Faith, fact and fiction

Christian Century, July 13, 2004

FAITH, FACT AND FICTION: In Biblical Archaeology Review (July-August), Frank Moore Cross and Elie Wiesel discuss the historicity of the Pentateuch. Cross, a Harvard professor with a Christian background, takes a critical approach, believing that the Exodus story has an epic quality to it, not unlike the Iliad and the Odyssey; it is part historical and part mythological, he says, and it is difficult and unnecessary to distinguish the two strains.

Wiesel, a Jew who teaches at Boston University, takes a more existential approach. He says that he has no doubts that the Exodus actually happened. For 3,500 years it has left such a strong imprint on people's memories that he just can't imagine its having been invented. Regarding the victorious Song of the Sea (Exod. 15), one of the earliest biblical texts, Wiesel concludes: "Who could have written such a poem except someone who went through [the Exodus]?"