Changes

==Developments after Wellhausen==

==Developments after Wellhausen==

Wellhausen's writing proved very influential for subsequent scholarship and for popularization of the idea that the majority of Old Testament scriptures were written, not by historians who were contemporaneous with the events described, but by unknown personalities, generally from a much later date, who fabricated stories about Israel's history in order to advance their own theological, social, or personal agenda. Wellhausen wrote well, and his ideas were in keeping with the anti-supernatural outlook fostered by Darwin's evolutionary ideas. Consequently, many other scholars, first in Germany and then elsewhere, devoted their efforts to refining or expanding the central tenets of the Documentary Hypothesis. The sheer number of scholarly publications that resulted led many who had not examined the issues closely to conclude that the scholarly world by and large had abandoned any belief that the "books of Moses" could have been written by Moses, and also any belief that the books of the Old Testament were inspired in any meaningful sense. Even in his own time, Wellhausen could relegate those who disagreed with his opinions as belonging to a pre-scientific or unscientific mindset, with such generalizations as, "About the origin of Deuteronomy there is still less dispute; in all circles where appreciation of scientific results can be looked for at all, it is recognised that it was composed in the same age as that in which it was discovered, and that it was made the rule of Josiah's reformation."<ref>Julius Wellhausen, ''Prolegomena to the History of Israel'' (New York: World, 1961), p. 9. Originally published as ''Prolegomena zur geschichte Israels'' (Berlin: 1882).</ref> Similar statements are made to this day about those who challenge the JEDP and its later developments, even though, from the very first, various conservative scholars, and some not so conservative, have issued warnings that something was drastically wrong with the underlying presuppositions of the theory. Among conservative scholars who ably refuted some of the basic tenets of this kind of scholarship were Ernst Hengstenberg, who defended the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch in ''The Genuineness of the Pentateuch'' (1847), Wilhelm Moeller, an original supporter of the JEDP theory, in ''Against the Curse of Source Division'' (1912), in which he showed that the multiple references to Genesis through Numbers in Deuteronomy contradicted that Deuteronomy (D) was written before the supposed 'J' and 'E' texts of those books (Moeller's investigations led him back to historic Christianity), and many others whose researches can generally be found in the various "introductions" to the study of the Old Testament written by conservative scholars. Conservative scholars should be consulted by those who desire to know more fully the history of criticisms of the Documentary Hypothesis because, in the words of Gordon Wenham, ". . . critical scholars may list conservative works in their bibliographies, but they rarely take the trouble to interact with them."<ref>Gordon Wenham, "The Date of Deuteronomy: Linch-Pin of O.T. Criticism," ''Themelios'' 10 (1985), p. 15.</ref>

Wellhausen's writing proved very influential for subsequent scholarship and for popularization of the idea that the majority of Old Testament scriptures were written, not by historians who were contemporaneous with the events described, but by unknown personalities, generally from a much later date, who fabricated stories about Israel's history in order to advance their own theological, social, or personal agenda. Wellhausen wrote well, and his ideas were in keeping with the anti-supernatural outlook fostered by Darwin's evolutionary ideas. Consequently, many other scholars, first in Germany and then elsewhere, devoted their efforts to refining or expanding the central tenets of the Documentary Hypothesis. The sheer number of scholarly publications that resulted led many who had not examined the issues closely to conclude that the scholarly world by and large had abandoned any belief that the "books of Moses" could have been written by Moses, and also any belief that the books of the Old Testament were inspired in any meaningful sense. Even in his own time, Wellhausen could relegate those who disagreed with his opinions as belonging to a pre-scientific or unscientific mindset, with such generalizations as, "About the origin of Deuteronomy there is still less dispute; in all circles where appreciation of scientific results can be looked for at all, it is recognised that it was composed in the same age as that in which it was discovered, and that it was made the rule of Josiah's reformation."<ref>Julius Wellhausen, ''Prolegomena to the History of Israel'' (New York: World, 1961), p. 9. Originally published as ''Prolegomena zur geschichte Israels'' (Berlin: 1882).</ref> Similar statements are made to this day about those who challenge the JEDP and its later developments, even though, from the very first, various Fundamentalist scholars have issued warnings that something was drastically wrong with the underlying presuppositions of the theory. Among scholars who try to refute some of the basic tenets of this kind of scholarship were Ernst Hengstenberg, who defended the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch in ''The Genuineness of the Pentateuch'' (1847), Wilhelm Moeller, an original supporter of the JEDP theory, in ''Against the Curse of Source Division'' (1912), in which he showed that the multiple references to Genesis through Numbers in Deuteronomy contradicted that Deuteronomy (D) was written before the supposed 'J' and 'E' texts of those books.  

Further developments of the JEDP theory, and ramifications of it, are complex and are perhaps best explained by understanding the two basic principles that (1) The theory, ever since the days of Astruc, but more particularly since the time of De Wette, was based on subjective presuppositions whereby the modern western scholar thought that he could properly read his ideas into ancient Near Eastern texts, and, associated with this, (2) The ancient methods of writing were generally not known, and even when they were known they were not consulted, in developing the scholar's theory. These two principles explain the great diversity of opinions into which liberal scholarship has fallen in post-Wellhausen developments. When theories are based on presuppositions, not evidence, a necessary consequence is that different sets of presuppositions will produce different results. Thus Otto Eisfeldt could see an "L" source within "J"; Julius Morgenstern thought he could carefully discern a "K" source, Pfeiffer an "S" source, Mowinckel taught that J and E should probably be combined, and Gunkel's form-critical approach basically eliminated the distinctions between J, E, and P. Martin Noth theorized that Deuteronomy through 2 Kings was the work of an author ("the Deuteronomist") who lived in the exilic period, with additions made by others after the exile.<ref>Martin Noth, ''The Deuteronomic History'' (Sheffield, England: JSOT Press, 1981).</ref> Subsequent scholars have shown their erudition by dviding Noth's Deuteronomist into Dtr1, Dtr2, etc. Divergent opinions like this, based on each scholar's "insights" into how he or she think the text could have been formed, continue unto the present.

Further developments of the JEDP theory, and ramifications of it, are complex and are perhaps best explained by understanding the two basic principles that (1) The theory, ever since the days of Astruc, but more particularly since the time of De Wette, was based on subjective presuppositions whereby the modern western scholar thought that he could properly read his ideas into ancient Near Eastern texts, and, associated with this, (2) The ancient methods of writing were generally not known, and even when they were known they were not consulted, in developing the scholar's theory. These two principles explain the great diversity of opinions into which liberal scholarship has fallen in post-Wellhausen developments. When theories are based on presuppositions, not evidence, a necessary consequence is that different sets of presuppositions will produce different results. Thus Otto Eisfeldt could see an "L" source within "J"; Julius Morgenstern thought he could carefully discern a "K" source, Pfeiffer an "S" source, Mowinckel taught that J and E should probably be combined, and Gunkel's form-critical approach basically eliminated the distinctions between J, E, and P. Martin Noth theorized that Deuteronomy through 2 Kings was the work of an author ("the Deuteronomist") who lived in the exilic period, with additions made by others after the exile.<ref>Martin Noth, ''The Deuteronomic History'' (Sheffield, England: JSOT Press, 1981).</ref> Subsequent scholars have shown their erudition by dviding Noth's Deuteronomist into Dtr1, Dtr2, etc. Divergent opinions like this, based on each scholar's "insights" into how he or she think the text could have been formed, continue unto the present.

It was remarked above that the distinguishing mark of the classical Documentary Hypothesis was the thesis that Israel's religion followed an evolutionary course of development, with the P or Priestly phase being the last phase, and the P document, constructed by the priests in the post-exilic period, was the last part of the Pentateuch to be written. It is of some interest to note, therefore, that an inscription that Wellhausen attributed to the so-called 'P' source has been found at [[Ketef Hinnom]], just outside the city area of Jerusalem. The inscription was on one of two tiny silver scrolls that were apparently used as amulets. It contained a shortened form of the "priestly blessing" of Numbers 6:24-26, a passage that is assigned by the Documentary Hypothesis to 'P'. Scholars who examined the writing determined that the scrolls were created during the last days of the Judean monarchy, before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC.<ref>Barkay, G., A.G. Vaughn, M.J. Lundberg & B. Zuckerman, "The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New Edition and Evaluation," ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'' 334 (2004) pp. 41-71.</ref> This dating contradicts the idea that 'P' was a post-exilic invention. The usual response from those who are committed to a late-date theory of composition of the Bible has been to say that some portions of 'P' or other documents in the JEDP theory may come from an earlier time, while still maintaining that the main elements of the document are late—always later than the time that a straightforward reading of the text would indicate. By following this procedure, scholars who advocate some form of the Documentary Hypothesis can dispose of any evidence from archaeology that would threaten the hypothesis and their scholarly presuppositions.  

It was remarked above that the distinguishing mark of the classical Documentary Hypothesis was the thesis that Israel's religion followed an evolutionary course of development, with the P or Priestly phase being the last phase, and the P document, constructed by the priests in the post-exilic period, was the last part of the Pentateuch to be written. It is of some interest to note, therefore, that an inscription that Wellhausen attributed to the so-called 'P' source has been found at [[Ketef Hinnom]], just outside the city area of Jerusalem. The inscription was on one of two tiny silver scrolls that were apparently used as amulets. It contained a shortened form of the "priestly blessing" of Numbers 6:24-26, a passage that is assigned by the Documentary Hypothesis to 'P'. Scholars who examined the writing determined that the scrolls were created during the last days of the Judean monarchy, before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC.<ref>Barkay, G., A.G. Vaughn, M.J. Lundberg & B. Zuckerman, "The Amulets from Ketef Hinnom: A New Edition and Evaluation," ''Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research'' 334 (2004) pp. 41-71.</ref> This dating contradicts the idea that 'P' was a post-exilic invention. The usual response from those who are committed to a late-date theory of composition of the Bible has been to say that some portions of 'P' or other documents in the JEDP theory may come from an earlier time, while still maintaining that the main elements of the document are late—always later than the time that a straightforward reading of the text would indicate. By following this procedure, scholars who advocate some form of the Documentary Hypothesis can dispose of any evidence from archaeology that would threaten the hypothesis and their scholarly presuppositions.  

Other non-conservative scholars, recognizing that Wellhausen's dating of 'P' can no longer be defended, have explained the Ketef Hinnom finding by just moving pack the time of the Priestly writings to a date early enough to accommodate the date of the scrolls, always being cautious to make sure that it is not ''too'' early (time of Moses). Frequent adjustments in dates like this have not been necessary for conservative Biblical scholars. The Ketef Hinnom finding is compatible with the traditional idea that Deuteronomy and the 'P' texts are all from the time of Moses. At the same time, it must be realized even if a similar inscription was found from a context several hundred years earlier, that still would not be a proof of Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy. It would, however, require another adjustment of the "assured results" of liberal, anti-supernatural scholarship.  

Other scholars have explained the Ketef Hinnom finding by just moving pack the time of the Priestly writings to a date early enough to accommodate the date of the scrolls, always being cautious to make sure that it is not ''too'' early (time of Moses). Frequent adjustments in dates like this have not been necessary for Fundamentalist Biblical scholars. The Ketef Hinnom finding is compatible with the traditional idea that Deuteronomy and the 'P' texts are all from the time of Moses. At the same time, it must be realized even if a similar inscription was found from a context several hundred years earlier, that still would not be a proof of Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy. It would, however, require another adjustment of the "assured results" of liberal, anti-supernatural scholarship.  

===Other findings from archaeology===

===Other findings from archaeology===