In an article published on the BAS website, the authors created the title The Exodus: Fact or Fiction? In it, they make observations about both sides of the issue.
The question “Did the Exodus happen” then becomes “When did the Exodus happen?” This is another heated question. Although there is much debate, most people settle into two camps: They argue for either a 15th-century B.C.E. or 13th-century B.C.E. date for Israel’s Exodus from Egypt.
There really should not be any debate. You are not going to find much evidence for this event. As K.A. Kitchen reminded everyone just because there is no evidence doe snot mean the event or people, etc., did not happen or exist.
It just means that we cannot find any evidence. Dr. Hoffmeier said in his book, Israel in Sinai, that trying to find evidence for nomads in the deserts is impossible. There is no material culture to identify who the tentpoles belonged to, etc.
The Exodus is not a matter for archaeologists or even other researchers. This event is a matter of faith. Do you believe God and his word or do you not believe him? Most archaeologists and even bible scholars do the latter.
They do not use faith and believe God but look to archaeology and physical evidence to determine if they will believe or not. Most do not find the physical evidence they are looking for so they decide God is wrong.
The instructions in the Bible for biblical events, our origins, and different people are to believe by faith that the Bible is true and all is recorded correctly. There is no command to go for physical evidence to prove something in the Bible is true.
The article we linked to above asks the question- So, is the biblical Exodus fact or fiction? You should read the article first, then go to the links below to read more information before making up your mind.
Believers are often attacked for not having a lot of evidence to support biblical events. Unbelievers often make unrealistic demands when requesting the believer produce physical evidence. They also have unrealistic attitudes concerning the Christian faith and one of those unrealistic attitudes is the ignoring of rational and logical explanations for why evidence is lacking for biblical events.
Take for example the story of Jonah, and the fish that swallowed him. Unbelievers have used science to investigate this story and often state that there is no scientific way a fish cold swallow a man and not digest it over three days. The problem here is not with the Bible but with where the unbeliever is looking. They look for a complete species of fish that is large enough to accommodate Jonah and other men and they do not read the biblical text correctly.
A Response to the Exodus Critics
Believers will, as time goes by, confront many people who either do not believe the Biblical account of the Exodus or are simply in opposition to it. They come up with many points to justify their position and sometimes it is hard for believers to refute what was told them.
This paper is designed to help with the refutation. Most of the points for the unbelieving side are taken from a lecture given by Dr. Ziony Zevit in a series of lectures titled Bible Stories:How Narratives Work and What They Reveal, for B.A.S. .
This refutation is not an attack on Dr. Zevit at all but simply addresses the points he raises throughout his presentation. His points will be the colour Red and any extra points from outside of his lectures will be placed in green. The responses will be in black.
No one is hiding any evidence relating to the Exodus. There is no smoking gun in the wings waiting to be revealed which would disprove the Bible and there has been no new artifacts or manuscripts supporting or contradicting the Exodus.
Everything anyone has in relation to that event everyone else already knows about. If there was something new, everyone would have heard about it as soon as it was discovered. Many people think that the number of Israelites leaving Egypt was exaggerated because there is no evidence remaining to prove that that many people spent 40 years in the desert.
#4. What is the Evidence for the Israelite Sojourn?
For decades, if not centuries, Biblical scholars have searched for and discussed the evidence that proves the Israelites actually resided in Egypt for the four hundred years the Bible records.
James Hoffmeier, in his book, “Israel in Egypt,” has this to say on Pg. 55:
For many, the underlying reason for rejecting the history of the Israelite sojourn in Egypt and the Exodus tradition is the absence of corroborating historical or archaeological evidence in Egypt. Recently, Niels Peter Lemche has noted that, “the silence in the Egyptian sources as to the presence of Israel in the country” is “an obstacle to the notion of Israel’s four hundred year sojourn.”
Thus, scholars are faced with a dilemma not unlike that encountered in Canaan with the absence of evidence for an invasion by Israel and have arrived at similar conclusions; the lack of evidence means the events described in Genesis and Exodus are retrojections of a later period and do not reflect historical reality.
Indeed, no one has been able to identify any unimpeachable evidence in Egypt, either historical or archaeological to support the biblical accounts of the sojourn and exodus events. To draw any conclusions from the current state of knowledge (or ignorance) would be to succumb to the fallacy of negative proof.”
But is this correct? Another examination of the Biblical record must be conducted as it is the only ancient document we have that records the events that led up to and include the sojourn. There is a reason why this is so and why we need to re-examine the only eyewitness account (the Bible) again to see why we cannot uncover some evidence for this event and then answer the question, What evidence are we looking for?
#5. Noah’s Flood Did Take Place
The point is in contrast to the Flood, very few people knew about the Exodus and would record it. Whereas in the ancient and modern world, about 500 nations recorded a global flood story. [31]
Also, the Exodus did not impact a worldwide civilization like the Flood did. Its location is mainly in Egypt, the Sinai and the
promised Land. Israel Finkestein has said in the past that any nomadic group that does not have a material culture would be archaeologically invisible in the desert[32]That fact hides the Exodus from plain view. The Israelites were
slaves and did not have their own material culture but were given Egyptian clothes, trinkets, gold and more before they left the country. [33]Any material remains would have pointed to an Egyptian
presence and not a Hebrew one.The Lack of Records
This is a common argument brought up by many who oppose
the historicity of the Exodus. In contrast to the numerous Flood legends that were recorded, we only turn up one for the
Exodus.
The Exodus did take place as God said. it is all a matter of if you will have faith or not and believe God. The quote and reference are for our book that is for sale on our books for sale page.
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