This is a review of the Biblical Egyptology course offered from the Universal Life Church Seminary. This article delves into the Exodus from Egypt by Moses.
The debate in regards to the probably existence of empirical proof supporting the Biblical Exodus was dealt with exhaustively within this training course. When I studied theological training thirty years previously, I had been taught that there was absolutely zero evidence external with the Bible in support of the Exodus. That was the prevailing view among intellectuals of the time, but Dr. Federspiel has done a very good job of updating my understanding on your topic, and I have felt convinced to agree with him that there is certainly indeed substantial evidence supporting aspects of the Biblical version. He didn't give unquestionable proof of the Exodus, but there exists certainly an overwhelming amount of empirical proof that something approximating the Biblical story took place nearly three thousand five hundred years ago.
Although I had been told that there was no extra Biblical empirical proof which supports the Exodus, I accepted the existence of it as both an issue of belief and with all the understanding the Bible hadn't been written like a fictional story but was trying to be seen as factual and was taken unbelievably serious by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Though I had been taught that the first 11 chapters of Genesis were basically tribal myth and wasn't to interpreted literally, from Abraham on, there had been extra support for the Biblical version along with the discoveries from archeologists, has supported the facts very well. The numbers may possibly have been exaggerated, but there was evidence for the existence of the folks and the places made mention of in the text.
Because the Exodus is made reference to inside the part from the Bible which covers the historical records and was believed by the Hebrew men and women as true, I have at all times been accepted that the basic facts of the story were. That doesn't imply that I believed all of the events as literally true, as they have been remembrances of folks passed down throughout the centuries, telling of a heroic past. We in the modern world often exaggerate the exploits of our ancestors, and I had expected no less from the Children of Israel, nonetheless in the simple facts, I at all times had thought there has got to be a general truth, which would include their appearance in Egypt several hundred years prior to the Exodus, plus the leadership of a particular person named Moses to take a group of Semitic individuals out of that land. It did not have to look like the Hollywood version with the story to seem generally true genuine. There may well have been a relatively small number of Jews leaving Egypt as well as settling contained in Palestine to the story to have gotten real contained in my head. Dr. Federspiel has convinced me that the assumption I made was indeed correct and some thing did indeed happened. Furthermore, even though it gives the appearance that a a lot of Egyptian history was destroyed because of internal squabbling, fighting, wars, and normal disasters, enough circumstantial evidence exists to lend support to the presence of quite a large number of Semites from Egypt who arrived in Jerusalem.
I was fascinated to learn that a staff was discovered in Jordan of Tuthmoses IV â€"Moses II, inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols and Graham Phillips presumed it had been owned by Moses.  Though it's not proof, it's a curious theory that I have the feeling needs further study. Certainly, it lends proof that Egyptian and Semitic men and women had contact with one another inside the area of modern day Israel .
One thing that seems sure was that Moses had been a true individual. He is referred to by both the name ‘Manetho’ as well as the name ‘Artapanus’. Manetho claimed that 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 residing three hundred years prior to the Common Era had a record of the person named Moses who was expelled from Egypt to appease the gods, Moses in all likelihood did exist.  Moses really is a common Egyptian name, not a Hebrew one. It truly is unlikely the Hebrew writers of the story would have made up the name from thin air. Just the fact that they had been able to find an Egyptian name for their hero implies at least a little information about Egypt. To have an Egyptian pagan priest confirm the basic facts of the story is far more than an ‘interesting’ coincidence. It hints the simple events of the story actually took place along with had a significant impact on Egypt.
Please recall that Manetho was sharing an event that occurred more than a thousand yrs. prior to his birth. We do not remember unimportant things that occurred long ago. Some thing significant must have occurred. As a matter of fact, together with the evidence of an Egyptian priest, I’m thoroughly convinced that the Exodus was a lot more important an event than I had first believed. My expectations for that Exodus were small. I figured that a relatively few number of individuals escaped from Egypt and became settled 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’m forced to accept the chance that even the plagues and proclaimed miracles might have some validity.  If the plagues have been recorded and remembered for 1000 yrs. in all of Egypt, they must have occurred, and Moses must be credited for those things.
Additionally, it seems quite likely that the military defeat in the "Red Sea" may well have happened too, as that would be a significant reason the people recalled Moses.
It is too bad that a fire decimated the Alexandria Library and that the anti-pagan fervor throughout the Christian timeframe caused the decimation of so much material in Egypt.  It is also too bad that early European Archeologists who were collecting samples from ancient Egypt were so unprofessional that they ruined priceless papyri codices as well as fragments. Because so much material has been forever destroyed, we will never have the complete picture of Moses and the Exodus. Nevertheless, to say there may be no empirical proof that has survived today appears to be far from the truth. We have a very great deal of circumstantial proof kept safe by Josephus and Eusebius. Furthermore, there is possible archeological proof continuing to be dug up today, though our understanding of the hieroglyphs makes it unbelievably difficult to interpret. Together with the passage of time along with further work on deciphering of Egyptian Hieroglyphs, it appears certain the existence of Moses will likely be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Author Resource:
This fascinating 20 week program offered by the Universal Life Church Seminary is just one of many programs on all manner of spirituality, various religions, and personal growth.
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