Moses, Genesis, and the
JEDP?
A Refutation of the Documentary Hypothesis
Bodie
Hodge and Dr. Terry Mortenson
Biblical
Authority Ministries, May 30, 2025 (Donate)
In
the past few hundred years, the Bible has been under severe attack by
scientific and philosophical skeptics of all sorts. In this scientific age the most attacked book
of the Bible has arguably been Genesis, particularly the first eleven chapters.
Long-age geology, big bang cosmology, secular archeology, liberal theology and
philosophical attacks on miracles in the Bible have deceived many people to
believe that the Bible is not true and therefore cannot be trusted.
One
of the major attacks on the Bible in the past 300 years has been directed
against Moses and his authorship of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the
Old Testament (Genesis – Deuteronomy). Such attacks on these foundational books
of the rest of the Bible are coming both from non-Christians as well as professing
Christians.
Seminary
courses, theology books, introductions to the Pentateuch in Bibles, and the
secular media have promoted the man-made idea that Moses didn’t write the Pentateuch
(also known as the Law or Torah), but that instead at least four different
authors (or groups of authors) wrote various portions of these books over many
centuries and then one or more redactors (editors) over many years combined and
interwove everything together into its present form. For example, one translation
of the Bible we surveyed said this in its introduction to the Pentateuch:
Despite its unity of
plan and purpose, the book is a complex work, not to be attributed to a single
original author. Several sources, or literary traditions, that the final
redactor used in his composition are discernable. These are the Yahwist (J),
Elohist (E), and Priestly (P) sources which in turn reflect older oral
traditions…
The
introduction to the Old Testament in another Bible translation says that the J
document was written by someone much later than Moses in the southern kingdom of
Judah and the E document was written by someone in the northern kingdom of Israel! Let’s evaluate the arguments put forth in
defense of this hypothesis.
The Documentary (Or JEDP) Hypothesis
Various
sections of the Pentateuch are assigned to various authors who are identified
by the letters J, E, D, and P. Hence, it is called the documentary hypothesis (or
the JEDP model). As this hypothesis was developed
by a number of Jewish and theologically liberal Christian scholars in the late
seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, there were a number of different
proposals of who wrote what and when.
But by the end of the nineteenth century liberal scholars had reached
general agreement. The letters stand
for:
J documents are the sections, verses, or in some cases parts of verses that were
written by one or more authors who preferred to use the Hebrew name Jahweh
(Jehovah) to refer to God. It is
proposed that this author wrote about 850-900 BC.
E documents are the texts that use
the name Elohim for God and were supposedly written around 700-750 BC.
D stands for Deuteronomy, most of which was written by a different author or group
of authors, perhaps around the time of King Josiah’s reforms in 621 BC.
P stands for Priest and identifies the texts in Leviticus and elsewhere in the Pentateuch
that were written by a priest or priests during the exile in Babylon after 586
BC.
Then
around 400 BC some redactors (i.e., editors) supposedly combined these four
independently written texts to form the Pentateuch as it was known in the time
of Jesus and is today.
Development Of The Documentary
Hypothesis
Ibn Ezra was a very influential Jewish rabbi in the twelfth century AD. While he believed in the Mosaic authorship of
the Pentateuch, he noticed that a few verses (e.g., Genesis 12:6, Genesis 22:14)
had some phrases that seemed mysteriously out of place. But
he never pursued these mysteries to resolve them.
About 500 years later, the famous Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)
picked up on what Ibn Ezra had stated and asserted that Ibn Ezra did not
believe Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Others disagreed, pointing to other
statements by Ibn Ezra that contradicted Spinoza’s conclusion. In his book Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
(1670), Spinoza, who was a pantheist and was subsequently excommunicated from
the Jewish community and denounced by Christians, argued that Moses did not
write the Pentateuch. Besides using the
verses noted by Ibn Ezra, Spinoza offered a few other brief arguments against
Mosaic authorship which were easily answered by Christian writers in the
following few decades.
Nevertheless,
further attacks on the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch began taking hold in
France through Jean Astruc, whose book Conjectures
about the original memoirs which it appeared that Moses used in composing the
Book of Genesis with certain remarks which help clarify these conjectures was
published in 1753. He believed Moses was
the author of the Pentateuch, but he unlocked the door for the skepticism of later
scholars.
Astruc
basically questioned, as others had before him, how Moses knew what happened
prior to his own life, i.e., the history recorded in Genesis. In other words,
where did Moses get information on the patriarchs? Of course, there are several ways Moses could
have obtained this information: divine revelation, previously written texts
passed down through the generations, and/or oral tradition from his ancestors. Regardless, under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21), the books of Moses would be completely true and
without error.
Astruc
also noticed that Elohim (the Hebrew name
for God in Genesis 1:1-2:3) was used in Genesis 1, but then the text switches
to Yahweh (= Jehovah) in chapter 2.
Astruc claimed that these name changes indicated different sources that Moses used.
Specifically, he thought that Genesis 1:1-2:3 was one creation account and
Genesis 2:4-24 was a different creation account. Hence, we have the Elohim and Jehovah sections (or E and J documents). Thus, the first assumption of the documentary
hypothesis became established: the use of different divine names means
different authors of the text.
The
German scholar Johann Eichhorn took the next step by applying Astruc’s idea to
the whole of Genesis. Initially, in his
1780 Introduction to the Old Testament,
Eichhorn said that Moses copied previous texts.
But in later editions he apparently conceded the view of others that the
J-E division could be applied to the whole of the Pentateuch which was written
after Moses.
Following
Eichhorn, other ideas were advanced in denial of the Mosaic authorship of the
first five books on the Old Testament. In
1802, Johann Vater insisted that Genesis was made from at least 39 fragments. In
1805, Wilhelm De Wette contended that none of the Pentateuch was written before
King David and that Deuteronomy was written at the time of King Josiah.
From
here, the door flew open to profess that other portions of the Law were not
written by Moses. Not only was there a J-document, E-document and D-document,
but then it was argued that Leviticus and some other portions of the Pentateuch
were the work of Jewish priests, hence the P-documents.
And
today, several variant views of documentary hypothesis exist but perhaps the
most popular was Julius Wellhausen in 1895.
Wellhausen put dates to the alleged four sources and none were earlier
than around 900 BC. As noted Old Testament scholar, Gleason
Archer remarks, “Although Wellhausen contributed no innovations to speak of, he
restated the documentary theory with great skill and persuasiveness, supporting
the JEDP sequence upon an evolutionary basis.”
Even
though a great many scholars and much of the public have accepted this view, is
it really true? Did Moses have little or
nothing to do with the writing of the book of Genesis or the rest of the
Pentateuch? Several lines of evidence should lead us to reject the Documentary Hypothesis
as a fabrication of unbelievers.
Reasons To Reject The Documentary Hypothesis:
There
are many reasons to reject this skeptical attack on the Bible. First, consider what the Bible itself says
about the authorship of the Pentateuch.
Biblical witness to
Mosaic authorship
1. The
Pentateuch says that Moses wrote these books in the chart below: Exodus 17:14,
24:4 and 34:27, Numbers 33:1-2, Deuteronomy 31:9-11. In his rejection of Mosaic authorship,
Wellhausen nowhere discussed this biblical evidence. It is easy to deny Mosaic authorship, if one
ignores the evidence for it. But that is
not honest scholarship.
2. We
also have the witness of the rest of the Old Testament: Joshua 1:8 and 8:31-32,
1 Kings 2:3, 2 Kings 14:6 and 21:8, Ezra 6:18, Nehemiah 13:1, Daniel 9:11-13,
Malachi 4:4.
3. The
New Testament is also clear in its testimony: Matthew 19:8, John 5:45-47 and
7:19, Acts 3:22, Romans 10:5, Mark 12:26.
The divisions of the Old Testament were clearly in place in the Jewish
mind long before Jesus, namely, the Law of Moses (first 5 books of the OT), the
prophets (the historical and prophetic books) and the writings (the poetic
books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, etc.).
So when Jesus said, the Law of Moses, all his Jewish listeners knew
exactly what He was referring to.
Table
1 Selected passages confirming Mosaic authorship
|
Old Testament
|
|
1
|
Exodus
17:14
|
Then
the LORD said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and
recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven."
|
|
2
|
Number
33:2
|
Now
Moses wrote down the starting points of their journeys at the command of the
LORD. And these are their journeys according to their starting points:
|
|
|
Joshua
1:7-8
|
"Only
be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all
the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the
right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of
the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day
and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.
For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good
success.”
|
|
3
|
Joshua
8:31
|
as
Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as it
is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: "an altar of whole stones
over which no man has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on it
burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings. (see Exodus
20:24-25)
|
|
|
Joshua
23:6
|
"Therefore
be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the
Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
|
|
4
|
1
Kings 2:3
|
"And
keep the charge of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His
statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is
written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and
wherever you turn;
|
|
5
|
2
Kings 14:6
|
But
the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is
written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the LORD commanded, saying,
"Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall
children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall be put to
death for his own sin." (see Deuteronomy 24:16)
|
|
|
1
Chronicles 22:13
|
"Then
you will prosper, if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments with
which the LORD charged Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and of good
courage; do not fear nor be dismayed.
|
|
6
|
Ezra
6:18
|
They
assigned the priests to their divisions and the Levites to their divisions,
over the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.
(This is taught in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.)
|
|
7
|
Nehemiah
13:1
|
On
that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and
in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the
assembly of God. (see Deuteronomy 23:3-5)
|
|
8
|
Daniel
9:11
|
"Yes,
all Israel
has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice;
therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of
God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him.
|
|
9
|
Malachi
4:4
|
"Remember
the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with
the statutes and judgments.
|
|
New Testament
|
|
10
|
Matthew
8:4
|
And
Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show
yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a
testimony to them." (see Leviticus 14:1-32)
|
|
11
|
Mark
12:26
|
"But
concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses,
in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” (see Exodus 3:6)
|
|
12
|
Luke
16:29
|
"Abraham
said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them’.”
|
|
13
|
Luke
24:27
|
And
beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
|
|
14
|
Luke
24:44
|
Then
He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was
still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the
Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
|
|
15
|
John
5:46
|
"For
if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
|
|
16
|
John
7:22
|
"Moses
therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the
fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.”
|
|
17
|
Acts
3:22
|
"For
Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a
Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things,
whatever He says to you.” (see Deuteronomy 18:15)
|
|
18
|
Acts
15:1
|
And
certain men came down from Judea and taught
the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of
Moses, you cannot be saved."
|
|
19
|
Acts
28:23
|
So
when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom
he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God,
persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets,
from morning till evening.
|
|
20
|
Romans
10:5
|
For
Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who
does those things shall live by them." (see Leviticus 18:1-5)
|
|
21
|
Romans
10:19
|
But
I say, did Israel
not know? First Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who
are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation." (see
Deuteronomy 32:21)
|
|
22
|
1
Corinthians 9:9
|
For
it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it
treads out the grain." Is it oxen God is concerned about? (see
Deuteronomy 25:4)
|
|
23
|
2
Corinthians 3:15
|
But
even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
|
Take
note of some the references back to Moses’ work. For example, in John 7:22 and Acts 15:1, it
refers to Moses giving the doctrine of circumcision. Yet it also reveals that
this came earlier – in Genesis, with Abraham.
Yet it is credited to Moses because it was recorded in his
writings. No the New Testament
attributes all the books from Genesis through Deuteronomy as being the writings
of Moses. So, to attack the Mosaic
authorship of the first five books of the Old Testament then is to attack the
truthfulness of the rest of the Biblical writers and Jesus himself.
Moses’s qualifications
to write
Not
only is there abundant biblical witness that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Also Moses was fully qualified to write the
Pentateuch. He received an Egyptian
royal education and was an eyewitness to the events recorded in Exodus to
Deuteronomy, which contain many references or allusions to Egyptian names of
places, people and gods, Egyptian words and idioms, and cultural factors.
He also shows a consistently outsider’s view
of Canaan (from the perspective of Egypt or Sinai). And as a prophet of God he was the
appropriate recipient of the written records or oral traditions of the
patriarchs from Adam to his own day, which the Holy Spirit could use to guide
Moses to write the inerrant text of Genesis.
There is no other ancient Hebrew who was more qualified than Moses to
write the Pentateuch.
Fallacious reasoning of
the Skeptics
A
final reason for rejecting the documentary hypothesis and accepting the
Biblical testimony to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is the erroneous
assumptions and reasoning of the liberal scholars and other skeptics.
1. They
assumed their conclusion. They assumed
that the Bible is not a supernatural revelation from God and then manipulated
the biblical text to arrive at that conclusion.
They were implicitly Deistic or atheistic in their thinking.
2. They
assumed that Israel’s religion was simply the invention of man, a product of
evolution, as all other religions are.
3. Liberal
Bible scholars allegedly based their theories on evidence from the Biblical
text and yet they evaded the Biblical evidence that refutes their theories. Theirs was a “pick and choose” approach to
studying the Bible, which hardly honest scholarship in pursuit of truth.
4. They
arbitrarily assumed that the Hebrew authors were different from all other
writers in history— that the Hebrews were incapable of using more than one name
for God, or more than one writing style regardless of the subject matter, or more
than one of several possible synonyms for a single idea.
5. Their
subjective bias led them to illegitimately assume that any biblical statement was
unreliable until proven reliable (though they would not do this with any other
ancient or modern text) and when they found any disagreement between the Bible
and ancient pagan literature, the latter was automatically given preference and
trusted as a historical witness.
6. Although
other ancient Semitic authors used repetition and duplication in their
narrative technique, when Hebrew authors did this, it was assumed by the
skeptics to be evidence of multiple authorship of the biblical text.
7. The
skeptics erroneously assumed, without any other ancient Hebrew literature to
compare with the biblical text, that they could with scientific reliability
establish the date of the composition of each book of the Bible.
8. To
date, no manuscript evidence of the J-document, E-document, P-document and
D-document or any of the other supposed fragments have ever been discovered. And there are no ancient Jewish commentaries
that mention any of these imaginary documents or their alleged unnamed
authors. All the manuscript evidence we
have is for the first five books of the Bible just as we have them today. This is confirmed by the singular Jewish
testimony (until the last few centuries) that these books are the writings of
Moses.
Is JEDP/Documentary Hypothesis The Same Thing As The Tablet Model Of Genesis?
These
two ways of dividing Genesis are not the same at all. The Tablet Model is based
on the Hebrew word toledoth, which
appears eleven times in Genesis (2:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, 11:27, 25:12,
25:19, 36:1, 36:9, 37:2) and helps to tie the whole book together as a single
history. Our English Bibles translate toledoth variously as “this is the
account” or “these are the generations” of Adam, Noah, Shem, etc.
Scholars disagree about whether each toledoth follows or precedes the text
that it is associated with, though we are inclined to agree with those scholars
who conclude the former. In this case
the name associated with the toledoth is either the author or custodian of that
section (see for example, Table 2 below). Regardless, the eleven toledoth unite the book as a history of
the key events and people from Creation to the time of Moses.
Unlike
the JEDP model, the Tablet model shows a reverence for the text of Genesis and
attention to these explicit divisions provided by the book itself. These divisions represent either oral
tradition or written texts passed down by the Genesis patriarchs to their
descendants, which Moses then used to
put Genesis into its final form under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
We
think it very likely that Moses was working with written documents because the
second toledoth (Genesis 5:1) reads
“this is the book of the generations of Adam” where “book” is a translation of
the normal Hebrew word meaning a written document. Also, the account of the Flood after the
third toledoth (Genesis 6:9) reads
like a ships log. Only evolutionary
thinking would lead us to conclude that Adam and his descendants could not
write. Early man was very intelligent:
Cain built a city (Genesis 4:17), six generations later people were making
musical instruments and had figured out how to mine ores and make metals
(Genesis 4:21-22), Noah built a huge boat for his family and thousands of
animals to survive a year-long flood, etc.
Table
2 Breakdown of the toledoth sections
from Genesis 1-11
|
Beginning
|
End
|
Probable
author of original work from which Moses drew
|
|
Genesis
1:1
|
Genesis
2:4a
|
Adam
by direct divine revelation, so not connected with Adam’s name
|
|
Genesis
2:4b
|
Genesis
5:1a
|
Adam
|
|
Genesis
5:1b
|
Genesis
6:9a
|
Noah
|
|
Genesis
6:9b
|
Genesis
10:1
|
Shem,
Ham, and Japheth
|
|
Genesis
10:2
|
Genesis
11:10a
|
Shem
|
|
Genesis
11:10b
|
Genesis
11:27
|
Terah
|
The
biblical doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture does not require us to
conclude that all the books of the Bible were written by God dictating to the
human authors. Dictation was one means
employed, very often in the prophetic books (e.g., the prophet says, “The Word
of the Lord came to me saying”). But
much of the Bible was written out of the eye-witness experience of the authors
(e.g. 2 Peter 1:16) or as a result of research by the author (e.g., Luke
1:1-4).
And just as Christian authors today can quote truthful statements from non-Christian
sources without thereby endorsing their wrong ideas, so the Biblical authors
could quote non-believers or non-biblical sources without introducing false
statements into their divine writings (e.g., Joshua 10:13, 2 Samuel 1:18, Acts
17:28, Titus 1:12, Jude 14-15). So it is
perfectly reasonable to think that Moses wrote Genesis from pre-existing well
preserved oral tradition and/or written documents from the patriarchs.
Unlike
those who affirm Mosaic authorship of Genesis and divide the text by the toledoths, JEDP adherents divide the
text on the basis of the names of God that were used and say that, at best,
Moses simply wove these texts together, often in contradictory ways. However, most JEDP advocates would say that
Moses had nothing to do with writing Genesis or the rest of the Pentateuch,
which were written much later by many authors and editors.
Answering a Few Objections
A
number of objections have been raised by the proponents of the Documentary
Hypothesis. Space allows us to respond to only a few of the most common
ones. But the other objections are just
as flawed in terms of logic and a failure to pay careful attention to the
biblical text.
- Moses couldn’t
have written about his own death, which shows that he didn’t write
Deuteronomy.
The
death of Moses is recorded in Deuteronomy 34:5-12. These are the last few verses of the book. Like other literature, past and present, it
is not uncommon for an obituary to be added at the end of someone’s work after
he dies, especially if he died very soon after writing the book. The obituary in no way nullifies that claim
that the author wrote the book.
In
the case of Deuteronomy, the author of the obituary of Moses was probably Joshua,
a close associate of Moses who was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel
into the Promise Land (for Moses was not allowed to because of his
disobedience) and who was inspired by God to write the next book in the Old
Testament.
- The author of Genesis
12:6 seems to imply that the Canaanites were removed from the land, which took
place well after Moses died?
Genesis
12:6 “Abram
passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree
of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.”
So
the argument is that an author after
Moses had to have written this statement to know that the Canaanites were
removed in the days Joshua who began judging the Canaanites for their sin after
Moses died.
Two
things can be said in response. First, Moses could have easily written this
without knowing that the Canaanites would be removed after his death, because
due to warring kingdoms or other factors, people groups did get removed from
territories. So, it was just a statement
of fact about who was living in the land at the time of Abraham.
But secondly, it could also be a comment
added by a later editor working under divine inspiration. The editorial comment would in no way deny the
Mosaic authorship of the book of Genesis.
Editors sometimes do this today with books by deceased authors and no
one then denies that the deceased wrote the book.
3. Genesis
14:14 mentions the Israelite region of Dan, which was assigned to that tribe
during the conquest led by Joshua after Moses died. So Moses could not have written this verse.
Genesis 14:14-15 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he
armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own
house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by
night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah,
which is north of Damascus.
Genesis
14:14 mentions Dan. However, Dan in this context is not the region of Dan, that
Israelite tribe’s inheritance given when the Jews took the Promise Land, but a
specific ancient town of Dan, north of the Sea of Galilee that was in existence
long before the Israelites entered the land. Jewish historian Josephus, just
after the time of Christ, says:
“When Abram heard of their calamity, he was at once afraid for Lot his kinsman, and pitied the Sodomites, his friends and neighbours; and thinking it proper to afford them assistance, he did not delay it, but marched hastily, and the fifth night attacked the Assyrians, near Dan, for that is the name of the other spring of Jordan; and before they could arm themselves, he slew some as they were in their beds, before they could suspect any harm; and others, who were not yet gone to sleep, but were so drunk they could not fight, ran away.”
This
specific place was known to Abraham as one of the springs of Jordan. It is
possible that Rachel was already aware of that name, as it meant “judge,” and
used it for the son of her handmaiden (Genesis 30:6). It seems Rachel viewed this as the Lord
finally turning the tide in judgment and permitting her a son. In the same way, this was where the Lord
judged his enemies through Abraham.
But
again, even if “near Dan, for that is the name of the other spring of Jordan”
was added by a later inspired editor, this would not mean that it was
inaccurate to say the Moses wrote Genesis.
4. The
author of Genesis 36:31 obviously knew about kings in Israel which took
place well after Moses, so Moses could not have written this.
Such
a claim is without warrant. Moses was
clearly aware that this had been prophesied about the nation of Israel when
Lord told Abraham (Genesis 17:6) and Jacob (Genesis 35:11) that Israel would
have kings. Also, Moses himself prophesied in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 that Israel
would have kings. So knowing that kings
were coming was already common knowledge to Moses.
Conclusion
There
is abundant biblical and extra-biblical evidence that Moses wrote the
Pentateuch during the wilderness wanderings after the Jews left their slavery
in Egypt and before they entered the Promise Land (about 1445-1405 BC). Contrary to the liberal theologians and other
skeptics, it was not written after the Jews return from exile in Babylon (ca.
500 BC). Christians who believe Moses
wrote the Pentateuch do not need to fell intellectually intimidated. It is the enemies of the truth of God that
are failing to think carefully and face the facts honestly.
As
a prophet of God, Moses wrote under divine inspiration, guaranteeing the
complete accuracy and absolute authority of his writings. Those writings were endorsed by Jesus and the
New Testament apostles, who based their teaching and the truth of the gospel on
the truths revealed in the books of Moses, including the truths about a literal
six-day creation about 6000 years ago, the curse on the whole creation when
Adam sinned, and the judgment of the global, catastrophic Flood at the time of
Noah.
The
attack on the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch is nothing less than an
attack on the veracity, reliability and authority of the Word of Almighty God. Christians should believe God, rather than
the fallible, sinful skeptics inside and outside the Church who in their
intellectual arrogance are consciously or unconsciously trying to undermine the
Word so that they can justify in their own minds (but not before God) their
rebellion against God. As Paul says in
Romans 3:4, “Let God be true and every man a liar.”
Originally
here:https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/moses/did-moses-write-genesis/; Republished by permission.
For more on this topic, see Henry
Morris, The Genesis Record, (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1976), pp. 22-30, and Curt Sewell, “The Tablet
Theory of Genesis Authorship,” Bible and
Spade, Vol. 7:1 (Winter 1994),http://www.trueorigin.org/tablet.asp.
But let’s assume for moment that it was
referring to the region Dan, where Israelites, who were from the tribe of Dan
settled. Would this be a problem for
Moses? No. It was Moses who wrote where the allotments
would be! In Numbers 34:1-15, Moses is describing the general vicinity of the
borders of the various tribes. So this
would actually be further confirmation of Mosaic authorship had this been
referring to descendants of Israelite Dan’s territory.
