Post by Caroline on Dec 29, 2017 5:51:33 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, rayancaleb! It's been awhile since anyone has participated so I'm pleased to have this opportunity for discussion.
William Lane Craig answers a question of the week on the lack of evidence for the exodus, among other things. You can read that here: Problems with the Old Testament.
He recommends a book called On the Reliability of the Old Testament by Kenneth Kitchen who gives reasoned arguments for why we don't have the evidence we might think we would, including, as you mentioned, the ancient "practice" not to record defeats, as the mass exodus would have been to the Egyptians. He has a few quotes there from the book.
As for artifacts in the desert from the Israelites' wanderings, it seems very reasonable to me that none have been found, for the following reasons:
So, as Dr. Craig points out, "The salient question is not whether we have a proof of the historicity of the Exodus but whether the evidence disproves the historicity of the Exodus. It does not."
I hope this helps.
William Lane Craig answers a question of the week on the lack of evidence for the exodus, among other things. You can read that here: Problems with the Old Testament.
He recommends a book called On the Reliability of the Old Testament by Kenneth Kitchen who gives reasoned arguments for why we don't have the evidence we might think we would, including, as you mentioned, the ancient "practice" not to record defeats, as the mass exodus would have been to the Egyptians. He has a few quotes there from the book.
As for artifacts in the desert from the Israelites' wanderings, it seems very reasonable to me that none have been found, for the following reasons:
- As wandering travelers they would have picked up and taken everything as they moved.
- As Moses reminded the people in Deuteronomy 8:4, during their wanderings "Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years." Even though God forced them to wander for 40 years as a judgment against them, he provided for their needs including keeping their shoes and clothing, and I think it's reasonable to conclude also their other possessions, in good working order. Consequently, nothing would need to be discarded.
- The desert is a big, inhospitable place and would need to be thoroughly searched as any archeological site is before anyone can say there is no evidence there.
So, as Dr. Craig points out, "The salient question is not whether we have a proof of the historicity of the Exodus but whether the evidence disproves the historicity of the Exodus. It does not."
I hope this helps.