>>>As I understand it the crossing of the "Red" Sea was a mis-reading of the original Aramaic, and should have been "Reed" Sea, as in a marshland that exists thereabout.
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>>There is evidence the Red Sea was crossed and they have found human bones and chariot wheels there.
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>You don't think that an Egyption ship or two, on its way to fight the Hittites for example, might have sunk, taking its war cargo and non-swimmers to the bottom?
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>Anyway, just as the US likes to portray itself as God's own chosen land (even the Nazis had the motto "Gott mit Uns"!), so the Israelites probably wrote praisingly about themselves, as God's chosen people, to give themselves licence to do some kick-ass in Canaan ("It's OK to demolish Jericho; the Lord sayeth so; lo, it is written!"), which they're still doing to this day.
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>Pillar of fire, plagues of Egypt, crossing the Reed Sea, etc. have all had plausible natural explanations put forward.
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>And where did all the water for Noah's flood come from? There just isn't that much water in the world. Even with global warming no-one's expecting such an inundation! Come on, John, you're a rational intelligent man, surely.

In defense of all those who believe, rationality has little to do with it. People who try to argue their religious beliefs from a logic standpoint are being a bit disingenuous. It has to do with faith and faith only.

I used to have arguments with a friend about God and all that surrounds the topic. I used to dazzle her with my unassailable logic, and she used to come back with stuff like "It's what I believe", or "Because that's what I believe". She never really spent any time trying to argue logic about it. In a sort of oddball way, I think you have to respect that.