Didn't know it was so easy (cont.)
I'm not sure I'll finish Aling's book Egypt and Bible
History.
I read the first 4 chapters and I'm just dumbfounded. All I have read so far is a survey of pre-biblical history and the Joseph story. Thus far, I have 20+ objections to his arguments (I hesitate to call them arguments for they are really just assertions). Aling doesn't even make a genuine effort to prove his case. He simply states it as if it were fact (I guess I was right the other day) and goes about validating it. In every instance where there is a question of biblical accuracy, he manages (he thinks) to explain it away.
I've been keeping a journal of my notes and objections, but I am tired of not being able to read a single page of his book without having to stop to write something down.
Is the rest of the bible this false? Is it really this easy (if the village idiot can do it, anyone can!) to disprove the bible?
I have to share something from the last chapter I read.
I had never realized that there was a contradiction in the bible concerning how long the Israelites were in Egypt. I had always thought 430 years. Aling himself brings up the fact that the bible contradicts itself (although he doesn't call it that. We're just reading it wrong!) by pointing out that based on Galatians 3, the law was given 430 years after the promise was made to Abraham in Genesis 12. Since it was 215 years from Abraham's time to the time Jacob went into Egypt, then the longest the Israelites could have been in Egypt is 215 years to make the 430 years of Galations 3. BUT Exodus 12 says that they were in Egypt 430 years.
Who to believe? Was the law given 430 years after the promise to Abraham or were the Israelites actually in Egypt for 430 years? One way they were in Egypt 215 years, the other, it was 645 years from the giving of the promise until the law.
Does this bother Aling? Not in the least. You see the promise was to Abraham's seed. So, if we count from Abraham's seed (Jacob), we find that we can correct our obvious misunderstanding!
Problem solved. NEXT!
I just sat there thinking, "No he didn't." But, yes he did. If this had been the only discrepancy, I might be willing to give him a pass on this. But after the 20th objection, passes are a thing of the past.
I'm curious about how he adresses Moses, so I'll probably at least read the next couple of chapters.
I'll keep you posted!
I read the first 4 chapters and I'm just dumbfounded. All I have read so far is a survey of pre-biblical history and the Joseph story. Thus far, I have 20+ objections to his arguments (I hesitate to call them arguments for they are really just assertions). Aling doesn't even make a genuine effort to prove his case. He simply states it as if it were fact (I guess I was right the other day) and goes about validating it. In every instance where there is a question of biblical accuracy, he manages (he thinks) to explain it away.
I've been keeping a journal of my notes and objections, but I am tired of not being able to read a single page of his book without having to stop to write something down.
Is the rest of the bible this false? Is it really this easy (if the village idiot can do it, anyone can!) to disprove the bible?
I have to share something from the last chapter I read.
I had never realized that there was a contradiction in the bible concerning how long the Israelites were in Egypt. I had always thought 430 years. Aling himself brings up the fact that the bible contradicts itself (although he doesn't call it that. We're just reading it wrong!) by pointing out that based on Galatians 3, the law was given 430 years after the promise was made to Abraham in Genesis 12. Since it was 215 years from Abraham's time to the time Jacob went into Egypt, then the longest the Israelites could have been in Egypt is 215 years to make the 430 years of Galations 3. BUT Exodus 12 says that they were in Egypt 430 years.
Who to believe? Was the law given 430 years after the promise to Abraham or were the Israelites actually in Egypt for 430 years? One way they were in Egypt 215 years, the other, it was 645 years from the giving of the promise until the law.
Does this bother Aling? Not in the least. You see the promise was to Abraham's seed. So, if we count from Abraham's seed (Jacob), we find that we can correct our obvious misunderstanding!
Problem solved. NEXT!
I just sat there thinking, "No he didn't." But, yes he did. If this had been the only discrepancy, I might be willing to give him a pass on this. But after the 20th objection, passes are a thing of the past.
I'm curious about how he adresses Moses, so I'll probably at least read the next couple of chapters.
I'll keep you posted!
2 Comments
On vacation this past week, we took Audio CD's of Genesis and Exodus with us, for the kids to listen to for cultural literacy. They picked up on a TON of stuff that made no sense or was contradictory. One of the best: the fifth plague of Egypt killed ALL the Egyptians' livestock. Then in the next plague, all the Egyptians and their animals came down with boils. Apparently dead animals can still break out. In the next plague, hail killed all the Egyptians' animals that were left out in the open. By this point the kids were howling with laughter and trying to figure out if the animals were now zombies that needed killing again, or if the Egyptians were trying to drag their dead animals to shelter. Then the last plague killed the (already dead) firstborn of all these (already dead) animals.
When Pharaoh came after the Hebrews with chariots, we were almost falling out of our seats imagining the zombie horses that must be pulling them.
Here's the website for The Brick Testament's version of the story, told word for word from the bible, entirely in Legos. http://www.thebricktestament.com/exodus/ I love the picture of the people trying to shove a dead horse inside to get out of the hail!
One of the other moments of hilarity was that, among the oh-so-serious commandments that god delivers to Moses on the mountaintop, he was very specific about the boxer shorts the Priests had to wear to avoid flashing the congregation. (Exodus 28: 42-43) And they loved how many chapters of commandments were concerned with interior decorating, fashion design and sewing patterns for a tent. They decided that the god of the Hebrews must be "fabulous, darling"!
This is just way too funny!
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