Oh by the way in case you don't all know Xgh has started his fifth (i think)blog. It's called Ortho Modern Dox (Because he's Ortho-prax with Modern "Doxes")This time it ain't anonymous (was there anyone who didn't know who he was already?) It should be enjoyable and I wish him Haztlacha Rabba!
A while back commenter J on Modern Orthoprax (that blog hasn't YET been deleted but I'm not holding my breath given GS's blogocidal tendencies) summed up the different views on TMS rather well here is his comments mixed together with Moshe's comments with a little bit thrown in from THIS great website. Feel free to add your opinions about different views and tell me if I missed or misunderstood any views. Enjoy!
1) TMS is true (Orthodox - use Breuer/Etshalom/Slifkin to make it work - Orthodox halacha is obligatory).
SH: Well you know all the problems with this no need to elaborate. (But I will in the future as I have in the past) Let's just put it this way it is highly unlikely that God wrote our text assuming God writes perfect books because sorry folks the Pentateuch is cool and everything but it's not really perfect. Also out of all of the options this is the only one which MUST reject literary analysis of the Torah.
2) TMS is true, but the text we have is not pristine. It represents a reconstruction of the original text by Ezra. This explains some divergences between the oral law and our written text. The oral law better reflects the pristine text [R. D. Weiss-Halivni].
SH:Sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory to me. To be fair I've never read Halivni's book on the matter. From what I understand this approach basically says the DH = Ezra struggling to put together a bunch of fragments to reconstruct the Torah.Kind of misleading of God to let the REAL Torah get lost Oh Well!
3) TMS is true, in the sense that the there was a divinely revealed content which Moshe, and other prophets, wrote down. But they were not just "secretaries taking dictation". The personality and the concerns of the prophet are reflected in the text. Thus, the Torah contains both a human and a divine element, inextricably linked. [R. AJ Heschel].
SH: I kinda like this (when I'm in a less skeptical mood). As a matter of fact I personally know some of the Rabbis at Yeshivat Maaleh Gilboa (a LWMO Yeshiva in Israel) basically advocate this (although I doubt in public). Its the best you'll get Orthodox Jews to admit to.
4) TMS isn't literally true, but the Torah is still divinely inspired, and therefore halacha-lite obligates us, except when we don't like it. (Conservative).
Subcategories based on what "divine inspiration" is
A)Divine Inspiration means God kind of puts thoughts into peoples heads and the person writes down his interpretation.These people claim that God inspired human beings with a specific message.
SH: I think this approach is ultimately empty semantics. Divine inspiration is one those phrases which means very little. Think of DovBear's recent rant against people discussing "spirituality". What the hell is spirituality and what the hell is "divine inspiration." Sounds like schizophrenia to me. On the other hand I guess God talking in the Orthodox way is also kind of meaningless (since God is probably incorporeal and what not)
B)Divine Inspiration means people wrote down what they thought about this God who kept appearing to them. The only inspiration is that works written by these people who had some connection to God are worth listening to because these prophets used to chat to God. These people maintain that God inspired people with His presence by coming into contact with them, but He did not reveal concrete instructions through the inspiration.
SH: This I can sorta deal with. God doesn't write books people do. How people are "encountering" still God beats me though.
5) TMS isn't true at all, but the decision of Jews to accept the 'four assumptions' was divinely guided, and therefore the text has magic fairy dust sprinkled on it to make it retroactively divine. (Kugel)
SH: Kugel basically argues with people like Nahum Sarna and Umberto Cassuto who go to great lengths to explain how every Biblical story has some sort of ethical message. Kugel basically says that that is complete rubbish and the stories in the Bible have Zero inherent ethical message and are purely etiological. He however says that these stories underwent some sort of transformation when later interpreters began treating them like ethical/meaningful stories. (Pixie dust basically)
The last five are all well and good except there is zero logical reason to believe any of them over 6 except that you feel like it.
6) TMS isn't true, but is rather a record of Jews reaching out to God, and has some divine qualities. We can take what we like, and abandon what we don't. (Reform)
SH:Hmmmm might as well just go with 7
7) TMS is not true. There's no reason to think that there is a celestial being who cares particularly about humans.
SH: I gotta say if you gotta decide logically between a Deist God and a Monotheistic intervening God who slips books into people's hands and thoughts into people's heads I'd go with the former but that's just my opinion if you feel that God is immanent in your life then gezunte heit think what you want (And that's assuming there is ANY God.)
If you decide that TMS is in fact absolutely completely not true there are various ways of treating the Bible
1. The Tanach is nasty, evil, hokum, which is immoral and still makes the world a worse place - we should keep telling everyone this till they realise we are right (New Atheists).
SH:These guys just annoy me. The Bible is no more "evil" than any other ancient text. People back in the day were just violent blood thirsty bastards PERIOD. It only becomes "evil" when people nowadays take it too seriously. Dawkins and Hitchens should be busy fighting fundamentalism not religion. I guess they figure the two go hand in hand.
2. Tanach is a product of its time, represents great literature (in part), nothing Godly about it, but it is, for Jews, a record of their history and culture, therefore it should be preserved and celebrated without informing any of our moral decisions. (Humanistic Judaism).
SH:Amen! Basically Secular Cultural Zionism.
3. Tanach is completely irrelevant to my life, I have the same feelings about it as I do about the New Testament. Completely man made, but why should I care? (Most others).
SH: I think the Bible is pretty interesting but that's just me. (Except for Iyov!!! Iyov is just depressing AND boring and once I'm at it Eicha is pretty boring as well as Tehillim)
Well thats a summary maybe I'll go B'Iyun one day if I can keep my head in one place.
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