Biblical Source Criticism: Challenging Traditional Authorship of Sacred Texts

Biblical source criticism emerged in the 18th century as scholars questioned traditional authorship claims for sacred texts. The Pentateuch, traditionally attributed to Moses, was analyzed by Benedict Spinoza in the 17th century, who argued Moses wrote none of it. Jean Astruc proposed in 1753 that the Pentateuch comprised two sources based on divine names Yahweh and Elohim. Julius Wellhausen later developed the influential JEDP Theory, identifying four sources: Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomy, and Priestly. This approach examines textual inconsistencies like dual creation narratives in Genesis or contradictory details in stories of Joseph and David. Martin Noth argued that historical books from Joshua to Kings were written by a single Deuteronomist author. Unlike textual criticism focused on original wording, source criticism seeks to uncover compiled sources within texts. Most contemporary Bible scholars now accept complex compositional histories for biblical books.