|
Back To
NEWS
INDEX
|
Scholars doubt truth of Exodus
Some say story of Moses is more legend than truth
Saturday, April 21, 2001
Los Angeles Times
It's one of the greatest stories ever told: A baby is found in a basket
adrift in the Egyptian Nile and is adopted into the Pharaoh's household. He
grows up as Moses, rediscovers his roots, and leads his enslaved Israelite
brethren to freedom after God sends down 10 plagues against Egypt and parts
the Red Sea to allow them to escape. They wander for 40 years in the
wilderness and, under the leadership of Joshua, conquer the land of Canaan to
enter their promised land.
For centuries, the biblical account of the Exodus has been revered as the
founding story of the Jewish people, sacred scripture for three world
religions and a universal symbol of freedom that has inspired liberation
movements around the globe.
But did the Exodus ever actually occur?
On Passover Sunday, Rabbi David Wolpe raised that provocative question before
2,200 faithful at Sinai Temple on the west side of Los Angeles. He minced no
words.
"The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated
the story of the Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the
Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at
all," Wolpe told his congregants.
Wolpe's startling sermon may have seemed blasphemy to some. In fact, however,
the rabbi was merely telling his flock what scholars have known for more than
a decade. Slowly and often outside wide public purview, archeologists are
radically reshaping modern understandings of the Bible. It was time for his
people to know about it, Wolpe decided.
After a century of excavations trying to prove the ancient accounts true,
archeologists say there is no conclusive evidence that the Israelites were
ever in Egypt, were ever enslaved, ever wandered in the Sinai wilderness for
40 years or ever conquered the land of Canaan under Joshua's leadership. To
the contrary, the prevailing view is that most of Joshua's fabled military
campaigns never occurred -- archeologists have uncovered ash layers and other
signs of destruction at the relevant time at only one of the many
battlegrounds mentioned in the Bible.
Today, the prevailing theory is that Israel probably emerged peacefully out
of Canaan -- modern-day Lebanon, southern Syria, Jordan and the West Bank of
Israel -- whose people are portrayed in the Bible as wicked idolators. Under
this theory, the Canaanites who took on a new identity as Israelites were
perhaps joined or led by a small group of Semites from Egypt -- explaining a
possible source of the Exodus story, scholars say. As they expanded their
settlement, they may have begun to clash with neighbors over water rights and
the like, perhaps providing the historical nuggets for the conflicts recorded
in Joshua and Judges.
"Scholars have known these things for a long time, but we've broken the news
very gently," said William Dever, a professor of Near Eastern archeology and
anthropology at the University of Arizona and one of America's pre-eminent
archeologists.
 The modern archeological consensus over the Exodus is just beginning to reach
the general public. In 1999, an Israeli archeologist, Ze'ev Herzog of Tel
Aviv University, set off a furor in Israel by writing in a popular magazine
that stories of the patriarchs were myths and that neither the Exodus nor
Joshua's conquests ever occurred. In the hottest controversy today, Herzog
also argued that the united monarchy of David and Solomon, described as grand
and glorious in the Bible, was at best a small tribal kingdom.
In a new book this year, "The Bible Unearthed," Israeli archeologist Israel
Finklestein of Tel Aviv University and archeological journalist Neil Asher
Silberman raised similar doubts and offered a new theory about the roots of
the Exodus story. The authors argue that the story was written during the
time of King Josia of Judah in the seventh century B.C. -- 600 years after
the Exodus supposedly occurred in 1250 B.C. -- as a political manifesto to
unite Israelites against the rival Egyptian empire as both states sought to
expand their territory. The young Israeli king's growing conflict with the
newly crowned Pharaoh Necho, the book argues, was metaphorically portrayed
through the momentous and probably mythical struggle between Moses and the
pharaoh.
Dever argued that the Exodus story was produced for theological reasons: to
give an origin and history to a people and distinguish them from others by
claiming a divine destiny.
Some scholars, of course, still maintain that the Exodus story is basically
factual. Bryant Wood, director of The Associates for Biblical Research in
Maryland, argued that the evidence falls into place if the story is dated
back to 1450 B.C. He said that indications of destruction around that time at
Hazor, Jericho and a site he is excavating that he believes is the biblical
city of Ai support accounts of Joshua's conquests. He also cited the
documented presence of "Asiatic" slaves in Egypt who could have been
Israelites and said they wouldn't have left evidence of their wanderings
since they were nomads with no material culture. But Wood said he can't get
his research published in serious archeological journals.
"There's a definite anti-Bible bias," Wood said.
The revisionist view, however, is not necessarily publicly popular. Herzog,
Finklestein and others have been attacked for everything from faulty logic to
pro- Palestinian political agendas that undermine Israel's land claims. Dever
-- a former Protestant minister who converted to Judaism 12 years ago -- says
he gets "hissed and booed" when he speaks about the lack of evidence for the
Exodus, and regularly receives letters and calls offering prayers or telling
him he's headed for hell.
Many of Wolpe's congregants said the story of the Exodus has been personally
true for them even if the details are not factual: when they fled the Nazis
during World War II, for instance, or, more recently, the Islamic revolution
in Iran. Daniel Navid Rastein, a Los Angeles medical professional, said he
has always regarded the story as a metaphor for a greater truth: "We all have
our own Egypts -- we are prisoners of something, either alcohol, drugs,
cigarettes, overeating. We have to use (the story) as a way to free ourselves
from difficulty and make ourselves a better person."
Judaism has also been more open to non-literal interpretations of the text
than some Christian traditions.
"Among Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Jews, there is a much
greater willingness to see the Torah as an extended metaphor in which truth
comes through story and law," said Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, dean of the
Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los
Angeles.
Links:
Egyptology:
The
Louvre
You Tube:
Penn & Teller; The Bible is Bullshit
Stupid:
Reverend Dr. VanBuskirk
The Amaz!ng Meetings
|
|
|
Australian scientist faces excommunication from The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints
Published Thursday, July 21st, 2005
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - An Australian scientist who wrote a book saying
DNA evidence contradicts ancestry claims in the Book of Mormon faces
disciplinary action in a separate case that could bring excommunication
from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Simon Southerton told The Associated Press he's been ordered to a July
31 hearing before church leaders in Canberra, Australia.
Southerton's book "Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA and the
Mormon Church" uses DNA data to argue against Book of Mormon teachings
that ancient America's inhabitants descended from Israelites.
Yet Southerton, a plant geneticist in Canberra, faces charges of
adultery, not heresy. He acknowledges an affair five years ago, after
separating from his wife, but contends church authorities are using that
against him while the more difficult apostasy charge is "obviously the
major issue."
Southerton says church authorities never mentioned adultery when they
paid him a recent visit, instead bringing up his book, abandonment of
the church in 1998 (though he technically remains a member) and postings
on the
www.exmormons.org Web site.
Source:
http://www.hydroracing.com/24hour/religion/story/2570787p-10998185c.html |
|
|
Did Jesus exist? Italian court to decide
By P h i l S t e w a r t
ROME (Reuters) - Forget the U.S. debate over intelligent design versus
evolution.
An Italian court is tackling Jesus -- and whether the Roman Catholic
Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years
ago.
The case pits against each other two men in their 70s, who are from the
same central Italian town and even went to the same seminary school in
their teenage years.
The defendant, Enrico Righi, went on to become a priest writing for the
parish newspaper. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist
who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court
later this month.
"I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against
the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," Cascioli told
Reuters.
Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two
Italian laws. The first is "Abuso di Credulita Popolare" (Abuse of
Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or
conned. The second crime, he says, is "Sostituzione di Persona," or
impersonation.
"The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala,"
Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against
the Roman army.
A court in Viterbo will hear from Righi, who has yet to be indicted, at
a January 27 preliminary hearing meant to determine whether the case has
enough merit to go forward.
"In my book, The Fable of Christ, I present proof Jesus did not exist as
a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ's
existence," Cascioli said.
Speaking to Reuters, Righi, 76, sounded frustrated by the case and
baffled as to why Cascioli -- who, like him, came from the town of
Bagnoregio -- singled him out in his crusade against the Church.
"We're both from Bagnoregio, both of us. We were in seminary together.
Then he took a different path and we didn't see each other anymore,"
Righi said.
"Since I'm a priest, and I write in the parish newspaper, he is now
suing me because I 'trick' the people."
Righi claims there is plenty of evidence to support the existence of
Jesus, including historical texts.
He also claims that justice is on his side. The judge presiding over the
hearing has tried, repeatedly, to dismiss the case -- prompting appeals
from Cascioli.
"Cascioli says he didn't exist. And I said that he did," he said. "The
judge will to decide if Christ exists or not."
Even Cascioli admits that the odds are against him, especially in Roman
Catholic Italy.
"It would take a miracle to win," he joked.
01/04/06 12:35
Source:
http://netscape.compuserve.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0002/20060104/1235482036.htm&ewp=ewp_news_0106jesus_debate
|
|
|
Historicity of Mohammed --
Mohammed myth sparks outcry
Muslim academic says Mohammed didn't exist
December 23, 2008 T o m H a r p u r
T o r s t a r N e w s S e r v i ce
A noted Muslim scholar has provoked a huge controversy in Europe
by openly questioning the existence of the Prophet Mohammed.
The Islamist at the centre of the storm in Germany over whether Mohammed
ever existed as an historical figure says he is simply following the
conclusions of many years of rigorous research.
Mohammed Sven Kalisch, 42, the chair of Islamic Studies at the
University of Muenster and whose duties include training teachers for
the rising number of Muslim students in German high schools, has created
a furor by stating that in all probability Mohammed was a mythical
creation.
He told the Star in a recent phone interview that his research leads him
to believe that the three great monotheistic religions, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam have mythical origins.
German police worried about a possible violent backlash have told the
professor to move his offices to more secure premises. But Kalisch says
there have been no specific threats and he is far from being "in hiding"
as some bloggers and other rumour-mongers have claimed.
However, the Central Council of Muslims in Germany to which the four
largest organizations of the country's 3 million-strong Muslim community
belong, has stopped its co-operation with the university's Centre for
Religious Studies over the professor's stand.
A spokesperson for the council, Ali Kizilkaya, has said if the Prophet
Mohammed didn't exist then the Qur'an doesn't exist.
"This would mean that we would have to abolish the religion altogether,"
Kizilkaya said. "We are convinced the Prophet did indeed exist and that
the Qur'an is the word of God."
Michael Marx, a Qur'an specialist at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of
Sciences, has warned his colleagues that Kalisch's views will "make it
difficult" for German scholars to work in Muslim lands.
The traditional view of Mohammed is that he was born in Mecca in Arabia,
about AD 570 and died in Medina around AD 632. The Qur'an, Islam's holy
book, is composed of revelations believed to have been given to him by
God through the archangel Gabriel. There are about one billion Muslims
in the world today.
"My position with regard to the historical existence of Mohammed is that
I believe neither his existence nor his non-existence can be proven,"
Kalisch said in a statement. "I, however, lean toward the
non-existence."
He told the Star he holds the same position regarding Abraham, Moses and
the other Jewish patriarchs, as well as Jesus Christ.
There have been threats, campaigns for his dismissal from his post, and
dozens of media interviews, commentaries and editorials. According to
Der Spiegel magazine, a group of more than 30 German academics have
signed a petition supporting Kalisch's right to scholarly freedom of
expression.
Kalisch studied and practised law before returning to college to take a
Ph.D. in religious studies. He speaks fluent English, Turkish and Arabic
as well as German.
He was born in Hamburg of a German father and a mother of Mongolian
descent. They were nominal Protestants and when he began early in his
teens to follow up on the Asian line of his heritage he decided to learn
Turkish.
That led directly to an exposure to Islamic teaching and at 15 he
decided to convert. "I was attracted by the emphasis on one God instead
of a trinity," he says. "It seemed in many ways a very rational
religion."
But, he differed from typical religious converts to a new faith in that
he never stopped questioning. "Religion should never contradict reason,"
he says. "I could never accept any doctrine or belief that goes against
my rational mind."
Kalisch said he realized early in 2001 that when the same scientific
methods are applied to investigate Muslim claims of historicity as are
used on Jewish and Christian origins, similar problems arise at once. He
found that traditional theological positions soon collapse once hard
evidence is sought. He discovered there is as much "myth-making" in
Islam as in Judaism and Christianity. And so his current process of
"rethinking Islam" was begun.
Asked whether he thought his public airings of his findings will destroy
peoples' faith, he said: "It will destroy a literalist faith, a faith no
longer reliable because of reason. But, the God I believe in is not a
god of literalists. He is the Ultimate One. God doesn't write books. All
the various sacred books are the product of human minds and experiences.
They can be helpful but they must be interpreted for today."
Kalisch maintains non-Muslim scholars who agree with his hypothesis but
keep silent out of "respect" for Muslims are in fact treating them as
though they can't handle the truth.
"That's not respect, it's putting Muslims on the same level as small
children who can't think and decide for themselves and whose illusions
of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny one doesn't want to destroy."
|
|
New Improved Book of
Mormon |
Historicity of Mormons' "Lamanites" --
New Change made to Book of Mormon
B y A n d r e w A d a m s,
KSL Newsradio --
Thursday, November 8, 2007
| Prof. Trent Stephens (BOOK)
says this is not simply science versus religion. DNA testing
does not have all the answers. He says, "You may be descended
from a person 10 generations back, but the chances are almost
zero that you actually have any genetic material from any given
ancestor that far back ?" |
Small, but Important Change Made in Book of Mormon Introduction
There's been a small but significant change to the Book of Mormon. It's
in the introduction.
The old version said: "After thousands of years, all were destroyed
except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the
American Indians."
The new version, which will first be seen in DoubleDay's revised edition
reads, "After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the
Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians."
 Kerry
Muhlestein, BYU ancient scripture assistant professor, says it's not a
major change, but "in some ways, it may reflect that we weren't as
careful writing the first introduction as we should have been."
Muhlestein says the change makes sense. He says, "The picture of the
Book of Mormon and the peoples that the Nephites and Lamanites interact
with is probably more complex than we have typically supposed or
assumed."
Muhlestein says he doesn't believe it's in response to some DNA research
that shows the continent's early inhabitants are of Asian descent.
Article from KSL the original link is
here
[
in Spanish ]
AB--- I thought this was the most accurate book ever?
Source:
http://www.heartforthelost.com/2007/11/
|
