Did Moses Exist? The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver

In times like this when incited violence is justified by religious doctrines, we need more minds like Ms. Murdock. For people who have truly read her books with an open mind, you'll realize that her erudition is way beyond than the bulk of her detractors; theists and atheists alike. In her latest book, she took it up a notch and made a scholarly work that actually deserves to be used as a textbook for college and graduate school students. To be fair, this book of her is the most dense that she has to spin off a study guide separately, and not only that, it is loaded with primary sources in their original language.This book has so much information that will shame most history encyclopedias. For example, her discussion of the proto-Israelites, the rampant departures of people in Africa towards Levant and Mediterranean which is not seen in TV shows (ahem NatGeo), and my most favorite part is the lack of historicity of the events in Pentateuch as well as Moses himself. Just like the canonical gospels, Pentateuch is written by anonymous authors and apologist rely on the slimmest scientific evidence in attaching Mosaic authorship. Just like Jesus, Moses's life is filled with anthropomorphized allegories and metaphors. In part 1 of Zeitgeist, there's this brief parallels between Sargon and other pre-Judaic lawgivers, she expanded that and spilled more ink to other lawgivers with parallel stories (Tammuz, Dionysus, Osiris, etc). She shows the art of myth making and that the Moses story is not as linear as the pagan tales and evidence shows that the Moses story is also a composite of pagan lawgivers.One more thing, she presented information and theological works that are not taught in Catechism or Sunday school. This book is an important work for the betterment of humanity. This book reminds me of her conclusion on her third book Who Was Jesus:Fingerprints of the Christ that we must be able to examine any sort of holy writ because our global structures are based on it and that instead of ascribing them as history, they are man made stories that poses more harm than good.

Only 6% into the Kindle version I found 3 consecutive sentences 64, 56 and 51 words in length. This type of writing is ‘word salad’ of meaningless babble with multiple subjects, verbs and D.O. & ID.O’s … making impossible to link any subject with which verb. The longest sentence in the book before I decided to turn my Kindle into a Frisbee? 76 words.Clearly this book was neither proofed nor edited. At 582 pps the author felt she has acres of terrain to do her thing … unfortunately all this real estate allows for verbosity and sloppy English. I have read other DM Murdoch works and they were tightly written and focused. Not so with “Moses”, which could have been condensed to 250 words without loss of content.Firstly, the author deals with Moses and quotes generously from Genesis as to who and what he was, when he lived etc. She adroitly points out all the contradictions and impossibilities and concludes, methinks correctly, that Moses was an invention in order to create a religion.Acharya S then tells the story of how the Jewish god, Yahweh, cast a spell onto the pharaoh so as to harden his heart and prevent release of the Jewish slaves .... then cast ten murderous spells against all Egyptians allowing the estimated 2.5 million Jews plus their estimated million herd animals to steal away to Sinai. The author then concludes, again correctly, that nothing exists in support the exodus (parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush, ten commandments, 40 years of wandering the desert etc).The author then analyzes Yahweh and his activities by quoting generously from the Torah and demonstrates that Yahweh is an unhinged homicidal maniac. Yahweh is a god nastier than any god conjured up by the Romans or Greeks ― he is pure unmitigated Evil. Clearly Judaism is a fear-based religion that condones violence against all nonmembers.Do not the Jews who practice the Yahweh-inspired and taught hatred realize that they are no different than other hate groups – The White Aryan Nation, the Nazis, Westside Baptist Church etc.? Let's not forget that Adolf Hitler was Catholic and had the unbridled support of the Catholic hierarchy during his reign of terror against Jews, Blacks, homosexuals etc.Archarya S has done a tremendous service in exploring the foundation myth of Judaism and stimulating the readers to understand how religion is often twisted to be the very opposite its original intent.Thank you, Yahweh, for making your Judeo-Christian brethren just like yourself and condoning rape, pillage, arson, mass murder etc.And thank you, D.M. Murdoch, in reaching deep into Juadism allowing this reader to understand the basis of their modus operandi.

I really like the insight she gives, I have only found a couple of places where great liberties were been taken; however, even with these few liberties, it is a great book for anyone who considers themselves a seeker of truth. I have a lot of books that have helped me over the years to not just believe what is said from the pulpit but to really know what is truth and what is religious jargon. Most of what is taught over and over at church is rehashed until we all believe it just because we are told this.Now, so that you understand where I am coming from, I have to say that I will always believe in God, and, because of our constant screwing up, he had to send his Son to die in our place. I've been seeking God as long as I can remember, even vague memories at 3 years of age (I believe). As I have grown in the teachings of the church (several different Christian religions) I find that so much of what is taught is tradition, not necessarily truth. Then this tradition is supported by the religions of the world within theircultures. My best example it to ask what portion of a woman needs to covered. Most religions would say the area a bathing suit covers, but in the garden, when people first were clothed, it says God covered their loins. So why all the fuss about topless beaches. My list goes on and on but this is an easy one.There are other books that are also great but this one is probably my favorite and I recommend it. If you get this book and would like to get other insightful books, go to the Amazon purchasing page. Thanks for reading. Donnie

A really good piece of work by D.M.Murdock. 'Did Moses Exist' is a well-written book by a truly erudite author, but it can get a little bit 'heavy' in places until you get into it and read (study) it properly. It then becomes compulsive and fascinating reading and you can't put it down. It can be a real eye-opener for the uninitiated reader, such as myself, and can give them something to think about and make them realise how mankind has been misled, misinformed and manipulated by the hierarchy for thousands of years. After reading this book, I now see past events, right up to the present time, in a new light. This author has now become one of my all-time favourites, and I can't wait to read some of her other works.

This is a wonderful work of the highest academic study of the real truth behind the Bible focused on one of it's main characters after reading 6 other books about who Moses was ie a priest of the Aten who made his way with some followers to Judea etc this book really does answer this question, I can't recommend it highly enough,

Acharya gets a bashing from Bart Ehrman coz she wrote some rubbish books on Jesus. But you can't tar and feather her coz of that.As a Bible unbelieving Christian, I can recommend this book to all. Very good, lots of hardcore analysis of old stuff. A major work of reference in my library, to help draw out the truth on religion and history, Moses, Dionysus, Bacchus, and back further, which Acharya leaves off at Dionysus, she duzunt take it back further to Tammuz, for that you need to branch off on your own research.

This book seems to be well researched and well written. I like the detail the books goes into. Not only do you learn about Moses but you learn about many other writer at the time of Moses and what they had to say.

Nach Joeseph Atwills Buch bin ich voller Vorfreude auf dieses Buch. Es ist leider auf Englisch, aber dennoch möchte ich es lesen.