From: Dawsonzhu@aol.com
Date: Sun Sep 22 2002 - 11:57:29 EDT
Walter Hicks wrote:
[snipped comment to GM]
>
> I repeat to you a "fable" -- I mean a true story --- that was
> presented elsewhere
>
>
[Snipped the story purporting that the Exodus is also
a mere story.]
What you present here is a straw man. No one that I know
of on this list is calling the Exodus a fable, and mark my
word, if _I_ was at that point, I would _have_ to hand in
my badge.
There are good reasons to argue for the historicity of the
Exodus in spite of that fact that there is no direct
archeological evidence or irrefutable extra-biblical sources
to soundly support it. Whereas I can be accused of acting
on faith here, there are surely times when faith is something
well worth keeping.
It is one
of the few things that is repeated over and over again
emphatically by almost every prophet, many psalms, and
was implicit in the repeated refrains in Chronicles and
Kings. It was the impetus for numerous reforms in the
way of think of people in the OT. Moreover,
such things as reforms in the Sumarian laws on slavery
is a good indication of remembering what it was like
to be a slave in Egypt. (See Deut 23:15-16. Note: it may
not seem like a big change, but before that time,
harboring a slave was a capital offense [see N. Sarna,
Exploring Exodus: Schocken, NY 1996. chapter 8.] )
In my experience, it is people who have come to know
the Grace of God first hand who repent from their ways
and begin to learn how to walk in the ways of
righteousness. Of course they never completely arrive,
but neither will any of us.
Unlike most of the issues that people seem to bicker about
on this list, I think the Old Testament stands or falls on
the question of whether the Exodus happened or not. The
rest is not all that worthwhile to get worked up over by
comparison. If Jonah represents a historical account,
fine, and if it is a parable, fine also. I can accept it
either way.
By Grace alone we proceed,
Wayne
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