Modern Scholars Spreading Doubts About the Bible's Reliability: Moses and the Pentateuch

[ElieG12]

Since the beginning of the 19th Century there has been a tendency in intellectual circles around the world to deny the inspiration of the Bible and what is known about human history based on the information it contains.

For example, the real existence of Moses and his involving in the writing of the Pentateuch more than a Millenium and a half B.C., the 215 years stay in Egypt of Jacob's descendants, their exile and the forty years of wandering in the desert, the conquest of Canaan as told in the Scriptures and the period in which the Israelites' descendants had no king over the nation until they began to be ruled by human kings like the rest of the surrounding nations... These intellectuals have been also trying to contradict the creation account of the first human couple by God, the biblical fact of the creation of each complete animal kind separately, the Deluge that covered the entire planet when only 8 human beings and animal specimens protected inside the ark survived, the existence of the patriarchs of the Jews, etc.

In this topic I would like to talk about one of those aspects that some modern scholars deny (some of those scholars even call themselves Jews or Christians) : Moses' authorship of the Pentateuch and the date on which it was composed. According to these Bible deniers, Moses did not exist, and if there was someone with that name who was related to the writing of the Pentateuch, they say that he was simply a Moses from around the 5th century BC, that is: a pseudo-Moses.

Let us consider the following mission of true Christians of the 21st century: How can we prove to these Bible deniers that Moses was a real person, and that he wrote the Pentateuch/the Law in the 16th century BC?

 

[Arthur81]

I do not try to prove to these godless jackasses that Moses was real and existed. Jesus spoke of Moses and that is good enough for me. I put the veracity of Jesus Christ as the ultimate proof.

Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matt 8:4 NRSV)

He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. (Matt 19:8 NRSV)

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. (Matt 23:1-3 NRSV)

For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ (Mark 7:10 NRSV)

And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Luke 20:37 NRSV)

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (John 3:14 NRSV)

 

[Tommy Cool]

Nothing new under the sun …

Critics have been hammering at the Word of God for years….

Allegorically….. the Word of God is like an anvil in a blacksmiths shop….If you could look through time you may see hundreds of broken hammers that have beat on that anvil ….The anvil, like the Word of God remains unscathed the hammers like the critics are all broken and gone…..

People who beat upon the Word ….will themselves be dead and gone, but the word of God, liveth and abideth for ever.

 

[ElieG12]

Definitely, our best defense of the existence of Moses and his authorship (human part) of the Pentateuch and other biblical writings such as some Psalms, is the fact that Jesus took his existence for granted, as @Arthur81 very well explains in the post#2.

However, deniers of biblical inspiration accept an anonimous pseudo-Moses who lived in the 5th century BC, who according to them invented this ancient character called Moses to facilitate Jewish control at the time of their return from the exile in Babylon. According to them, with this invented story the historical basis of Judaism and the right of the Jews to the land were created under premises that they themselves were inventing and making seem ancient and historical.

Some of these Bible deniers even say that the fact that Jesus cited certain ancient figures is not enough to prove that they were real people who participated in real historical events, but rather that as Jewish legends mentioned by him to highlight certain teachings contained therein, stories that, they say, could be just metaphorical and not historical.

I present these unbiblical justifications of these modern intellectuals so that we all understand that sometimes to help others not to fall into deception, we need deeper and clearer arguments that can clear up any doubt... and to present defense of the truth not having to resort on judging those individuals who have somehow come to believe those lies as if they were true.

One such argument could be the fact that David, one of the first Israelite kings known even in a secular way, spoke to his son Solomon about Moses and the Law that he had written.

1 Kings 2:1 When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave his son Solʹo·mon these instructions: 2 “I am about to die. Therefore, be strong and prove yourself a man. 3 You must keep your obligation to Jehovah your God by walking in his ways and by observing his statutes, his commandments, his judgments, and his reminders as they are written in the Law of Moses; then you will succeed in everything you do and everywhere you turn. 4 And Jehovah will carry out his promise that he made concerning me: ‘If your sons pay attention to their way by walking faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, there will never fail to be a man of your line sitting on the throne of Israel.’ ..."

We know that one of the laws applicable to future kings (not existing in the time of Moses) was that each time a new king was crowned, he had to make a personal copy of that Law of Moses of which copies already existed which were in the hands of the Levitical priests:

Deut. 17:18 When he takes his seat on the throne of his kingdom, he must write for himself in a book a copy of this Law, taken from the one kept by the Levitical priests.
19 “It is to remain with him, and he must read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God and observe all the words of this Law and these regulations by carrying them out. 20 Thus his heart will not exalt itself above his brothers, and he will not deviate from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he may remain a long time over his kingdom, he and his sons in the midst of Israel.

So from the secularly recognized historical point of view, David, an ancient king of Israel who lived about a millennium before Christ, is telling his heir to the throne to make his personal copy of the law of Moses that had been written long ago.

 

[Bob Estey]

Since the beginning of the 19th Century there has been a tendency in intellectual circles around the world to deny the inspiration of the Bible and what is known about human history based on the information it contains.

For example, the real existence of Moses and his involving in the writing of the Pentateuch more than a Millenium and a half B.C., the 215 years stay in Egypt of Jacob's descendants, their exile and the forty years of wandering in the desert, the conquest of Canaan as told in the Scriptures and the period in which the Israelites' descendants had no king over the nation until they began to be ruled by human kings like the rest of the surrounding nations... These intellectuals have been also trying to contradict the creation account of the first human couple by God, the biblical fact of the creation of each complete animal kind separately, the Deluge that covered the entire planet when only 8 human beings and animal specimens protected inside the ark survived, the existence of the patriarchs of the Jews, etc.

In this topic I would like to talk about one of those aspects that some modern scholars deny (some of those scholars even call themselves Jews or Christians) : Moses' authorship of the Pentateuch and the date on which it was composed. According to these Bible deniers, Moses did not exist, and if there was someone with that name who was related to the writing of the Pentateuch, they say that he was simply a Moses from around the 5th century BC, that is: a pseudo-Moses.

Let us consider the following mission of true Christians of the 21st century: How can we prove to these Bible deniers that Moses was a real person, and that he wrote the Pentateuch/the Law in the 16th century BC?

I found it very upsetting when a visiting pastor came to our church and said Bible writers had agendas, and therefore we are to conclude you can't trust them. The Bible does not lie.

 

[Windmillcharge]

Let us consider the following mission of true Christians of the 21st century: How can we prove to these Bible deniers that Moses was a real person, and that he wrote the Pentateuch/the Law in the 16th century BC?

If one is in a position to talk to such people, one asks about their language qualifications and compare there ability to that of Prof Robert ' dick ' Wilson an old testament school who spoke over 40 languages and had spent a life time studying inscriptions and written records from the middle East in there original language.

From his study of words, grammar and how language changed over time he concluded that it was Moses who wrote the pentetuch, that he wrote far earlier than any critical scholar claims and that we can put complete trust in the old testament.

 

[Windmillcharge]

said Bible writers had agendas

Shows how ignorant that speaker is. He had an agenda in making that statement, I have an agenda in making this post, of course Moses had an agenda.
He was a servant of God, a prophet, leader, judge, warlord etc etc of the Isralite nation.
His agenda was to lead them to the promised land.

 

[Bob Estey]

Shows how ignorant that speaker is. He had an agenda in making that statement, I have an agenda in making this post, of course Moses had an agenda.
He was a servant of God, a prophet, leader, judge, warlord etc etc of the Isralite nation.
His agenda was to lead them to the promised land.

The trouble is, there are so many like him.

I would think our agendas should be to carry out the Lord's agenda.

 

[Bob Estey]

Since the beginning of the 19th Century there has been a tendency in intellectual circles around the world to deny the inspiration of the Bible and what is known about human history based on the information it contains.

For example, the real existence of Moses and his involving in the writing of the Pentateuch more than a Millenium and a half B.C., the 215 years stay in Egypt of Jacob's descendants, their exile and the forty years of wandering in the desert, the conquest of Canaan as told in the Scriptures and the period in which the Israelites' descendants had no king over the nation until they began to be ruled by human kings like the rest of the surrounding nations... These intellectuals have been also trying to contradict the creation account of the first human couple by God, the biblical fact of the creation of each complete animal kind separately, the Deluge that covered the entire planet when only 8 human beings and animal specimens protected inside the ark survived, the existence of the patriarchs of the Jews, etc.

In this topic I would like to talk about one of those aspects that some modern scholars deny (some of those scholars even call themselves Jews or Christians) : Moses' authorship of the Pentateuch and the date on which it was composed. According to these Bible deniers, Moses did not exist, and if there was someone with that name who was related to the writing of the Pentateuch, they say that he was simply a Moses from around the 5th century BC, that is: a pseudo-Moses.

Let us consider the following mission of true Christians of the 21st century: How can we prove to these Bible deniers that Moses was a real person, and that he wrote the Pentateuch/the Law in the 16th century BC?

The Bible doesn't lie.

 

[Cassandra]

Nothing new under the sun …

Critics have been hammering at the Word of God for years….

Allegorically….. the Word of God is like an anvil in a blacksmiths shop….If you could look through time you may see hundreds of broken hammers that have beat on that anvil ….The anvil, like the Word of God remains unscathed the hammers like the critics are all broken and gone…..

People who beat upon the Word ….will themselves be dead and gone, but the word of God, liveth and abideth for ever.

Yes! I love that poem. Here it is:

THE ANVIL OF GODS WORD

“Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.


“‘How many anvils have you had,’ said I,
‘To wear and batter all these hammers so?’
‘Just one,’ said he, and then with twinkling eye,
‘The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.’


“And so, I thought, the Anvil of God’s Word
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The Anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone.”


—attributed to John Clifford

 

[Tommy Cool]

Yes! I love that poem. Here it is:

THE ANVIL OF GODS WORD

“Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.


“‘How many anvils have you had,’ said I,
‘To wear and batter all these hammers so?’
‘Just one,’ said he, and then with twinkling eye,
‘The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.’


“And so, I thought, the Anvil of God’s Word
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The Anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone.”


—attributed to John Clifford

Thank you I am going to copy it.... I heard it many years ago but couldn't remember it word for word so I did my best with a little embellishment.

 

[Jim C]

Scholars...

Man's "wisdom" is foolishness before God.

 

[Davy]

Since the beginning of the 19th Century there has been a tendency in intellectual circles around the world to deny the inspiration of the Bible and what is known about human history based on the information it contains.

For example, the real existence of Moses and his involving in the writing of the Pentateuch more than a Millenium and a half B.C., the 215 years stay in Egypt of Jacob's descendants, their exile and the forty years of wandering in the desert, the conquest of Canaan as told in the Scriptures and the period in which the Israelites' descendants had no king over the nation until they began to be ruled by human kings like the rest of the surrounding nations... These intellectuals have been also trying to contradict the creation account of the first human couple by God, the biblical fact of the creation of each complete animal kind separately, the Deluge that covered the entire planet when only 8 human beings and animal specimens protected inside the ark survived, the existence of the patriarchs of the Jews, etc.

In this topic I would like to talk about one of those aspects that some modern scholars deny (some of those scholars even call themselves Jews or Christians) : Moses' authorship of the Pentateuch and the date on which it was composed. According to these Bible deniers, Moses did not exist, and if there was someone with that name who was related to the writing of the Pentateuch, they say that he was simply a Moses from around the 5th century BC, that is: a pseudo-Moses.

Let us consider the following mission of true Christians of the 21st century: How can we prove to these Bible deniers that Moses was a real person, and that he wrote the Pentateuch/the Law in the 16th century BC?

God did tell Israel early in its history, that because they disobeyed Him, that He would leave the Canaanites that Israel failed to destroy by His command, to live among them, to test Israel with, to see if the children of Israel would follow Him or not (Judges 2 & 3). Thus began the crept in unawares early in Israel's history, and still goes on to this day.

Some of those Moses-Bible-deniers have been on modern Bible revision committees that use the Critical text.