This is a review of the Biblical Egyptology class offered from the Universal Life Church Seminary. This class delves into the Exodus from Egypt by Moses.
The question in regards to the possible existence of proof in support of the Biblical Exodus was dealt with in great detail in this program. When I studied theological training 30 years ago, I had been taught that there was absolutely no evidence outside with the Bible that supports the Exodus. That was the prevailing view among intellectuals in the time, but Dr. Federspiel has done a great job of updating my understanding on a subject, and I have felt convinced to be in agreement with him that there is certainly indeed considerable evidence in support of aspects of the Biblical account. He did not give unquestionable proof of the Exodus, but there exists certainly a preponderance of evidence that one thing approximating the Biblical version happened nearly 3 thousand five hundred years ago.
Although I had been informed that there was no extra Biblical empirical proof in support of the Exodus, I accepted its existence as both a matter of faith and while using understanding the Bible wasn't authored as a fictional account but was trying to be factual and was accepted as unquestionably serious by Jews, Muslims, along with Christians. Though I had been taught the first 11 chapters of Genesis had been essentially tribal myth and wasn't to thought of literally, from Abraham forward, there had been extra Biblical support along with archeological finds, has supported the facts extremely well. The numbers may have been exaggerated, but there was support for the existence of the individuals as well as the locations referred to in the text.
Because the Exodus was made reference to within the section with the Bible dealing with historical records and was taken by the Hebrew individuals as factual, it has been at all times been accepted that the simple facts in the story are. That doesn't imply that I have accepted all the events as literally true, as they were remembrances of folks passed down throughout the centuries, of a heroic past. We from the modern world often exaggerate the exploits of our ancestors, and I had expected no less of the Children of Israel, however in the simple facts, I at all times had thought there must be a general actuality, which would include their appearance in Egypt hundreds of years before the Exodus, as well as the leadership of the particular person named Moses to take a group of Semitic people out of that land. It did not have a need to appear the Hollywood version from the story to be generally real. There may well have been a fairly small number of Jews leaving Egypt along with settling in Palestine for that story to be real contained in my intellect. Dr. Federspiel has convinced me that the assumption I made was indeed correct along with something definitely happened. Furthermore, although it seems that a much of Egyptian history was destroyed as a result of internal squabbling, fighting, wars, and natural disasters, adequate circumstantial proof is there to support the existence of a lot of of Semites from Egypt who arrived in Jerusalem.
I became interested to find out that a staff was discovered in Jordan of Tuthmoses IV –Moses II, with writing of Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols and, at the time, Graham Phillips guessed that it had been owned by Moses.  Though it really is not proof, it's an interesting theory which I feel requires more in-depth examination. Most certainly, it proves that Egyptian as well as Semitic individuals had contact together with each other in the area of modern day Israel .
1 matter that gives the appearance sure is that Moses was a true person. He is referred to by both the name ‘Manetho’ as well as the name ‘Artapanus’. Manetho had said that the Egyptians were "troubled by calamities, in order that the divine wrath may be averted, expelled the foreigners…their leader said to have been Moses." If a pagan Egyptian priest residing three hundred years prior to the Common Era had a record of a particular person named Moses who was expelled from Egypt to appease the gods, Moses in all likelihood did indeed exist.  Moses is a popular Egyptian first name, not a Hebrew one. It truly is not very likely that the Hebrew authors of the story would’ve created the name from thin air. Just the fact that they had been in a position to use an Egyptian name for their hero suggests some understanding about Egypt. To make an Egyptian pagan priest agree with the simple facts of the accounting is a lot more than an ‘interesting’ coincidence. It suggests that the simple events in the story really took place as well as acquired a significant impact on Egypt.
Please recall that Manetho was relating an event that occurred a lot more than a thousand yrs. prior to his time. We seldom recall small events that occurred a long time ago. Something incredible must have taken place. As a by-the-by, using the empirical proof of an Egyptian priest, I am thoroughly convinced that the Exodus was much more important an event than I’d first thought. My expectations about the Exodus were small. I assumed that a relatively few number of men and women fled Egypt and settled themselves in Palestine. I really thought little of it in my mind, the onset of the plagues, being the receiver of a liberal theological education. After evaluating the evidence shared by Dr. Federspiel, I am nudged into accepting the possibility that even the plagues and proclaimed miracles may have some validity.  If the plagues ended up being noted and remembered for 1000 yrs. in all of Egypt, they had to have occurred, and Moses must be given credit for them.
Furthermore, it is probably quite likely that the defeat of the military in the "Red Sea" may have occurred also, as that could be a reasonable reason the people recalled Moses.
It's a tragedy that a fire decimated the Alexandria Library and that the anti-pagan movement during the Christian timeframe lead to the destruction of so much material contained in Egypt.  It is also too bad that early European Archeologists who were collecting samples from ancient Egypt were so unprofessional that they destroyed irreplaceable papyri codices and fragments. Because so much material has been permanently destroyed, we will never have the total picture of Moses and the Exodus. Having said that, to say there may be no evidence that has survived to present day seems to be far from being true. We have a very large amount of circumstantial empirical proof kept safe by Josephus and Eusebius. Also, there exists possible archeological proof continuing to be dug up to this day, though our knowledge of the hieroglyphs will make it very hard to decipher. Together with time along with further work on deciphering of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, it appears certain the existence of Moses will be proven without question.
Author Resource:
Rev Nick Federspiel has written an outstanding course on Biblical Egyptology. It's offered through the Universal Life Church Seminary..
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