Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
– Malachi 3:10 (ESV)
We’re in the final stages of reviewing and perfecting the first episodes in our new series: Patterns of Evidence: Moses. I hope you will join me on this journey as I search for facts supporting the Bible’s account of the Children of Israel miraculously crossing a large body of water, receiving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, and wandering in the desert for 40 years before occupying the land God promised them.
At the beginning of this project, I interviewed several mainstream scholars who consider the events written about in the Book of Exodus to be exaggeration if not totally fictional.
These scholars in the fields of Archaeology, Egyptology and Biblical Studies had something else in common. They were all raised in conservative Bible-believing homes, just as I was. Over time, these scholars became agnostic, at least in part because of the challenges they saw against the Bible, such as lack of supporting evidence.
By exploring this topic, I wondered if I would follow their same paths or if I would find answers to my questions and keep my faith.
My parents met at a Bible college in Minneapolis. My mother got her degree in music and my father, a decorated Korean War vet, was studying to be a pastor. They married and I was their first child. On weekends, we would travel to a country church in Wisconsin to help with Sunday services.
My father with his military background ended up becoming a police officer. and my family grew to include two sisters and a brother. Every week we attended Sunday school at church and would hear a different story from the Bible. This was the first time I learned about Moses and the Exodus. And I came to believe that these stories were true.
LEFT: Tim (3) with father Paul Mahoney 1960. RIGHT: Ethel Mahoney ( Tim’s mother) reading Bible to family. (Patterns of Evidence LLC Copyright 2018)
Sadly, my parents marriage ended in divorce when I was around 11. My mother, as a single parent, found great confidence in reading the Bible to her four children every evening before we went to bed. It was very comforting to her and she wanted her children to know that God would provide for our family.
LEFT: Ethel Mahoney ( Tim’s mother) reading Bible to family. RIGHT: Tim Mahoney – Edina High School 1975 (Patterns of Evidence LLC Copyright 2018)
As I grew older, I was taught that Moses was the author of the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah or Pentateuch. That is why I was troubled when one scholar I interviewed said these books were not written by Moses but by multiple people hundreds of years later.
The Book of Exodus, in particular, describes a series of fantastic miracles, from God leading the Israelites out of Egypt across a dry seabed between parted waters, to destroying Pharaoh’s army of chariots as the water came crashing back. Then there was the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, the water from the rock, daily manna and quail in the wilderness, and the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.
However, if this was not an eyewitness account and instead a later invention, then what would be the purpose of searching for the route of the Exodus? Can any of it be trusted?
Hearing the doubts of these mainstream scholars was troubling to me. Perhaps it troubles you, too. Maybe you also ask, “What if my faith is misplaced?
Patterns of Evidence LLC, Copyrighted 2018
Dealing with Doubt
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
– Matthew 7:7 (ESV)
So what do believers do when doubts about the reliability of Scripture arise in their minds and hearts? Perhaps the best place to start is to be honest about the fact that these doubts do exist. Though the Bible does not endorse putting God to the test in a rebellious way, it does say he will not turn away those who ask, seek, and knock with honest questions. At the beginning of this Thinker Update, the verse shown actually has God challenging people to put him to the test. This is an amazing thought.
Regarding the relationship between evidence and faith, there are many different views, even among our Thinkers. That’s why we encourage you to explore these types of questions with us each week.
As you do, keep in mind that biblical faith is rooted in truth. It is not believing something just because a person wants it to be so. Although the heart also exercises faith, there is a correspondence between faith and reality.
The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. – Psalm 19:1 (ESV)
– Psalm 19:1 (ESV)
The question is, is faith grounded in historical truth?
One resource some Thinkers have found helpful is a book I co-wrote with Robert Noland and Steve Law in 2017 called The Evidence of Faith. It explores the relationship between these two concepts of evidence and faith, which are often seen as conflicting with each other. On the contrary, I have found that they can work well together.
“In reality,” I wrote, “faith and evidence make great partners that take turns leading, according to the circumstances. It is best when we arrive at a balance between these two corresponding but not opposing forces.”
When I heard mainstream scholars attacking the historical credibility of the Bible, I was challenged to see for myself if these claims were true. What I found was that these claims were overstated and these scholars often dismissed evidence that matched the Bible’s account because it was contrary to their views. There was a whole other way to interpret the evidence that they would not consider.
Dr. Walt Kaiser, who was interviewed for Patterns of Evidence, is an author and professor of Bible and archaeology. He warns about holding separate faith and academic beliefs. “ . . . the person doing that is either going to end up as a schizophrenic, or someone who’s finally going to say, ‘Look, I said it didn’t happen, there is no evidence, so why in the world am I pretending this?’ Eventually, they’ll drop out. . .”
I’m afraid that is what happened to the mainstream scholars I interviewed at the beginning of the Patterns of Exodus: Moses series. They settled into an agnostic position favoring evidence over faith.
“WHENEVER YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, PUT IT ON THE BACK BURNER AND TURN THE HEAT DOWN … BUT KEEP IT ON SIMMER, KEEP REFLECTING, AND KEEP LOOKING.” – WALT KAISER
In the final chapter of The Evidence of Faith, I shared Dr. Kaiser’s recipe for dealing with doubt and challenges to the credibility of the Bible. He had a teacher who used to say, “Whenever you have a problem, put it on a back burner, turn the heat down – don’t turn the heat up – or it will make a mess out of your mind. It will boil over. But keep it on simmer, keep reflecting, and keep looking. You’ll be surprised how many of those pots you can take off the stove over the years as you come into more and more evidence. Because that is what life is about – expanding our understanding and involvement. And then you can just put a new pot on the stove with a new problem.”
Can anything good ever come from having doubts? I’ve concluded it can – as long as you’re not overwhelmed; in other words, as long as your pot doesn’t boil over. If you seek out answers to your questions, the fruit of that journey can lead to stronger conviction.
I don’t have all the answers to my questions, but I am more confident today than ever that there are answers.
So, keep your doubts on simmer. Keep reflecting on them and looking at the evidence as it is presented each week in this blog.
Above all, keep thinking!
Top Photo: Tim Mahoney with crew filming in Jordan for upcoming Patterns of Evidence: Moses series. (Patterns of Evidence, LLC Copyright 2017)
