A week or so ago I was lent a book to read, which the lender seemed to have some questions about. And indeed when I heard about it I had some questions too, for it was stated that some of the data was from a now deceased man who may have been a bit carried away with what he thought the facts should be and what they should be interpreted to be. He was zealous in a good cause, but he was not careful about the factuality of some things as long as they supported his ideas. And I did not just gulp and believe it all, even if I wanted to. So I was interested.
This author, however, surprised me in the way he wrote, so that I am fairly confident that he has not taken advantage of by untestable evidence.You have heard about discoveries of Noah's Ark and even of the Ark of the Covenant and other relics to confirm the Bible accounts. It was all such an emotional thing, but this one is the exact opposite. I believe this is a good approach wherein I am given the verifiable facts and asked to draw my own conclusions. Exciting that the Bible can be declared to be true within a reasonable probability? Yes, it is, and I am enthused. But now I have something that no scholar smarter than I am can confute. The logic is here laid out without reserve.
After I read The Exodus Case I wrote a review, and I am enclosing it.
Don
Book Report on The Exodus Case by Lennart Möller
(It can be found at amazon.ca/, which will show that the book is available from $136)
Friday, June 27, 2008, (after finishing reading the book)
How refreshing to read a book that is not trying to hype you up with the writer’s own personal bias, or sell you a pig in a poke. That is my general reaction to the book, and I started out very prejudiced, because the author treats of the same subjects that I have read about in other books, and have come away with negative reactions. It appears that only independently verifiable evidence has been presented here.
Initial Observations:
First, this book contains nothing unbiblical, although it challenges many traditional and liberal assumptions.
The next surprise is that there are no emotional, legendary, sectarian, or “spiritual” arguments to try to sway the reader.
And at the same time it tactfully affirms all the fundamentals of Christianity.
Method of Presentation
The author is a medical scientist involved in research, so his approach is to construct a hypothesis and then assemble all the pertinent facts. Each section or hypothesis and its data are well summarized so the reader can evaluate objectively.
As an example of this we may state a hypothesis that the Bible is an authentic record of the people, places, events and times that it deals with, and we then educe all the pertinent data that might contradict or corroborate this statement. Then, after considering all the data we can reasonably say there is a calculated probability of the statement being true. This does not leave the individual’s faith out of the picture, but it does stabilize one’s faith and thereby increases his confidence to influence those who are weaker in the faith.
Such a cool and calculated approach without coercion or self justification leaves the facts to speak for themselves, which they will do if we can find the words to express them. In this way both the believer and the skeptic are on their own to evaluate the facts and make their own decision whether to accept or reject or neglect the implications.
Book Sections
The book is divided chronologically into different broad sections about Biblical events and people, sections which liberals and skeptics have classified as false, mythical, or mystic. These sections are
1. Authenticity of the records and the pre Exodus history;
2. 2. The Exodus and associated events;
3. 3. Events at the Mountain of God.
A very thorough and careful exploration of each controversial point is brought forth and well illustrated.
Reservations
It is only with the form and technical aspects of the book – the print size, the colored background behind the text, and the great volume of material presented that I have any concerns. The book will not be read by any but the serious student, although it should be.
It should, however, be interesting to even younger readers, for the wealth of pictures and illustrations on almost every page. I was pleased that Google Earth brought up almost the same pictures of Mount Horeb as the book shows. To me this was a better authentification of the data than looking at the bibliography pages. They too are full and complete and useful for the research student.
I do recommend The Exodus Case to every inquiring mind regardless of whether you approach it as a believer or as a skeptic.
Don Casselman