Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

James, I wasn't seeking to enter into a discussion on dating the Exodus, so I 
won't take the bait. I was, rather, making a statement of principle and 
method. We, some three and a half millennia after Akhenaton, have very little 
information on which we can evaluate the psychology and circumstances that 
lead one ancient Egyptian of royal stock to create a monotheistic religion 
worshipping the Sun (not Yahweh), in breach of previous Egyptian religious 
traditions. Maybe he had a dream? Maybe he had some other kind of personal 
religious experience/revelation like Muhammad? Maybe he just hated the old 
religious traditions and felt suffocated by them? Maybe he was a 
megalomaniac? Maybe he just had funny chemistry in the brain? There are just 
so many possibilities here and so little detailed knowledge of his context 
that it's virtually impossible from our standpoint to be specific.

Most of what you said is an argument from silence. It's all possible, yes, 
but it can never be tested and confirmed. Therefore, there's little that we 
can actually do with it, and we must acknowledge that it is only speculation. 
It's fun to speculate, but speculation and historical construction are two 
very different things.


GEORGE ATHAS
Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
www.moore.edu.au