Moses penned the first five books of the Bible, did he not?

[Neogaia777]

Moses penned the first five books of the Bible, did he not?

Well, how did he come up with the creation account and the story about the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve, the tower of Babel, Noah and the Ark, and the flood? I propose, one: He was shown it in a vision or a dream (which is meant to be interpreted in sign or symbolically), or two: the story was passed on to him by oral tradition (which changes and gets embellished over time) from previous generations...

Or, a third possibility is: that some or all of it was passed down in written form, by carvings/engravings of words telling the story in/on wood staffs or slabs, or stone tablets. It is said that Abraham had the history of the generations of the people, engraved and passed down on wood staffs, but I don't know if the creation account or the beginnings of Genesis were recorded and passed down or not...?

How do you think the beginnings of Genesis were revealed or transmitted or divinely revealed to Moses? What's your theory?

Thoughts?

God Bless!

 

[jbearnolimits]

How about another possibility. Moses was told what to write by God who was there and who is the author of the Bible.

 

[BryanW92]

How about another possibility. Moses was told what to write by God who was there and who is the author of the Bible.

I agree with this.

 

[Vanguard PCD]

Actually, the Bible never states who wrote the Torah. Traditionally it was Moses, but there is conflicting evidence to him being the sole author.

 

[BryanW92]

Actually, the Bible never states who wrote the Torah. Traditionally it was Moses, but there is conflicting evidence to him being the sole author.

If it isn't Moses, then it throws a shadow of doubt over the truth of the whole thing. That invalidates the three monotheistic faiths in the world.

Most of that evidence is really just "you can't prove Moses wrote this because...". The JEDP theory of authorship conveniently falls along the lines of the political ideology of the scholars, with Progressives seeking to prove that Moses was not the author and Conservatives seeking to disprove JEDP.

I take a statistical point of view. The null hypothesis is that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and there is insufficient evidence to disprove the null hypothesis.

 

[branchofthevine]

There is some proof that there has been editorial work on the Torah, and that's simply seen at the end of Deuteronomy (34:5-12) which is after Moses' death, and talks about no other prophet rising up in Israel that was like Moses.

The Torah is called the books of Moses in connection with the law given by God to Moses and the community at Sinai. I don't know if we know for sure who wrote the Torah, but the source material for a lot of it, the parts about Moses, probably come from that time itself, but not necessarily penned by Moses himself, there may have been some scribe who was doing the actual writing. Though in the end it isn't that big of a deal (imho)

 

[jax5434]

Like the books of the New Testament; I believe Moses wrote under the plenary inspiration of God.
But in regards to the OP oral traditions are much more reliable than people tend to think.

 

[EdwinWillers]

"All Scripture is inspired by God ..." 2 Tim 3:16a

...including Genesis.

It's clear Moses wasn't around for the creation; but that doesn't mean he didn't - or couldn't write about it. And as someone else said, the fact of Moses' authorship is largely tradition anyway.

 

[Neogaia777]

Which brings up the forth possibility I forgot to mention, and that is, that Moses heard the stories by hearing a voice that was directly from God, and he wrote it down...

My point to all of this is that there seem to be subtle errors, or contradictions that creep up in the account (which I believe to be a summary) between Genesis 1 through to chapter 2:4, and Genesis 2:5 onward, like the order of creation is different between Genesis 1 through to chapter 2:4, and then Genesis 2:5, onward...

Has anyone else noted the differences between Genesis 1 through to 2:4, and then 2:5 onward?

I don't believe any man could have concocted or made up the story, so I believe it is divinely inspired (from God), but I having trouble interpreting it literally, I find errors in interpreting it literally, can anyone help?

God Bless!

 

[Neogaia777]

Which brings up the forth possibility I forgot to mention, and that is, that Moses heard the stories by hearing a voice that was directly from God, and he wrote it down...

My point to all of this is that there seem to be subtle errors, or contradictions that creep up in the account (which I believe to be a summary) between Genesis 1 through to chapter 2:4, and Genesis 2:5 onward, like the order of creation is different between Genesis 1 through to chapter 2:4, and then Genesis 2:5, onward...

Has anyone else noted the differences between Genesis 1 through to 2:4, and then 2:5 onward?

I don't believe any man could have concocted or made up the story, so I believe it is divinely inspired (from God), but I having trouble interpreting it literally, I find errors in interpreting it literally, can anyone help?

God Bless!

If it is divinely inspired (told by God) then is it meant to be a literal story, or interpreted in another (other) way(s)...

If it is a story, but a divinely inspired story, then it is a story told by God, told (introduced) into the evolution of all his humanoid colonies out there, but if it is just a story, a story meant to affect our evolutionary path, perhaps to teach us something about human nature (human behavior), or the nature of evil (sin) and to teach us something about the invisible realm (the realm of the supernatural where spirit(s) exist/reside beside and with us (that we can't see) and to teach us about how man and woman and relational relationships between man, woman, children (family relationships) and people in general, and our relationships with spirit(s)...

Who knows, there may have been an actual Adam and Eve, and a Garden of Eden, tried on one of the first humanoid colonies to pop up... Or it may be a story about the first set of spirit creatures to exist. So, if it is just a story but a story introduced to us by God, why would God tell us such a story? Perhaps it is meant to teach us about relationships in general and human relational behavior?

What do you think?

God Bless!

 

[EdwinWillers]

Which brings up the forth possibility I forgot to mention, and that is, that Moses heard the stories by hearing a voice that was directly from God, and he wrote it down...

My point to all of this is that there seem to be subtle errors, or contradictions that creep up in the account (which I believe to be a summary) between Genesis 1 through to chapter 2:4, and Genesis 2:5 onward, like the order of creation is different between Genesis 1 through to chapter 2:4, and then Genesis 2:5, onward...

Has anyone else noted the differences between Genesis 1 through to 2:4, and then 2:5 onward?

You'll have to be more specific.

I don't believe any man could have concocted or made up the story, so I believe it is divinely inspired (from God), but I having trouble interpreting it literally, I find errors in interpreting it literally, can anyone help?

God Bless!

I'm not sure I agree with your logic here. The truth of divine inspiration is not a function of our being able to conclude there isn't another answer, ergo 'it must be divinely inspired.'

As to literal interpretations, the bible is rife with truths that were never intended to be interpreted literally. Much of it is figurative, ala the parables for example. Principles, concepts, generic truths, etc. are often explained in language that isn't intended to be taken literally.

I know of no standard that requires there be a literal interpretation either.

Maybe if you could share what it is, specifically, that is bothering you?