12-29-2018, 11:47 AM
(12-29-2018, 08:46 AM)David Horn Wrote:(12-29-2018, 03:25 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote: Dude, King David wasn't democratically elected to be the ruler of the Kingdom of Israel. He was anointed as ruler of the Kingdom of Judah and was anointed the ruler of the entire Kingdom of Israel after a civil war ensued following the death of King Sol and his number one son in battle and the assassination of Sol's remaining son. I assume you haven't read the old version of the Bible or Old Testament.
All this presupposes that the Bible, in any of its forms, contains accurate history. The stories that we now call the Biblical books were not written down in anywhere near real time (assume centuries for the earlier works), what transpired and what legend has been created most likely have little in common. For instance, Jericho has never been located as a city, though a campsite near an oasis was found that seems to be the right place. Needless to say, there were never any walls. Likewise, Jerusalem at the time of King David was hardly a town -- certainly not a city.
Oral history is good at transferring ideas and poetry, but the rest gets pretty distorted.
The Kings of Israel were elected monarchs. The translators of the King James Version assumed that practically any leader was some sort of hereditary monarch as was their King James.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.