entire adult life (40 years). I couldn't agree more. Once you've read the Brothers K and pulled the words of Zosima and Alyosha and Ivan apart and explained where they came from in the author's life and thought, they still stand there and speak to you in the present and form your thoughts and your attitude on how how to live in our broken world. Those words are real and continue to tell inspiring stories even though the author is long gone and how the words got there never satisfies as the complete explanation.

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Sierra Charlie's avatar

As soon as I saw the headline, the song from Alfie started going through my head. 😂

Dr. Justin Jackson at Hillsdale College lectures an excellent course Genesis, the Exodus, and The David Story. I WISH I’d had such a lecturer when I was in college. He uses Robert Alter’s translation for each of the courses, and they are all free online. I eagerly await Dr. Jackson’s next course.

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Dave's avatar

He’s called Intellectual Dave Grohl in our house. And Dr James Orr is referred to as Intellectual Josh Homme.

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Steven Cassese's avatar

An actual quote from my partner: “Why are we listening to Dionne Warwick radio this morning?” Thank you both for continuing to provide more important things to ponder.

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Steve's avatar

"What's it all about Alfie

Is it just for the moment we live"

A really important question. For many the answer is Yes.

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Dave's avatar

As someone who lives in Germany, I concur. This is a perfect representation of Zee Kraüter.

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Connor Francis's avatar

The Documentary Hypothesis is funny in a few ways. Even if you were sure that the Pentateuch was written by different authors, and all the internal consistency and coherence is the result of a masterful redactor (who is also conveniently dumb enough to leave, for example, two different sources' creation accounts in the first two chapters of Genesis), you would never be able to narrow it down to the point liberal biblical critics believe they have, where one sentence is the Yahwist and the next is the Elohist, and so on and so forth.

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Connor Francis's avatar

I wonder, over the last 150 years, have we ever found a manuscript which supported any particular redactive conclusion the higher critics had come to before we found it (or any of their conclusions in general)?

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Curtis McQueen's avatar

Yes, thank you for helping me see this in a new way. Letting facts and hairsplitting get in the way of the real message of love, is like the Jewish authorities who could not see, much less accept, the true message of Christ, a new message for all mankind, a new revelation of God Himself in His Divine Human, the God of Love.

When they asked Him to tell them openly Who He was, He answered, “I told you, and you believe or not….“ John 10:24-25

Jesus did all but beg for them to just open their eyes and see… the same sweet and beseeching quality that we hear in “Alfie:”

*******

I believe in love, Alfie.

Without true love, we just exist, Alfie.

Until you find the love you’ve missed,

You’re nothing, Alfie.

*******

Yes, without love we are nothing.

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