In my last post I pointed out that the title “Deuteronomy” was based on a misunderstanding of Scripture.
Some of you may be thinking, if that’s the case, then why are you even using that title in your blog?
My answer to that question is simple.
I’m using it because for better or worse that’s the term which has become widely used and the one everyone is familiar with.
For instance, it’s the exact same thing with the terms “semite” or “anti-semitic“.
The word “semite” comes from the word “Shem” and literally means a son of Shem.
And the word “anti-Semitic” literally means to be against the sons of Shem.
Since a good portion of the Arab world is also descended from Shem and despise Israel, it is completely incongruent with this word’s original meaning to use “anti-Semitic” to mean being against the Jewish people.
Yet as divorced as the word has become from its original cultural context, that’s how the word is used today.
Let’s move on to our discussion about Deuteronomy.
Currently, the oldest surviving manuscript of Deuteronomy we have today dates back to the 9th century.
It is called the Masoretic Text and includes the entire TANACH (Hebrew Bible).
Many modern scholars with their nonsensical “literary criticism” or “Textual Criticism” theories have been trying to disprove the authenticity of the five books of Moses for years.
However, I believe a very important event which took place between 1946 and 1956 in a series of twelve caves around a site known as WADI QUMRAN in the West Bank of the Jordan River completely blows apart the ludicrous claims promoted by those who use “textual criticism” to say the Torah is not accurate.
What discovery am I talking about?
I’m talking about the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Here’s what you’ve got to know about these ancient documents.
These scrolls contain many large fragments of the Book of Deuteronomy that are practically identical to the Maoretic Text I mentioned above.
Of course, there are a few minor spelling or copyist errors…
…but for the most part, THEY ARE PRACTICALLY IDENTICAL.
Therefore, we can be pretty confident that the Book of Deuteronomy we have in our Bibles is accurate to at least 100-200 B.C.
Now what exactly is this “Textual Criticism” I referred to?
Let me break it down for you nice and simple.
“Textual Criticism” is basically the “science” of examining ancient texts and determining if their content matches the time period it claims it was written in.
What are some of the things these “scholars” look for?
Well, they might see if the contents of a given manuscript matches what is archeologically known about that time period…
…or they will try to see if multiple writers were involved in writing the text by seeing if more than one style of writing is being used…
…or they will see if there are other written documents from other cultures of that same era that would substantiate the claims of Scripture.
This isn’t any more different than an evolutionist looking at some bone (like Lucy) or other scattered artifacts and then jumping to the conclusion that we lived liked the Flintstones thousands and thousands of years ago.
Based on these factors, these bogus scholars now assert that Deuteronomy was probably penned in the 8th century B.C. as opposed to the 13th or 14th century (the period of the Exodus).
Why is higher literary criticism a bunch of hogwash?
Simply because it isn’t scientific.
There is no outside objective standard by which we can measure the truthfulness of what these folks are saying.
If there’s no outside objective standard by which we can measure the truthfulness of a certain claim, do you know what that means?
It means these claims based on “higher literary criticism” are nothing more than pure subjectivity.
Here is one FACT all of these Textual Criticism folks should consider:
EVERY ANCIENT FRAGMENT OF THE TORAH EVER FOUND FROM ANY TIME PERIOD ARE PRACTICALLY IDENTICAL WITH EACH OTHER!!!
Got it?
To be fair however, I will concede this to these bogus scholars.
I will concede that there could very well have been some redactions that took place in the 8th or 9th century (the time Higher Criticism theorists claim Deuteronomy was written).
And of course, I will concede that other writers besides Moses wrote Deuteronomy, this is obvious because part of Deuteronomy deals with what happened AFTER Moses’ death.
However, what I will NOT concede to in any way is the ridiculous claim that a good portion of Deuteronomy was penned about 500 years after Israel’s exodus from Egypt.
That is just nonsense.
Rich,
When I was visiting Quamram I was told this interesting story about the Dead Sea Scrolls- perhaps you know it?
The scrolls were discovered in the time you stated but kept a top secret until after 1967 when the Jewish state took control of that land. The reason was to keep the Arab nations from knowing of the existence of the scrolls for fear they would purposefully destroy them.
That fear was proven valid when the Dome of the Rock was excavated and all the valuable remains and relics were just dumped in so many different landfills.
Wow! I didn’t know this! Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!