The legacy of julius wellhausen, by ernest nicholson. The current christian fundamentalist movement emerged as a response to the biblical criticism of wellhausen and other 19th century scholars. In the course of his career, he moved from old testament research through islamic studies to new testament scholarship. This theory is also known under other names, such as the wellhausen hypothesis named after julius wellhausen, who pioneered the theory. Prolegomena to the history of israel julius wellhausen. Wellhausen on the composition of the hexateuch critically. Lets go just a little bit further with this before we move onto something else. Prolegomena to the history of ancient israel, by julius wellhausen, full text etext at prolegomena to the history of israel julius wellhausen on free shipping on qualifying offers. The pentateuch presents israels faith as consistently monotheistic. An article outlining the flaws of the graf wellhausen documentary source hypothesis, or the jedp system.
Harrison gives this description of wellhausens conclusions. The documentary theory, also known as the grafwellhausen theory, is a hypothesis that states that the pentateuch, the first five books of the bible were not inspired by god and written by moses during his life, but were actually written by a conglomeration of at least four authorseditors centuries after moses death. A biblical scholar and orientalist, wellhausen was professor of. This method has been applied to texts of the old testament especially but not. In 1886 the german historian julius wellhausen published prolegomena zur.
Wellhausen studied at the university of gottingen and taught there briefly before becoming professor of the old testament at greifswald in 1872, a position he resigned 10 years. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the pentateuch in the twentieth century. Wellhausen contributed to the composition history of the pentateuchtorah. This has remained so until recently, but during the past twenty. Julius wellhausen 18441918 first published this work in german in 1878. An article outlining the flaws of the grafwellhausen documentary source hypothesis, or the jedp system. Julius wellhausen was born may 17th, 1844, in the province of hanover, in the quaint and romantic walled town of hameln on the weser, where his father was pastor. Prolegomena to the history of israel by julius wellhausen prolegomena to the history of israel by julius wellhausen welcome to the world of free plain vanilla electronic texts ebooks readable by both humans and by computers, since 1971. Despite innumerable studies from at least the time of the reformation, it was not until little more than a century ago that one hypothesis concerning the origin of the pentateuch, the socalled documentary theory formulated by julius wellhausen, established itself as the point of departure for all subsequent study of this topic. In julius wellhausens deduction, the pentateuch was for med of four. A critical assessment of the grafwellhausen documentary. The jedp theory found its roots in jean astruc 16841766, who speculated that moses used existing written or oral sources in constructing genesis.
Modern critical views on the pentateuch flowed from the enlightenment in western europe. Pentateuch is a historical creed is in danger of losing sight of the important theological statements about creation in those chapters. Julius wellhausen reveals his orientation and his intent. This chapter begins with a discussion of julius wellhausens investigation of the composition of the pentateuch. Do you have any thoughts on julius wellhausens 18441918 socalled documentary theory of the torah or pentateuch. Wellhausen divided and categorized the text according to certain developmental paradigms everything evolves from simple to complex. Reissued here is the 1885 english translation of a revised 1883 version.
Focused on parts of the pentateuch they believed came from. Julius wellhausen 17 may 1844 7 january 1918 was a german biblical scholar and orientalist. The jepd theory is no longer dominant, remarked one recent. Wellhausen contributed no innovations to speak of, he restated the documentary theory with great skill and persuasiveness, supporting the jedp sequence upon an evolutionary basis. Dec 03, 2016 wellhausen put dates to the alleged four sources and none were earlier than around 900 b. Graf wellhausen hypothesis among scholars, there was great debate over the date of when and how the various sources came together to form the pentateuch. Summary in this work, wellhausen proposes to discuss the place in history of the law of moses 1. Do you have any thoughts on julius wellhausen s 18441918 socalled documentary theory of the torah or pentateuch. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, are often referred to as the pentateuch or torah. But the triumphant theory of pentateuchal origins was the documentary hypothesis, often called the graf wellhausen hypothesis after k.
This view believes that the pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally moses. Julius wellhausen 18441918 is sometimes credited with formulating the documentary hypothesis, but, as is evident from the above, his work was mainly as a popular exponent of the views coming out of the german school of the time. Graf in the 1860s and julius wellhausen in the 1870s said that according to the historical and prophetical books of the old testament, the priestly legislation of the middle books of the pentateuch was unknown in preexilic time, and that this legislation must therefore be a. Wellhausens sources are at least 600 years after the time of moses and the final compilation of the pentateuch is postexilic which is about years after moses. Click download or read online button to get wellhausen on the composition of the hexateuch critically examined book now. The traditional documentary hypothesis, as it is called, was most famously formulated by the nineteenthcentury german scholar, julius wellhausen, who, along with some of his predecessors, called the sources j e d and p. Pentateuch, but that many fragmentary sources have been added to it. Prolegomena to the history of israel by julius wellhausen. Graf and julius wellhausen, who gave it its classic expression. However, outside of the more conservative seminaries and churches, it is. Prolegomena to the history of ancient israel julius wellhausen on. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
Prolegomena to the history of israel by julius wellhausen its easy to link to paragraphs in the full text archive if this page contains some material that you want to link to but you dont want your visitors to have to scroll down the whole page just hover your mouse over the relevent paragraph and click the bookmark icon that appears to the. The documentary hypothesis does anyone still believe it. The jedp theory and its implications for biblical credibility. What is the jedp theory, and does it disprove genesis. The subject of the prolegomena is the origins of the pentateuch. Apr 20, 2015 the documentary theory, also known as the grafwellhausen theory, is a hypothesis that states that the pentateuch, the first five books of the bible were not inspired by god and written by moses during his life, but were actually written by a conglomeration of at least four authorseditors centuries after moses death. Grafwellhausen theory as to the documents of the pentateuch. Julius wellhausen, german biblical scholar best known for his analysis of the structure and dating of the pentateuch. Wellhausen devised a new paradigm which explained many of the apparent inconsistencies in the biblical texts. Refined by julius wellhausen, in prolegomena to the history of israel 1883.
We were discussing julius wellhausen, his theories and the impact of those. Julius wellhausen prolegomena pdf prolegomena to the history of ancient israel, by julius wellhausen, full text etext at prolegomena to the history of israel on free shipping on. Old testament history, by robert vannoy, lecture 1, wellhausen. Introduction most christians have been taught in sunday school that moses wrote the first five books of the bible. The theories presented after julius wellhausen 18441918, who brought. Old testament history, by robert vannoy, lecture 1. Sep 29, 2019 julius wellhausen prolegomena pdf prolegomena to the history of ancient israel, by julius wellhausen, full text etext at prolegomena to the history of israel on free shipping on. He studied under ewald at the university of gottingen, and later served as professor at greifswald. The legacy of julius wellhausen nicholson, ernest on. A final reason that one must defend the mosaic authorship of the pentateuch, instead of sitting by idly and claiming that it doesnt really matter who wrote it, is because jesus himself acknowledged that the law came from moses. Harrison gives this description of wellhausen s conclusions.
Julius wellhausen author of prolegomena to the history of. For wellhausen and his followers, their interest was not in the message of the old testament. According to this theory, the traditional books of moses genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy werent written by moses at all, but by a group of authors who can be distinguished by their different literary styles. It then outlines further research on the pentateuch and considers the issues that have remained live ever since and, indeed, in some measure lie. The hypothesis states that these authors, over a period of about 500. The legacy of julius wellhausen kindle edition by nicholson, ernest. Julius wellhausen wikisource, the free online library. The documentary hypothesis of the pentateuch also known as. The jedp theory seeks to understand the authorship of the pentateuch in light of the documentary hypothesis.
This theory states that a final editor or compositor or a number of them drew upon these different traditions in assembling the pentateuch and that one can identify the source by noting certain clues in the. Prolegomena to the history of israel by julius wellhausen prolegomena to the history of israel by julius wellhausen welcome to the world of free plain vanilla electronic texts ebooks readable by both humans and by computers, since 1971 these ebooks were prepared by thousands of volunteers. This was the standard view of the matter back when i was doing my phd in biblical studies way back when. Led biblical scholars to reject the belief that the pentateuch was inspired by god. Wellhausen contributed to the composition history of the pentateuch torah and studied the formative. After attending school three years in the city of hanover. Wellhausen suggested that the pentateuch consisted of four sources, he meant. Pentateuch 1 pentateuch reading guide and assignments there is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern booksif the average student wants to find out something about platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing. Details of documentary hypothesis literary analysis shows that one person did not write the pentateuch. Wellhausenism evaluated after a century of influence ctsfw. Four of the five books in the pentateuch deal with the time of moses, and one recent suggestion has been that we should think of the pentateuch as a biography of moses with an introduction, that is, genesis. In consequence he regarded the pentateuch as essentially of composite origin, consisting.
Perhaps the portion of the bible which best demonstrates the results of the historicalliterary approach is the pentateuch. Julius wellhausen effectively called the old testament torah a big lie. By analyzing a the use of different names of god, b stylistic differences, and c patterns, astruc saw clues of a composite or editorial structure. Wellhausen contributed to the composition history of the pentateuchtorah and studied the formative. Im surprised how often i read online someone making the assertion that the documentary hypothesis is dead. Julius wellhausens theory that the pentateuch is a compliation of multiple sources by means of multiple redactions over several centuries. This has remained so until recently, but during the past. Apr 21, 2019 julius wellhausen prolegomena pdf prolegomena to the history of ancient israel, by julius wellhausen, full text etext at prolegomena to the history of israel on free shipping on. Pdf genesis in the pentateuch konrad schmid academia. The torah genesis thru deuteronomy was not written by moses about 1400 bc. Old testament criticism exposed as being purely ideological, materialistic and antisupernaturalist. Wellhausens documentary hypothesis owed little to wellhausen himself but was mainly the work of hupfeld, eduard eugene reuss, graf, and others, who in turn had built on earlier scholarship.
After attending school three years in the city of hanover, he entered the university of gottingen in the spring of 1862. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Apologetics press mosaic authorship of the pentateuch. In the days of moses, israels faith was codified written down. This book is far from being simply a history of critical interpretation, however. But the triumphant theory of pentateuchal origins was the documentary hypothesis, often called the grafwellhausen hypothesis after k. His classical work became known as the grafwellhausen hypothesis or jedp theory. Despite innumerable studies from at least the time of the reformation, it was not until little more than a century ago that one hypothesis concerning the origin of. Graf in the 1860s and julius wellhausen in the 1870s said that according to the historical and prophetical books of the old testament, the priestly legislation of the middle books of the pentateuch was unknown in preexilic time, and that this legislation must therefore be a late development. Intended as a multivolume work, this first book now stands as a selfcontained work. This attempts to answer the question in terms of the literary genre of the pentateuch. Apr 22, 2019 julius wellhausen prolegomena pdf posted on april 22, 2019 by admin prolegomena to the history of ancient israel, by julius wellhausen, full text etext at prolegomena to the history of israel julius wellhausen on free shipping on qualifying offers. Books and the pentateuch are themselves very composite structures. Sutherland black and allan menzies, with a preface by wellhausens friend and colleague.
Mar 18, 2020 julius wellhausen prolegomena pdf prolegomena to the history of ancient israel, by julius wellhausen, full text etext at prolegomena to the history of israel julius wellhausen on free shipping on qualifying offers. He accepted hupfelds four sources and, in agreement with graf, placed the priestly work last. New testament studies, respectively, namely, julius wellhausen and adolf harnack. Konrad schmid is professor of hebrew bibleold testament at the university.
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