Mosaic Authorship Of The Pentateuch By Merrill C. Tenney

1750 Words4 Pages

The Hebrew Bible is studied, analyzed, and worshiped by millions each day, it gives insight into the teachings and laws of God. The article “Pentateuch”, obtained from The Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible by Merrill C. Tenney, deeply examines the authorship of the Pentateuch and displays two compelling arguments of weather the Pentateuch is of Mosaic authorship, or written by authors other than Moses. The Pentateuch is the bases of the entire Bible, it contains the first five books, including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, thus the literal meaning of “five volumes”. Theses five books make up the Old Testament and are roadmap to God’s teachings. The two views of Pentateuch authorship are Mosaic authorship …show more content…

Moses was the Jewish leader and law correspondent who lead the people of Israel under the word of God. Moses was the only one who was able to speak directly with God, the Israelites were only capable of communicating with God through dreams and visions. God entrusted Moses to relay his messages to the people of Israel. Moses was a great messenger, as he delivered the words of God flawlessly and endured all the feedback and anger that followed. The understanding of Mosaic authorship is very compelling, because he was the one who experienced first hand the words of God, and witnessed and experienced many events that are described throughout the Pentateuch. It is in the Book of Deuteronomy that claims, Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and has the support of both Jesus Christ and the apostles, making the Pentateuch classified as “holy scripture”. This authentication from Jesus and the apostles makes it challenging for those opposing Mosaic authorship, due to the fact that believers of the New Testament view all that resides inside as the full truth, making it stand on the bases of the Old Testament, and if the Old Testament is not written by Moses, then the entire legitimacy of the Bible would stand in …show more content…

The bible is more than history though, it is a map that leads us to the words of God, and the Pentateuch especially tells us the story of God and his plan for humanity. Just like all history though, it has to be questioned and examined in order to have a strong belief that the stories passed down through generations is true. The Pentateuch’s history can be analyzed by dates, genealogy, archeology, and traditions. The writing of the Pentateuch spanned over many centuries, so in effort to present the history The Book of Deuteronomy will be the base. Deuteronomy is said to be written around 621 B.C., making it the time of Joshua. This is because the Judean and Assyrian kings were against the work of Deuteronomists, which was the central focus of Joshua in his efforts to make one “central shrine” in Jerusalem where all could gather to worship the Lord. Joshua had to wait until the kings fell out of power before his work could be available. Joshua and the Deuteronomists determine that the shrine will be located in Jerusalem, whereas the The Book of Deuteronomy does not make reference to a central shrine being located in Jerusalem. This inconsistency caused for the higher critics to determine that the central shrine would have already been created when the author was writing this because the Deuteronomy or any books before it do not

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