Torah

Torah: 

• “to thrown or shoot”.  Means direction, law, instruction.
• First Five Books,

Pentateuch:  “five”

Inspiration:

  is the supernatural direction by God the Holy Spirit upon the writers of Scripture so that they recorded with perfect accuracy God’s message to man. 

• Scripture Evidence: 

                                                              i.      2 Tim 3:16.  God-breathed, origin is not from man but in God.

                                                            ii.      2 Pet 1:21:  Both divine and the human element is involved.

• Jesus View on Authority/Inspiration: (see p. 3)                                                               i.      OT as a harmonious unity

                                                            ii.      OT to have unbreakable authority

                                                          iii.      OT so authoritative that it ended all discussion and dispute on any issue.

                                                          iv.      Considered the very words inspired

Canon/Canonical Wirting:  one which conforms to the standard of divine inspiration and authority. 

Division of Hebrew Canon

1. Torah (first five books) (Gen, Exodus, Lev, Num, Deut) #. Nebiim, Prophets (Former & Latter Prophets)
2. Kethubim (Writings)

Criterion for Canonicity:  Who wrote the book?  Was it a prophet of God?

Arguments for Canonicity of the Pentateuch (1st 5 Books)

• Moses, true prophet of God who received direct revelation from God
• Jews considered it authoritative and from God
• Jesus refers to it and considers it to be of divine origin and authoritative
• Aposltes have the same attitude as Jesus.

Documentary Hypothesis: 

• Majority view that Moses did not write the Pentateuch (1st 5 Books)
• Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, Priestly / J, E, Unknown, D, P

Evidence to Prove Documentary Hypothesis:

• Four “pillars” of Documentary Hypothesis

1. Use of divine names, One author knew God as Yawhe, the other Elohim
2. Vocabulary:  Certain words were only by Yahwist,; others by Elohist 
3. Diversity of ideas.  Different sources have different religious conceptions
4. Doublets:  some stories appear twice, indicating two sources.

Objections to Documentary Hypothesis:

1. No manuscript evidence to support theory
2. Guilty of circular reasoning (priori)
3. Wellhausens’s approach, is now largely discredited, yet theory still stands
4. Great Diverstiy of Critical Opinion, show subjectivity of the approach

Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch (1st 5 Books)

1. Biblical Evidence of Mosaic Authorship in Pentateuch
1. Pentateuch Itself
2. Rest of OT
3. NT (by Jesus and Apostles)
2. Archaeological Evidence for the antiquity of the Pentateuch
3. Moses Qualifications (educated, communicated with God face-to-face, had time to write in the wilderness for 40 years)
1. Moses may not have written Deut 34 (but it’s trivial)

Genesis:  

• Meaning: “in the beginning”  named after the first word in Genesis
• Authorship:  Not clear, but believed to be Moses
• Main Purpose of Genesis: 

Gap Theory:

• States that there were two creations (popularized by Scofield Bible)
• Gen 1:1, first creations, then due to the fall and sin of Satan.  Sin entered the universe and brought God’s judgment, and global ice age as indicated by the water in Gen 1:2.
• Gen 1:2 describes the ruined condition of the earth, and Gen 1:3:31 describes Gods’ Re-Creation.
• Support for Gap Theory
• “had become” “without form and void” represents an evil, sinful condition, and thus not an original state. 
• And God told Adam to replenish the earth, so it must have been filled previously. 
• Distinction must be made between asah “make” and bara “create”

Rebuttal of Gap Theory:

• Gen 1:2, dispute the meaning.  “was” is the normal meaning and not “became”
• Tohu weboh, simply means “unformed and unfilled” often used in the context of judgment.  Words do not carry this connotation
• Asah “make” and bara “create” are used synonymously in Hebrew language
• Contains a great deal of speculation
• Gen. 1:1-2, the verb is simple perfect—yet, in every other verse in Gen 1, the “waw” consectutive is used.  The waw consecutive implies consecutive action –first God created the heavens and earth, and then the earth became formless and void,  However, the construction used indicates a break in action—“and at that time the earth was formless and void.” 
• Creation of light

Day-Age Theory:

• States that the creation “day” is not necessarily 24 hours but instead thousands (or millions) of years. 
• Attempted support by 2 Pet 3:8, day with the Lord is like a thousand years and a thousands years as one day)
• Can not imagine Adam naming all the animals in 1 day or Eve being created in a 24 hour period. 

Rebuttal of Day-Age Theory

• Contradicts the evolutionary model
• Man’s creation was from the dust of the ground (evolution model disagrees)
• Fails on biblical grounds, because “yom” in Gen 1 does not mean an indefinite period of time.
• Further Proof of not meaning indefinite period time
• “evening and morning”
• Limiting number attached to it
• Ex 20:8-11 gives final proof for a literal 6 days.  …”For in 6 days Lord made heavens and the earth….) The word can not be used literal in one part and then symbolically in the next verse. 

Framework Hypothesis:

• Sees Gen 1 as structural or literary creation rather than chronological.  And refers to Enuma Elish to demonstrate the approach. 

Rebuttal of Framework Hypothesis:

• It’s an attempt to harmonize the biblical account of Gen with modern evolutionary science. 
• No evidence of anything except straightforward historical narrative, it is not poetry.