Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 06/09/2005 12:14, Kevin Graham wrote:

> ...
>
> == I would also add that all presuppositions, not just theological ones, in 
> one way or the other "sets the limits as to what a scripture can and cannot 
> say. For example, if one comes to the Torah with a Documentary Hypothesis 
> presupposition, then the statements in Torah which lay claim to Mosaic 
> authorship are discounted.
>
> But this is discounted, first and foremost, by the fact that Deuteronomy 
> presents us with Moses' obituary. So we know beyond a doubt that Moses 
> didn't write this much of it, so the burden of proof rests on those who 
> insist Moses wrote all of it. ...

Come off it, Kevin! No one on this list, and almost no one at all for 
many centuries, has claimed that Moses wrote EVERY WORD of the Torah. 
But it is quite possible, and an old tradition, that Moses wrote almost 
all of it - all of the first four books, perhaps barring a few later 
editorial comments, and the huge majority of Deuteronomy which is 
explicitly attributed to Moses. It is these statements of attribution to 
which Charles referred, and they explicitly exclude the account of 
Moses' death. You are welcome to argue against this position (which I am 
merely stating, not promoting), but don't argue against a straw man.


> ... I this undermines "tradition" moreso than 
> theology, I think. The thesis that Moses authored the entire book is also 
> belied by the fact that Deuteronomy, which was miraculously (and 
> conveniently I might add) "discovered" by Josiahn temple priests, ...

The burden of proof on this one rests on you. It is an old speculation 
that this discovered book was Deuteronomy, but an unprovable one.

> ... and that 
> it contradicts many of the things taught in subsequent books of Moses, and 
> happens to support teh reforming ideas of Josiah. It isn't some devious 
> atheistic plot to throw a wrench into the traditional (mis)understanding of 
> the OT authorship. I am a Christian. I can accept the Bible for what it is. 
> It doesn't hinder my theology in the slightest to know that tradition 
> sometimes gets it wrong.
>  

"some devious atheistic plot" would be rather too strong wording, but it 
is clear from the writings of authors like Wellhausen, one of the 
originators of your speculation about Josiah, that they had a 
theologically motivated agenda to debunk the Torah - an agenda 
comparable to that of "Evangelical seminaries such as DTS" but in an 
opposite direction. But, as Charles said, at least DTS etc are honest 
about it.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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