I recognize that the Talmud has shaped Jewish culture, law and belief for 3,500 years, however I was basing my argument largely on the Torah.
The Talmud is no older than 5th century A.D. It's very likely that the 'oral' law on which it is based is earlier, dating from the time of Christ. The Talmudic Jews would have you think that it was a second law given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. I very much doubt this.
If you edit a ping into your reply we don't get notified, you sexual pejorative.
The Talmud originally existed as a spoken history, passed down from one generation to the next, long before it was transcribed as a book.
Yes, they say that about a lot of books, but that's a difficult thing to prove isn't it. After all, what do we have other than written histories of the transmission? Again, if you look at a lot of the traditions dating to the era of the written Talmud, you're talking about traditions that probably date from the first century A.D. I'd place the rabbinic tradition within that timeframe. It is very doubtful that the Talmud's contents were revealed to Moses.
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