Originally Posted by MikeWaters
I read most of this book during summer camp. By Richard Elliot Friedman. Addresses the documentary hypothesis, concerning writers J, E, D, and P, as well as redactor R. I found it very interesting. Took a while for the book to pick up speed, but once it did, I was hooked.
I really didn't have a good idea about the historical context of the Torah, specifically rivalries between various groups like the descendants of Moses and Aaron. It really enriches my understanding and appreciation of the Old Testament.
I mentioned how interesting it was to a member of my bishopric. I said, "I've never heard a word about this in Sunday School." To which he interjected, "Nor should you."
Another example of why I don't go to Sunday School.
You wonder how it is possible you can teach religion courses at BYU, and institute courses on the OT, and never mention the documentary hypothesis. Not that it is a foolproof hypothesis, but because it is an important idea that has contributed to the scholarship and understanding of the Torah, therefore to the OT, therefore to Christianity in general, including Mormonism.
Can you imagine Joseph Smith being uninterested in the documentary hypothesis? Do we have the kind of general authorities that are interested in such things, and talk of such things? I don't know. No doubt many censor themselves in the interest of milk before meat. Which mullahs may translate into "there shall only be milk."
Anyway, it was a good book, and I think, far more interesting than Misquoting Jesus, which has essentially only one idea in it--that older manuscripts are more accurate, and that the manuscript has changed over the years. I recommend reading it. I want to buy a Torah that has the chapters and verses marked as to purported authorship.
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