Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy

I have watched a couple other movies from the Patterns of Evidence folks that were quite good. They outdid themselves on this one - it's truly extraordinary. The research and interviews spanned the world and made a convincing argument. My only criticism is that this movie doesn't explore all the arguments of the Documentary Hypothesis, merely those regarding language and writing. Nevertheless, it delves deep into that subject matter and delivers a powerful result.

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".

This is another excellent documentary by Timothy Mahone. He works hard to try to answer all objections to the Bible story with legitimate facts (something that not all apologists do unfortunately). I have been investigating many of the things he examines on my own and I can attest that is doing a really good job this far at avoiding the frauds. The only thing I could have asked for is if he had shown some of the alternate translations so we could see for ourselves that the Hebrew translation was the better translation but I understand that he wants to save those for the next film. Thank you Tim for doing these documentaries. I can guess at how much you are having to sacrifice to do this.

I will be honest. This is more cerebral than most viewers will appreciate and so it may not be for everyone. Several modern scholars make the claim that Moses did not write the Torah. For believers, this undermines our faith. If we can't trust the first five books of the Bible, all of the Jewish and Christian faiths suffer serious issues of credibility. The author took his time, asked the hard questions, consulted with both sides and tested the evidence to come to his conclusion. He did a study of the history of written language to confirm/disprove the main position of those claiming Moses did not write the Torah. Their conclusion is that Moses existed prior to written language, and therefore could not have written it. Their conclusion is that it was oral tradition and was exaggerated with the retelling. The author set up several proofs that he needed to confirm the position one way or another. He was fair and objective throughout the process. It's a lot of detail-driven archaeology material, but for those wanting an in depth, scientific discussion of whether or not Moses could or could not have written the Torah, this DVD will give you your answer and it will be a credible, believable conclusion. Even though a dry subject, he did keep my attention in his presentation.

If your interested in Bible history then this is for you

Great for instruction.

This is just amazing. I am an apologist, and it seemed natural to me that Moses inspired the Pentateuch, but he did so 400 years before the invention of the alphabet - hence he did not personally write them. Therefore Moses' words were carefully handed down from generation to generation until the invention of the alphabet. This movie held a big surprise. Be sure to watch the first movie, "Patterns of Evidence: Exodus" first, though. Much of what he shows in the first one is important to understand for this one.

Yes there is some controversy about whether or not Moses did in fact write the first 5 books of the Bible. This documentary interviews people on both sides of the argument. It didn't change where I stand -- yes I believe God inspired Moses to write the books late during the time of the Exodus. It is a good documentary but I personally preferred the other one the director/writer put out ---- Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus --- I like historical documentaries.

À lire pour tous ceux qui se demandent si la Bible est plus qu'un ramassis de légendes

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

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.

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.

Very well executed documentary and well argued case for the authorship of the books of Moses by showing the origins of paleo hebrew as the language of the time. Nice addition to my collection along side the Exodus by the same director.