Most of the authorship of the Scriptures is undisputed. We can, with a high percentage of certainty, say that John wrote the Gospel of John and that Joshua wrote the Book of Joshua. But what about the first book of the Bible? Who wrote Genesis?
Most biblical scholars have attributed the authorship of Genesis to Moses, but this has not been without controversy, especially among documentary hypothesis theorists.
Genesis, or also known as Bereshith, means “in the beginning”. In other words, this book is about the beginning of the world, the beginning of God’s nation of Israel, and the beginning of salvation history for all mankind.
In this article, we will dive into who documented the early events of the world, the age of the Book of Genesis, and whether or not we can trust this book.
Did Moses write Genesis?
As stated above, most scholars attribute the authorship of Genesis, and the first four other books of the Old Testament known as the Pentateuch, to Moses. But how do we know this? How do we know that Moses, and not a series of authors as proposed in the JEDP theory linked above, wrote this book?
First, as this Answers in Genesis article explains, we have documentary witnesses. This means that we have verses in the Bible that attribute authorship to him, such as Numbers 33:1-2.
Second, as mentioned in the Answers in Genesis article, the Pentateuch not only confirms Moses’ authorship, but the rest of the Bible, including the New Testament as well. This means that thousands of years of Jewish tradition would have supported this position.
For a group that revered the Scriptures so much and paid meticulous attention to the text when copying it, had Moses not written the books, the Jewish people probably would not have held to such a strong tradition in saying that he did. Furthermore, we have testimony from Jesus himself that Moses wrote these books.
But this raises the question: how would Moses know all these things? How was he to know about the events of Genesis and other events that occurred hundreds (even thousands) of years before his time?
First, we cannot rule out supernatural revelation. The Scriptures were divinely inspired.
Second, we also have evidence throughout Scripture, Don Stewart writes, of tradition being passed down, from specific prayers of Abraham to the bones of Joseph. Their culture functioned very differently from ours. They remembered details better, they had a stronger oral tradition, they had longer attention spans. Not to mention that the events of Genesis ended some 300 years before Moses existed. Due to the strong oral tradition and the duty of the Jewish people to preserve their roots, not much could have changed in the accounts over that time.
What happens in Genesis?
Of course, it is difficult to summarize all the events that take place in Genesis. After all, the book occupies 50 full chapters of the Bible, so we’ll briefly summarize some of the major events that take place in the book.
Genesis follows humanity through creation and humanity’s descent into sin (Genesis 3). Hence we have the well-known story of the Great Flood, and the birth of the nation of Israel through Abraham.
We follow the generations from Abraham through Joseph and how Israel ended up in Egypt by massive famine.
From there, and after hundreds of years of slavery, we pick up the story in Exodus.
Is Genesis trustworthy?
Of all the documents in the Bible, should we regard Genesis as the most suspect? After all, depending on when Genesis 1 occurred, even by conservative estimates, this would mean that Moses wrote down the events thousands of years after they occurred.
Surely the translation errors must have leaked out. they didn’t, that would have required a great deal of divine intervention.
So how can we trust Genesis?
We can answer this question in several ways.
In the first place, we can analyze extra-biblical texts such as the works of the historian Josephus. Many of his writings confirm the events in Genesis, writes Dr. Lisle for the Institute of Biblical Sciences. Considering that he wrote these books thousands of years after the fact, this strengthens the support for the truth of Genesis.
Second, as mentioned in the Biblical Sciences Institute article, we can also find archaeological evidence that confirms the events that take place in the Pentateuch, such as the walls of Jericho.
There also seems to be evidence (Genesis 5:1) that Moses had used other documents to compile his book, such as the genealogies. This indicates that the Scriptures may not have been transmitted solely through oral tradition. The Israelites were proud of their history and made sure to put in meticulous effort to get every detail right.
In fact, we have several accounts listed in Genesis. This was essentially a divine research project and history book.
Is Genesis literal or mythological?
Because we have more support for a written tradition than Genesis, does this mean we take everything in the book at face value? Do we have mythological areas to combat, especially in Genesis 1-11?
To answer this question, we need to go to 2 Timothy 3:16. The verse affirms that all Scripture is inspired by God, and this includes earlier sections of Genesis.
So, did God create the world in six literal days or six symbolic days? What about the cases where Genesis seems to be borrowing from the mythology of the ancient world?
We could devote entire books to these questions, but after perusing this Apologetics.com article, which I suggest you read, I’d love to mention once again that Jesus claimed the authority found in Genesis. Along with other documentation mentioned in the book, such as Terah’s account, Noah’s account, etc., we also have other Scriptures that support these events as true and literal.
Favorite verses in Genesis
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Genesis 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.”
What is the verdict on authorship?
Many modern scholars like to attack the authorship of Genesis. They may point to the failure of the oral tradition or try to claim that various authors compiled the manuscript over centuries, borrowing from the mythology of other religions.
But because we have extrabiblical support for the authorship of Genesis and because various authors throughout the Bible attribute the Pentateuch to Moses, we can assume that Moses wrote Genesis.
Genesis has sparked a great deal of debate among scientists and scholars, ranging from the literal versus the figurative days of creation. to genealogical lines.
However, we can know that the book is inspired by God and, like many concepts in scripture, although we may not fully understand it, we know enough about the book. to see how it fits into God’s great plan for humanity and salvation.