Beyond the Bible: A Revealing Look at the Bible, History, and Myth from the World In which They Live.

BEYOND THE BIBLE

SMASHWORDS EDITION

By Neil P. Harvey

Published by Neil P Harvey at www.neilpharvey.com

Copyright © 2012 by Neil P. Harvey

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

This book is dedicated to my sons, Parker and George. I love you both very much.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 – The Bible is the Bible

My Myth or Yours?

Chapter 2 – History to Whose-story?

A Word about Hermes

Why Does It Matter?

Chapter 3 – Follow The Prophet

In Ancient Traditions

Chasing Hermes

A Book Worth Finding

Sacred Wisdom

The Tower of Babel

Chapter 4 – Egypt is the Place to Be

The Divine King

A King in Egypt

Verily, Verily

The Celebrity of Gilgamesh

The Cult of Tammuz

Chapter 5 –The Author of Monotheism

The Third Hermes

Chapter 6 – The Family Business

Understanding Canaan

Piecing it Together

Chapter 7 – As Above, So is Beneath

By Land and Sea

Apkalla-who?

After the Flood

Chapter 8 – Raising Cain?

About the Origin of Man

A Fantastic Tale

True Atlantis

Chapter 9 – The Sacred Name

Chapter 10 – Melchizedek

Chapter 11 – Counting Zoroaster

Chapter 12 – A Word about Esoterics

Chapter 13 – Final Thoughts

Out of Many

Conclusions

PREFACE

I suppose like many people I grew up in a house that believed in God, but we seldom ever went to church. I knew almost nothing about the Bible. I had heard the stories of David, Noah, Jonah, and of course many others, but I knew very little about them. I spent three years in catholic school, where I learned alot about math, reading and religion, but for some reason my religious lessons didn’t stick. I would like to think my math and reading lessons did, but I had a bad habit of not turning in my homework.

For years I thought the apostle Peter and Simon were two different people. I remember that I had a coloring book with Peter and Simon on two different pages, so of course I thought they were different people. I even argued with friends about it. Years later I discovered I was wrong. Why didn’t they teach me that in school, I thought. They probably did. I just missed it. The pressures of perfecting my video game skills outweighed my desire to learn about 2000 year old surnames.

Many years later I began to read the Bible. I knew the King James Version was one of the most popular, but I wanted to read it in plain English, so I selected another translation. Almost immediately, I was struck by how many quotes, sayings, and phrases used in everyday life were rooted in the Bible. I had no idea. And why would I? I wasn’t a part of a church and I had never read the Bible. I wonder how many people have? Casual Bible readers outnumber the scholars by a greater ratio than most church leaders are willing to admit. And of those casual readers, probably less than half have read more than a single book or two. This is not a criticism, but an observation: that most people who believe the Bible have not read it.

Historically, this was certainly the case. Bibles were forbidden to be read by all but the clergy in the pre-Reformation era. But you would think that at some point in the last 500 years we would have made some progress. One does not have to master Biblical studies to believe in God. However, knowledge once possessed, is power, which implies that a lack of knowledge is a weakness. The more we know, the more we help ourselves.

This book began as a quest to pacify my curiosity, and is now the end result of years of painstaking research. I have spent an innumerable sum of days and thousands of hours reading, documenting, and learning about ancient languages and civilizations. My desire was not to just learn about the Bible, but to also understand how the stories within came into being. What I thought I knew compared to what I learned is like comparing a country farm to New York City. I expected to find a quaint, nestled, rustic but orderly farm house, when in fact what I found was rush hour in Manhattan. But who is responsible for sorting through this mess? History does not teach itself, so the responsibility of learning is ours. We should all study to show ourselves approved... And as with most anything in life, with a little help from others we can do it.

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I did writing it. I also hope that you find it insightful. After all, it's what both Simon and Peter would have wanted.

INTRODUCTION

There is nothing more important to the field of history than a source; for it is the source that gives us insight into the past and shapes our view of events that would otherwise be lost. The integrity of the source, the verifiability of the source, and most importantly the content of what is passed along are all factors in how we view human history and the evolution of thought, society, and institutional constructs such as government or religion.

Sources vary, and which type you are dependent upon should be taken into consideration when trying to assess its validity. Firsthand accounts are called primary sources, as they were witness to events as they actually occurred. This also includes persons close to an event, although they may not have been directly involved. In research primary sources are preferable as they are often the most accurate, but not always, as some witnesses are prone to bias and extreme opinions. This can typically be confirmed by the tone, omissions or in the conclusions of a given author as he or she relays details about a certain event.

Secondary sources are accounts based on what another has gathered from primary sources. Oftentimes secondary sources are more critical and open to interpretation, as the writer is relaying information already passed to them from someone else. Some secondary sources are called tertiary, which means they are summations, catalogs, or lists made by people who are cited in another author's work. Manetho's work Aegyptiaca (circa 280BC) quoted by Josephus in his work Antiquities of the Jews (94AD) is a good example. In turn, these works are often cited by those who have come along much later; offering other variant types of sources such as biographical works, commentaries and literary criticisms.

A great deal of what we know about the past comes from antiquities own historians, who recorded accounts that they witnessed or learned about from others. However, it is important to note that many sources were written much later than the events they describe actually occurred. For example, Alexander the Great is famously known for his accomplished military exploits before the age of 33. However, most of what we know of him comes from accounts that were written over 200 years after his death. The only contemporary evidence that proves he actually existed is an obscure inscription he authored to resolve a land dispute. All other accounts of Alexander date to the 2nd century BC or later. A few biographers cite references which date to Alexander's time, but those works have all been lost. Those of us who come after can only piece together details to construct an accurate narrative of his life.

In large part the Biblical histories are no different. We are given glimpses into events without full context and pieces of a puzzle without instruction about how they fit together.

Why do you need to know anything beyond the Bible?

Do you believe the Bible to be a definitive account of world history and civilization? If your answer is yes, then you should consider why many world changing events – such as the invention of writing, the first Olympic Games, and the unification of China – have been entirely omitted from the Bible texts. The Bible is a book of history, but perhaps not ALL history. Of course this takes nothing away from its integrity, and it only brings to light that knowledge of events that are known to have occurred is dependent upon other sources.

In the spirit of this truth, I will confess that I have a great appreciation for Sunday Schools, Bible study groups, power conferences and the like, but despite the best efforts of many great men and woman, much of what we know of history is not commonly taught in our respective places of worship. Perhaps this is due to ignorance or naiveté, but sadly I believe the lack of resolute expository knowledge is due to the liturgical traditions we are all accustomed to. If you know little about Cain, Nimrod, Inanna, Melchizedek, the origin of YHWH, and how they all played a role in the histories of the Bible, then this is the perfect book for you.

Another reason for filling your extra-Biblical cup would be to equip yourself with a line of defenses that will help you identify, analyze and refute when necessary the arguments of others. Regardless of your personal beliefs, it is always better to be on the knowledgeable side of an argument, and facts can have an impartiality that is impossible to refute. This is why it is important to know them. Truth fortifies your arguments, and it can guard you against falsehoods. How many people do you know that have been led astray by half-truths, apathy, or the latest spiritual craze? Your ability to discern between truth and spurious rumor is a ready safeguard to use when needed.

A friend of mine once told me that any good argument is won in the footnotes. If this is true, then what I say here does not matter as much as that upon which I base my opinions. I have learned that reading your sources is more important than the person telling you what those sources say. Often what others say in books or in person is given after passing through the filter of their own bias. This is another reason why references matter. While reading this book you will notice that I have included my sources in line with my text, in hopes to provide you with both primarily and tertiary references, which you can then read and interpret for yourself.

Chapter 1

THE BIBLE IS THE BIBLE

What do you know about the Bible? Are you a Bible scholar? Odds are you have at least one in your home, possibly in your bedroom or on the shelf. Maybe it's covered with a fine layer of dust, or perhaps the edges are worn, the book spine is cracked, and the pages resemble a child's crayon box due to the overuse of highlighter. And if by chance you do not own a Bible, you've certainly seen one and have heard about it before. So what do you know?

The Bible is a collection of religious writings and authoritative texts for both Judaism and Christianity, as well as a host of lesser known religions that look to it as an inspiration. The Hebrew Bible is commonly called the Tanakh – an acronym for its subdivisions known as the: Torah (Teaching), Neviim (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings), forming TNK or TaNaKh. The terms are used interchangeably. According to Jewish tradition, the writings that comprise the Tanakh were first canonized by an assembly of priests, scribes, and community elders circa 450BC, and since this time it has remained relatively unchanged. The Tanakh was originally written in Classical Hebrew (also called Biblical Hebrew) with small portions written in Aramaic. In time the Tanakh was translated into other languages; the oldest being a translation into Koine Greek circa 250BC by a group of rabbis who created the Septuagint, a Greek language version of the Old Testament.

In contrast, the Christian Bible is a collection of books with only two major divisions: the Tanakh (which is the Christian Old Testament) and the New Testament, the latter of which is comprised of the Gospels and early Christian writings from the first century. All of the New Testament books appear to have been written in Greek, with the exception of the Gospel of Matthew and possibly the Book of Hebrews, which some say were written in Hebrew or Aramaic. In the early church many writings were circulated amongst believers, but the New Testament itself was not officially canonized until 382AD.

The devout see the Bible as a guide and a source of inspiration. Most read it to gain understanding, to reflect, and some even commit entire books to memory. The Bible has also proven to be an excellent resource for corroborating historical events from an alternative point of view; giving insight into ancient civilizations and the reigns of various kings such as Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. While these insights are meaningful, it's important to understand that the Bible's accounts are not all inclusive. Additionally, the books are not arranged chronologically, and the texts themselves often leap forward and then back by several decades or even centuries, shifting from one period to another without context or explanation. All of this makes the Bible a challenging read.

You may be surprised to learn that not all Bibles contain the same books. For instance, the Catholic Old Testament is comprised of 46 books, while the Protestant Old Testament has only 39. Those books that both Bibles have in common are generally the same since they come from a common source,