To: The Pioneer
Date: March 9, 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

I am an American born lecturer in Judeo Christian Theology at an accredited British University and Theological College (Midlands Bible College, University of Wales). I was educated in Judaism at Cambridge, Theology at London School of Theology (of which I am an honors graduate) and in science at Hebrew University, hence I speak modern Hebrew fluently as a published theological writer and my work requires a competence in biblical languages.

Like Russell Abrams I too am committed to an open exchange of ideas with free scholarly discussion in proper academic forums and along this line I would appear to subscribe to these kinds of principles espoused by The Philosophical Society. Such principles however inherently demand that such points of view be subject to critical scrutiny, be academically credible, and be represented in a scholarly manner.

In response to Russell Abram's reaction to a certain Mrs. Alnor's objections to remarks attributed to him I cannot address what transpired at a forum I did not attend nor comment on a film I did not see. I am however in a position to comment on Russell Abram's own published statements concerning texts and biblical languages.

To begin with Russell Abram's assertion that the oldest existing manuscripts of the first Old Testament Books (Pentateuch) are Aramaic is frankly ludicrous. Any papyrologist, manuscript historian, or biblical archaeologist will tell him that. The Qumran and other scrolls are Hebrew texts predating any existing original Syriac or Aramaic codexes or other major fragments.

Secondly, the text of Luke 19 is Luke's synoptic parallel to Matthew's parable of the talents from The Olivet Discourse. It contains no instruction by Jesus to kill anyone. Russell Abrams may have confused Like 19 with the Parable of The Vine Growers in Luke Chapter 20, but here it is not Jesus who instructs the killing. It is an analogy made in the third person referring not to The Vine Grower's Son (corresponding to Jesus) but to The Vine Grower.

Moreover , parable is a literary contrast in the ancient Judaic 'Mashal' tradition with what theologians call 'low correspondence'. It is not a narrative in genre and does not refer to actual events but is a Semitic simile and in no contextual sense does it contain or imply an instructive imperative for juridical execution.  It should also be noted that in Luke 18 Jesus is quoted as directly prohibiting killing (Greek: 'phoneuo' meaning "murder") .

My first background is in the quantitative science. I should not enter a scientific debate as a theological writer making outlandish pronouncements on an abject premise, and neither should a philosophy lecturer issue demonstrably bogus assertions in a field beyond his academic expertise viz. theology and biblical linguistics.

Based solely on his own published comments, I am compelled to conclude that with regard to the matters upon which he pontificates, Russell Abrams is not a credible source of information. Indeed, his published remarks would quite frankly get him laughed out of any theological symposium or disputation of which I am aware.

I also note Russell Abram's admission of his own misplaced statement as erroneous about 'debunking Christianity" as opposed to saying "seeking to do so". Therefore, I remain bemused by his ad hominum diatribes concerning her as her actions were triggered by what he acknowledges as his own mal-phraseology.

While I cannot critique the film itself, observing Russell Abram's statements regarding it, I would mention that in academic theology to "debunk" something is to credibly and fairly demolish the scholarly arguments for its historicity.  The two most academically prominent schools of scholarly opinion that are not Christian , the highly secularist 'Jesus Seminar' and Jewish rabbinic scholarship both affirm the historicity of Jesus and The New Testament.  Indeed, a formidable list of Jewish Professors who have examined The Gospels from a Judaic perspective such as Jacob Neusner (Brown University), Pinchas Lapide (Hebrew University), David Flusser (Hebrew University; recently deceased), Larry Fischman (New York University & member of The Dead Sea Scrolls Commission), and Gezer Vermes (Oxford University & member of The Dead Sea Scrolls Commission) all confirm the validity of the Gospels as Second Temple Period Jewish literature too compatible in its cultural 'Sitz im Leben' and in the linguistic Semiticisms underlying the Greek text to be a fabricated series of embellishments by the Gentile Church at a later date beyond The First Century. This is further archaeologically supported by The Thiessen text. In scholarly dialogue the term 'debunk' is a loaded term, and is not to be used casually. Russell Abrams is plainly not very familiar with the biblical literature upon which he forcefully comments and neither is he impressively familiar with manuscript history or Greco Aramaic and ancient Hebraic & Aramaic linguistics.

Judging from what he has written, it impresses me that it is rather the unqualified assertions of Russell Abrams that require debunking. Given the commitment The Pioneer and The Philosophical Society share with myself to open scholarly expression and critical examination in academic dialogue, I thank the editors of The Pioneer in advance for according their readership the right to have the plausibility of Russell Abram's comments openly reviewed by rival academic opinion active in the field in the very spirit of academic liberty that Russell Abrams rightly advocates.

J. Jacob Prasch
Lecturer in Judeo Christian Theology
Midlands Bible College
University of Wales (UK)

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