Replies

"The testimony of the whole nation of Israel which accepted the books as fact. "

That's evidence that they accepted the books as fact, but not evidence that the books themselves are the Word of God.

"Census records of Egypt which show a dramatic population decline about the time of the Exodus. "

No argument about the historical fact of the Egyptian captivity of the Jewish people. That isn't a matter of Biblical faith.

"Archeological digs which continue to support the Bible as historical accurate. "

No argument there.

"Evidence that the whole area around Egypt converted from polytheism to monotheism at the time of the Exodus. "

Still not evidence of divine inspiration by Moses.

"A natural underwater land bridge or reef stretching across the Red Sea which incidently connects to the one area on the Egyptian side which could have been blocked by a pillar of fire. "

Prrof that the actions of God aren't supernatural? I like it!

"Evidence that Israel did fight and win battles that were substantially against the odds, including the recent ones of the 19th century. "

Don't forget the ones of the 20th century!

"Evidence that Israel as a nation was put into captivity repeatedly and yet survived and were regathered into a nation. Again the most recent example being the 19th century following almost 2000 years of exile. That that happens to Israel repeatedly is amazing enough, but it was also foretold by God. "

I'd have to see the exact phrases of this prophecy before giving it validity. So much of prophecy comes across (to me) as horoscope-like: If you look at something in enough different ways, you can make it appear to be prophetic. See Nostradamus for an example of this. I don't believe in his ramblings, btw.

"Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: ... 28:41 - Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.

Deuteronomy 30:3 - That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. "

Using the writings of a book to prove the book itself is circular reasoning.

"It takes more faith not to believe."

I respectfully disagree. I think God's test is to provide as little 'real', provable data as possible, making complete Faith the true test of a believer.

I've enjoyed our exchange here!

"That's evidence that they accepted the books as fact, but not evidence that the books themselves are the Word of God."

It is unlikely that they would have been accepted as fact, if Israel had not witnessed the miracles that were performed. They were accepted because grandparents told their children and their grandchildren what they saw with their own eyes.

The first five books of the Bible which are attributed to Moses repeatedly refer to writing things down. If these things had either not been written as claimed or had been written but Israel had not collective memory of them it is not likely they would have been accepted.

Still not evidence of divine inspiration by Moses.

The evidence of the devine inspiration are the miracles that God did and the prophecies that Moses wrote.

Don't forget the ones of the 20th century!

Busted!!! lol

"I'd have to see the exact phrases of this prophecy before giving it validity. So much of prophecy comes across (to me) as horoscope-like: If you look at something in enough different ways, you can make it appear to be prophetic. See Nostradamus for an example of this. I don't believe in his ramblings, btw. "

Well you can look them up. I gave you the references. Go to www.bible.com and look them up or search on the word captivity.

I think you will find a big difference in the quality of prophecy in the Bible from the likes of Nostradamus. Not only does the Bible have a phenomenal success rate, you can usually make clear since of what the prophecy means. The following pages highlight just some of the many fulfilled prophecies of the Bible.

Fulfilled Old Testament Prophecies

Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus - A very informative read.