http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_arhs.htm
Considering the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) the most extreme views are:
| The Pentateuch | Common conservative religious beliefs | Common beliefs of secular archaeologists & religious liberals |
| Accuracy | Totally accurate, inerrant, & infallible. Contains no mistakes. Inspired by God. | Mixture of ancient myths, some valid history, & legends. |
| Author(s) | Moses | Documentary Hypothesis: Four unknown authors + one Redactor; |
| Date of writing | 15th century BCE | 10th to 6th century BCE * |
| People: | ||
| Adam, Eve, Noah, Isaac, Ishmael, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, etc. | Real people who lived their lives as described in the Bible | Mythical, legendary people who probably never existed. |
| Philistines | Existed in 19th century BCE (Gen 21:32) | First entered Palestine well into the 1st millennium BCE |
| Early history of the Israelites | Grew from 12 men and their families into a large culture while in Egypt | Originally Canaanites; developed a separate society within Canaan |
| Strong military presence in Palestine, late 2nd millennium BCE | Philistines. (Egyptian presence is not mentioned.) | Egyptians. (Philistines did not arrive until well into the 1st millennium BCE) |
| Places: | ||
| Garden of Eden | Where Adam & Eve lived | Non-existent place |
| Mount Sinai | Where Moses received the Ten Commandments | Non-existent place |
| Beersheba, & other towns | Existed in 19th century BCE (Genesis 21:14) | Did not exist until many centuries later. |
| Events: | ||
| Flood of Noah | Covered the world | No evidence it happened; may have been a memory of a local flood. |
| Jews as slaves in Egypt | Happened as described | Little or no evidence. |
| The Exodus | Happened as described | No evidence it happened |
| 40 years in the desert | Happened as described | No evidence it happened |
Notes:
 |
A few archaeologists and “minimalist” Old Testament scholars argue that the Pentateuch was completed as late as the 2nd century BCE. |
|
The remains of houses similar to that used by ancient Hebrews have been found in Egypt. These may have belonged to Hebrew slaves or hired workers. |
Leave a Reply