Most Christians, me included, believe that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The JEDP theory begs to differ. The theory, developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, suggests that the books were written by different authors. The theory further states that the books were compiled after Moses’ death, which was in the 1400’s B. C. The compiler is said to be Ezra, a Levitical priest, who came along some ten centuries later.
The theory came about because there are different styles of writing detected in the five books and different names for God are used.
The letters “JEDP” were selected to represent the four unnamed supposed authors of the Pentateuch. Simplistically boiled down – there is some overlap – the J author is called the Jahwist (also spelled Yahwist) source. This author calls God Yahweh. The E author is the Elohist, who uses the name Elohim. The D is the author of Deuteronomy. The P author is called the priestly writer.
Here are three logical arguments against the theory.
Firstly, it shouldn’t be baffling that a single author would use a different style for different books. For instance, if I were writing Genesis and Exodus, it would be in a historical fashion. Deuteronomy would naturally be in a different style, what with the legalese involved. Leviticus’s style obviously would be laid out differently because it’s about the sacrificial system.
Secondly, the use of God’s various names is easily explained. Not only are they spread across the five books, sometimes the different names are even used in the same book. For instance, Genesis 1 uses Elohim, denoting a rather generic and sometimes impersonal Creator who interacts through dreams, angels and prophets, rather than making personal appearances.
Genesis 2 uses Yahweh, a more personal name used when describing God in human-like terms, and used when God directly interacts and relates to mankind. What’s so unusual about one author using differing names of God in different books to describe the differing aspects of God’s character and actions?
Thirdly, the New Testament testifies that Moses was the single author. In Mark 12: 26, Jesus clearly refers to Moses as being the author of Exodus. Luke, the physician and historian is credited by all Christian scholars as being meticulous in his research. In Acts 3: 22, he credits Moses as being the author of Deuteronomy 18: 15. And finally, in Romans 10: 5, the apostle Paul said it was Moses who, in Leviticus 18:5, wrote about the law’s righteousness and God’s promise concerning it.
It’s a pretty safe bet that Jesus (God), Luke and Paul (inspired by God) knew what they were talking about.