05 - The Sacred Value of the Pentateuch

The Sacred Value of the Pentateuch.

Among the questions raised by biblical criticism of the Old Testament based on the principles of positivism, the question of the Pentateuch and by whom it was compiled becomes, of course, the basic, or key issue. Of course it would be naive to draw a picture of the labor of the compiler of what is acknowledged as the most ancient of mankind’s literary monu­ments in such a way as to portray it as taking place under the conditions of contemporary literary work, a developed technology of writing, and the other comforts of culture. It is not necessary to insist on ascribing the Pen­tateuch solely and literally to the hand of the Prophet Moses the God-seer. What is important is the recognition that all of it proceeds from the Prophet himself. For us and, in general, for people who approach reading the Bible without a preconceived suspicion, there can be no doubt as to its Mosaic authorship. Both textual and psychological reasons confirm this beyond a doubt.

    We will make use of the voice of learned researchers who have not accepted and do not accept the conclusions of criticism on the given ques­tion. Yet, even if one were not to resort to learned authorities, a whole series of simple considerations, which turn us away from the conclusions of this criticism, occurs of its own accord to the ordinary reader of Scrip­ture. The same thing could happen to the critics of the text who are enam­ored of their own hypothetical concepts, as occurs when one is in the thick of a forest for a long time; one can lose that spontaneous impression of a picture of the forest, which is received when viewed from a particular per­spective.