book

The Pentateuch Controversy

21 Pages 1061 Words 1557 Views

Who is the author of Torah (Pentateuch)? Critical scholars and religious insiders have been debating this for years. According to Christians and Jewish, Pentateuch was written by a single author named Moses, but scholars do not agree with this belief of insiders. Scholars agree that Pentateuch was not written by a single author, but it was composed out of various earlier sources. There are adequate evidences that supports scholar’s claim. After critically examining the flood story and creation stories, it seems that scholar’s argument is more persuasive than religious insiders. Scholars argue that first two chapters of Genesis contain two different versions of creation. According to Stanley, these two stories differ in their settings, characters, and plot (205). First big issue that scholars claim is that order in which things are created in first story (Gen 1:1–2:4a) is different to the order of second story (Gen 2:4b- 3:24). In first story, God made plants as first living things on earth. Then God created animals and at last he made humans. This order is completely different from the creation order of second story. In second story, God made man first. Then he made plants, animals and at last he made woman by doing operation on man. I think this argument of scholars is valid and strong, because, if these two stories were made by a single author, they would have been consistent or similar. Evidently, the person who composed the Hebrew bible had used two different sources to create these two creation stories. Another big problem that scholars have noticed is that portrayal of deity (creator) is very different in both stories. According to Richard Friedman, in the first story, author referred to creator as God (Elohim) thirty five times, while in second story author referred to creator as Yahweh eleven times (51). According to first story, deity created world by staying apart from the physical universe. He just gave orders by stan

Read Full Essay