Alice C. Linsley
After thirty-four years of presenting aspects of my research on Genesis and engaging various viewpoints, I can accurately anticipate its reception by different groups.
It has not been welcomed by white supremacists because in their worldview nothing good comes out of Africa. Sadly, there is evidence of this racism in the writings of Young Earth creationists. Most of their books contain the Twelve Affirmations and Denials of this movement. Let us consider Affirmation XII.
Neither has my research been greeted charitably by black supremacists who insist that everything of value comes out of Africa. They would rather ignore the evidence that Asiatics played a large role in the spread of Horite religion. These people tend to argue that all peoples and languages have a common point of origin in Africa.
Black supremists are not to be confused with Afrocentrist scholars such as W.E.B. Dubois, Carter G. Woodson and Clyde A. Winters, all scholars who are concerned with archaeological, linguistic and genetic discoveries related to African peoples, their migration and their contributions.
White supremists recently took note of this blog and apparently have a bone to pick with me. They seem to think that only white people have contributed to the early development of organized religion. There is no arguing from facts with those who are dedicated to apartheid in America.
Nor will this research receive a warm welcome from Christian reductionists who insist on a literal reading of the text, an appoach that ultimately distorts meaning by imposing an ideology designed to make the Bible acceptable to them. It is clear, however, that the reductionists don’t agree. Some filter the Bible through Calvinism, with its emphasis on divine sovereignty, covenant theology and predestination. Others filter the material through the bestsellers of famous Protestant pastors. Many reductionists filter the Bible through the dispensational framework articulated in the Scofield Bible. This last approach breaks the single strand from Genesis to Revelation into numerous independent strands or “dispensations” in which the unchanging God changes. This would have been both foreign and anathema to Abraham’s Horite people.
Most rabbis have ignored the research, secure in their often esoteric interpretations of the Bible. Rabbinic myth weaving has penetrated many commentaries on Genesis, especially commentaries written from an Evangelical perspective. Evangelicals, especially the American brand, tend to think that everything written by Jews has special authority. Yet these myths make it difficult to discover what Genesis actually says about Abraham and his people.
Cohen gets one thing right: Abraham recognized God. The rest is nonsense! Abraham's nine sons are the progenitors of many peoples, some of whom are identified today as Egyptians, Ethiopians, Jews and Arabs. Cohen is attempting to sell the myth of Jewish purity. However, the only lines which maintained blood purity through exclusive intermarried were the Horite priestly lines and there are Coptic, Jewish and Arab descendants of those lines.
Cohen notes that "the rabbis of old imagined that Abraham observed the whole Torah, that Abraham observed all the commandments: He observed the Sabbath, he observed the festivals, he observed the laws of culture and food. He observed everything, not just circumcision, which is attributed to him explicitly in Genesis, but everything else as well. Because how can you imagine our forefather Abraham, the founder of Judaism, not observing the Jewish rules, not observing the Jewish laws? This is a wonderful anachronism, a charming conceit. But historically speaking, how could it be?"
The Genesis genealogical data makes it possible to trace Abraham’s ancestors as well as his descendants. This is the geneaological information that Dr. Cohen seeks to avoid by beginning the biblical narrative at Chapter 12.
After thirty-four years of presenting aspects of my research on Genesis and engaging various viewpoints, I can accurately anticipate its reception by different groups.
It has not been welcomed by white supremacists because in their worldview nothing good comes out of Africa. Sadly, there is evidence of this racism in the writings of Young Earth creationists. Most of their books contain the Twelve Affirmations and Denials of this movement. Let us consider Affirmation XII.
We affirm that all people living and dead are descended from Adam and Eve...and that the various people groups (with their various languages, cultures, and distinctive physical characteristics, including skin color) arose as a result of God's supernatural judgment at the Tower of Babel..."
The Tower of Babel story explains the division of related dialects into Afro-Arabian and Afro-Asiatic languages. This happened over a period of time, which does not exclude the possibility of divine intervention. The linguistic division occurred before Abraham's time. There are seventeen language families in the world. Each breaks down into hundreds of languages, dialects and sub-dialects. All the people groups mentioned in Genesis Chapter 10 belong to the Afro-Asiatic language group which originated in the Nile region and spread across Arabia, the Levant and Mesopotamia. Genesis tells us that Abraham's ancestors were Kushites, people of dark skin color, so it is ignorant and racist to say that skin color is the result of God's judgment.
Neither has my research been greeted charitably by black supremacists who insist that everything of value comes out of Africa. They would rather ignore the evidence that Asiatics played a large role in the spread of Horite religion. These people tend to argue that all peoples and languages have a common point of origin in Africa.
Black supremists are not to be confused with Afrocentrist scholars such as W.E.B. Dubois, Carter G. Woodson and Clyde A. Winters, all scholars who are concerned with archaeological, linguistic and genetic discoveries related to African peoples, their migration and their contributions.
White supremists recently took note of this blog and apparently have a bone to pick with me. They seem to think that only white people have contributed to the early development of organized religion. There is no arguing from facts with those who are dedicated to apartheid in America.
Nor will this research receive a warm welcome from Christian reductionists who insist on a literal reading of the text, an appoach that ultimately distorts meaning by imposing an ideology designed to make the Bible acceptable to them. It is clear, however, that the reductionists don’t agree. Some filter the Bible through Calvinism, with its emphasis on divine sovereignty, covenant theology and predestination. Others filter the material through the bestsellers of famous Protestant pastors. Many reductionists filter the Bible through the dispensational framework articulated in the Scofield Bible. This last approach breaks the single strand from Genesis to Revelation into numerous independent strands or “dispensations” in which the unchanging God changes. This would have been both foreign and anathema to Abraham’s Horite people.
Another group which has attempted to refute my research are East Indians who insist that India is the cradle of the ancient religions. Contrary to the evidence, they insist that sacrifice at falcon-shaped altars (especially powerful according to the Brahamas) and metal working came to the Nile and ancent Kush from India.
Most rabbis have ignored the research, secure in their often esoteric interpretations of the Bible. Rabbinic myth weaving has penetrated many commentaries on Genesis, especially commentaries written from an Evangelical perspective. Evangelicals, especially the American brand, tend to think that everything written by Jews has special authority. Yet these myths make it difficult to discover what Genesis actually says about Abraham and his people.
Shaye Cohen, Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy at Harvard, is the author of The Beginnings of Jewishness in which he portrays of Abraham as the first Jew. Reading Cohen, it becomes evident that he doesn’t actually believe this myth. During a November 2008 NOVA interview, Cohen admits that this view of Abraham as a Jew is of a “mythic kind.” He states, "So in a mythic kind of way we can say that Abraham recognizes God and that Abraham launches the process—biological and social and cultural—that will culminate in the people of Israel, who in turn will become Jews and the purveyors of Judaism.”
Cohen gets one thing right: Abraham recognized God. The rest is nonsense! Abraham's nine sons are the progenitors of many peoples, some of whom are identified today as Egyptians, Ethiopians, Jews and Arabs. Cohen is attempting to sell the myth of Jewish purity. However, the only lines which maintained blood purity through exclusive intermarried were the Horite priestly lines and there are Coptic, Jewish and Arab descendants of those lines.
Cohen notes that "the rabbis of old imagined that Abraham observed the whole Torah, that Abraham observed all the commandments: He observed the Sabbath, he observed the festivals, he observed the laws of culture and food. He observed everything, not just circumcision, which is attributed to him explicitly in Genesis, but everything else as well. Because how can you imagine our forefather Abraham, the founder of Judaism, not observing the Jewish rules, not observing the Jewish laws? This is a wonderful anachronism, a charming conceit. But historically speaking, how could it be?"
Dr. Cohen recognizes that the myth of Abraham as a Jew is not historically accurate. He then contributes to the inaccurate picture of Abraham by insisting that the biblical narrative begins in Chapter 12, with the departure of Abraham from his father’s house. In the same interview Cohen says, “The biblical narrative gets going with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. Abraham in turn Isaac, in turn Jacob, in turn Joseph and the twelve tribes, this brings us directly to the people of Israel and the covenant at Sinai. So Abraham is thought of as the first Jew, the archetype.”
Myth Makers Abound
While Cohen is not a myth maker, he does appear to support the party line on Abraham as the first Jew. While Genesis does indeed trace a line from Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob, it also traces the Horite lines of Seir and Esau, the lines of Ishmael the Egyptian, and the lines of Joktan the Arabian. Given that these ruler-priest lines intermarried exclusively, it is evident that some Jews, Arabs and Egyptians share common Horite blood. This becomes apparent when one digs deeper into the genealogical information.
The Genesis genealogical data makes it possible to trace Abraham’s ancestors as well as his descendants. This is the geneaological information that Dr. Cohen seeks to avoid by beginning the biblical narrative at Chapter 12.
It is impossible to speak of only one direct line from Abraham to the Israelites because Abraham’s descendants by his nine sons intermarried. The genealogical data strongly suggests that Abraham's first-born son was Joktan, the forefather of the Joktanite tribes of Arabia. This being the case, Abraham could as easily be described the “first Arab” or the “archetype” of the Arab, since Arabs are descended from him through his sons Joktan and Ishmael.
Other myth makers include supremacists of all stripes who have become more bold in the past decade. This is yet another sign of the times, an era characterized by angry bigotry and calculated assaults on reason. Sadly, the time is ripe for the Anders Breiviks and Herbert Schweigers of the world.
Young Earth Creationists are building a Noah's Ark theme park in my state. It will be a fun place for families and will perpetuate their ideology. They are not to be put off by the increasing numbers of Evangelicals who have bought into Darwinian evolutionary theory.
These are indeed interesting times!
3 comments:
I agree with this post. Especially the Rabinical attitude.
I appreciate that, Susan. Especially coming from someone who I know understands the challenges of unpacking the biblical worldview.
I agree so completely with your article, especially the part that says" "Evangelicals, especially the American brand, tend to think that everything written by Jews has special authority. Yet these myths make it difficult to discover what Genesis actually says about Abraham and his people."
A good example of this is a comment made by Glen Beck, who by the way should read your page before speaking. Glenn Beck says "he has no doubt that Israel is right in the struggle against the Arab world and cannot understand hesitant Israelis." Hesitant Israeli's as he puts it, well perhaps the Israeli's know some truth when it comes to genetics, Perhaps it is what he and so many Americans dearly need to learn is:
Human genetics does not support British Israelism's notion of a close lineal link between Jews and Western Europeans. Genetic research on the Y-chromosomes of Jews has found that Jews are closely related to other populations originating in the Middle East, such as Kurds, Turks, Armenians and Arabs, and concluded that:
Middle Eastern populations...are closely related and...their Y chromosome pool is distinct from that of Europeans. (Nebel, 2001.
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