Who Wrote Genisis?

[futuresoldier]

?

 

[kern]

Nobody knows for sure, but for a while now the prevailing theory has been that the books of moses have an oral tradition behind them, and the books we have now are combinations of several different sources (usually called P,D,J,E, and R). You can read about these in the introductions to Genesis in most Bible commentaries (try the Interpreter's Bible or the New Interpreter's Bible). The person who actually compiled the sources is the "R" in the above five sources (redactor).

-Chris

 

[Mandy]

Moses was the author of Genesis through Deuteronomy.

 

[MatthewDiscipleofGod]

Yup Mandy is correct. Probably written by him around 1440 B.C.

 

[kern]

The idea that Moses wrote the Pentateuch is the classical theory, but modern textual criticism does not support this, and there is no scriptural evidence for the position that Moses was the author of the entire Pentateuch. And the date is more like 700-600 BC for the current form (of course the oral tradition behind the books would have dated back to the days of Moses).

This is not some new atheist theory, it's been in consideration for centuries, and you will not find many Biblical scholars today that think the books were authored by Moses.

It's certainly possible that the law sections of the Pentateuch were based off of (or are exactly the same as) the laws Moses was told to write down. This may seem like a challenge to biblical innerancy, but it doesn't have to be.

-Chris