Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
This week I continue to talk about non-biblical history and the deep problems with the compositional device methodology. In this case I talk about a discrepancy between two of Plutarch's _Lives_ that appears to be a real discrepancy--harmonization between the accounts doesn't quite work. But does it follow that a) Plutarch changed the facts on purpose, b) Plutarch's audience would have expected such factual changes, and c) Plutarch was using a known "compositional device"? Of course not. All of those additional conclusions require further evidence, beyond just finding a discrepancy between two documents. But the compositional device theorists don't realize that. They allege a discrepancy and move immediately to concluding a "device." What about far more natural and common types of explanations, such as that Plutarch made a simple mistake? These are skipped over. So it just isn't the case that a fact-changing device has been objectively "found" or "observed" in Plutarch.
For more details, see _The Mirror or the Mask_:
amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=mirror+or+the+mask&qid=1600272214&sr=8-1
Here is my 2020 series on these subjects:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe1tMOs8ARn0S9CsFG47bKjcYxsnHujhg
This week I continue to talk about non-biblical history and the deep problems with the compositional device methodology. In this case I talk about a discrepancy between two of Plutarch's _Lives_ that appears to be a real discrepancy--harmonization between the accounts doesn't quite work. But does it follow that a) Plutarch changed the facts on purpose, b) Plutarch's audience would have expected such factual changes, and c) Plutarch was using a known "compositional device"? Of course not. All of those additional conclusions require further evidence, beyond just finding a discrepancy between two documents. But the compositional device theorists don't realize that. They allege a discrepancy and move immediately to concluding a "device." What about far more natural and common types of explanations, such as that Plutarch made a simple mistake? These are skipped over. So it just isn't the case that a fact-changing device has been objectively "found" or "observed" in Plutarch.
For more details, see _The Mirror or the Mask_:
amazon.com/Mirror-Mask-Liberating-Gospels-Literary/dp/1947929070/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=mirror+or+the+mask&qid=1600272214&sr=8-1
Here is my 2020 series on these subjects:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe1tMOs8ARn0S9CsFG47bKjcYxsnHujhg
