G-d exists

I would like to point out there were originally 5 contentions, and now my opponent has dropped 2 of them. As I will show Pro should read his own sources and learn how to properly use them, had he read his own source material I don’t think he’d use it at all. Saying ‘there’s evidence’ then posting a link doesn’t tell us about what that evidence is, we can’t expect the voter to read all the links provided. Claim #1: Fictional Exodus and Egyptian mythos Quotations from the source helps readers understand what in the link is important. Pro’s first source proves that the story of the Exodus can not be historically confirmed because even the experts cited disagree with interpretation. Quote: “There are four scenes which Yurco correlates with the Merneptah stele. One scene is the battle against the city of Ashkelon which is specifically named. Yurco argues that the other two city scenes are Gezer and Yanoam. He concludes that the open country scene must be Israel. Rainey rejects this view because it shows them with chariots and infantry (1990, 56-60). Lawrence Stager suggests that the small horses pulling the chariot belong to pharaoh's army as in the Ashkelon scene (1985, 58). Rainey thinks the Shasu are Israelites, but others identify the Shasu as Edomites (Stager 1985, 60). Both scholars Yurco and Rainey agree that these battle scenes are from Merneptah's reign (Yurco 1991, 61; Rainey 1992, 73-4; Hess 1993, 134).” Furthermore his own sources says the event on Mt. Sinai and the story of Exodus are unrelated. Quote: “Archaeological surveys and excavations show that there was very little occupation [in the Sinai region] during the Late Bronze Age (Anati 1986). This seems most likely due to Ahmose's campaign against the Hyksos, and to the Israelites migration to Canaan. The Israelites could not have come out of Egypt in the 14th century because of the lack of archaeological evidence in the Sinai. Two of the most influential German scholars von Rad and Noth argued, "The Exodus and Sinai traditions and the events behind them were originally unrelated to one another" (Nicholson 1973, 1)” I’m curious; can my opponent name the Pharaoh who ruled during the time of the Exodus? It does not give a name in the Torah, something a legitimate historical document would not leave out of such an important story. An Exodus may have happened, but not as the Torah describes with over 2-3 million people. Richard Elliott Friedman, who holds a Th.D from Harvard, is the Ann and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia and the Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization Emeritus of the University of California, San Diego says quote “Still, all of us would admit that two million people—603,550 males and their families, as the Torah describes—should have left some remnants that we would find. But few of us ever thought that this number was historical anyway. … There is no archaeological evidence against the historicity of an exodus if it was a smaller group who left Egypt. … The first biblical mention of the Exodus, the Song of Miriam, which is the oldest text in the Bible, never mentions how many people were involved in the Exodus, … It wasn’t until a much later source of the Exodus—the so-called priestly source, some 400 years later—that the number 603,550 males was added to the story.” [5] My opponent questions why Jews would believe the myths if they were not true. Here is why: “At a recent international conference entitled “Out of Egypt” on the question of the Exodus’ historicity, one point of agreement, I believe, among most of the 45 participating scholars was that Semitic peoples, or Western Asiatics, were in fact living in Egypt and were traveling to and from there for centuries. And the evidence indicates that the smaller group among them, who were connected with the Exodus, were Levites. The Levites were members of the group associated with Moses, the Exodus, and the Sinai events depicted in the Bible. In the Torah, Moses is identified as a Levite.” Now read this next quote about the founding of Israel: “… from one of the earliest writings in the Bible, the Song of Deborah, composed in Israel in the 12th or 11th century B.C.E. After the Canaanites suffer a major defeat, Deborah summons the victorious tribes of Israel. In uniting the tribes, which constitutes the founding event of Israel’s history as a nation in its land, 10 of the tribes are summoned—but noticeably absent is Levi. Their absence is perfectly consistent with all of the other facts we have observed. The Levites weren’t there in Israel yet; they were in Egypt. Think of this: The two oldest texts in the Bible are the Song of Deborah and the Song of Miriam. The Song of Deborah, in Israel, doesn’t mention Levi. The Song of Miriam, in Egypt, doesn’t mention Israel!” [5] Pro’s first source says there were Israeli’s (but no Israel) during the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah (1213 – 1203 BCE) “Merneptah, the king of Egypt, boasts that he has destroyed his enemies in Canaan. He states: Plundered is the Canaan with every evil; Carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer; Yanoam is made as that which does not exist; Israel is laid waste, his seed is not; (ANET 1969, 378).The word "Israel" here is written in Egyptian with the determinative for people rather than land (ANET 1969, 378 note 18). This implies that Israel did not have a king or kingdom at this time.” So it is very possible a small band of Levites left Egypt and forced the other tribes of Israel to adopt their Egyptian influenced mythos and story of Exodus. Quote: “The Levites were not people to whom one said “No.” Four different biblical texts connect them to violent acts.” [5] When I first mention the possibility that parts of the Exodus were taken from Egyptian lore I wasn’t too seriously attached to this argument, but further research shows it’s very possible. For evidence of Egyptian influence among the Levites who would later dominate Israeli culture and myth: “Levites have names that come from Egypt. Other Israelites don’t. … The Five Books of Moses were not written by Moses but by authors of four main texts, known as J, E, P, and D. Three of the four texts—E, P, and D—are traced to authors who were Levite priests, and these three are the only ones telling the story of Moses, Pharaoh, and the plagues. The fourth main source, called J, the one that shows no signs of having been written by a Levite priest, makes no mention of the plagues. It just jumps from Moses’ saying “Let my people go” to the story of the event at the sea. … This is also significant because the architecture of the Tabernacle and its surrounding courtyard matches that of the battle tent of Pharaoh Rameses II. … Professor Sperling had emphasized in the RJ article that, archaeologically, there are no Egyptian elements in Israel’s material culture. But in the Tabernacle we do have those Egyptian elements. Egyptian culture is present, but, again, only among the Levites, not all of Israel. … Likewise, only the Levite authors emphasize that males have to be circumcised, which was an Egyptian practice. … Only the non-Levite source, J, does not command it. Again, the connections with Egyptian culture are there—but only among the Levites.” [5] To summarize, evidence provided by Pro and myself shows that the Torah is not a reliable historical document, and that the legend of Moses and the Exodus is a Levite myth adopted by Egyptian mythology. Claim #3: This is where I ask Pro to read his own sources. He claims Ethiopian military never fought in the second Italo-Ethiopian War. Yet his source {4} says this: “Under Generals Rodolfo Graziani and Pietro Badoglio, the invading forces steadily pushed back the ill-armed and poorly trained Ethiopian army, winning a major victory near Lake Ascianghi (Ashangi) on April 9, 1936, and taking the capital, Addis Ababa, on May 5. The nation’s leader, Emperor Haile Selassie, went into exile.” As we can see there were military battles during the war, and Ethiopia lost. Had they had the Ark as Pro claims regardless of equipment or skill they should have won. They didn’t. Claim #4 (mislabeled #5, he did not address the rebuttal to intelligent design in Claim #5): Pro says the prophecy is demostratablely not evidence for Chrsitianaity, but his own God claim. He has yet to demonstrate this, or the validity of prophetic interpretation, especially when these come from the same source that claims the fictional Mass Exodus of 2-3 million people. Conclusion: My refutation remains solid, more evidence has been presented by Jewish scholars that the events depicted in the Torah could not have been. It’s very possible however the Egyptian influenced Levites left Egypt in a smaller Exodus and united the tribes of Israel under coercion. This would not be the first time the victor has rewritten the history books. Furthermore Pro only addresses 3 out of 5 contentions, perhaps next round he’ll have even less to say. Sources: [5] http://www.reformjudaism.org...