User talk:Beckyjd

Asherah
There are two issues with your recent edits at Asherah. First, we are not entitled to change what the reliable sources say. We have to render precisely what they affirm. When the source says that "the majority of scholars accept..." we are not entitled to change it to "some scholars say...". Second, the Bible is a primary source and all research based directly upon the Bible is prohibited according to WP:NOR. We only rely upon secondary sources to say what the Bible says, in this case we rely upon Bible scholars who publish in peer-reviewed historical journals and occasionally upon books published by those who are recognized as authorities in the field of historical Bible scholarship. This is because the Bible can be interpreted in many different ways (see e.g. the endless quarrels between Neo-Protestant denominations about which church has the true message of the Bible) and interpretations based upon Sola Scriptura are anathema in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, so it is a violation of WP:NPOV to affirm as valid inside Wikipedia conclusions based upon our own understanding of Sola Scriptura. The role of Asherah outside of Israel and Judah was already covered in other sections of the article. Tgeorgescu (talk) 17:34, 19 August 2012 (UTC)


 * It may also be useful to read User:Ian.thomson/ChristianityAndNPOV. There it is explained how Christians should understand Wikipedia policies, in the light of their own faith. Tgeorgescu (talk) 17:40, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for your feedback. It was my first attempt at editing Wikipedia. Here's the problem: I clicked on the source and because it's a video, it's difficult to verify the "most scholars" claim. In addition, I researched other reliable sources that did not say "most scholars" but rather acknowledged different views. I had tried looking for the page where it said guidelines for using or not using the Bible, but couldn't find a page, so I cited it. I thought perhaps it would be allowed here since the topic directly concerned Israel and Judah. I want to make it clear that the fact that Yahweh had a wife is still disputed and is by no means "mostly" accepted, even if one good source says so. Beckyjd (talk) 03:35, 21 August 2012 (UTC)


 * The author of the claim is Francesca Stavrakopoulou, who is herself a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and does research about Asherah. She was trusted by the BBC as a guide to scholarly work upon the Bible. I would like to point that Verifiability, not truth explains Wikipedia's policy about sources. Tgeorgescu (talk) 19:35, 7 September 2012 (UTC)