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One of the first steps in determining how we should understand Genesis is to ascertain the motives and purpose of the book's author.
There is no compelling reason to reject the tradition that says Moses wrote Genesis as well as the other books of the Torah or Pentateuch. However, since many liberal scholars have attacked this tradition, a brief defense of it is in order. Pioneered in the 1800s by Julius Welhausen and bolstered before and since by other textual critics, the Documentary Hypothesis has become the accepted understanding of the Torah’s authorship – accepted that is, by most of liberal seminaries and non-Christian scholars. This theory holds that Moses had little to do with authoring the first five books of the Bible. Instead, the Torah or Pentateuch consists of four independent documents (J, E, D, and P). The J Document was written in approximately 850 BC by an ancient Jewish scribe (the “Jahwist”) who saw God in very sovereign, authoritative terms. The E document, written in roughly 750 BC by the “Elohist” sees God as more remote. The J and E documents were combined sometime after the fall of Israel in 722 BC. In the mid-600s BC, the “Deuteronomist” composed a series of sermons on law and worship that were then incorporated into the Torah. In the mid-400s, a priest or prophet, perhaps Ezra, added the final P document. His is the most significant work. By the end of that century, the J,E,P, and D documents had been fused together. Variations and enhancements to this timeline and theory have been considered since Welhausen. The evidence for this multiple-authorship theory consists first of the logical assumptions consequent to an anti-supernatural bias. In other words, if you begin with a rejection of the supernatural, you view ancient records and literature through a very different lens. This is plainly evident in much of the analyses of Genesis and the Torah (and for that matter, the rest of the Bible) given by liberal and agnostic scholars. An example of anti-supernaturalism would be the automatic ruling out of any assumption that the Holy Spirit divinely inspired authorship of this book. Another would be the immediate rejection of any miracles recorded in Scripture. If a rational, natural explanation for an otherwise incredible or unusual event can’t be found, then it is assumed that the event in question did not take place or it was vastly exaggerated. The other evidence behind the multiple-authorship theory includes the different references to God (Yahweh, Elohim, etc.), the appearance of seemingly parallel accounts, linguistic and style variations (P seems arid, whereas others were engaging, and so forth), different designations for places and persons (is it Jethro or Reuel?), and diversity of theological perspectives. Finally, could Moses have recorded his own death? And would Moses even be able to write? Looking at all this evidence, Welhausen and other liberal critics contend that Moses alone could not have written the complete Torah. Most of these questions and assumptions are fairly easy to refute. First, different names for God do not at all constitute proof of different authors. The different names quite frankly denote different attributes or personalities of God. As for parallelism or repetition, that hardly requires multiple authors. On the contrary, ancient Near Eastern literature is often known for these features. Numerous people in the ancient world had different names. Jethro, for example, very well could also have been known as Reuel. And any implication that Moses couldn’t have written these books is laughable, considering that Moses was previously a prince of Egypt. He would have had access to the best learning of the ancient world. Evidence for mosaic attribution is strong. First, if Moses indeed led the Hebrews out of Egypt, it is highly probable that he would have helped them gather all their prized possessions, including any writings from previous patriarchs (Abraham, Joseph, etc). Moreover, he would have appreciated the value of organizing the Hebrews into a cohesive, cultural unit. He was, after all, leading them out of a nation to start a new one. The compilation of Jewish history, laws, and traditions would have been indispensable to this enterprise. And Moses was the logical person to undertake this challenge. There are also several references within the Pentateuch of Moses writing things down, and Jesus referred back to Moses’ law and writings during his ministry. While there may have been literary updates and editorial revisions done to Moses’ work by others in the years following, there is no reason to question that Moses is the core author of the Torah in the same way that Thomas Jefferson was the core author of the Declaration of Independence. Our next article will examine what Moses was setting out to do when he wrote Genesis.
The copyright of the article Moses Wrote Genesis in Protestantism is owned by Brian Tubbs. Permission to republish Moses Wrote Genesis in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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