The Bible

The Bible and its Authorship

The Bible is one of the most widely read texts in the world. It is the primary foundation upon which the Christian faith is founded (Blenkinsopp & Joseph 187). The Bible is made up of sixty-six books written by a variety of writers. The writers are said to have written these books with the help of the Holy Spirit’s encouragement and direction.

The Pentateuch and the Books of Moses

The Pentateuch refers to the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Torah. These five ’books of law’ have often been referred to as the books of Moses. Certain scriptures indicate that Moses was the author. However, there is a likelihood that Moses was not the author of these books of law. Controversial debates have emanated on the issue concerning the author of the Pentateuch books.

The Author of the Pentateuch

When going through the scriptures of the Bible, it can be easily driven to a conclusion that the books were solely written by Moses. Since there is an extensive number of verses referring to the books as to be written by Moses. For instance, Exodus 17:14; affirming that the Lord gave instructions to be followed strictly by the Israelites and the instructions were to be written down not only for the record but also to act as a conventional way of passing it down to the Israelites. God instructed Moses to document/write down his word so that his word could remain as a permanent record. “Write this down as a permanent record. Moreover, in the book of Deuteronomy 31: 24-26, it is recorded that when Moses had completed writing down the whole body of the commandment in a book” (Blenkinsopp & Joseph 166). From these words in the law books, and even in the New Testament there are verses that speak about the books of Moses. Mark 12:24, which questions whether one has not read about this in the works of Moses, in the chronicle of the burning bush... Based on these and many others it can conclude that Moses was an author for the law books. There is no clear declaration from the Bible that Moses was the only author of the Torah, therefore there is a possibility of other authors participating in the writing.

The Authorship of the Bible

The authorship of the Bible is considered by Christians to be done by specific people who were under complete inspiration and guidance of God. From this point of view, the Bible should, therefore, be the only source to tell of who its writers were based on the increasing theological studies and scientific studies of the past.

Different Views on Authorship

Some theologians’ analysis of the Bible keenly has come up with some conflicting ideas to the previously known ones. For instance, in the first five book of the Bible known as the books of law, when a question of who the author was is raised, there might be several answers from different perspectives. When viewed from the Bible, one easily concludes that the author was Moses (Van & Seters 199). There are several instances in the Bible that he is mentioned as a writer of the law, therefore this conclusion can be supported by several verses both in the Old Testament as well as in the new testament of the Bible.

From the theological analysis point of view, others settle on the idea that Moses must have been a writer of the books but not the whole of the books. They say that he must have written only some parts. For instance, they say it could not be possible for Moses to document on events that occurred after his death. Another set of theologians holds onto the fact of the existence of double or triple accounts of single events within the books of law among other reasons to rubbish the possibility of having a single writer for the books of law (Van & Seters 217). On this account, it was not possible for Moses to be the writer of the books at all since they argue that they were written after the death of Moses. They have noted that the books resulted as a result of the merging that was done to several documents from various writers who were writing about their religions. This account has been approved by a large number of scholars and theologians.

Conflicting Beliefs

Most of the ancient Jewish and Christian writers were in full agreement that the authorship of the Pentateuch was solely done by Moses. Even the present-day Evangelical Christians and Fundamentalists continue the belief that Moses was the author of the entire Pentateuch (Van & Seters 345). Also, some Theologians believe that Moses was the author of the whole Pentateuch except for the writings that record his death. Others say that since Moses had acquired education while in Egypt, he was, therefore, capable of writing and citing the fact of the existence of some words of Egyptian origins, stating that Moses is, in fact, the writer. It is believed by the conservative Christians that the Bible is free from error, therefore the matter of authorship should not be a debating issue. Others believe that Moses wrote the whole Torah with the account of his death and burial, being his own prophecy. On the other hand, there is a belief that Moses only wrote the part of the Pentateuch before his death.

The Documentary Hypothesis

Some Theologians approve the ’Documentary hypothesis’ that implies that the Pentateuch was documented by four renowned authors, who were located in various places throughout Palestine for many centuries (Van & Seters 256). According to the ’Documentary hypothesis,’ the individuals were both writing to promote their own religions. Finally, a fifth person came in and shaped the contributions of the four individuals into the present day Pentateuch. The liberal theologians base their argument on a number of factors. Contrary to the claims of the conservatives that Moses through direct inspiration by God wrote the Pentateuch, liberals claim that there is evidence from the bible that disqualifies such conclusions. They claim that the existence of double accounts of events in the Pentateuch prompted the development of the Documentary Hypothesis. There are various stories that are presented in two varying versions. For instance, the two creation stories in Genesis, two scenarios of God changing the name of Jacob to Israel, two separate descriptions of the covenant between God and Abraham among others. These double instances addressing single events contain slight discrepancies, thus making it hard to explain how a single writer would have two versions of the same event. They observe that the books were documented by several writers who lived many years after the described measures allowing oral traditions to be transferred over generations in different parts, leading to the cause of the deviation at the time of writing.

According to the Documentary Hypothesis, the development of the Pentateuch came as a result of a combination of some writings from different authors. These writers are known as; J, D, E, P and R. With migration of refugees into Judea, the first two documents were combined into what is known as ’JE.’ D was thereafter documented almost a 1000 years later and was revealed in the sanctuary by priest Hilkiah in the year 622 BCE (Van & Seters 266). It was successfully combined with JE. P that was documented as an alternative to JE before the death of King Josiah in 609 BCE. Thereafter, J, E, P together with other documents were combined by R, to form a new document which was the first four books in the Hebrews scriptures. R added the writings of D to the four books, this represented the book of Deuteronomy to mark the completion of the Pentateuch.

Multiple Accounts and Different Styles

In some cases, there are even three accounts of a story. This is an indication of involvement of a third writer. The researchers found out that the book of Deuteronomy was written in a different style of language compared to the other books of law (Hamilton & Victor 143). By the end of the nineteenth century, the scholars reached a conclusion that there was involvement of a fourth writer and a fifth person as an editor. The Documentary Hypothesis has come to be believed based on various factors. There was the existence of duplicate and triplicate accounts of stories, the story of the flood seemed to be two stories meshed together, and various passages having their own ways of portraying God (Van & Seters 354). These factors among others prompted the conclusion of the Theologians that the Pentateuch is a hybrid document, which had its writing done after the demise of Moses and even later than the portrayed occasions.

The Pentateuch as a Unit of Literary Work

There is also a number of scholars who view the Pentateuch as a unit of literary work. The scholars argue that the five books contain the use of some common words, phrases, parallel structure of narration and deliberate theological arrangements of units of literature to aid teaching and memorization. This view places the lot in a unit of literary work. From this view, the idea of a single author is supported. Deriving the possibility of Moses being an author to these books.

Conclusion

A definite conclusion on who really was the author of the Bible is a decision that may depend on the factors considered to arrive at such conclusions. For instance, the conservatives will maintain their focus on the bible and maintain the view of the author as Moses. This will not change unless the Bible is no longer used as evidence and is no longer considered as a book free from any error. Viewed from the literature point of view, the Pentateuch is seen as the work of an individual, therefore, supporting the Mosaic authorship. Others who consider the Documentary Hypothesis as a fact have different views based on their own analysis of the verses of the books of law. They present some ambiguities that could never be possible with a single writer. This develops other possibilities based on history and studies conducted. It can be concluded that the issue is presented to be a universal conclusion as to who the author was may not be possible to reach and with each religious viewpoint comes different beliefs.

Works Cited

Blenkinsopp, Joseph. The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible. New Haven [Conn.: Yale University Press, 2007. Print.

Coogan, Michael David., Marc Zvi. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

Deuteronomy. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Academic, 2005. Print.

Hamilton, Victor P. Handbook on the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Co, 1995. Print.

Van, Seters J. The PWhybray, Roger N. Introduction to the Pentateuch. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. entateuch: A Social-Science Commentary. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. Print.