A detailed analysis of Israelite behavior during and after the exodus may
take as many as two or three postings, but before I begin them, let's first
make a comparison that will help illustrate the problem. On this list, we
have seen that biblical inerrantists will cling to their belief in their god
and the inerrancy of the Bible no matter how much compelling evidence to the
contrary is presented. When confronted with glaring biblical
inconsistencies or discrepancies, they will simply fabricate some
how-it-could-have-been interpretations and stubbornly insist that biblical
errancy has not been proven. Not a one of them has ever seen their god,
talked to him, or seen him perform miracles like the parting of the Red Sea,
bringing water from rocks, sending manna from heaven, and such like, yet
despite the absence of such convincing evidence as this, they still maintain
their belief that this god exists and that he verbally inspired the Bible.
Only very rarely is the faith of an inerrantist shaken badly enough to cause
him to reject his belief. On the other hand, we have the Israelites who had
their god going before them in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night,
coming down and speaking to them, and performing all sorts of wondrous
miracles. Despite these amazing demonstrations of their god's presence in
their midst, they were constantly bellyaching and rebelling. My postings
that follow this one will be designed to show that it is not at all likely
that reasonable people would have behaved as the Israelites did; hence, it
is not at all likely that these stories happened as they are recorded in the
Bible.
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net