This is funny. "It didn't happen, but it's still true." How do you manage to get out of bed in the morning?

To Tercel's post April 19 at 4:30 p.m.:
my post in this thread is not about "...one radical rabbi..." who is involved in the debate, is about archaeological data dug from all excavation sites so-far, giving us the up-to-date knowledge of history mentioned in the Los Angeles Times article.

Beyond the up-to-date historical knowledge through archaeology mentioned in the Los Angeles Times article and beyond the empirical knowledge so-far of the science of physics, the Bible, Hindu, Buddha, Tao, Koran, etc., are practical knowledge of nothing, they are mental speculations about nature.

Toto

I have encountered the idea that all religions are lies, but are still beneficial lies, in a number of places. It is a staple of Eastern religion, especially as adopted by the new-age movement.

The problem is that there are Jewish settlers now who are prepared to provoke World War III over claims to territory in the Middle East, based on their literal reading of the Bible.

This is not a beneficial myth.

Oh, you mean the myth that Christians destroyed the Great Library at Alexandria?
Bede, you just don't understand. I agree that aspects of the story are mythological. That doesn't mean its "untrue." It's still truth, just because it's not literal history doesn't mean it's not truth.

Is it? It seems to me that a journalist has got excited at this rabbi who has declared Exodus myth. The Journalist has then implied that there is a scholarly concensus that the Exodus never happened. Surely you know better to take a newspaper article uncritically?

Tercel, it's much more than that newspaper article. It's what archeologists have concluded after examining a whole lot of sites. Cities like Jericho and Ai had not been destroyed at the "right" time. There is no trace of a big wandering population in the Sinai Peninsula.

And why get worked up if the Exodus is about as historical as other legendary "history" such as the Trojan War?

About a year ago, Israel's largest newspaper had a story that archeologists could not, after more then 100 years of research, prove that the bible is true. I am sorry that I have not kept the paper. The bottom line is, the bible is a fable with a cause, not a history book.

Any luck on getting the Serabit el-Khadim information yet, Tercel?

This is an interesting point of view. I had always believed that (if there were a God), that he/she would deliberately destroy any physical evidence that could prove his/her existence. To permit such evidence to exist would negate the need for faith, and frustrate God's design.

Of course that line of reasoning just leads to all kinds of unfalsifiable scenarios, so it's probably better to let sleeping dogs lie....



[This message has been edited by Omnedon1 (edited April 20, 2001).]

There are also Muslims who wish to do about the same because of a myth related to the 'holy' places in Jerusalem (which is connected to their literal reading of the Kuran). This is beyond the point.
The point is, archeologists cannot find proof in historical findings. For example, I live in Beersheva which is called so because Abraham had seven wells (which is thetranslation of the name of the city). None was found. Oh, they take tourists to a well and call it Abraham's well, but everybody know it's not even remotely from that period.
There are dozens of such examples.
And don't believe anything you read in the papers - be skeptic. But they are sometimes a good source to start your own line of questioning.