Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Celsus · 11-30-2002, 02:40 PM

UK residents,

There will be a documentary on BBC1 about Moses. I expect it to be the usual whitewashing of history, but it might get interesting. FWIW, The Guardian (Sat) was worth the quid I spent on it just for this great review:

Quote:

The show opens, hilariously, with our Jeremy [Bowen] wandering through a CGI recreation of the Red Sea and asking whether any of this actually happened. He then wisely switches focus and starts taclking the easiest questions first - such as did Moses really get lobbed in a basket and bunged in the Nile?

Apparently, yes. Well, OK, maybe. Academics and theologians are on hand to explain that people often did rid themselves of unwanted offspring by sending them down the river. It must have looked like an infant armada - if you were a bit of a bastard, you could amuse yourself by standing on the banks of the river trying to sink passing baskets with rocks.

And was Moses rescued and raised by a Pharoah's wife? Possibly. That could happen, argue the experts. Not very likely, argue the sceptics. Shhh, reply the experts.

etc.

I'd quote the whole review, it's that good, but it might get in trouble with copyright.

Joel

Egoinos · 11-30-2002, 05:07 PM

I'll definitely be watching

Though mainly because I fancy a job with one of the production companies who make the historical documentaries, and the bloody BBC doesn't credit the individual companies on its website

Also I want to keep an eye out in case one of my lecturers appears on the programme - one did on the "Son of God" series, so I tend to look out for them in others. Mainly to have a bit of a giggle, I'm afraid.

[ November 30, 2002: Message edited by: Egoinos ]</p>

Daniel_AnglumTM · 12-01-2002, 08:48 AM

Apparently they have found proof that the erruption on Thera caused the parting of the Red Sea (?) and was the pillar of fire that led them to Israel was that - slightly inplausible!.

I have to admire these series they manage so well to walk a thin tightrope between the Religous and the er Skeptical people.

Celsus · 12-01-2002, 04:07 PM

Wow. I never learned so much. Like, Moses spoke English and had a big nose. Oh and the Sea of Reeds getting parted by a "tsunami" 6 metres high. And CGI really can turn a staff into a snake. And the review was wrong. The only "sceptic" there was Jeremy Bowen asking all the right questions and accepting all the stupid answers.

So many opportunities to bring up the Documentary Hypothesis, so many opportunities to explain that none of the Egyptian records mentioned anything about the Israelites (well there is the "Apiru" reference that was noted, but that's already been discredited), so many opportunities to raise Finkelstein and Silberman's alternative histories, so many dates, so many Exodii (?). At least they did mention the fact that there would need to be more than one such migration to explain away all the incongruities. And even if they want to take the apologists' sides, they could at least have got the Biblical facts right - Moses was in Midian for 40 years, not 60. Or whatever (they stop mentioning his age after he hits 80). Oh well. I knew it was going to happen.

Boro Nut · 12-02-2002, 04:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Daniel_AnglumTM:
<strong>Apparently they have found proof that the erruption on Thera caused the parting of the Red Sea (?) and was the pillar of fire that led them to Israel was that - slightly inplausible!.</strong>

..totally ignoring the fact that the explosion was northwest of them and no one suggests they tried to paddle out to it. The fact that it was also totally the wrong time period was skirted around by saying "There could have been more than one exodus".

Boro Nut

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11-30-2002, 05:07 PM	#2
Egoinos Regular Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Edinburgh Posts: 423	I'll definitely be watching Though mainly because I fancy a job with one of the production companies who make the historical documentaries, and the bloody BBC doesn't credit the individual companies on its website Also I want to keep an eye out in case one of my lecturers appears on the programme - one did on the "Son of God" series, so I tend to look out for them in others. Mainly to have a bit of a giggle, I'm afraid. [ November 30, 2002: Message edited by: Egoinos ]</p>

12-01-2002, 08:48 AM	#3
Daniel_AnglumTM Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Somewhere in the Suburban Jungle of London Posts: 34	Apparently they have found proof that the erruption on Thera caused the parting of the Red Sea (?) and was the pillar of fire that led them to Israel was that - slightly inplausible!. I have to admire these series they manage so well to walk a thin tightrope between the Religous and the er Skeptical people.

12-01-2002, 04:07 PM	#4
Celsus Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Singapore Posts: 2,875	Wow. I never learned so much. Like, Moses spoke English and had a big nose. Oh and the Sea of Reeds getting parted by a "tsunami" 6 metres high. And CGI really can turn a staff into a snake. And the review was wrong. The only "sceptic" there was Jeremy Bowen asking all the right questions and accepting all the stupid answers. So many opportunities to bring up the Documentary Hypothesis, so many opportunities to explain that none of the Egyptian records mentioned anything about the Israelites (well there is the "Apiru" reference that was noted, but that's already been discredited), so many opportunities to raise Finkelstein and Silberman's alternative histories, so many dates, so many Exodii (?). At least they did mention the fact that there would need to be more than one such migration to explain away all the incongruities. And even if they want to take the apologists' sides, they could at least have got the Biblical facts right - Moses was in Midian for 40 years, not 60. Or whatever (they stop mentioning his age after he hits 80). Oh well. I knew it was going to happen.

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