[Avodah] Open Orthodoxy, again

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 03:25:44PM -0400, Rich, Joel wrote:
: Is it the contention that simply by studying Academic Bible one has
: rejected the traditional understanding of Torah Min Hashamayim?

Actually, it's in the bio included in the paper I linked to, in
the section http://thetorah.com/torah-history-judaism-part-3

    Since my teenage years, I have been aware of the tension between
    academic biblical studies and Torah mi-Sinai as presented by some
    of my teachers. For years, as I was mastering my yeshiva studies,
    I put these concerns aside with the implicit understanding that I
    would return to them when I became more grounded in traditional
    learning. Eventually, in my mid-twenties, I signed up to study
    biblical history at Hebrew University.

    As I began my studies, I started to learn Tanakh with the
    historical-critical approach. As I deepened my facility with this
    methodology, I realized that I was constantly engaged in apologetics
    with myself, subscribing to readings of texts and theories that I
    would not be included to subscribe to if it were any other subject
    and if my beliefs were not at stake. This was intolerable to me
    since if I could not be honest with myself, I was lost before I
    started. At that point I made a fundamental methodological decision:
    I would compartmentalize my thinking for a while. When I studied
    history and text I would do so without any preconceived notions,
    no matter what the conclusion, and I would not let that effect my
    religious thinking until I felt I had a real grasp of the subject.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Nearly all men can stand adversity,
micha at aishdas.org        but if you want to test a man's character,
http://www.aishdas.org   give him power.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                      -Abraham Lincoln