Tuesday 17 April 2012

Excuse me Ms. Mazar, are you nuts?

Ms. Mazar and her special friend
The March/April issue of the BAR includes (p.20) a half-page feature on the "seals of Jeremiah's captors," uncovered by Eilat Mazar.  So far so interesting.  But then...
... now visitors to Edmond, Oklahoma, can see them at their world premiere at the Armstrong Auditorium.
Herbert W. Armstrong College provided support for Eilat Mazar's City of David excavations.
And there's a nice link to the auditorium website, courtesy of BAR.  The exhibit will, we're told, be on show through October 16.

Does Ms. Mazar, or the BAR, know anything about Armstrong Auditorium or Herbert W. Armstrong College?  Do they know about the separated families, their policy on medical intervention, that the college is unaccredited?

Do they know that both are controlled by the Philadelphia Church of God, led by Gerald Flurry, who claims to be "That Prophet" (John 1:21 KJV).  A man who writes: ""God's ministers must... lead God's people to magnify my office -- which is really God's office." (Royal Vision, July-Aug. 2000, p. 30).

Does Ms. Mazar know that Flurry, a British- Israelite, teaches that Anglos are the "true Israelites", not Jews.

Does she, or the BAR, know or care how Flurry's ministers operate?  Even down to telling their tithe-paying members how to make an approved cup of coffee?

Flurry must be delirious at the credibility he gains by being associated with Mazar (courtesy of the funding he throws her way), but does Ms. Mazar realise that this is a two-edged sword, and that bludging off Flurry makes her work look very shonky indeed?

Flurry knows we are judged by the company we keep. He gains respectability from the association, even if he has to shell out big bucks in the process.  Mazar loses, even though she gains cheap student labor.  Now the PCG gets to strut its stuff once again with the "world premiere" of these artifacts?  Incredible!

Giving comfort and lending credibility to high demand religious sects isn't a smart strategy for any scholar, regardless of the goodies on offer.

[A nod to the source - only to be known as Guinness O'Shandy - who kindly forwarded me a copy of this issue of BAR.  Cheers!]

3 comments:

  1. You can tell her yourself, Gavin:

    emazar@mscc.huji.ac.il

    You might have more credibility with your own credentials.

    Someone should tell her.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When archeological digs have the purpose of proving the bible, guess what the outcome of the findings will be?

    If you guessed "archeology proves the bible" you are correct. If you guessed actual scientific and unbiased findings that will take years and maybe decades to analyze, you will be wrong.

    Yep, Ms. Mazar is nuts if she believes the British/Israelism baloney. If she is too ignorant to know about Flurry, then that doesn't say much for her own credentials.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I couldn't help clicking on "How to make an approved cup of coffee". From there, there was a link to 'Sabbathgate 1888'.
    http://www.bible.ca/7-sabbathgate-1888ad-Kerry-Wynne.htm

    A long piece on 150 years of SDA doctrinal travail . You can see that since 1888 different SDA intellectuals - some key ones from Aust & NZ - disproved most their main doctrines and exposed EG White. Scroll down to see modern history of the fall of Sabbath 1980 to present.

    But it has had no effect; SDA membership growth is exponential curve to 17 mil today (only 6% are in the US however, where it is discredited by available web data)(no problem, send missionaries to countries that don't have libraries or internet)

    The SDAs, mother of all modern Sabbath sects, is bigger than even the Mormons who have 13 mil, with an alarming half of these in the US.

    ReplyDelete