This was the standard view of the matter back when i was doing my phd in biblical studies way back when. Sourcesplaces according to the documentary hypothesis, this tradition went south with those who fled the assyrian destruction of israel in 72221 bce. By analyzing a the use of different names of god, b stylistic differences, and c patterns, astruc saw clues of a composite or editorial structure. Documentary hypothesis other literary tensions in the pentateuch i have started a brief thread on the pentateuch and why scholars think that it was not written by a single author moses or anyone else but is composed of several sources later patched together. Refuting the documentary hypothesis the documentary hypothesis, sometimes called the grafwellhausen hypothesis after the two men, k. There are several problems with this theory, in my humble opinion. The next few doctrines are taken from the introduction to genesis html pdf wpd. This weeks ask a rabbi deals with the documentary hypothesis, the belief that the torah is a collection of independent narratives written by different authors, as opposed to having divine authorship.
May, 20042 in february 2004, the ioms immunization safety committee held a hearing on the. Mar 04, 2015 pdf version until fairly recently a majority of scholars espoused the documentary hypothesis to explain the composition of the pentateuch, the first five old testament books. The documentary hypothesis was originally based on the supposition that the events in the torah preceded the invention of writing, or at least its use among the hebrews. It should be noted that the use of each of these alphabetical shorthand letters does not necessarily imply that there was a single individual who wrote all of any. This is a brief look at the documentary hypothesis. This is because julius wellhausen lived in the nineteenthcentury, but nineteenthcentury notions about ancient literacy have been completely refuted by archaeological evidence. Apr 16, 2012 the aquatic ape theory, now largely dismissed, tries to explain the origins of many of humankinds unique traits. Some said joshua, mosess righthand man and successor wrote it after moses died. There are no literary references, no extant manuscripts of any kind, which mention the j, e, e or p documents, either singly or as a group. What are the arguments for and against the documentary. Hence, it is called the documentary hypothesis or the jedp model 3. The documentary hypothesis dh is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to. When the new discipline of geology was claiming long ages for the earth, many bible students, with no way of scientifically refuting these claims, accepted the long ages of the earth. A critical assessment of the grafwellhausen documentary.
In response to the documentary hypothesis july 12, 2014 thaddeus maharaj 2 comments so i had to write a response paper for school to the documentary hypothesis regarding the authorship of the torahold testament so i figured id post it online here if yall are interested in apologetics, general knowledge, or just have a lot of. The documentary hypothesis claims that the pentateuch is a composite of four separate, complete, and coherent documents. The documentary hypothesis states that the pentateuch, the first five books of the. Why the documentary hypothesis is the frankenstein of biblical studies duane garrett duane garrett a is a professor of old testament at gordon conwell theological seminary. The view that is persuasive to most of the critical scholars of the pentateuch is called the documentary hypothesis, or.
Oct 15, 2011 refuting the documentary hypothesis the documentary hypothesis, sometimes called the grafwellhausen hypothesis after the two men, k. The theory also proposes that each source reflects. There follows the text of genesis in the king james version, with sources highlighted according to the documentary hypothesis. Those who support the documentary hypothesis theory generally suggest four specific sources represented by the letters jedp. William henry green, the higher criticism of the pentateuch. He studied under ewald at the university of gottingen, and later served as professor at greifswald, halle, marburg, and gottingen. It serves as a revision to the earlier documentary hypothesis, which proposed that independent and complete narratives were later combined by redactors to create the pentateuch. These four sources have been identified by biblical scholars by their specific literary styles and theological concerns.
Placement in the scriptures j begins with second creation story 2. Give an example of research that starts with the aim of finding evidence that. How did the pentateuch or torah come to be written. Rather than admitting that the bible taught something different, the genesis creation account was then reinterpreted in light of the claims of geology. This view believes that the pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally moses. This theory asserts that these writings were actually based on four books, none still extant, referred to for ease of identification as j yahwist or jahwist, e elohist, d deuteronomist and p priestly code. Studies refute hypothesis on what caused abrupt climate. Multiple strands of tradition were woven together to produce the torah.
Readers of the journal of creation are intimately familiar with the defense of creation against biological evolution. This hypothesis is pretty much universally accepted by secularists. If you have not, then you need to heed the words of our lord, who said, for god so loved the. The documentary hypothesis posited that the pentateuch is a compilation of four originally independent documents. More recent models include the supplementary hypothesis and the fragmentary hypothesis. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. The jedp theory says that the first five books of the biblegenesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomywere not written entirely by moses, who died in the 1400s b. Jewish history and tradition also credit moses as the author of the pentateuch, giving no support whatsoever to the documentary hypothesis. Jan 02, 2020 the documentary hypothesis calls into question the testimonies of jesus, peter, and paul, for all of them testified that moses wrote at least three of the books of the pentateuch. Based on the abbreviations used for the four sources, the documentary hypothesis is also called the foursource theory or the jepd theory. The documentary hypothesis proposes that the torah was written by several different authors between about 950 bce through 450 bce, at which point it was assembled into the present single document, probably by ezra. It contradicts what jesus said, and it is an unreliable way to analyze a document that is thousands of years old. The refutation of the documentary hypothesis the errors spawned by the documentary hypothesis are too many to be refuted in a single article. A brief refutation of the documentary hypothesis of the pentateuch, carm.
A new aquatic ape theory science smithsonian magazine. Definition of statistical hypothesis they are hypothesis that are stated in such a way that they may be evaluated by appropriate statistical techniques. What are the arguments for and against the documentary hypothesis. As the mormon encounter with the documentary hypothesis has for. In brief, the jedp theory states that the first five books of the bible, genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not written entirely by moses, who died in the 1400s b. As this hypothesis was developed by a number of jewish and theologically liberal christian scholars in the late 17th to. The theory is based on the fact that different names for god are used in different portions.
There follows the text of exodus in the, with sources highlighted according to the documentary hypothesis. The documentary hypothesis also uses the shorthand r for the redactor or editor who brought together the j, e, p and dtr material into a single set of writings we know as the torah. He has served the international mission board by teaching in southern baptist seminaries in both korea and canada. The documentary hypothesis dh is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the torah or pentateuch, the first five books of the bible. The work that brought his views to the attention of the. There are two hypotheses involved in hypothesis testing null hypothesis h 0. E, or elohist, a slightly later priest who preferred elohim as the divine name, and viewed god as more. The documentary hypothesis suggests that the first five books of the old testament were originally independent accounts that were later edited or redacted by a later editor or editors. The supplementary hypothesis was developed over the 19th and 20th centuries, primarily deriving from a dissatisfaction with the adequacy of the documentary hypothesis, and came to a head in the 1970s with the publication of works by john van seters, rolf rendtorff, and hans heinrich schmid. Bibleking jamesdocumentary hypothesisgenesis wikiversity. According to the documentary hypothesis, genesis is composed from a number of originally independant sources joined by a redactor. The original documentary hypothesis suggested a mere four sources behind the pentateuch. The theory is based on the fact that different names for god are used in different portions of these books. The documentary hypothesis is now accepted by essentially all mainline and liberal.
In my opinion, it is a fabrication based on false presuppositions and inaccurate analysis. It is not my intention to attack the character of those who advocate the documentary hypothesis. They offer a detailed unitary reading of genesis 69, in which they refute many of. Under what circumstances would it be useful to find evidence that refutes a hypothesis as to find evidence that supports it.
The documentary hypothesis, and the identity of the. In biblical studies, the supplementary hypothesis proposes that the pentateuch the first five books of the bible was derived from a series of direct additions to an existing corpus of work. The documentary hypothesis is a theory, also known as jedp, that states that the first five books of the bible, called the pentateuch consisting of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not written completely by moses but by different authors. Grafwellhausen hypothesis or jedp theory the jedp theory found its roots in jean astruc 16841766, who speculated that moses used existing written or oral sources in constructing genesis. According to the documentary hypothesis, exodus is composed from a number of originally independent sources joined by a redactor. Various sections of the pentateuch are assigned to various authors who are identified by the letters j, e, d, and p. The documentary hypothesis a critique julius wellhausen 1844 1918 an architect of modern biblical criticism the documentary hypothesis proposes that the torah was written by several different authors between about 950 bce through 450 bce, at which point it was assembled into the present single document, probably by ezra.
The jedp theory found its roots in jean astruc 16841766, who speculated that moses used existing written or oral sources in constructing genesis. The death of the documentary hypothesis january 26, 2014 david bokovoy. The documentary hypothesis is a view that the first five books of the bible were not written by moses, but by a combination of authors who cut and pasted the books together over a period of time between the 8th and 5th centuries bc. Details of documentary hypothesis literary analysis shows that one person did not write the pentateuch. Hence, it is called the documentary hypothesis or the jedp model3. The traditional documentary hypothesis, as it is called, was most famously formulated by the nineteenthcentury german scholar, julius wellhausen, who, along with some of his predecessors, called the sources j e d and p. Bibleking jamesdocumentary hypothesisexodus wikiversity. Graf and julius wellhausen, who gave it its classic expression, presupposes that the five books of moses, namely the torah or pentateuch, are actually derived from four different source documents, called. However, in recent centuries, alternative authorship has been proposed. Jan 26, 2014 the death of the documentary hypothesis january 26, 2014 david bokovoy. Patheos explore the worlds faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality. The first of these, j, was dated to the solomonic period c.
Both judaism and christianity assumed that the pentateuch the first five books of the hebrew scriptures old testament were written by moses, as the bible itself states. Development of the documentary hypothesis c arls td. First suspicions even the ancient rabbis debated whether or not moses could have possibly written the last chapter of deuteronomy, which details mosess death. Dec 19, 2016 two new studies in the journal of quaternary science refute the hypothesis that one or more cometsbolides struck north america approximately 12,900 years ago triggering rapid climate change and. Phelan twoedged sword publications, waterlooville, uk, 2005 by james patrick holding. The jedp theory seeks to understand the authorship of the pentateuch in light of the documentary hypothesis. To that end, this website is launching a new subcategory of our historical works dedicated specifically to combating the errors of the documentary. A study of documentary hypothesis written and compiled by gary kukis these studies are designed for believers in jesus christ only. Reflections on the documentary hypothesis the dialogue journal. 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. Popularized in the 1970s and 1980s by writer elaine morgan, the theory suggests. The maccabee against the documentary hypothesis the. Vi, 162 formerly called literary criticism or higher criticism, source criticism is a method of biblical study, which analyzes texts that are. Has european scholarship abandoned the documentary hypothesis.
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