Eight Miles High on the Sinai

According to Israeli researcher Benny Shanon, Moses, son of Amram, did indeed scale the heights of Mount Sinai; he did hear the word of god; and did happen upon a burning bush. All of this is to be believed, Shanon says, but—and this is a big caveat—he was probably higher than a Strawberry Alarm Clock roadie when receiving celestial revelations. The AFP reports:

"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said.

Moses Malone's career stats here.