BACKGROUND: All through the course of history, there has been questions relating to the origin of mankind. Different individuals have narrated over the centuries various accounts of mankind 's creation and history of the world. The history of a people matter because it provide us with account of the events of the past which can help to understand the happenings in the present and possibly the future. The Biblical account of the world provide us with accounts of the world 's beginning, God 's purpose for mankind and the commencement of God 's relationship with mankind. The initial five books of the Bible referred to as the Pentateuch provides a description of the beginning of God 's people. The five books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. According to G.I Davies (1996), 'Pentateuch relates to the work comprising five scrolls 'from Greek pente and teukhos , which can mean scroll. It has been used since the period of the early Christians as the first five books of the Old Testament. The first five books of the Bible focus on the creation and progress of the Israelites. G.I Davies stated that four of the five books in the Pentateuch relate to the time of Moses and its main flaw is that it places Moses as the central theme . G.V. Rad (1966) suggested that the Pentateuch was an amplified creed i.e. an expression of faith . D.J Cline(1978) regarded the Pentateuch as the story of partial fulfilment of the promises to the patriarch. Since about
Those readers who have attended Bible college or seminary will likely have used a New Testament or Old Testament introduction. Such books provide a survey of each book of the Bible, considering questions of date, authorship, occasion for writing, an outline and overview of the contents, and so forth. Such works, which are frequently academic in nature, typically give significant space to technical matters related to critical theories regarding date and authorship.
However, it is clear that Moses did not commit the whole of the book to writing himself. One significant piece of evidence is that Jesus accepted the Mosaic Authorship of the book, as did Paul. “However, it should be noted that in these cases Jesus and the New Testament writers may simply have been using the name Moses as the designation for the scroll of Moses which contained the Pentateuch.” (Thompson, 1974, pp. 49-50).
Unlike Mythology, narratives of the Bible are actual events that took place dating back to the beginning of time. The conception of The Holy Bible’s compilation started thousands of years ago in the land of Egypt. Initially, the Old Testament Scriptures were written in the Hebrew language, however, they were later translated to the Greek. At the onset of the New Testament writings, they were originally recorded in the Greek language. Forty men transcribed the voice of God, which resulted in sixty-six books of the Holy Bible. The Holy Scriptures explained the creations, formation of the world, God, God’s chosen people, sin, and the plan of salvation as well.
Genesis is the first book of the Holy Bible and of the Pentateuch, which is more commonly referred to as the Law.
The documentary theory, proposes the first five books of the Bible was derived from originally independent, parallel and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of editors. The number of these is usually set at four, but this is not an essential part of the theory. The
Falashas’ religion is based on the five first books of the Holy Bible, called the Pentateuch composed by the Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
The first four books of the New Testament are known as the Gospels. These books tell us about the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are named for their authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The earliest descriptions of these books are from Justin Martyr in 155 AD which he calls them “memoirs” (Elwell and Yarbrough, 56). These are more of a biographical account of the life of Jesus. In these books God offers salvation through His son; a call to faith in light of the coming judgment.
The book of Genesis is often referred to as the book of beginnings. Genesis is the first book that begins the Old Testament, it is also the first book of the entire Bible. The Lord also began the world in the book of Genesis, He made the heavens and the earth, man and woman. In Genesis chapters one through eleven, the Bible teaches us stories that most of us have grown up hearing in Sunday School such as the creation account, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood and the tower of Babel. In this book of beginnings, we are shown some of Gods characteristics; we see that God is love and He showed His love by creating us and the world, on the other extreme, we also see the wrath of God. Through these teachings, we are able to see that God ultimately in control and holds everything in His balance. The stories of Genesis aren’t just stories; they are real life accounts that can help build and shape a worldview on things regarding the natural world, human identity, human relationships and civilization.
The origin of the Hebrew Bible is unknown, but scholars believe the earliest collections of writings- first five books- date back to nearly 3,500 years ago. The Pentateuch consist of these first five books. The Old Testament, which it is also known as, influenced its time period and still continues to do so today. The exile of the Judean people led their scholars to preserve their cultural identity through the Hebrew Bible’s usage of chiasm, repetition, and kinesthetic imagery. Each literary device was designed so the audience could memorize the details and elite could easily pass down the stories orally.
Prior to the proliferation of biblical scholarship, Bible readers believed that the Bible was both divine and historically accurate. The Bible was believed to have come directly from God, who communicated it to Israelite priests, prophets, and sages. Both Christian and Jewish religious authorities assumed that the Five Books of Moses were written
For over two thousand years, many people thought the Pentateuch was founded by Moses. (New Jerome 4) Not until sometime in the eighteenth century, however, did Exegetes used the techniques of source criticism and redaction criticism to propose that four authors made the Pentateuch.(smp) The authors are the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist, and the Priestly Writers.(smp) Using the abbreviations of the sources, the Exegetes have called this theory the four-source theory or the JEDP theory. (New Jerome 4) The theory states that each source is by a particular community, not just by one writer. (New Jerome 4)
The Torah, in Hebrew means "Instructions or Teaching," also known as the Pentateuch is the main reference of the Judaic religion. According to biblical history Moses while on top of Mt. Sinai, as told by God, wrote the Book of Genesis and the beginning of the Book of Exodus. Afterwards, Moses completes the Book of Exodus along with the Books of Leviticus, the Book of Numbers and began the Book of Deuteronomy. After the death of Moses, Joshua becomes his successor and completes the Book of Deuteronomy. These first five books tell of the creation of Earth, heavens, water, stars, moon, sun, mankind and animals along with the trials and hardships of mankind, establishment of the covenant as well as the civil laws and religious
The Documentary Theory holds that the Pentateuch was composed or compiled from several different documents or traditions written by several different authors. These original documents were argued to favor different styles and names for God, and thus were written by different authors. One document might favor “Elohim,” while another might favor “YHWH.” These sources are generally argued to be source J, E, P, and D. Genesis, however, only shows traces of J, E, and P. Some have even further subdivided the four primary sources. However, this theory fails to adequately explain the origin of the Pentateuch. Religious documents of the ancient Near East were not complied in this way, nor are variations in style and word choice conclusive. Dating
The Bible is one book that has one grand author. It was written by humans over a period of approximately 2000 years. It is comprised of 66 different books, all with one main theme, that everlasting life comes through one’s faith in God and by obeying God’s rules. This theme is the central part of all 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation. (Sostre 2015) The Bible is divided into two main sections; the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament begins with Genesis and the New Testament ends with Revelation.
Although Moses is regarded as the primary author of the Pentateuch, significant clues have been given to indicate that all five books were not written by him. This indeed, is a problematic issue because if Moses is in fact not the author of the Pentateuch, then the Bible becomes a questionable and a dubious source of legitimacy. According to Whybray, “The phenomenon of the lack of consistency and unity manifested in the Pentateuch appeared to be a literary problem” (17). In other words, it is hard to credit Moses for writing all five books because the stories do not all agree. Rather, they