Any case for Chronicles being before the Pentateuch?

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neilgodfrey
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Re: Any case for Chronicles being before the Pentateuch?

Post by neilgodfrey »

ABuddhist wrote: Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:17 pm and my religious perspective is at odds with Godfrey, whom I hold in faint dislike because he has condemned Buddhism on Vridar.
Woah -- I am not aware that I have ever "condemned Buddhism" on my blog or anywhere else, in writing or orally. My recollection off the top of my head is that I have only had positive remarks to make about it. My wife is a Buddhist, after all, and I am still captivated by her beauty when I see her praying. That makes it even harder for me to "condemn Buddhism".

What is the post you have in mind?
ABuddhist
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Re: Any case for Chronicles being before the Pentateuch?

Post by ABuddhist »

neilgodfrey wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2023 2:20 am
ABuddhist wrote: Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:17 pm and my religious perspective is at odds with Godfrey, whom I hold in faint dislike because he has condemned Buddhism on Vridar.
Woah -- I am not aware that I have ever "condemned Buddhism" on my blog or anywhere else, in writing or orally. My recollection off the top of my head is that I have only had positive remarks to make about it. My wife is a Buddhist, after all, and I am still captivated by her beauty when I see her praying. That makes it even harder for me to "condemn Buddhism".

What is the post you have in mind?
In this post https://vridar.org/2019/06/09/i-know-i- ... land-when/ , you and I engage in the comments in discussion of the Buddhists monks' Vinaya, which you (as I iinterpret it) condemned. The Vinaya for monastics is an essential part of Buddhism. Therefore you, as I understand it, condemned Buddhism. But my interpretation could have been incorrect.
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neilgodfrey
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Re: Any case for Chronicles being before the Pentateuch?

Post by neilgodfrey »

ABuddhist wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:44 am
neilgodfrey wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2023 2:20 am
ABuddhist wrote: Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:17 pm and my religious perspective is at odds with Godfrey, whom I hold in faint dislike because he has condemned Buddhism on Vridar.
Woah -- I am not aware that I have ever "condemned Buddhism" on my blog or anywhere else, in writing or orally. My recollection off the top of my head is that I have only had positive remarks to make about it. My wife is a Buddhist, after all, and I am still captivated by her beauty when I see her praying. That makes it even harder for me to "condemn Buddhism".

What is the post you have in mind?
In this post https://vridar.org/2019/06/09/i-know-i- ... land-when/ , you and I engage in the comments in discussion of the Buddhists monks' Vinaya, which you (as I iinterpret it) condemned. The Vinaya for monastics is an essential part of Buddhism. Therefore you, as I understand it, condemned Buddhism. But my interpretation could have been incorrect.
Ah yes, I wrote:
I can think of nothing good in a religious rule that treats women as unclean/contaminatory by nature or as some sort of inevitable inciters of uncontrolled lust in men.
I do not like everything about Buddhism but I certainly don't condemn Buddhism as a way of life overall. I strongly like certain political parties and vote for them but don't agree with every one of their policies -- I even deplore some or one of their policies. I have friends I like while I overlook certain things about them that I don't wish to come between us. We generally love our families despite sometimes rolling our eyeballs over this or that about them.

Society changes and I don't think there is any place for a total preservation of rules that were framed in another age now long gone. I personally don't agree with the fundamentals of Buddhism and that's why I have no interest in becoming a Buddhist myself. But overall I find Buddhist culture and ethos, Buddhists generally, to be positive influences in the world. If I find some element to be offensive and incompatible with modern values I don't call for the baby to be thrown out with the bathwater.

I don't condemn Buddhism just because there are some things I seriously don't like about it. If I did that I'd be busy condemning most things in the world. Focusing on the good is a better way to go. That rule only breaks down when the bad is serious enough to outweigh the good.
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DCHindley
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Re: Any case for Chronicles being before the Pentateuch?

Post by DCHindley »

In college I took a "world religions" sort of course, and we learned about the legend of "the Buddah," how it had been theorized to arise from India and its indigenous religions (proto Hindu), that there was a TheraVedic school for those who actively sought nirvana through meditation with a strict regimen, and a Mahayana school with practices that the average everyday person can follow to reduce their karma and be reincarnated in a new body.

As with many "Word Religion" type courses, the quality and accuracy of the materials about any one religion can vary from textbook to textbook. However, aBuddhist uses the terminology I learned in school, so I will assume it was fairly accurate as a western look at an eastern religion.

I know in the earlier days of the Vietnam civil war the General who commanded the air wings during the French indo-china war also did same for the newly formed South Vietnam. His specialty was heavy and indiscriminate bombing using fighter planes. That general was a Buddhist.

In WW II, many of the Japanese forces and their generals were Buddhists.

But Western allies were mainly Christians, and that didn't stop them from acting in war, much like Buddhists did. In all cases, they found ways to reduce the dissonance in order to function. So I cannot judge.
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neilgodfrey
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Re: Any case for Chronicles being before the Pentateuch?

Post by neilgodfrey »

I mentioned above the statement I made that caused ABuddhist to perceive me as "attacking Buddhism". I should have added his own response from that 2019 exchange.
He replied: The issue is not that women are unclean, nor necessarily that they arouse lusts in men, but that monks must behave in ways, set forth in the Vinaya, that protect them from rumours about their non-virtues and help them to cultivate discipline.
I have some difficulties with that perspective, though I think I understand it well enough. The matter is probably best addressed in the Eastern Texts or General Religious sections of this site rather than here, if at all.

I only wish to reiterate that I find myself having mostly positive feelings about Buddhism in general and the way I see many devotees engage with their belief-system and related customs. I don't like the idea of separating oneself as monks but I respect those who see things differently. We all have our different backgrounds, perspectives and personal needs, and I respect those. My disagreements arise from my own experiences which are not theirs.

I once visited a Buddhist "Disneyland" type world with all sorts of grotesque models in blood-curdling poses to try to depict what Hell is like; I didn't like that, nor did I feel any sense of brotherhood with the monk at the entrance who scowled at me because I had not "voluntarily" donated enough for the privilege of entering the park of horrors. Nor have I felt any sympathy with the Buddhist Sri Lankan authorities and their treatment of Tamils.

But I find myself with a liking for ABuddhist here, and with other Buddhists in my online circle. I have no reason to "condemn Buddhism" per se and regret my statements have been interpreted that way.
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