I'm exchanging email with Winston Pickett, a PhD in Bible who's worked extensively as a Jewish journalist. He now works at a thinktank in London.
My dad left journalism at age 16 when he became religious. He thought journalists to be an immoral bunch. My dad went on to get two PhDs, one in Bible at Manchester University.
Are there any other Jewish journalists with PhDs in Bible? Did your knowledge of Higher Criticism help you with your journalism?
I'm serious. As an amateur student of the HC, I find it helps me greatly in my journalism in life.
I'm skeptical of things people tell me unless they go against the tendenz (the propaganda and vision of themselves they push). As George Orwell put it, the only parts of an autobiography you should believe are the the shameful.
I constantly ask: Who said this? When was it said? Who was the primary audience?
I love the work of popularizer Hyam Maccoby (who wrote books giving a Jewish view of the origins of Christianity in Hellenic paganism).
How can I believe in Higher Criticism and in Orthodox Judaism? I acknowledge they are mutually exclusive.
I study Higher Criticism without giving veto power to the tenets of my religion. I practice my religion as though there was no secular scholarship that challenged its truths.
This is not so radical. A famous 19th Century rebbe said you should be an atheist when it comes to helping the needy. You should help as if there were no God to help.
