Evidence for the Authenticity of the Biblical Sojourn Story

Evidence for the Authenticity of the Biblical Sojourn Story
Date Thursday, April 20, 2023
7 - 9 p.m.
FeaturingDr. James Hoffmeier
Location Anderson Center Community Room - View maps and directions
Bethel University
3900 Bethel Dr St Paul MN 55112
Instructions for GuestsYou can attend in person or via Zoom.  The Anderson Center is located at 2 Pine Tree Drive.  Enter the Lobby and use the stairs or elevator to go down to Level 1
Registration Click here to Register: Register
SponsorsSeminary for Everyone

Event Description

There is no direct archaeological evidence to prove that the Hebrews ever lived in Egypt. Consequently, many scholars question the historicity of the biblical narratives in Exodus. However, archaeology furnishes us with background information about the general period of the sojourn and exodus, and these data align well with what the book of Exodus reports. Then too, the book of exodus is filled with evidence of Egyptian influence in the form of Egyptian loanwords that could only have come through prolonged, direct contact between Israelites and Egypt.

About the Speaker:

James K. Hoffmeier is Emeritus Professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois. Born and raised in Egypt, Hoffmeier’s passion for Biblical Archaeology and Old Testament studies began in his youth growing up in Egypt, which led him to major in Near Eastern Archaeology at Wheaton College (IL). Graduate school took him to the University of Toronto where he earned his MA and PhD in Egyptology. While a graduate student he worked on the Akhenaten Temple Project’s excavations at East Karnak. From 1980-1999 he was on the faculty of Wheaton College, while from 1999-2019 Hoffmeier taught at Trinity. He directed the North Sinai Archaeological Project from 1994-2008 which included excavations at Tell el-Borg and paleo-environmental research of northwestern Sinai. Two volumes of final reports of the work, Tell el-Borg I & II, were published in 2014 and 2019. He is presently engaged in archaeological fieldwork in the Taharka/Tirhaka pyramid complex in Nuri, Sudan.

Hoffmeier is also the author of Israel in Egypt (Oxford University Press, 1997) and is currently completing a second, enlarged edition, and Ancient Israel in Sinai (Oxford University Press, 2005), Akhenaten and the Origins of Monotheism (Oxford University Press, 2015), and recently, The Prophets of Israel: Walking Ancient Paths (Kregel 2021). He has authored and edited 20 books and written more than 100 articles in journals, books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Since his retirement in 2019, Hoffmeier moved to Paradise, PA close to his five grandchildren with whom he enjoys regular visits. He is a member of Keystone Evangelical Free Church. Hoffmeier remains active as an educator, leading Bible Land Studies tours to Egypt and Turkey and teaching adult Bible classes in his church as well as seminars and modular classes in Egypt and elsewhere.

Questions?

Please email seminary@bethel.edu with any questions. 


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