#2562 - Dan McClellan

Biblical scholarship, linguistics, and cognitive science reveal that religious texts are complex historical artifacts shaped by political propaganda, evolving traditions, and human psychology rather than static, literal divine revelations. Biblical narratives often reflect specific historical contexts—such as the Babylonian exile or the influence of neighboring cultures like Egypt and Ugarit—rather than being purely original accounts. The "accident of preservation" and the evolution of canonization demonstrate that religious texts were frequently edited, added to, or omitted over centuries to serve shifting community needs. Human cognitive biases, such as the sensitivity to agency and the desire for order, drive the development of religious structures and the "eye in the sky" monitoring concept. Bible scholar Dan McClellan illustrates these dynamics through examples like the *Kuntillet Ajrud* pottery inscription, the *Enuma Elish* parallels in Genesis, and the *Shanidar 1* Neanderthal remains as evidence of early human empathy.