Exodus

When I met David Robertson a few weeks back, one of the most prominent things that he said to me was that he thinks that everyone should read the bible. I'm inclined to agree with him. I'm now at Exodus and I find it more and intriguing with every page. I have found several significant weaknesses that I have yet to come across in any atheist writings (that's not to say that they haven't been addressed, more that I've probably just not read the right books yet), so I'm going to try to address some of them here. Let's start with Exodus 2:11

In those days, after Moses was grown up, he went out to his brethren: and saw their affliction, and an Egyptian striking one of the Hebrews, his brethren. 12 And when he had looked about this way and that way, and saw no one there, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

What? Seems a bit harsh to me. And what was God's reaction? To take Moses under his wing and use him as a messenger for his wonderous morals. Let's try Exodus 7:8

And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 9 When Pharao shall say to you, Show signs; thou shalt say to Aaron: Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be turned into a serpent. 10 So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron took the rod before Pharao and his servants, and it was turned into a serpent. 11 And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner. 12 And they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned into serpents: but Aaron's rod devoured their rods. 13 And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the Lord had commanded.

So we are supposed to believe that these miracles actually happened, when the documented evidence of the event also states that the Pharaoh employed magicians that can do the same? I mean, this isn't just a small-scale illusion that we're talking about, this is all of the Pharaoh's magicians turning their rods into snakes. You could almost forgive the suggestion that the people could be fooled/manipulated/enchanted if the act involved one magician performing an illusion, but all of the Pharoah's magicians?

This is a huge hole in the bible, I'm surprised that I haven't come across it before.

But the big one for me is the constant referrals to the fact that God hardened the Pharoah's heart. This means that the actions of both Moses and his opponent were being controlled by God. Surely this means that life is predetermined and that actually we're just pawns in God's little game? I'm sorry, but I can't get with that. What actually happens is that lots of innocent people die in the name of their fathers/leaders and the proclaimed "message" from the story is actually null and void because no one has control over their own actions.

There is no doubt that parts of the Bible are a surprisingly good read, but as far as I have read so far, it's just a series of interesting stories with contradicting morals.