Hebrew scholars have known for centuries that the first 5 books of the bible were not written by Moses but rather by 4 individual authors and, through the study of the language, they can even say in which century and kingdom each author lived. None lived in the time of Moses.
If the church honestly didn't know who wrote them, why should these books be considered reliable?
Side note: Please don't simply claim that Moses was in fact the author. Autobiographies don't usually contain descriptions of the author's death. This is a serious question.
2007-09-12 07:27:03 · 9 answers · asked by Patty 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think you might have already read "Who Wrote the Bible?" by Richard Elliott Friedman!
Great book!
.
2007-09-12 09:04:43 · answer #1 · answered by Hatikvah 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Why does knowing/not knowing the author change the credibility? Either way you're saying "believe this because someone wrot it a long time ago." The Bible was assembled in the 4th century CE. The Torah (the first five books of the Bible) were accepted to be the work of Moses at the time and for centuries afterward. I also know that at least by the Rennaissance (16th century) Christians still believed that those books were written by Moses. I would guess that some Jews, particularly Orthodox ones, continue to believe those books were written by Moses today, since they still also hold that the world is 6000 years old.
2016-05-17 22:47:59 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Hebrew scholars have known for centuries that the first 5 books of the bible were not written by Moses but rather by 4 individual authors and, through the study of the language, they can even say in which century and kingdom each author lived"
Can you please quote me one of these Hebrew scholars that you speak of?
I would be interesting considering that the Documentary hypothesis was only created in the 19th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis
2007-09-12 08:05:12 · answer #3 · answered by Gamla Joe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Disclaimer: I have not studied this in depth.
The pentatuch was called "The Books of Moses", however, this was not declaring the authorship. The books were very old by the time of cannonization (3000 to 6000 years) and widley acceped by the Jewish faith (and Christian) as the "Scriptures". The books were simply refered to as the "Book of Moses" during cannonization as today we might call a dictionary a "Websters"; not as the author, but as the compiler.
2007-09-12 10:42:35 · answer #4 · answered by Homer K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This question is addressed by too many good books. The answers are too long to deal with in here.
2007-09-12 07:33:31 · answer #5 · answered by Graham 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We'll never know with certainty, those records are lost to time or are under lock and key away from public view. The rest is theory hearsay and conjecture.
2007-09-12 07:32:39 · answer #6 · answered by James M 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You asked that same question the other day. Go get a life. And how come you have a girl's name and a boy avatar?
2007-09-12 07:31:55 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
It doesen't matter! God is the author of scripture and you need to have faith in Jesus as your lord and savior to understand that. Do you have faith?
God loves you....God bless
2007-09-12 07:45:38 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
It doesn't matter because God is the editor.
2007-09-12 07:36:47 · answer #9 · answered by akillerbee 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋