[asa] JDEP

My latest read is "Who Wrote the Bible" by R. E. Friedman. It covers the JDEP, or documentary theory of Old Testament authorship. I'm curious what the folks around here think about the theory in general and this book/author if anyone is familiar. I havn't read much in the genre of biblical scolarship. I've read some books by F. F. Bruce but that's about it. I'm struck by the difference in the degree of proof or evidence that appears to be required to support a theory in the in the realm of theology vs. science. Friedman seems to draw conclusions with amazing certainty from information in the text that may only seem to suggest a certain inferrence. But I do see a similarity of methodology with science. I think critics of JDEP can rightly say that much is based on the assumption that fullfilled prophesy is out of the question. In other words if an author is aware of an event that happened at a certain time, then the text must have been written after that time. But is this not !
 just methodoligical naturalism? Or is it philosophical naturalism?

Here's what AIG had to say about JDEP, in the concluding remarks from one of their online articles:

"On the other hand there is no historical evidence, and no spiritual or theological basis whatsoever for the deceptive JEDP hypothesis. Its teaching is completely false; the ‘scholarship’ that promotes it is totally spurious. Propped up by the theory of evolution, it exists solely to undermine the authority of the Word of God."

Whatever problems we may have with JDEP it's just wrong to say that there is no evidence or any basis at all for it. This is the same load of garbage they write about every theory they don't like.

Brent

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Received on Thu Aug 31 14:03:19 2006