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What is the JEDP theory (sometimes called the documentary hypothesis (DH) or the Graf - Wellhausen hypothesis) that so many Christians are taught is the "real" story of how the Hebrew Bible was written?
Well, you'd think the word "theory" would make them realize it isn't "real" or a "fact." Nope. It is a theory. And it is a theory based on a very basic lack of bible knowledge from so-called bible experts. This theory divides the Torah into four separate sources:
Did anyone bother to explain to Wellhausen that the "names" for G-d are really descriptions? There are nine "names" for G-d that appear in the Scriptures “which may not be erased” and another eleven “which may be erased”—these are all listed in Treatise Shavuot 35a. “Ehyeh asher ehyeh / אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה” is one of the nine “which may not be erased”. This is the "name" in Sh'mot / Exodus 3:14. It translates to "I will be as I will be." Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) speaks of 72 names for G-d. Yet, not one of them is really a name. Not one. G‑d has no name. He is infinite and does not have a name -- or a title or a description for that matter. You could say that by definition, G-d has no definition. What we call His name(s) are simply our attempt at describing the indescribable. This JEDP idea was the theory of one Julius Wellhausen (May 17, 1844 – January 7, 1918) -- a German, and son of a Protestant minister and Karl Heinrich Graf (February 28, 1815 – July 16, 1869), also a German Protestant. These men's education was at the hands of other Protestant theologians including Georg Heinrich August Ewald of the 19th century. Graf and Wellhausen seemed to have been a product of their anti-Semitic 19th century German world. Graf - Wellhausen based their theory on the fact that because the bible uses two names for G-d (there are actually far more than two!) there must have been a "merging" of two gods / two religions. They thought that Moses could not have written the Torah (thus lessening its value) because the Torah uses the Tetragrammaton (holiest name) and "elohim" (which means a mighty judge / ruler and is used to speak of G-d, false gods, angels and even humans) to speak of G-d. They decided that since there were "two names" there had to be different authors. This theory divides the Torah into four separate sources: So the fact that the JEDP theorists decided that four of the "names" had to mean four different authors is based on error. For example, "elohim" / אֱלֹהִים (a word used to speak of humans, angels, false gods and G-d) means a mighty judge. The word "adon" / אדן means a lord or master and so on. . . Although many Christians are taught the JEDP as if it is "fact" it has actually been disproved by archaeology -- which shows that there is historical proof for the Torah (and 'nach) dating much farther back than there theories would contend. "On Bible Criticism and Its Counterarguments" from Torat Emet: "Umberto Cassuto (1883-1951) and Yechezkel Kaufman (1889- 1963) further demolished the theory, showing that Wellhausen's observations contradicted his conclusions. Kaufman's main contribution lies in his thesis that monotheism was not, as Wellhausen and others had stated, a gradual departure from paganism, but an entirely new development. Israel's monotheism began with Moshe and was a complete revolution in religious thought. . . "Special mention should be made of the famous archaeologist William F. Alright. He convincingly demonstrated that archaeological research did not support, and in fact often contradicted, this view of history. In many of his works, Albright destroyed the very foundations upon which Wellhausen's edifice had been erected. . ." One of Graf-Wellhausen's main points was that the Torah wasn't written until after the Babylonian Exile. Archaeological discoveries in Israel alone disprove this -- as does the discovery of the silver scrolls which was discussed in yesterday's post. Some estimate the scrolls date back to 700 BCE (whereas Ezra returned to Israel around 350 BCE)... Even later opinions of the scrolls still date them to pre-Babylonian Exile times (pre-dating Ezra and his return)... Prof. Moshe David (Umberto) Cassuto wrote a detailed analysis of the Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP). The author notes that some of the JEPD theorists may have had an anti-Jewish bent and so were trying to distance us Jews from our own bible. "Solomon Schechter famously equated “higher criticism” with “higher anti-Semitism." . . .one can indeed find anti-Jewish references. . . one example concerns. . .David’s efforts to procure materials for the construction of the First Temple under Solomon. . . Wellhausen writes, “1 Chr. 22-29 is a startling instance of that statistical fantasy of the Jews which revels in vast sums of money on paper.” The author goes on to state that the underpinnings of Wellhausen’s hypothesis (JEPD) may be seen to have an affinity with Protestant theology. Some proponents of Biblical theory point to Spinoza (17th century) -- a man born Jewish to parents who had converted to Christianity but fled from Portugal to return to Judaism... Spinoza invented his own iteration of what he thought Judaism to be (he wasn't the first or the last). He believed that G-d and nature are equivalent, and that the T'nach is allegory... Spinoza was cut off from the Jewish community due to his refusal to actually practice Judaism (observe the mitzvot). Spinoza is known as the "Jewish Atheist" if that gives you some clue! Some proponents of JEDP will point back to Spinoza as some sort of foundation for later theories -- but this would be akin to pointing to Mormonism as proof of Catholicism. It makes about as much sense! Jews have an unbroken chain of transmission of the Torah going back to Moses. It seems that some of these theorists on the history of the Torah have a zeal to discredit Judaism. Here is a link to the Rambam (Maimonides) Introduction to the Mishneh Torah where he discusses Torah transmission giving the name of each generation up to his time... the lists have continued to this very day...
1 Comment
Dave Vestal
7/7/2020 02:28:53 pm
I ALWAYS love reading your blogs!!
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