This is a review of the Biblical Egyptology course made available from the Universal Life Church Seminary. This article explores the Exodus from Egypt by Moses.
The question concerning the existence of evidence supporting the Biblical Exodus was handled in great detail within this training course. When I went through theological training thirty years ago, I was taught that there was positively no proof outside of the Bible that supports the Exodus. That was the accepted view among scholars of the day, but Dr. Federspiel has done a very good job of updating my knowledge on your topic, and I have felt convinced to be in agreement with him that there exists indeed substantial proof lending support to parts from the Biblical story. He did not give absolute proof of the Exodus, but there may be certainly an overwhelming amount of evidence that a thing approximating the Biblical story occurred nearly 3500 years ago.
Although I was advised that there was no extra Biblical proof supporting the Exodus, I accepted its existence as both an issue of faith and aided by the know-how the Bible had not been authored as being a fictional account but was attempting to be factual and was taken unbelievably serious by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Although I had been told that the initial eleven chapters of Genesis had been essentially tribal myth and was not to interpreted literally, from Abraham forward, there has been empirical support for the Biblical version along with archeological finds, has supported the facts very well. The numbers may well have been exaggerated, but there has been empirical findings in favor of the existence of the individuals as well as the locations referred to inside the text.
Because the Exodus is included inside the section in the Bible referring to the history as well as was believed by the Hebrew men and women as true, I have always accepted that the simple facts of the story were. That doesn't necessarily mean that I believed all of the events as literally heart-felt, as they were remembrances of individuals passed down through the centuries, telling of a heroic history. We in the modern times frequently exaggerate the exploits of our ancestors, and I expected no less from the Children of Israel, on the other hand in the basic facts, I at all times thought there has to be a general fact, which would include their arrival in Egypt several hundred years before the Exodus, as well as the leadership of a person named Moses to lead a group of Semitic folks out of that land. It did not have to appear the Hollywood version of the story to be generally real. There may have been a relatively small number of Jews leaving Egypt as well as settling contained in Palestine for that story to have gotten true contained in my intellect. Dr. Federspiel has convinced me that my assumption was indeed right along with something did indeed happened. Furthermore, even though it seems that a huge amounts of Egyptian history was lost due to internal squabbling, fighting, wars, and normal disasters, ample circumstantial proof has been found to lend support to the existence of quite a large number of Semites from Egypt who came to be in Jerusalem.
I became fascinated to discover that a staff was discovered in Jordan of Tuthmoses IV –Moses II, with writing of Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols and, at the time, Graham Phillips presumed it belonged to Moses. Though it really is not proof, it's a fascinating theory which I feel needs further analysis. Most certainly, it proves that Egyptian along with Semitic men and women were in contact with each other in the region of current day Israel .
1 thing that seems certain is that Moses was a true person. He is referenced by both the name ‘Manetho’ and the name ‘Artapanus’. Manetho had said the Egyptians were "troubled by calamities, in order that the divine wrath might have been averted, expelled the foreigners…their leader stated to have been Moses." If a pagan Egyptian priest existing three hundred yrs. prior to the Common Era had a record of the particular person named Moses who was kicked out of Egypt to appease the gods, Moses likely did indeed exist. Moses is actually a popular Egyptian name, not a Hebrew one. It's not likely the Hebrew authors of the events would’ve created the name from thin air. Just the fact that they ended up being in a position to come up with an Egyptian name for their hero implies at least a little knowledge of Egypt. To have an Egyptian pagan priest agree with the basic facts of that accounting was much more than an ‘interesting’ happenstance. It suggests the simple events from the story actually happened and had a significant impact on Egypt.
Remember that Manetho was sharing something that happened more than a thousand years before his time. We do not remember trivial things that occurred a long time ago. Some thing significant must’ve occurred. As a matter of fact, with all the proof of an Egyptian priest, I’m convinced the Exodus was a lot more significant an event than I’d first believed. My expectations about the Exodus were small. I assumed that a small number of people left Egypt then became settled Palestine. I really thought little of it in my mind, the onset of the plagues, having been the recipient of a liberal theological education. After evaluating the proof presented by Dr. Federspiel, I’m forced to accept the possibility that even the plagues (as reported as well as proclaimed miracles may have some validity. If the plagues had been written down and remembered for a thousand years in Egypt, they had to have occurred, and Moses should be credited for them.
Another thing, it seems quite likely the military defeat within the "Red Sea" may well have occurred too, as that could be a significant reason the people recalled Moses.
It is a tragedy that a fire decimated the Alexandria Library and that the anti-pagan fervor during the Christian era lead to the destruction of so many historical and important documents contained in Egypt. It is also too bad that early European Archeologists who were collecting samples from ancient Egypt ended up being so unprofessional that they ruined irreplaceable papyri codices and fragments. Because so much material has been forever destroyed, we will never possess the full picture of Moses and the Exodus. However, to say there exists no proof that has survived to present day appears to be far from the truth. We have a very lot of circumstantial evidence preserved by Josephus and Eusebius. Furthermore, there's possible archeological evidence being dug up today, though our understanding of the hieroglyphs will make it unbelievably difficult to interpret. With the passage of time and further practice on deciphering of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, it seems certain that the existence of Moses might be proven without question.
This fascinating 20 week program from the Universal Life Church Seminary is just one of many courses on all manner of spirituality, various religions, and personal growth.
Kevin is a student of psychology and spiritual studies and a minister at the Universal Life Church.