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Reviews
Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy (2019)
Mahoney, the filmmaker, is genuinely investigating a deeply troubling matter- what he finds is incredible.
Firstly, I appreciate Timothy Mahoney's approach in this documentary. He mentions very clearly at the start that he is troubled by the growing consensus that Moses did not write the Torah. His conviction and passion for seeking out the truth for himself is truly inspirational. He has every right to go on a journey to discover if what he was taught as a child was untrue.
Secondly, to do with the analysis itself- i found it refreshing that he does not go into the interviews with a per-conceived idea. Instead, he is merely asking the scholars who hold strongly to the non-Moses authorship to explain their views. And he publishes their responses rather than edit it out. One can clearly see that he interviews scholars that agree and do not agree with him- and what both parties say are shown.
Thirdly, while i was expecting any American documentary on the Bible to be openly one sided, Mahoney, i felt, was approaching it from an evidential and scholarly perspective. He does not jump to conclusions without seeing what the evidence he finds is actually saying. Once the evidence is found and is examined, one is able to use their intelligence and perception to connect the dots. Mahoney does connect the dots (he calls them patterns) and he discovers something interesting.
Overall, this is definitely worth a watch. It is a well made documentary and the only bias i can see is the conviction of the film-maker who is trying to make sense of where the truth lies when it comes to something he has treasured since childhood.
Living in the Time of Jesus (2010)
Refreshing and informative
I'm upto episode 3 so far and find this an invaluable documentary. When you read an ancient text, you tend to inscribe your own filter over what you're reading and the results can be confusing. This documentary allows you to see for yourself the actual locations where situations from the gospels occurred. There are a few re-creations to elaborate on certain points but it is mostly footage from the real locations
The curiosity of the presenter was refreshing- he went about his work professionally and i could count at-least 5 professionals who were interviewed (in the 1st 2 episodes). Their feedback was valuable. The presenter did not appear to have a pre-concieved bias and often aimed to show respect to those he was interviewing.
People will unfortunately apply their own bias to this documentary in the same way they would to an ancient text- if people are determined to find fault with an ancient text like the Bible, they will probably see this with that filter. Unfortunately this can work both ways.
Either way, this is invaluable and worth seeing.