Patterns of Evidence: Exodus

I had yet to see a documentary, until now, that gave both sides of the argument an equal shot. This also felt like a movie with the music and effects that demonstrated certain pivotal points that the Director was making in his search for the truth about the evidence for the Exodus. The exposition is not over the top, and the interviews are concise, to the point. Not your typical documentary that is for sure, and a ground breaking one at that. I believe this documentary re-opens a debate that many considered closed for decades now. One of the reviews that I agree with said that, "After watching this documentary, any open minded individual would say to himself/herself, 'This makes sense'; consequently, at the very least, incline him or her to do more research for themselves." I highly recommend this to everyone, be you religious or not.

This film provides an engaging introduction and overview of the evidence for the entry of Joseph into Egypt, the 14 years of plenty and famine, the fruitful multiplication of Jacob's descendants (Israel), their subsequent slavery, the 10 plagues, including detailed evidence of the 10th plague, the exodus from Egypt into Canaan and Israel's conquest of Canaan. It demonstrates the difficulty with dating ancient events, but also the patterns of evidence that line up with the Biblical record and also lines up against the Egyptian historical sequence, but is generally panned today since it does not match up with the modern dating of Egyptian history. This evidence calls for an objective review.

Insightful, even handed, restrained, and yet utterly compelling, Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus is an intelligent documentary and mature treatment of a very sensitive subject. It's a film that values exploration and questioning, rather than hand wringing and partisanship. It's a film of value, a film of questions, and one that can serve to better inform. As the documentary relates, the establishment view is that the Exodus didn't happen as described in the Bible, or is entirely fictional. This criticism seems to revolve around the established timeline for the Exodus. The documentary challenges this assumption, and does so convincingly. Experts of every stripe are shown, yet the film gives a notable voice to those who point to startling evidence of exactly what the Bible describes, just earlier than accepted.

Director Tim Mahoney navigates the ensuing web well, keeping the viewer anchored with excellent visuals and a concise yet intelligent description off the correlation of events, and how they may fit from an archaeological standpoint.

It's not perfect, some of the dramatization is unnecessary and the narration uneven, yet the questions poignant, and the execution striking.

4/5 Stars

I am Christian to begin with, and I'm proud to say that my faith is strong in The Lord. But I'm not a scientist, though I am curious and often times seek the truth. It's very much faith empowering how this film elaborates on the story of Exodus, at the same time comparing it with coherent scientific evidence. Yet this movie also still nicely leaves room for faith. As faith is the basis of things we can't see, one needs faith to understand the reasoning this movie presented, while the evidence itself still gets debated by scientists. I for one at prior to this movie wasn't aware of the gap of date settings between scientists, or even the whole counter-idea of the Exodus itself, as being a myth. At a skeptic's perspective this may prove that ignorance is bliss. But I see it as the fact that faith in God can't be distinguished by mere scientists' wisdom, which base their findings on mere rags and tatters.

As an engineer who has been working in high-tech industry since 1996, I appreciate Tim Mahoney's pursuit of truth through facts, evidence, and logic. This documentary re-writes the human history as we know it, and affirms the Biblical events to be true. I liked that he not only interviewed those who believed in the Bible stories, but also those who do not. He gave a good balance of arguments from both sides, presented all the facts and findings, and allowed the viewers to be their own judge on what is true based on the proof presented to them. I got goosebumps throughout the film when archaeologists and historians confirmed the stories and patterns of Exodus. I'm so glad I watched this and can't wait to own this documentary on DVD.