[OLD REGGIE]

Seven oldest Septuagint books are dated between 2nd and 1st century BC. What I don't understand is that you call LXX a 4th century myth but believe the NT is "genuine."

Septuagint "books"? Complete "books"? References please.

There are enough 2nd century NT manuscripts quoting from the Old Testament that differ significantly from the Hebrew (Masoretic) text. Whether these quotes represent Christian corruption of the Old Testament or a canon of an alternate version of the Jewish scripture is debatable.

I am not qualified to judge.

The existence of Essene's Qumran documents indicate that the Palestinian (Pharisaical) version of the Old Testament was not the only one, so the existence of alternative versions is not without foundation.

Once again - I am not qualified to comment.

On the other hand, New Testament books such as the Book of Hebrews (for example chapter 8 comes to mind) shows that Christian authors did not shrink from adding their own text to Old Testament verses in order to "harmonize" them with the emerging new theology.

Yup.

[kosta50]

Septuagint "books"? Complete "books"? References please

Both Josephus and the Talmud acknowledge that the Torah was translated by the Jewish scholars into Greek in the 3rd century BC. Jewish Encyclopedia further writes:

"It is not known when the other books of the Bible were rendered into Greek. The grandson of Ben Sira (132 B.C.), in the prologue to his translation of his grandfather's work, speaks of the "Law, Prophets, and the rest of the books" as being already current in his day. A Greek Chronicles is mentioned by Eupolemus (middle of second century B.C.); Aristeas, the historian, quotes Job; a foot-note to the Greek Esther seems to show that that book was in circulation before the end of the second century B.C.; and the Septuagint Psalter is quoted in I Macc. vii. 17. It is therefore more than probable that the whole of the Bible was translated into Greek before the beginning of the Christian era."

No serious source will doubt or expressly deny the existence of the Septuagint before Christ.