April 2003

Group Case Study: Moses and the Exodus- Science vs. Religion

By: Tammy, Rita and Vivian

Summary/Background Information:

-Moses was once an abandoned Hebrew child left in a basket in the Nile by his mother

-rescued by royal Egyptian family, raised there until he left at age 40

-God spoke to him when he saw burning bush and told him he would give him power to help free his people who were slaves to the Pharaoh of Egypt

-Moses using Ten Plagues was able to convince the Pharaoh to let his people go

-when around 2 000 000 Jews left, Pharaoh decided to chase after them

-waters parted to allow Jews to escape but flowed back and killed soldiers

-video discusses if these things are actually based on facts proven through scientific evidence, or is it all a matter of faith

-the question science versus religion

-uses examples of modern day events similar to those occurred in Bible, but are explained through science, not acts of God

-was Moses and the Exodus possible through faith of religion, or could it be caused through science

Website: http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/moses/moses.html

Major Issue 1: The Ten Plagues

Plague	Religion	Science
The Plague of Blood	God told Moses to go and stand at the riverbank of the Nile River and use his staff to turn the water to blood.	The fish were dying because of bacteria due to the chemicals from a volcanic eruption from Mount Santorini. So therefore the fish’s blood filled the water.
The Plague of Frogs	God told Moses to tell Pharaoh that the land would be filled with frogs.	The frogs were jumping out of the water to escape the deadly, poisonous water. Could not use skin respiration to breath, could not stay alive without water
The Plague of Gnats	God told Moses to stretch his staff out and strike the dust on the ground and the dust will become gnats.	Because the frogs were on land, there would be insects coming to feast upon the bacteria and dead frogs.
The Plague of Flies	God told Moses to once again ask Pharaoh to let his people go and once again, Pharaoh refused so God sent swarms of flies upon the Egyptians.	Same reason as the cause for the plague of gnats (see above).
The Plague of Livestock	God told Moses once again to ask Pharaoh and was denied again so God killed off all the livestock belonging to the Egyptians while not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.	Because of all the gnats and disease being carried through the frogs, the livestock died.
The Plague of Boils	God told Moses to take a handful of soot from a furnace, stand before Pharaoh and toss it into the air and that caused boils to break out on animals and humans.	The flies that carried disease bit the humans, causing boils.
The Plague of Hail	God told Moses to stretch out his staff towards the sky. When he did, God sent thunder and hail and lightning flashed down to the ground.	The hail was a result of the volcanic eruption from the volcano.
The Plague of Locusts	God said that he will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen and devour everything if Pharaoh did not let Moses’ people go.	Also as a result from the Nile River turning into blood, so the insects come to feast on the dead animals.
The Plague of Darkness	God told Moses to stretch his hand out toward the sky so that darkness will spread all over Egypt – a darkness that can be felt.	The volcanic eruption’s after-effects created darkness like most volcanos’ do after erupting.
The Plague of Firstborn	God told Moses that He would bring one more plague upon Egypt and then Pharaoh would let them go. He said at about midnight, every firstborn son in Egypt would die except for those of Israelite descent.	Is there really evidence this really happened?

Major Issue 2: The Parting of The Red Sea

Religion Says:

Science Says:

-God gave Moses the power to part the Red Sea -Moses literally parted the Red Sea into two sides so that he and his people could cross to the other side -God is just that great; He has that kind of power to part a huge sea.

-It just didn’t happen at all. -It was not the Red Sea but the Sea of Reeds according to the original Hebrew text which had been translated wrong to the Red Sea -The tsunami wave comes from the volcano blast and it withdraws water from the banks as it approaches the shore - The tsunami was so big that it drew the water away from the banks for two hours, allowing people to cross. -Enough time that when waves come back at 6 feet high and traveling very far inwards to land soldiers are caught and drowned.

Short Term and Long Term Effects:

Issue:	Science vs. Religion –Moses and the Exodus
Short Term Effects:	-cause anger with difference of opinion leaving parties to be in denial of other possibilities -cause rifts in relationships with other people -allow drifting from current beliefs -for science, since it is constantly changing, the effect could be different after time (i.e.: one believes science is right, thought later science develops another explanation causing doubt)
Long Term Effects:	-could make people have second thoughts about what they believe -could potentially change the lifestyle of someone -could spark debate with science and any religion -bitter feelings toward others -could cause more analysis and research to take place on both parts

Analysis:

Ø the video did a very good job of explaining how the 9 of the 10 plagues happened in a scientific point of view, but failed to explain the last plague: the plague of the First Born (which was the most crucial one because it was the last plague that caused Pharaoh to let the slaves free)

Ø There were a lot of good and solid points brought up. For example, it says in the bible that Moses crossed the Red Sea. However, the video points out that the original Hebrew version of the bible does not say that. In the Hebrew Bible, they crossed the Yam Suph, which means the “Sea of Reeds”. Ancient Egyptian texts mention an area called Pazufy, or “the Reeds” which was thought to be located in the vast depression in the eastern Delta between Sinal and the Cultivation area, just north of today’s Gulf of Suez. If that is the case, the Sea of Reeds is very shallow marshal area, and the Jews should have no problem crossing it.

Ø However, the scientific explanations are too ideal, if all the events happened the way that the video explained it, it would have been too ideal and coincidental. For example, the volcano could have caused the first 8 plagues, and when the Jews tried to cross the sea, the Tsunami all of a sudden caused all the water to dry up, and once the Jews have safely crossed to the other side, the water moves back in and kills all of Pharaoh’s chariots just in time.

Ø It brings up the view of modern society which is now moving towards science and its steps to disprove religion rather than living by religion

Ø Brings a look of possibilities for many things for those who do not believe

Script

(Fade in with the Brady Bunch theme song)

Tammy = Jan

Vivian = Science thought

Rita = Religion thought

(Tammy walks in all ditsy like Jan, looks at TV screen)

Tammy: hmmm Moses and the Exodus? What’s that all about?

Rita: Well duh, you know Moses, the Jew who was put in a basket floating down a Nile?

Vivian: No, no, no there’s no proof of this Moses ever floating down the Nile River

Rita: Oh yes there is!

Tammy: AHHH!! Shut-up, shut-up, shut-up! So what’s going on here? What are you guys even talking about?! Man I hate having multiple personalities.

Rita: Listen to me Jan, I’m the one who’s right, Religion is right!

Vivian: Ya, and what are you going to tell me next, this guy actually parted the Red Sea? Science all the way! Way to go Science geeks!

Rita: Actually yea, you are right, he did!

Tammy: Wow, brain freeze, got to sit down for a second!

Viv: You are sitting down!

Tammy: oh, well then.

Rita: From a religious point of view, Moses according to Islam, Jewish, and Christian faith was a Hebrew baby abandoned by his mother and put in a basket that traveled down the Nile.

Viv: Yea Yea Yea, and the mumbo jumbo about him being rescued by Egyptian royalty, where he grew up, and was spoken to by God and ‘supposedly’ cast the 10 plagues on Egypt.

Rita…Ok well that was the Readers Digest version. But it’s all-true anyways.

Tammy: 10 plagues? What the?

(Viv and Rita say their next lines at the same time)

Viv: Let Science Explain!

Rita: Let Religion Explain!

- So hopefully our little rendition of the Brady Bunch has you guys wondering.

- If you don’t get what we are talking about, well it’s that question you always hear about, Science versus Religion?

- Specifically Science versus Religion for Moses and the Exodus!

- Special on TLC Moses and the Exodus,

BUT what made it so interesting was it brought two points of view on this,

SCIENCE explanations for these events, and RELIGION explanations for them

- Explain that focusing on 10 plagues and parting of Red Sea

- Start video clips

- After ask if any questions about the explanations, if are then show chart overhead

- Start discussion

How many people are religious? How many people are not religious?

For those who are not religious, do you believe in science?

For those who are religious, do you believe that science and religion can co-exist?

For those who are religious, do you get offended when science tries to disprove religion?

After showing the video, has it affected your view/outlook on the credibility of religion?

How would you respond if we said that all the scientific explanations are the reason for why things are?

Do you think that religion was made up just to keep structure in society?

Do you think that religion was created just so people could paint a picture for themselves after life?

Can science even be considered truth at all? Example often once something is scientifically ‘proven’ years later it could be viewed differently. Like the atom is now much more complex then it was first proven to be.

For science how do you know what you believe is true, but in religion you know because you have faith.