What is the documentary hypothesis?

Answer

The documentary hypothesis is essentially an effort to remove the supernatural elements from the Pentateuch and dispute its Mosaic authorship. The narratives of the Red Sea crossing, the manna in the wilderness, the provision of water from a solid rock, etc., are viewed as tales from oral tradition, portraying the miraculous events as products of creative storytellers rather than actual occurrences witnessed and documented by eyewitnesses. The documentary hypothesis, in conjunction with the JEDP theory, rejects the idea that Moses authored the Pentateuch and instead attributes its creation to four (or more) distinct authors/redactors spanning several centuries. The documentary hypothesis represents a challenge by liberal theology to the accuracy of the Pentateuch.

Supporters of the documentary hypothesis argue that, rather than dating the composition of the Pentateuch to around 1400 BC (the time of Moses’ death), it should be placed around 400 BC. Memories that are a millennium old, even if faithfully transmitted, are prone to alterations in the retelling of the original events. It is important to note that the Pentateuch was still being compiled during the period of the Israelites’ wilderness wanderings due to their disobedience to God. Documenting this journey nearly a thousand years later raises doubts about the authenticity of the original expedition. Over time, liberal theologians have sought to undermine the authority of the Word of God, often by questioning the historical accuracy and authorship of the Pentateuch.

The key question is whether this liberal theological perspective is grounded in reality. The dating of the Pentateuch’s authorship is a significant issue. According to liberal theology, the Pentateuch was authored around 400 BC, post the Babylonian Captivity. This timeline indicates that Moses could not have been the author, as he passed away approximately a millennium earlier.However, Jesus said in Mark 12:26, “Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” Jesus plainly states that Moses wrote the account of the burning bush in Exodus 3. To date the Pentateuch some 1,000 years after the death of Moses is to deny Jesus’ words, for He specifies that Exodus is part of “the book of Moses.”

There is strong evidence that Moses also wrote the other books of the Pentateuch, disproving the entire documentary hypothesis. Peter, in Acts 3:22, comments on Deuteronomy 18:15 and credits Moses as the author of that passage. Paul, in Romans 10:5, says, “Moses writes this,” and then proceeds to quote Leviticus 18:5.

The documentary hypothesis calls into question the testimonies of Jesus, Peter, and Paul, for all of them testified that Moses wrote at least three of the books of the Pentateuch. Jewish history and tradition also credit Moses as the author of the Pentateuch, giving no support whatsoever to the documentary hypothesis. The documentary hypothesis is only a hypothesis; it has never been proved, no matter how many liberal theologians claim that it has been.