Who Wrote the Bible? - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 06-18-2009, 11:45 PM

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.

All-American · 06-19-2009, 12:47 AM

God.

Every word.

Next question, please?

Archaea · 06-19-2009, 01:20 AM

Quote:

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.

Read Umberto Casserto and some of the arguments which follow as well.

The OT construction is truly fascinating.

MikeWaters · 06-19-2009, 01:37 AM

A Jewish friend tells me that Wellhausen was an anti-Semite whose overall aim was to discredit the Torah as historical and moreover debase the contribution of Jews to Western civilization.

It seems that in some ways Cassuto is the apologist who "undoes" Wellhausen.

SeattleUte · 06-19-2009, 04:04 AM

Harold Bloom and others talk about a redactor who edited and assimilated the various documents drafted by disparate individuals into a single canon. Thus in a sense it was written by one hand. This is how we KNOW the NT canon was put together.

Archaea · 06-21-2009, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

A Jewish friend tells me that Wellhausen was an anti-Semite whose overall aim was to discredit the Torah as historical and moreover debase the contribution of Jews to Western civilization.

It seems that in some ways Cassuto is the apologist who "undoes" Wellhausen.

Cassuto is important though because he took a scholarly approach to the Documentary Hypothesis. What followed thereafter was fascinating.

06-18-2009, 11:45 PM	#1
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Who Wrote the Bible? 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.

06-19-2009, 12:47 AM	#2
All-American Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 3,420	God. Every word. Next question, please? __________________ εν αρχη ην ο λογος

06-19-2009, 04:04 AM	#5
SeattleUte fairlds.org Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 10,665	Harold Bloom and others talk about a redactor who edited and assimilated the various documents drafted by disparate individuals into a single canon. Thus in a sense it was written by one hand. This is how we KNOW the NT canon was put together. __________________ Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be. —Paul Auster

06-19-2009, 01:37 AM	#4
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	A Jewish friend tells me that Wellhausen was an anti-Semite whose overall aim was to discredit the Torah as historical and moreover debase the contribution of Jews to Western civilization. It seems that in some ways Cassuto is the apologist who "undoes" Wellhausen.