Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy

The world of scholarly biblical archeology is as contested as all forms of archeology: heavily; and if for no other reason, contention itself! In today's sectarian world religious archeology is especially contentious. It can be as frustrating as it is obfuscating.This is one of the refreshing elements found in Tim Mahoney's series of documentaries, Patterns of Evidence. Tim's approach is simple: search for the truth. Thus, the search continues forward, in the belief, TRUTH is available and will, in time, become evident beyond human doubt. Tim does NOT say, what he finds is such 'undeniable truth', but he does show it to be very plausible. The plausibility exists precisely because of his finding's ability to connect with both archeology and biblical data.Tim openly points out the controversial, and in some cases adamantly prejudicial, attitudes of some in the archeological community, with regards to biblical data. This blatant lack of open-mindedness is sad; as it harms the scientific process.Pattens of Evidence: The Moses Controversy is very well constructed, edited and professional production throughout. Tim is a very good story-teller and he tells a very interesting - and compelling story - in this video. Believer or not, the findings are quite interesting.REVIEWERS THOUGHTS: Science, Religion and ControversyScience, no matter the field, can only remain true to its mission IF all elements of the efforts expended are on-the-table for discussion, debate, and rejection as well as acceptance. The closed-mind is NOT a scientific mind.Once an avenue has been thoroughly researched and what 'seems to be supporting data' is revealed, then it can be accepted. However, even this data is never closed to question at a later date, based on credible, related findings.Whether those findings refudiate or support the previous findings is not cause to ignore or reject the present or past findings. To do so is to close-the-mind, at which point the first principle of science is broken. From that point forward, all credibility of the investigation or investigator can be rightly called-into-question and doubted.When dealing with biblical data, for the believer, there exists the faith in God and His Holy Word. This is not to the exclusion of science. In fact, it adds another dimension to the scientific discussion; a spiritual dimension. This is difficult for those who are not believers in God and His Supreme diety. Because, to date, there has been no means to 'test' - using physical scientific instrumentation - the validity of God or anything else 'spiritual'. Thus, this will remain a point of contention.This demarcation of disagreement becomes a point where reasonable conduct agrees to disagree. It should not become a point where one ideal takes exception of the other to the point of rejection with an effort toward discrediting the other. Time WILL be the judge on which (if any) position is correct. Until then the search for truth should be the overarching purpose for discovery, interpretation, and dissemination.

I like Tim Mahoney, he is just so unassuming and friendly, yet he digs deeply, intelligently and fairly to uncover lost, hidden, forgotten, despised, rejected strands of evidence that each have a crucial part to play in telling the true story, when taken all together. Another thrilling journey.Yes, the evidence is all there that Moses DID write the Torah / Pentateuch, as stated in the Torah and traditionally believed.Yes, the evidence is all there to the rigorous standards of true Science - which, sadly, many scientists today neglect.Yes, the evidence is all there that Moses' people were largely literate - by the end of the Exodus, even if not in the beginning.I guess that what frightens academics is the thought of standing out, being a black sheep, taking miracles seriously. But the evidence is all there that miracles do happen, have happened, and can happen, even on a vast scale on rare but significant occasions eg the Sun's strange movement at Fatima, reported but - hey, that can't happen! - kneejerk dismissal and forgetting by most people. Yet not only was it witnessed by a great number, but also it parallels happenings reported in the Bible (in one encounter of Isaiah and Hezekiah, a sighting seen also by Babylon's astronomers) and more recently, in Medjugorje.So hats off once again to Tim Mahoney for producing a video every Church should see - as well as every intelligent theologian.I think there is a lot more in this direction to be found. We already have the extraordinary work of Ron Wyatt (now deceased but his material is still available). The extraordinary story of Joseph Smith also deserves looking at - a story touching Old Testament apocalyptic history. One does not have to become a Mormon to recognize that here is a significant story that belongs to the whole further unfolding of Christianity. And in practising "Whatsoever things are true . . . honest . . . just . . . pure . . . lovely . . . of good report . . . think on these things" I sense that there is important material to uncover showing that Abraham too was literate, inherited ancient records, passed them on, and taught his descendants literacy as being of crucial importance to a "chosen race".

I really enjoyed the first film in this series regarding the Exodus, so I was super interested in seeing this "sequel" as it were. It, like the 1st one, was very well done and very informative. However, this one I felt, spent too much time belaboring the point. This one examines who wrote the 1st five books of the Bible and what language did they use to write it. It talks to experts regarding their views and presents different opinions and theories. While I recognize people might not understand why the questions of "who wrote the Torah" and "what language did they use" are important, it still felt like it was trying way too hard to make it have super significance. "If Moses didn't write the 1st 5 books, then the whole Bible can't be trusted" or something to that equivalent is repeated over and over. I recognize the importance of the question, but I didn't appreciate the sense that the filmmaker was trying to make this subject more important and controversial than necessary. Just introduce me the views, show me the evidence, and let me make my own conclusions as well as decide for myself how important the topic is. I recognize the topic was very important to him, but I felt he went too far trying to prove to the audience, how important it should be. Other than that though, I thought the film did a good job presenting the different evidence and view points regarding this topic, and I learned several things I did not know before. The ending was probably the biggest reason to watch the film since it presents Moses and the origins of the Bible in a different light. In conclusion, I would recommend watching it, but only if you enjoyed the 1st film, and it is definitely not the amazing 5 stars that the 1st film was.

Bought this with the other vids in this docudrama series.The contraversey covers the ideas of: Did Moses actually exist?If not, who write the books partaining to him?If so, how could he have done so, by what means, when and in what "actual" written language that could have been around at the time?Brilliantly thought through format.Well filmed. Fabulous landscape effects of ancient lands. Very knowledgeable contributers, though most of them European middle aged professors. Non-the-less, the investigative depth is extraordinary, with historic and archeological evidence and cross referenced documents.The argument is so well structured that at first one is lead to believe the direction of thinking and drive is to disprove the Moses theological narrative and thus the person.The discoveries, revelations and reveals will hold you fixed in suspense as professional points of view argue their sides convincingly.The most interesting and astounding is the origin of language.I'll leave it for you to discover.

Confirms what the Bible says.

I bought this for my son, along with Proof of Identity: Exodus. He is a keen fan of all things Egyptian and is very interested in the history of the Bible. Thoroughly researched, thought-provoking and extremely interesting. We loved them and thoroughly recommend them to all who wish to dig deeper for the answers to all those controversial questions about Biblical times and characters.

I liked it a lot. It demonstrated clearly the closed minds of so-called experts in the field of archeology who base their conclusion on false paradigms, and who arrogantly dismiss alternative explanations that appear to make more sense than their one-eyed conclusions.It also added to my conviction and faith that the Bible truly is God's word, and when studied with an open mind, it is true and accurate in every detail. A fact that many scientists are also coming to grips with and are changing what they were taught to believe...not just in the field of archeology but the theory of evolution.This film is a perfect follow up to the "Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus" film, which should be viewed first to get the full impact of the Moses Controversy. Well done Timothy Mahoney.

Everyone should see this document movie. Very well done and very interesting.