1. A stock argument for the composite authorship of the Pentateuch is doublets. Classified as alternate traditions or alternate legends.
I guess the theory behind this is that because each tradition had sacred pedigree, the redactors incorporated conflicting traditions into the Pentateuch. But does that make much sense even on its own grounds?
To begin with, don't critical scholars posit divergent theological stands and agendas in the Pentateuch? Competing schools of thought? So what would inhibit a rival editor from expuging a tradition contrary to the official version of his own sect? Why treat the competition as sacrosanct?
2. Also, even if we bracket the inspiration and historicity of the Pentateuch and treat it as just nationalistic patriotic literature, it's not like the exploits of Hercules, Perseus, or Theseus, where a bard collects all the legends of the hero, including alternate birth and death accounts. The OT isn't that individualistic. It's not centered on individuals. Although their lives are important in their own right, they are agents whom God uses to further his design for history. There's an overarching plot or unfolding promise and fulfillment scheme from one generation to the next. Prominent individuals play a role in making that happen, but the direction is linear rather than revolving around feats and foibles of an individual.
3. Is there a realistic explanation for the doublets? Here's a proposal. When something happens once, we rarely give it a second thought. Even if it's striking or unusual, it doesn't make a deep impression. This can happen with apparent answers to prayer or special providence. We think maybe that's the hand of God, but we also make allowance for the possibility that it was something which was going to happen anyway.
But if it happens twice, an uncanny parallel, that that really makes us sit up and take notice. That's not coincidental–that's providential! An arresting repetition, where implausibly similar things happen to us, is like a divine sign that God is working behind-the scenes. We discern the orchestration of events. Arranging things to happen in ways that wouldn't happen on their own.
Sometimes God gives his people loaded dice to play with. The results defy the odds. They keep throwing sixes.
I wonder how many Christians experience "doublets" in their lives. Things that happen more than once in ways that indicate someone is looking out for them.
There are doublets (and more) in the Enfield Poltergeist, and critics can't dismiss those so easily. Some of the relevant events were caught on tape, we have signed witness statements, etc. If critics were going by historical documents centuries later, like the documents we have in the Bible, they would claim we should be confident that one underlying Enfield tradition was multiplied into two or more events and that the underlying tradition isn't historical either. They would be wrong.
ReplyDeleteTo cite just one example, here's John Burcombe talking about a November 13, 1977 throwing of Janet that involved her landing on a radio in the corner of the main bedroom. Here's Graham Morris describing another throwing of Janet that took place 13 days later, on November 26. That's one for which we have a large amount of evidence, including some taped testimony from the doctor who examined Janet's medical condition prior to the throwing incident and administered the Valium she was given before the event occurred. I discuss the event and the doctor's testimony here. And 6 days later, on December 2, Janet was thrown again, first to one of the other beds, then to that same dresser where the radio was. That December 2 throwing was caught on tape, with corroboration from multiple witnesses who were present.
Notice the similarities among these throwings. Janet is the one thrown in each of the three incidents. She was thrown to the same highly unusual location each time. John Burcombe was the one who found her there on the first two occasions. And even though he'd experienced such an event about two weeks earlier, he was disturbed by what he experienced the second time, as the photograph of his discovery of Janet on the radio illustrates. (That's relevant to the popular notion that Jesus' disciples and other individuals involved shouldn't have been surprised, disturbed, etc. when they experienced something Jesus or somebody else did for a second time or more. The photograph I've linked above shows Burcombe's reaction the second time he found Janet after she was thrown on top of the radio.) There are other similarities among these events that could be cited: they occurred late in the fall (mid November to early December), at night, while Janet was in bed, etc. But these were three separate events, each of them fully historical and supernatural.