Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Genesis Flood Narrative An Eyewitness Account



by

 Damien F. Mackey

 
 

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This, the case of the Flood narrative in Genesis, being the beginning of JEDP theory, gives us a perfect view of how right the documentists could actually be (recognizing sources involved), whilst yet - at the same time - being pitifully wrong (positing various post-Mosaïc sources).

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That the Book of Genesis shows every evidence of having been derived from various sources, at least in part, none but the very obstinate, or excessively pious, would deny. The clever pair of I. Kikawada and A. Quinn (Before Abraham Was. A Provocative Challenge to the Documentary Hypothesis, Ignatius Press, 1989), who were able to prove against the JEDP documentary theorists that Genesis is in fact a unity, nevertheless regarded it as “mere polemic”, as they write, to dismiss the claims of the documentists out of hand, without giving them a hearing; or, more especially, without being prepared to confront the JEDP assertions in the process of one’s arguing for an alternative.

That is why I found quite unrealistic a paper sent to me for evaluation; an article written in French in which the author attempted to uphold a traditional view that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch (or first five books of the Bible). This paper seemed to be proposing (as far as my knowledge of French would allow me to grasp it) a blanket view of this tradition: namely, that Moses wrote every single word of the entire Pentateuch, even the account of his own death. And that no extra-Mosaïc sources whatsoever were involved (whether pre- or post-Moses).

My own view, based on the tradition of substantial Mosaïc authorship of the Pentateuch, is that, whilst Moses substantially wrote the books of Exodus to Deuteronomy, he was the editor or compiler, not author, of Genesis.

P. J. Wiseman (Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis. A Case For Literary Unity, Thomas Nelson, 1985) would come to the firm conclusion that the Book of Genesis itself gave clear evidence of its having been written on tablets according to the most ancient scribal methods, with 11 colophon divisions (the very key to the structure of the book, see his ch. V), also catch-lines and, in places, parallelism. {Kikawada and Quinn, in ch. III, have also pointed to parallelism - adding to that chiastic structure that Wiseman does not address - to explain the complexities of Genesis 1, though they have completely missed out on the Wisemanian notion that this is evidence for ancient tablets}.

Wiseman concluded that the sources that comprised Genesis were determinable from the names featured in the colophon divisions (like signatures at the end of each section), basically the names of the biblical patriarchs from Adam to Jacob; that these were ‘family histories’ (Hebrew, toledôt). Genesis was in fact the history of the great pre-Mosaïc patriarchs. Moses was the compiler or editor of this, his family history collection going right back to antediluvian antiquity.

The first tablet series, however, has no human name in the colophon, only God. Was this a direct revelation by the Creator to the creature?

Wiseman did what many who approach a literary study of the Bible fail to do, including the documentists and even the astute Kikawada and Quinn. He read (with expert help) the entire Book of Genesis from the point of view of an ancient scribe, not from a modern Western point of view. And that is why he was so successful in unravelling the structure of the book and writing an even more compelling argument for literary unity in Genesis than Kikawada and Quinn could possibly hope to have achieved.

P.J. Wiseman, being an amateur, could easily be dismissed by critics for that reason. Hence sometimes I think that it was a pity that his brilliant son, Donald (D. J.), did not develop his father’s ground-breaking work, though he did edit, and wrote the Foreword to, Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis, a single volume presentation of his late father’s 1936 study, New Discoveries in Babylonia about Genesis. “Ancient Records ...” was published as D. J. wrote: “In response to a growing number of requests …”. Perhaps D. J. thought that his father had done so complete a job and that there was no necessity for him to try to improve upon it, except for some minor editing.

 

Sources for the Original Flood Narrative 

 

What was P. J. Wiseman’s special insight?

All of a sudden he, having been an eye-witness to the birth of the ‘new science’ (archaeology) that would sweep away the very foundations of the documentary theory, can point to the documents that comprise Genesis and say who owned (or perhaps wrote) them. He could say, for instance, that this part of Genesis was Adam’s history, or that this one was Noah’s, and that this belonged to the three sons of Noah, recording their eye-witness account of the Great Flood.

 

Wait a minute, did I just say that one of the toledôt ‘family histories’ belonged to 3 persons? Even to 3 persons who had eye-witnessed the Flood?

 

But, now, isn’t this exactly where the documentary theory first began, when the French physician Jean Astruc (C17th AD) thought that he had discerned multiple versions of the Flood in Genesis?

 

Description: http://www.herpes.ru/her/pat/gh/dis/louisXV.jpg

 

Here is what biblical expert R. K. Harrison (himself a great promoter of P. J. Wiseman’s toledôt theory) has had to say about Astruc, and how close to the truth of the matter the Frenchman had actually come (Preface to Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis):

 

Only in the seventeenth century did serious questions begin to be raised about the composition of Genesis, and even these dealt with source criticism rather than with the author himself. Thus Jean Astruc (1684-1766) published an anonymous work which maintained that the material in Genesis had been transmitted either in written or oral form up to the time of Moses, and that he organized these ancient sources by making a chronological narrative out of them.

Astruc was probably much closer to the truth of the matter than he realized. Had he been in possession of information that has since come to light, he could well have performed a valuable service to the scholarly community and others in isolating or characterizing the underlying literary sources of Genesis. But having no option save to speculate, he marred his observations from the beginning by speaking of “duplicate narratives” of the Creation and the Flood in Genesis.

Even a casual observation of the material involved shows that the sections are not in fact duplicates, but constitute passages in which the longer accounts represent expansions of summary statements, as for example in connection with the creation of humanity (Gen. 1:27 and 2:7-23).

[End of quote]

 

While Harrison may well be right in his last comment, I think that his rejection of any notion of “duplicate narratives” in the Flood account is unrealistic. Astruc was, I believe, perfectly correct in this regard, since the account of the Flood was probably co-written by Noah’s 3 sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth (one could even add Noah’s partial account to make 4).

 

  Tablet 
  Starting Verse 
  Ending Verse 
  Owner or  Writer 
 1
 Genesis 1:1
 Genesis 2:4a
  God Himself (?)
 2
 Genesis 2:4b
 Genesis 5:1a
  Adam
 3
 Genesis 5:1b
 Genesis 6:9a
  Noah
 4
 Genesis 6:9b
 Genesis 10:1a
  Shem, Ham & Japheth 
 5
 Genesis 10:1b
 Genesis 11:10a
  Shem
 6
 Genesis 11:10b
 Genesis 11:27a
  Terah
 7
 Genesis 11:27b
 Genesis 25:19a
  Isaac
 8
 Genesis 25:12
 Genesis 25:18
  Ishmael, through Isaac
 9
 Genesis 25:19b
 Genesis 37:2a
  Jacob
 10
 Genesis 36:1
 Genesis 36:43
  Esau, through Jacob
 11
 Genesis 37:2b
 Exodus 1:6
  Jacob’s 12 sons

 


 

On the basis of Wiseman, the Flood narrative was not therefore written, as the documentists would claim, by un-connected writers scattered down through the centuries, one writer tending to prefer to use Elohim for God, hence the E document, exhibiting less familiarity with God than another who used Jehovah (in German), hence the J document. No they were written all at once, contemporaneously, by perhaps the three sons of Noah (though the general consensus, as we shall see, seems to be 2, not 3, distinct narratives here).

Thanks to Wiseman’s findings, one ought no longer have any difficulty at all in answering queries from the documentists - for all is quite naturally accounted for by his Toledoth theory. Chapter 7 of Genesis is part of Tablet (series) 4, written, or owned, by Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and signed by them. Their story is taken up almost entirely with the account of the Flood of which they were eyewitnesses.

Jean Astruc, who claimed to have discerned "three accounts" of the Flood story, instanced in support of his claim such repetitious passages as:

 

Genesis Chapter 7,

 

18: "And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth".

19: "And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth".

20: "Fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail".

 

Also:

 

21: "And all flesh died that moved upon the face of the earth".

22: "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life and all that was in the dry land died".

23: "And every living substance was destroyed".

 

In regard to Astruc's theory, then, it is sufficient here to note with Wiseman "two significant facts":

 

Firstly, the conclusion of the tablet informs us that more than one person was connected with the writings of the narrative, "for it is the history of the three sons of Noah".

 

Secondly, an examination of the story reveals every indication that it was written by several eyewitnesses of the cataclysm.

 

The documentists have given considerable attention to the Flood narrative, thinking that the Hebrews would have borrowed it from the Babylonian mythology. Although they have been quite correct in identifying multiple accounts of the Flood story; they have completely missed the mark when it has come down to identifying the actual authors of it.

This, the case of the Flood narrative in Genesis, being the beginning of JEDP theory, gives us a perfect view of how right the documentists could actually be (recognizing sources involved), whilst yet - at the same time - being pitifully wrong (positing various post-Mosaïc sources).

 

Speiser’s Contribution

 

Here also, however, in regard to the Flood narrative at least, is where the documentary scrutinisers may have provided a real service. Their analytical dissection of the narrative may enable some astute scholar ultimately even to separate from the Flood narrative the individual contributions of the sons of Noah (be they 2 or 3 as regards actual contribution).

But that may not be all.

Since another very useful possible contribution of the documentary theory, this time specifically in regard to Moses’s editing hand in Genesis, may perhaps be discerned in the writings of E. Speiser, I shall persevere a bit longer with Kikawada’s and Quinn’s account of the late source theory - still in connection with the Flood story in Genesis 6-10 - including how cleverly they thought Wellhausen had manipulated this narrative to his own seeming advantage. This biblical narrative certainly indicates a degree of duplication:

 

The narrator of [the story of Noah and the Flood] moves easily back and forth from Elohim to Yahweh, from an imminently anthropomorphic God to a supremely transcendent lawgiver, from formulaic expression to human drama. All the contrasts found earlier between separate sections are here together in a single story of considerable charm and power. The documentary hypothesis drowns in the flood - or so it seems.

Actually, the documentary hypothesis had its own Noah, and his name was Wellhausen. Perhaps Wellhausen’s greatest achievement was to show how the Noah story could be transformed from a decisive defeat into a decisive triumph for the documentary hypothesis.

E. A. Speiser summarizes how this transformation was achieved in his own much praised 1964 commentary on Genesis: “The received biblical account of the Flood is beyond reasonable doubt a composite narrative …. Here the two strands have become intertwined, the end result being a skilful and intricate patchwork. Nevertheless - and this is indicative of the great reverence with which the components were handled - the underlying versions, though cut up and rearranged, were not altered in themselves”.

 

Firstly, here is Kikawada’s and Quinn’s impression of Speiser’s explanation [op. cit., p. 22]:

 

The last sentence of this quotation is the key to why the documentary arrangement at this point is not circular. The claim is that the two flood accounts, although patched together, have been each kept intact. Hence each account can be almost completely recovered from the received text, and each of these will have a greater unity and coherence than the story as a whole. The claim is clear and germane - and the concrete textual argument in its favor is utterly stunning.

 

Important Comment: Speiser’s observation here, that so impressed Kikawada and Quinn, may actually provide us with a very good guide as to the degree of involvement of Moses in the editing of Genesis (significantly more than I had previously estimated), with a fair bit of cutting and pasting of the original that he had before him, to achieve his own literary creation, but without however altering the underlying texts out of “the great reverence” that he held for them.

 

The interested reader can look up for him/herself the painstaking comparisons that Kikawada and Quinn now have to undertake between the Priestly (E) and Yahwist (J) accounts of the Flood, beginning on their p. 24, and how cleverly the documentists have managed to ‘secure’ these in favour of their own theses (especially p. 30). Surprisingly, after all of this, Kikawada and Quinn will not themselves make their own critical analysis of these documents, saying that this has already been done by a new generation of scholars.

Fair enough.

But Kikawada and Quinn will later use these very same texts to show that they actually comprise a unity, not only within themselves, but in the context of Genesis as a whole. Here in brief, is their reference to this new generation of documentist refuters, thereby excusing themselves from what they would regard as further, unnecessary literary toil:

 

Indeed, to tell the truth, we are not going to attempt an original analysis of the Noah story. Over the past decade the Wellhausen interpretation of Noah has been systematically dismantled by younger scholars. There have been at least a half a dozen important contributions here. Typical of these critiques is the one made (almost by the way) in F. I. Andersen’s The Sentence in Biblical Hebrew.

Sentences used in the present chapter cut across passages generally assigned to ‘J’ and ‘P’ documents…. This means that if the documentary hypothesis is valid, some editor has put together scraps of parallel versions of the same story with scissors and paste, and yet has achieved a result which from the point of view of discourse grammar, looks as if it had been made out of whole cloth.

What Andersen has done from his own grammatical specialty, others have done from theirs. Objections to a unitary reading of Noah have, one after another, been explained, and objections to a documentary reading - apparently unanswerable objections - have been, one after another, raised.

 

Again the authors may actually be, at least here in regard to the Flood narrative - and due to their application of modern literary techniques, whilst apparently lacking any familiarity whatsoever with ancient scribal methods (Wiseman) - underestimating the insights of documentists like Speiser, whose view they now dismiss, though still tactfully, as outdated:

 

Speiser was accurately representing the situation when, in 1964, he wrote that the documentary interpretation of Noah was established beyond doubt, much as Gilbert Murray was accurate in 1934 when he said that no competent scholar believed Homer the single author of The Iliad. The wheel has now come full circle in Homer. And anyone who has examined recent studies of Noah will find it hard not to conclude that it is coming full circle here as well. (It is a measure of the strength of the documentary consensus that these specific studies have not been used to challenge the hypothesis in general).

 

To read more on all of this, see my series:

 

Tracing the Hand of Moses in Genesis

Part One:

 


 

and Part Two:

 


 

 

 

 

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Three main strings of Genesis Flood narrative

Image result for shem ham and japheth

Most interesting that an article about Noah that I read recently would refer to “the three main strings of the [Flood] narrative” in light of P.J. Wiseman’s thesis that the Book of Genesis is a compilation of ancient family histories (toledôt), and that a part of the Flood account was written (owned, signed off) by Noah’s three sons (Genesis 10:1): “This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood”.

I wrote about this in some detail in my article "The 'Toledoths' of Genesis" (https://www.academia.edu/3501243/The_Toledoths_of_Genesis)
 
This embedded textual evidence for a triple ancient authorship of the Flood narrative plays havoc, I believe, with the cumbersome JEDP theory of multiple later sources.
 
Damien Mackey.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Patterns of evidence: Exodus. A review. A new film shows evidence of the Hebrew occupation of ancient Egypt.

Image result for patterns of evidence

by
 
Because of the wealth of artifacts, plus famous landmarks like the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, many people are fascinated with Egyptian history. Often, scholars use Egyptian history as a ‘clock’ to calibrate all the surrounding ancient civilizations and this same chronology has been raised as a problem for biblical accuracy—which some say has no solution.
The traditional dates assigned to ancient Egyptian chronology are being used to increase skepticism in the Bible’s account of history. If one speaks with any secular archaeologist today, they will tell you there is no evidence at all of any Hebrew settlement in Egypt, and thus, their Exodus from this country. Like the theory of evolution, traditional conventions are the ruling paradigm and are accepted as fact. These dates and the seeming lack of evidence of the Hebrews in ancient Egypt have created false histories—like seemingly insurmountable reefs upon which the faith of many have been shipwrecked.
 
patterns-of-evidence-exodus
Published: 15 January 2015 (GMT+10)
Because of the wealth of artifacts, plus famous landmarks like the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, many people are fascinated with Egyptian history. Often, scholars use Egyptian history as a ‘clock’ to calibrate all the surrounding ancient civilizations and this same chronology has been raised as a problem for biblical accuracy—which some say has no solution.
The traditional dates assigned to ancient Egyptian chronology are being used to increase skepticism in the Bible’s account of history. If one speaks with any secular archaeologist today, they will tell you there is no evidence at all of any Hebrew settlement in Egypt, and thus, their Exodus from this country. Like the theory of evolution, traditional conventions are the ruling paradigm and are accepted as fact. These dates and the seeming lack of evidence of the Hebrews in ancient Egypt have created false histories—like seemingly insurmountable reefs upon which the faith of many have been shipwrecked.
Let me say from the outset, as one who has more than a passing interest in the Bible’s history, and in recent times a growing interest in Egyptian chronology, I was skeptical that any documentary or film to do with this subject would be balanced. Most Christian books or videos on the subject usually pay homage to a particular revisionist’s view. It’s understandable though in one sense. The terms ‘Egypt’ and ‘Pharaoh’ are mentioned hundreds of times in the Pentateuch alone although the pharaohs' names are not specifically mentioned. Coupled with the alleged lack of any Egyptian ‘evidence’ of the Hebrews, it is an issue that has plagued Bible believers for a century. As such, when one feels they have solved these problems it may be perceived as a major accomplishment and one’s own raison d’etre can often be tied to same. But, sadly, facts are often shoehorned into one’s particular pet revision. I was expecting more of the same with this film. But I am pleased to say my fears were not realized.

The need for revision

Patterns of Evidence does not spend a great deal of time discussing any one particular revision of Egyptian dates, although it does feature David Rohl quite heavily as a consultant. Rohl is an expert on Egyptian history, and although an agnostic, he believes that the Bible’s account of the Hebrews in Egypt is real history. Rohl, in his books, A Test of Time: The Bible From Myth to History and Pharaohs And Kings: A Biblical Quest among others, strongly argues for a reduction in years assigned to Egyptian chronology. I had some concerns at the heavy featuring of Rohl (he was obviously instrumental in the making of this movie), because there are many biblical scholars who strongly disagree with his revisions as they would also affect traditional Ancient Near East dates. However, at the end, the film fairly shows that there are several people who have different ideas and revisions.1 In any case, supporting any one view was not the major focus of the documentary. It majored on whether there is any archaeological evidence for the Hebrews in Egypt during the time of the pharaonic dynasties, and that the need for a revision in time, in general, is a key to determining their presence.
Benjamin-Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister, Ben­jamin Netanyahu: “Moses was the great­est rev­o­lu­tion­ary of all time.”
Patterns of Evidence features an impressive lineup of scholars that includes archaeologists (both secular and biblical), historians, theologians—and it also features the President and Prime Ministers of Israel, Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu (respectively). The scene is set when both a Jewish archaeologist and Rabbi David Wolpe claim that the Exodus did not happen as written. Wolpe is the Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles (perhaps the world’s largest Jewish congregation) and has been described by some as one of the most influential Rabbis in America.2 The film posits the question ‘If the two great religions of the world are based upon historical events that did not actually happen, then what are the consequences?’ Are these religions, in effect, lies? We agree that the consequences of rewriting history are grave, because, in the same way, the creation vs evolution debate is not so much about science but more about two competing histories. It’s a premise that the atheists clearly understand only too well, and it helps explain why the Bible’s history is under so much attack today. Rohl remarks that the Greek historian Herodotus is regarded by many as the first true historian. He wrote about his own travels to Egypt, for instance. However, Rohl argues that Moses was the greatest historian and that the Bible is really the world’s first history book spanning some 4,000 years. We’d certainly agree with that!

A personal journey

Timothy-Mahoney
Film­maker Timothy Mahoney search­ing for ev­i­dence in Karnak, Egypt
The documentary records the personal journey by filmmaker Tim Mahoney. His desire is to find out the truth about those Bible stories that he had been brought up with as a child, and he confesses to being a tad skeptical at the outset. This is a trait only too familiar for those who’ve received a public education today and along with it a secular view of history. While in Egypt he encounters field experts who maintain that there is no archaeological evidence of Hebrew occupation or that the Exodus ever happened. Without providing too much of a spoiler, it is simply not that clear cut. This is because a lot of evidence that could very easily refer to the Hebrews is ignored or just dismissed from a chronological timing point of view. In other words ‘This mention of a people group could not be referring to the Hebrews because it is 200 years too early.’
This chronological timing error is due to the widely-held view that the Exodus took place during the reign of Ramses II (commonly called Ramses the Great). In Egyptian chronology and the Bible: Do the dates ascribed to the Egyptian dynasties falsify the date of biblical creation? I wrote:
Hollywood and popular culture loves to display Ramses II as the pharaoh of the Exodus in Moses’ time. One main reason is because Exodus 1:11 states that the Israelites built the store cities of Pithom and Raamses (Pi-Ramses). The latter usually gets associated with Ramses II (the Great), and thus, many liberal scholars use this to favour a ‘late Exodus’ date of c. 1267 BC.
And:
… we can determine the probable date of the Exodus from Scripture … A biblical text for the Exodus is 1 Kings 6:1 which says:
“In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.”
Most evangelical scholars generally believe the date for the commencement of the building of the Temple (the fourth year of Solomon’s reign) is in May 967 or 966 BC. This would place the Exodus at around 1446 or 1445 BC. To prefer a late Exodus date of 1267 BC, the 480th year referred to in Scripture would have to be allegorized.
Mahoney then visits the site of ancient Avaris in northern Egypt and meets with renowned Austrian archaeologist Manfred Bietak who has been digging in Egypt for over 25 years. Avaris sits directly south and even partly underneath the later city that Ramses II established, and Bietak says this city was occupied by what the Egyptians would call ‘Asiatics’.
Manfred-Bietak
Archaeologist Manfred Bietak at the Avaris site
Bietak (a non-believer) says:
“We uncovered the remains of a huge town of 250 hectares with a population of 25,000–30,000 individuals. These were people who originated from Canaan, Syria–Palestine. Originally they may have come here as subjects of the Egyptian crown or with the blessing of the Egyptian crown. Obviously, this town enjoyed something like a special status, like a free zone, something like that.”
In addition, they have uncovered 12 tombs of leaders (12 tribes) and a lot of other evidence that circumstantially seems to fit very well with the biblical account where the pharaoh of the day allowed the Hebrews to freely settle in Egypt. Their method of burial is also unlike Egyptian practices of the day. Bietak goes on to say that there is evidence of sheepherders having roamed around in the area. But amazingly Bietak then displays his bias when he says he does not think this is a settlement of Hebrews as described in the Bible because it is too early (if Ramses II is the pharaoh of the Exodus). It is an apt example of how presuppositions play a part in interpreting facts even in the area of archaeology.

The wrong pharaoh

It is true that Ramses left no record of a Hebrew people or an Exodus. But if he is the wrong pharaoh then obviously one would not expect to find anything. So, departing from Ramses II and rather than just look for evidence of the Exodus in particular, Mahoney tries to look for historical patterns of evidence stretching back before the Exodus, such as the arrival of the Hebrews in Egypt. And he finds plenty.
The method of compiling these standard chronologies shows their reliance on one major source, the Egyptian historian, Manetho, and it remains a major problem
In addition, the film highlights other circumstantial evidence that might support the biblical account such as the Ipuwer papyrus. This is a document housed in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands that possibly refers to some of the plagues of Moses’ time (although written from an Egyptian perspective). Again, this is rejected by the director of said museum because he believes it precedes Ramses II, and thus, is too soon. Also the Brooklyn papyrus mentions the names of some Egyptian slaves that are synonymous with Hebrew names mentioned in the Bible. But most significant is the mention of the nation of Israel from the Merneptah Stele, which was written very shortly after Ramses II’s death during the reign of Ramses’ successor, Merneptah. If Ramses II was the pharaoh of the Exodus then Rohl says this mention of Israel as a nation is too soon for Israel’s establishment—especially given the 40 years of wandering before entering the Promised Land. In addition, there was time needed to conquer cities in that land. However, the information on this stele is not a problem if the Exodus is moved backward in time from Ramses II as many evangelicals believe needs to be done. Most of the aforementioned items though are circumstantial and once again there is a lot of debate about their validity from other Bible scholars. This includes the Merneptah Stele, because although it mentions Israel some say it does not qualify them as a complete nation yet. The film highlighted how scholars outright rejected even the remotest possibility that any of these artifacts had to do with the Hebrew people, because it conflicts with established chronology, which is firmly fixed in stone (pun intended).

Where the traditional dates come from

The established Egyptian chronologies rely on one major problematic source; the Egyptian historian Manetho. This was discussed in my Egyptian Chronology article. It would be well worth reading this article to be more acquainted with these problems, as it even shows how supposed Egyptian history (gleaned from artifacts) actually conflicts with itself. But regardless, Manetho’s chronology is still used as the major reference guide for Egyptian history. And like the theory of evolution, nothing is seemingly allowed to challenge it.
For the same reasons that secular scientists will ‘not allow a divine foot in the door’, one cannot help sense the resistance that secular archaeologists have to any information that might support the Bible’s history. After all if the Bible’s history is true, it might mean God really exists and for many that is not an acceptable consideration.
One needs to be careful about jumping on the bandwagon of any chronological revision of Egypt that seemingly solves all the problems. It’s all too easy to be convinced before one hears any contradictory information. The fact that there are a plethora of views among good, Bible-believing scholars, only serves to highlight just how difficult this all is. Obviously, they cannot all be correct. And while not supporting one person's particular revision, this documentary clearly demonstrates the overdue need for a revision. For the Bible-believing Christian, this documentary is well made, worth seeing and should be an encouragement.
Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus will have a second showing in US theaters on 29 January 2015. See Fathom Events' website for a list of theaters.

Related Articles

References and notes

  1. For example, see David Rohl’s Revised Egyptian Chronology: A View From Palestine, biblearchaeology.org/post/2007/05/23/David-Rohls-Revised-Egyptian-Chronology-A-View-From-Palestine.aspx, 6 January, 2015. Return to text.
  2. Rabbi David Wolpe, America’s Most Influential Rabbi, 2012 (Newsweek), thelavinagency.com/speaker-rabbi-david-wolpe.html, 2 January, 2015. Return to text.
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Taken from: http://creation.com/patterns-of-evidence