Pentateuch Written by Moses - Essay Example

Divine revelations emerge from the bliss level, the conflict-free, duality-free zone.
The claim:
Majority of the Christians have been taught from childhood that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy which are referred to as Pentateuch or Torah. “For most of the first eighteen centuries of the Christian era, Pentateuch authorship was considered a pretty much-settled matter. Most people accepted the view that the Pentateuch was composed of Moses, the great lawgiver, and deliverer of Israel from Egyptian bondage.”(King, 2001)Later intellectuals intervened and did the obvious. Outside the faith-based conservative seminaries and churches, the scholars held the view that Moses was not the author of the books and that they are compilations of the works of many writers over an extended period.

Jean Astruc (1684-1766) was a renowned Professor of medicine at Montpellier and Paris. Apart from his treatise on medicine, he wrote a book that was published anonymously relating to a critical textual analysis of works to scripture. He discussed the fundamental part of the origins. According to him, Genesis was composed by using many sources and manuscript traditions. This approach is known as The Documentary Hypothesis.
Most of the universities teach in religious studies that Pentateuch is a composite work relating to four literary strands. These strands are identified by the letters, J, E, D, and P. Each syllable represents a document or source that has been incorporated into the Bible. Documentary theory and the Graf-Wellhausen theory, support this approach. According to this view, the letter "J" stands for the Yahwist ("J" from the German Jahweh) narrative, coming from the period of the early Jewish monarchy, about 950 B.C. "E" stands for the Elohist narrative from the region of the Northern Kingdom dating from about 750 B.C. "D" is best represented by the book of Deuteronomy and is said to have originated in the Southern Kingdom about 650 B.C. or later. And finally, "P" is the priestly document that comes from the period after the fall of Israel in 587 B.C.
The composition of the Pentateuch reached its consolidated form by about 400 B. C. Some hold the view that the Pentateuch is not a supernatural revelation and much of it is folklore and Hebrew storytelling. Problems arise if Moses is denied the authorship of the Pentateuch. The veracity of the Bible as a whole stands demolished. The belief of the Christians that Moses is the author of the first books of the Bible is two thousand years old. The scientific analysis of Jean Astruc, however, merits consideration. He mentions that the first Chapter of Genesis refers to God as Elohim and the second chapter states mostly Jehovah or Yahweh. If the sources are identical, why the names should differ? This is a moot question. Moses’ authorship finds problems in his context. It is reasonable to conclude that Moses could have used two different sources in writing Genesis.

The rebuttal:
But Wellhausen’s argument was powerful, he explained it from a Darwinist perspective and said that the development from primitive animism to the more articulate monotheism, is in line with the Monotheism of Jewish culture and religion evolution. He found powerful supporters. Conservatives retaliated with bitter criticism of the documentary hypothesis and defended the Mosaic authorship.
Conclusion—peace at last!
Which is more important? Cross dangling on the neck or Christ raveling in the heart? For Bible-believing Christians, faith is an issue related to the heart. Read More