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Must a Christian believe That Moses Wrote the First 5 bible Books?

JesusFan

Well-Known Member
is it required to hold that he did indeed write all or most of the "Books of the law?"

OR can we hold to liberal viewpoints on this?
 
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Alcott

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Did Moses write "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD"?
 

Dempster

New Member
Did Moses write "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD"?

LOL.....yeah, or Numbers 12:3: (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
 

stilllearning

Active Member
Quote:




Where?

Deuteronomy 31:24-26
V.24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
V.25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
V.26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.


Who’s going to get into the ark of the covenant, take it out and “add to it”??
 

Tom Butler

New Member
Josh McDowell has one of the best treatments of this question


http://www.josh.org/site/c.ddKDIMNtEqG/b.4565509/k.6E23/Did_Moses_write_the_first_five_books.htm


Josh argues that the internal evidence points to Mosaic authorship.

The evidence within the Pentateuch points to Mosaic authorship, since it clearly portrays Moses as the author of certain portions. "And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD" (Exodus 24:4, KJV). "And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people" (Exodus 24:7, KJV). "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Write these words; in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel'" (Exodus 34:27, RSV)
Josh cites other books of the Old Testament:
Joshua 8:32 (KJV) refers to "the law of Moses, which he wrote." Additional Old Testament references include I Kings 2:3, II Kings 14:6, and Joshua 23:6, which attribute to Moses the authorship of the Pentateuch.
He continues:
Add to this the testimony of the New Testament. The apostles believed that "Moses wrote unto us" (Mark 12:19, KJV) as did the apostle Paul, who when speaking of a passage in the Pentateuch said, "Moses describeth" (Romans 10:5, KJV). However, the issue as to the authorship of the first five books is once-and-for-all solved by the testimony of the God-man Jesus Christ. Jesus made it clear that Moses wrote these books (Mark 7:10; 10:3–5; 12:26; Luke 5:14; 16:29–31; 24:27, 44; John 7:19, 23).
In John 5:45–47, Jesus states, "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"
Click on the above link for the entire article.

Oh, and who wrote about Moses' death? The Talmud says Joshua.




 
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JesusFan

Well-Known Member
Josh McDowell has one of the best treatments of this question


http://www.josh.org/site/c.ddKDIMNtEqG/b.4565509/k.6E23/Did_Moses_write_the_first_five_books.htm


Josh argues that the internal evidence points to Mosaic authorship.

Josh cites other books of the Old Testament:
He continues:
Click on the above link for the entire article.

Oh, and who wrote about Moses' death? The Talmud says Joshua.





wasn't it pretty much a "given" that Moses indeed wrote the 5 books, ONLY when evolution theory came into vogue, Welhausen took that to "tear' apart the OT?
 

preachinjesus

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I don't understand the "must" in the question.

Is it required for salvation? Certainly not.
How about orthodoxy? Not historically.
To be evangelical? I know plenty I'd evangelical scholars who dont believe he did.

What us the must about?

Can we posit that Moses wrote most of it but a later editor(s) provided some other details in an equally inspired way?

Just curious.
 

stilllearning

Active Member
Is it required for salvation? Certainly not.

Jesus said that it was.......
John 5:46-47
V.46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
V.47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
 

Alcott

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Jesus said that it was.......
John 5:46-47
V.46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
V.47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Then answer my question, bud:
Did Moses write "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD"?
 

stilllearning

Active Member
Then answer my question, bud:
Did Moses write "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD"?

This is the second time this “supposedly hard” question has been asked!

Is this any harder to write than.......
“And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.” (Genesis 5:5)
--------------------------------------------------
If the Bible says that Moses “finished” these books and they were put away:
Why is that so hard to believe?

Don’t you think that God knew that Moses was going to die!?!
 

12strings

Active Member
Quote:
Is it required for salvation? Certainly not.

---------------
Jesus said that it was.......
John 5:46-47
V.46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
V.47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

You are misinterpreting Jesus' words here. I believe every word that Moses wrote, and believe Jesus...but do not believe Moses wrote every single part of the Pentateuch. I also "believe" those parts that I don't think Moses' wrote (such as about his own death).
 

stilllearning

Active Member
You are misinterpreting Jesus' words here. I believe every word that Moses wrote, and believe Jesus...but do not believe Moses wrote every single part of the Pentateuch. I also "believe" those parts that I don't think Moses' wrote (such as about his own death).

You are not alone.
There are many(even here on the BB), that “do not believe” Moses wrote every word of these 5 books.

For example........
Genesis 32:24
“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.”


You would be surprised at how many “professing Christians”, do not believe this account!
--------------------------------------------------
Now some might ask....
“How could they not believe it? It’s in the Bible??”

Well, what they say that it was just a “story” the Jews made up!
--------------------------------------------------
This is why it is so important to BELIEVE, that Moses wrote “every word” of these 5 books.

If we are convinced that..... “Okey, Moses may not have written about his own death”.
(This is a DANGEROUS compromise!)
--------------------------------------------------
Also...
Just because you are not alone in your opinion...carries no weight at all.
Remember.......
Luke 6:26
“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
 

JesusFan

Well-Known Member
[
QUOTE=preachinjesus;1734903]I don't understand the "must" in the question.

Is it required for salvation? Certainly not.
How about orthodoxy? Not historically.
To be evangelical? I know plenty I'd evangelical scholars who dont believe he did.

What us the must about?
C

NOT required for salvation, but IS for orthoxdoxy, as historically it WAS the position held that he did write all but his own death of it!

just curious which Evangelical scholars deny that Moses wrote much of it, ONLY ones I am aware of buy into source/critical theories, denying a true supernatural element to it, as bought in modern critical theories of the OT text for its transmission/text/copying etc!




an we posit that Moses wrote most of it but a later editor(s) provided some other details in an equally inspired way?


Would say Joshua did "finish off the Books"

Would NOT agree with theory that it took much later editing/reactive scribes and others basically compiling it all together...

Like Moses wrote the frame , and they filled in the body of the texts!
Just curious.[/QUOTE]
 

12strings

Active Member
You do realize you are saying I am not a Christian simply because I think Joshua or someone else wrote the end of Deuteronomy about Moses' death, don't you?
 

stilllearning

Active Member
You do realize you are saying I am not a Christian simply because I think Joshua or someone else wrote the end of Deuteronomy about Moses' death, don't you?

I suppose you are talking to me....

And NO, I did not say that you were not a Christian.
If you look carefully at what I did say, I said that it is DANGEROUS to start down this road.

When anybody says.... “I don’t believe......something the Bible says:”
There must be a reason “they have chosen not to believe it”!

➀Either someone told you it wasn’t true or you read it in someone’s book:
➁Or you don’t have the faith, to believe that God was “able” to tell Moses about his own death.

Neither of these cases would mean that you are not saved, but neither of these cases are good for you.

We should believe God’s Word above what ANYBODY says about it and above what our own mind might think about it.
(Now I am talking about teachings that are “rightly divided”.)
 

Deacon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Deuteronomy 31:24-26
V.24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,
V.25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying,
V.26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

Who’s going to get into the ark of the covenant, take it out and “add to it”??

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
Nehemiah 8:8 (ESV)

It is obvious to most of us that the Pentateuch is a text that has had some additions added to it to make it more understandable.
While most of us agree that Moses was the author, there were some inspired editors that God used through the ages.

Rob
 
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