Benny Shannon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, recently published a study wherein is claimed Moses was high on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the ten commandments. Furthermore, according to Mr. Shannon, Moses must have been under the influence of the same substances when he thought he saw the burning bush.
In an interview with Israeli Public Radio, Mr. Shannon said he himself has dabbled with such substances -- an admission that pretty well gets to the bottom of Shannon's published "study."
Obviously, very few sober-minded, rationally thinking people will put any stock in Mr. Shannon's theories. They have no factual basis whatsoever. They serve merely as another talking point for those who simply cannot accept the Biblical record as it is...despite the overwhelming proof of its veracity.
The exploits of Mr. Shannon and those like-minded are most reminiscent of the philosophers of Athens to whom Paul preached. Of them it was said, "Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new" (Acts 17:21, ESV).
The minds of men and women like these are seemingly so wrapped up in the glory of academia and devising endless philosophies sometimes lose sight of common sense. They marvel at new theories and conjecture even when those new thoughts completely contradict other lines of reasoning which they hold to be true. One theory may have no more merit than another despite its overwhelming amount of credible evidence. "Open mindedness" is heralded as the order of the day; but it would seem their minds have been so "open" that they have fallen out and lost them altogether!
The science of logic has given way to the art of uncertainty and objectivity. Benny Shannon and his theories of Moses' use of hallucinogens are not the first illogical and unsustainable doctrine to come along, and neither will they be the last. They are just the latest; and the modern-day "Athenians" will have moved on to the latest "something new" in short order.
Let's have minds that are open to truth and perceptive enough to recognize error.
r2
