So it's Passover and once again I found myself happily having enjoyable conversations and debates with my friends and neighbors regarding the big issues.
Almost without fail, if there is a large group of Jews gathered and discussing God, Exodus, and Judaism... there will be at least one person who feels the need to try to use science to discredit religion.
Typically the argument goes something like this:
The truth is that over the last few decades or so, there has been a growing movement within Judaism to get away from the centrality of the Exodus story and it's impact on Judaism. Basically, since there is no archeological evidence confirming the Hebrews were ever slaves in Egypt, let alone came out in the miraculous way as described in the Torah, then the logical assumption is to presume none of it happened as described in the Torah.
And to be clear, it is not just college professors, atheists, and archeologists making this argument. No, there are clergy who publicly make this argument too. A rabbi whom I deeply respect has written and spoken on this matter and helped to promote doubt about the Exodus account (as well as God's authorship of the Torah.)
So what's my problem with it? Aren't they just being honest and telling the truth based on the evidence?
Yes, but why does lack of proof mean that something did not happen?
How does lack of evidence prove something does not exist?
I'm sure plenty of you are screaming back, "You cannot prove a negative." Yes, I too, have enjoyed using this line from the "Amazing Randi."
But also true is the aphorism "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence".
Long before my time, people much smarter and wiser than myself have debated these issues in matters of faith and religion versus science and knowledge.
Bertrand Russell wrote of the celestial teapot (aka "Russell's Teapot").
From Wikipedia... In an article titled "Is There a God?" commissioned, but never published, by Illustrated magazine in 1952, Russell wrote:
Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmasrather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.
So Russell is trying to equate the inability to prove or disprove the existence of his revolving celestial teapot with that of God. But that analogy fails if God is immaterial, and supra-natural.
And regarding the lack of archeological evidence for the Exodus... what exactly are the expecting to find. Even in the Torah, the Hebrews were only in the desert for 40 years (a number that should be considered for it's symbolism and use as a literary device, rather than it's numerical value.) In other words, they were temporarily nomadic wandering through the desert. They didn't build cities and live there for generations. So what are they expecting to find 3,300 years later? Some debris left along the way? Really?
Recently the entire world has been trying to find evidence of what happened to a giant 777 plane that has seemingly disappeared. As of this date (Apr 17, 2014) some 30 plus days since its last recorded transmission... there is still no evidence. All our sophisticated satellite and radio equipment can't seem to find it. So should we assume it is still just flying around? There is no evidence it has crashed or landed.
Now some may be arguing that "logic suggests" the Exodus didn't happen just as the plane is no longer in the air. But does logic also suggest there is life beyond our little third rock from the Sun? Many say yes. Is there any evidence for life outside our planet? Nope...
So what is my logic behind my belief in the Exodus, despite a supposed lack of archeological evidence? One, it is pragmatic. As Prager has written, If the Exodus did not occur, there is no Judaism. Then I read from the article.
Here are Dennis Prager's main points:
As for the argument of some Jews that they do not depend on the veracity of the Exodus for their faith, from a Jewish standpoint this is destructive nonsense. If the Exodus did not occur, there is no Judaism. Judaism stands on two pillars — creation and exodus. Judaism no more survives the denial of the Exodus than it does the denial of the Creator. Creation and Exodus are coequal Jewish claims. A creator G-d who never intervened in human affairs is Aristotle’s unmoved mover, not the G-d the Jews introduced to the world. Moreover, any Jews who believe the Exodus did not occur should have the intellectual honesty to stop observing Passover. They should spend the week studying the truths of archaeology — that is their haggadah — rather than what they regard as the fairy tales of the haggadah and Torah. ~ Dennis Prager
Now in regards to the other part of the debate:
These arguments border on either the absurd and/or lack of understanding of Torah and Judaism. First of all, the notion is that the Torah is from God but not "written" by Him. "From the 'mouth' of God, to the hand of Moses" that is how it is written. Did God write the "Ten Commandments"? Yes, according to the Torah that was written by the 'finger' of God... but that is different that saying the entire instruction manual. So when they try to mention how there is overwhelming evidence that men wrote the Torah and it has changed over the years (i.e. the Wellhousen hypothesis) then I suggest they re-examine the Torah with the understanding of scholars like Jacob Milgrom.
Is every word exactly as it was written 3300 years ago... apparently not. Even when you read a Torah scroll you will mind an occasional mark of a word that was unclear. But aside from benign phrase
for more go to Ultimate Issues.
revelation means something was previously hidden
