Naomi@//Several people here know the bible – and more importantly its dubious history - equally as well, if not better, than your teachers.//
I don't think so! They may think they do but they do not have the correct understanding.
As an example of an authoritative-sounding statement a Bible critic, said that the book of Daniel, considered to have been written by Daniel himself in Babylon in the sixth century B.C.E. was written much later than that. Why? One “proof” offered was because the book contains Greek words, and the critic asserted that these words could not have been used in the Book of Daniel unless it had been written after the dissemination of Greek influences in Asia through the conquests of Alexander the Great. Alexander made his conquests about 330 B.C.E.
However he mentions only three Greek words, these being names of musical instruments. (Daniel 3:5) Since the Greeks had close contact with western Asia from early in recorded history, how can anyone assume that musical instruments with Greek names were not used in Babylon in the sixth century B.C.E.? What a flimsy basis for querying the timing and writership of the book of Daniel!
Take miracles - many suppose that miracles could not have happened, because they lie outside the range of known laws of nature. Similarly, long-term prophecies must be impossible, since humans cannot see far into the future. Therefore any miracle must be a legend or a myth and any prophecy that was clearly fulfilled must have been written after its fulfillment. Many Bible students realize that this theory is wrong, since the Greek Scriptures, written in the first century C.E., record the fulfillment of many prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures, which were written centuries earlier. For example, the first-century fulfillment of all the details of Daniel 9:24-27 are recorded by secular historians.
Hence, some argue that the prophecies of the book of Daniel were fulfilled by the second century B.C.E. and that the book must therefore have been written then.