Is Genesis Literal?

[gluadys]

Ok im with you so far,but who were the authors then?this definatly gives me something to study for sure,thanks,god bless

The authors are known to scholars as J and P, two of the four authors of the Torah as worked out through literary analysis of the books. The most accessible description for the lay person is Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard E. Friedman.

To get a flavour of what its all about, check out this interview with Richard E. Friedman and be sure to follow the links to the Documentary Thesis and the dual story of the Flood separated into its component parts. There is also a colour-coded excerpt on the parting of the Red Sea.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/139/story_13986_1.html

The Documentary Thesis has a long history though most of the key scholarship occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. Here is a good history of it.

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/gerald_larue/otll/chap3.html

And actually, it is not a single thesis, since scholars do have their differences. Most date P as written after the Exile and some believe strongly that he is Ezra. Friedman, on the other hand agrees that Exra may well have been the final editor of the Torah, but dates P to the time between the fall of Israel and the fall of Judah.

And here is a very interesting site which goes into some early literary sources of the Torah which may have been written before the Exodus!

http://www.comparative-religion.com/articles/torah_torah_torah/


Briefly, J is believed to be a Judean, a lay-person living during or not long after the time of Solomon. P is a priest, possibly Ezra, or (if Friedman is right) a temple priest in Jerusalem, a descendant of Aaron.

E lived in Israel during the time of the divided kingdom, possibly at Shiloh where a priestly community that traced its ancestry to Moses lived.

D is the writer of Deuteronomy. Friedman identifies him with the prophet Jeremiah.

 

[brinley45cal]

The authors are known to scholars as J and P, two of the four authors of the Torah as worked out through literary analysis of the books. The most accessible description for the lay person is Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard E. Friedman.

To get a flavour of what its all about, check out this interview with Richard E. Friedman and be sure to follow the links to the Documentary Thesis and the dual story of the Flood separated into its component parts. There is also a colour-coded excerpt on the parting of the Red Sea.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/139/story_13986_1.html

The Documentary Thesis has a long history though most of the key scholarship occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. Here is a good history of it.

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/gerald_larue/otll/chap3.html

And actually, it is not a single thesis, since scholars do have their differences. Most date P as written after the Exile and some believe strongly that he is Ezra. Friedman, on the other hand agrees that Exra may well have been the final editor of the Torah, but dates P to the time between the fall of Israel and the fall of Judah.

And here is a very interesting site which goes into some early literary sources of the Torah which may have been written before the Exodus!

http://www.comparative-religion.com/articles/torah_torah_torah/


Briefly, J is believed to be a Judean, a lay-person living during or not long after the time of Solomon. P is a priest, possibly Ezra, or (if Friedman is right) a temple priest in Jerusalem, a descendant of Aaron.

E lived in Israel during the time of the divided kingdom, possibly at Shiloh where a priestly community that traced its ancestry to Moses lived.

D is the writer of Deuteronomy. Friedman identifies him with the prophet Jeremiah.

Thanks for the info,ill check it out.

 

[alarmguy111]

Alessandro, I am new to this forum, but I was appalled over your conversations with Vance. You have not approached your discussion with any type of scholarly process. There were several things you said that were absolutely wrong. #1 Yom has several different meanings, #2 Genesis was not written in modern hebrew by Moses. By the way, do you know what language it was written in originally? If you are not going to the source for your arguments, then you are committing the "cardinal sin" of reseach; you are relying on someone else's revelation for your position. That is at best a childish stance to take on any subject, let alone a subject as in-depth as the Word of God. I believe that the Word says for us all to study to show ourselves approved; unfortunately you have shown yourself to be found wanting! There are a lot of other things I could say to this matter, but i will not in the hope that you will take this correction to heart and do your homework before taking on someone who has obviously been doing his homework; and thoroughly embarrassing yourself.