Who Wrote the Bible?

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Summary: Accesible, makes the 'historical bible times' real
Review: I borrowed this book years ago, and now am finally buying my own copy. Although it may not have been the main goal of the book, I really enjoyed it because it gave me insight into the historical realities of bible times. Although there may be 'purists' who feel threatened because it debunks the claims that Moses wrote much of the old testament, I found it enthralling because it 'made real' many of the figures from the bible in their historical context. (For those who like this, MS Encarta actually has an interesting writeup of the history of the christian church that I also found interesting)

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Summary: Excellent .
Review: I read an earlier edition of this book and found it engrossing. Basically this is a "popular" rendering of investigations into the creation of the final version of the Hebrew Bible. It delves into the historical events both described in the Bible and occuring at the times of purported authorship. Friedman discusses the five major persons or groups of persons felt to contribute to the final book, who/which are generally referred to as "E", "J", "P", "D" and "R" as well as mentioning other fragments incorporated into the Bible. This is an excellent and fascinating book and an easy read as well. I absolutely recommend it.

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Summary: An Important Book on An Important Topic
Review: I am surprised that there have not been more books written on Biblical authorship. However, the term Bible in this book is used loosely, because almost the entire book is about only the Torah portion of the Bible (aka the Pentatuech or the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deutoronomy)

In this book, the author plays the role of Bible detective and tries to piece together a theory on who wrote (or edited or compiled) the various parts of the Torah, when they wrote it, where they wrote it, and why they wrote what they wrote.

He concludes that there are several distinct sources (from wither individuals or groups) that are pieced together to form the Torah. He identifies them and tries to desribe them.

However, keep in mind that we are dealing with some very old texts here, and it is very difficult to determine anyhting about their authorship. Don't get me wrong, the author does a fine job in his investigation, but still, these are more like educated guesses than they are near conclusive conclusions.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is interested in religion. The Torah directly or indirectly forms a major part of the foundation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is definitely worth knowing where the Torah comes from, and this book is clearly one of the best on this subject.

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Summary: The Calling of God
Review: .
If you're going to take the bible seriously and truly attempt to understand what it is you feel you need to believe then please read this book.

"Who Wrote the Bible" is not a purely academic work exposing the anatomy of biblical text nor is it a work of theology. It is, however, one of the only true efforts I've found in any field to understand what the bible truly is. Likewise, my comments are not about the book but rather it's contribution to my view of the subject of the bible. As such, I have a plea to make to all believers.

Don't join the throngs of Christians and Jews being ushered through the ages into the halls of the great and terrible temple of "bibliolatry". Instead, take responsibility for the activity of the spirit of life within you and begin to understand the role that humanity plays in the story of God. Men and women throughout the ages, just like us, have answered a call to a higher life - the life of God that clearly chooses to live chiefly within mankind. It is these men and women that are responsible for writing the bible... then as well as in our day. Theologians did not write the bible. Neither was it written for theologians. The bible was also not written for the individual to contend with and be condemned by.

The bible was written by regular people who's primary motivation was to bring a people, a nation, back to a pure knowlege of God. Those simple minded, down to earth people that had to deal with every day life just as we do deserve to be known. Some were farmers while others were politicians. Some were men and some were women. We'll probably never know who most of them were but it's obvious that they saw us, their readers, as more than just a sea of humanity that needs to avoid the peril of "hell". Their virtual anonymity, timeless comradery and mystical coordination proves that their selfless cause was clearly global and eternal. If only in light of their combined superhuman achievment it is clear that their's is the voice of God.

On the other hand, the only thing that organized religion has produced over the last 3000 years is confusion and deceit while trying to peddle the efforts of its leaders as service to God and his people (usually in exchange for money, it seems).

Well, then, this is a call to God's people: No matter which race or rank you find yourself in today, know the bible and God like no other theologian can teach you. Know them in a way that only comes from beholding the very womb in which they were and always are being formed. Take time to listen to the thoughts of those that have searched for thousands of years for something truly believable that doesn't require you to shut down your God-given brain in order to fill your God-given void for eternity.

Do this for yourself and share this invitation with those you care about.

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Summary: Cuts through some of the fog
Review: Shows how the most read and popular book was inspired by the political and religious agendas of men.

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Summary: An excellent presentation of a fascinating subject
Review: This is the best book I've seen on the subject to date, as it builds the theory ground up - the text is analyzed in detail and presented in it's historical context, which makes a clear presentation.

This helped me put all the parts in a greater context - not only Jewish context, but that in which the Jews of the time lived in as well. This context gave me a greater understanding of the text - the rational & motivation answer a 'why' type questions that make it easier to answer 'what does it say' questions. As a previous reviewer wrote, understanding the rational allows to accept and live with the text better than literalist explanation away contradictions - which causes many people to reject the whole text.

The book brings to the reader's notice details which are easy to miss and that enrich the experience of reading and understanding the bible - style differences, historical and geographical context, motivation, etc.

I recommend this book to anybody interested in the bible - it adds depth and richness to it's understanding to all, and would give another clearly and well presented point of view to those who would reject it.

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Summary: The Documentary Hypothesis
Review: If you like mysteries...if you love the suspense of being enticed to the next page to find out whodunit...if you want to know more about the Torah...this book is for you!! But the sly suspect has not committed a murder. He is the one responsible for the way the Old Testament (particularly the Torah) lines, verses and chapters are mingled together...sometimes making for choppy reading.

Here's the short version: "J" wrote a the story representative of South Judean interests. "E" wrote the same story reflecting Northern Israel's interests. When the North and South united, the Priests in charge could not get rid of either well known document, so he (they) wrote "P", making the story more to his (their) liking. King Josiah "took charge" at age 8. Because of his age, he was heavily influenced by the priests. After he attained adulthood, the main priest conveniently found "D" (mainly a set of laws) which so impressed the young king that he had the whole tome read aloud to the masses.

All these sources and editions were put together by an editor, called the "Redactor" into the final 5-book work. Who was he? You'll have to read the book to find out!!!

Evidence for this elaborate theory consists of differences in linguistics, terminology, content, narrative flow, connections with other parts of the Bible, relationships among the sources to each other and to history, and convergence (several different lines of evidence converge). This data is fascinating, well-presented and quite convincing. When each source is read individually, the continuity improves in a striking fashion. But where in the world would you find a Bible coded in this way? Easy! Buy the Bible translated and color coded by sources by this same author in "The Bible With Sources Revealed."

The Documentary Hypothesis, which this book is based upon, was conceived in the late 1800's, developed and added upon by numerous scholars, and finally compiled by Wellhausen. "Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918) stands out as a powerful figure in the investigation into the authorship of the Bible and in the history of biblical scholarship in general...His model of the combination of the source documents came to be known as the Documentary Hypothesis. It has dominated the field ever since."

The Documentary Hypothesis is taught in Christian seminaries and Jewish Rabbinical schools throughout the world. Friedman has written a landmark book making this knowledge readily available to the general public. "Who Wrote The Bible?" and its companion "Bible With Sources Revealed" are both powerful presentations. Five enthusiastic stars!!

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Summary: Torah: more than the sum of its parts.
Review: Well, the first thing that I am going to observe about this book is that it will offend the sensibilities of a large number of Judeo-Christian theists. The thesis here is so-called 'higher criticism' which is to say an attempt to resolve the identities of the hands who contributed to the writings (in this case) of the Torah / Pentateuch, as well as the Deuteronomistic histories which follow them. Tradition calls the first five books of the Bible 'The Books of Moses', but one who reads them will observe that the writings themselves do not make any claim as to actual authorship. Earlier sources certainly existed and while some may have traced to Moses, there are many indicators in the text that suggest he did not pen the accounts as we have them. Of course, Tradition has said certain things about the Bible that the Bible does not say about itself. Recognizing that Tradition might not be correct does not inherently diminish the significance of the Biblical canon. As a Christian, I can say (as does Friedman, who is not a Christian) that the Bible stands up extremely well to this kind of examination, even if Tradition may not. Read the whole book (WWtB) before making hasty judgments about it. As Friedman concludes, the Torah texts are unique among the writings of antiquity, are much more than the sum of their parts, are much more than their individual authors could have understood or foreseen.
What will offend many conservative Jews and Christians about this book is that it will be seen as discrediting the idea that scripture is inerrant. In this regard, I offer three quick observations: (1) the idea of errant/inerrant writing has limited applicability, it hardly applies to poetry, symbolisms or parables, for example, or to many aspects of cultural perspectives, all of which the Bible clearly contains. (2) Perhaps this is one of the reasons the Bible does not itself claim to be 'inerrant' in every literalized detail of the collected whole. (3) If one contends that there are historical errors in scripture, for example, when so-called 'doublets' or 'triplets' (the Bible begins with a doublet, Genesis 1 and 2) seem to yield different sounding accounts, this does not rationally suggest that the Bible's ultimate claims are wrong. In fact the Bible claims to reveal the deepest understanding or reality: that the Creator of the material world is not bounded by the world or human understanding, that the world is God's, that we are God's, that God ordains that free beings may accept His friendship and peace, and that free beings are not constrained to do so. These are certainly consistent claims of scripture and have no contingency, for example, to whether two (P source) or seven (J source) clean beasts entered Noah's ark. That writers relate different accounts, and that the redactor (R source) presents them without regard to differences (at points even intertwining these differences), is strong evidence against the suggestion that the Torah is a "pious fraud" collusion. The Torah may be puzzling and paradoxical but it is not finally contrived window-dressing, not mere pretense. Lastly, in this regard, the reader might bear in mind that the Torah texts are indeed ancient and mysterious; Friedman's study, whatever its merits, should not be seen as the final word, neither should anyone else's.
I found the book quite interesting. The author presents some fairly persuasive arguments for his conclusions (although a few are rather weak). He seems to have done a better job than earlier scholars working in this field, and he respects the texts he works at dissecting. By this standard I'd rate it as either 4 or 5 stars. However, as a Christian and one who believes in things deeper and higher than human scholarship, I have some concern that many readers will not know what to do with Friedman's thesis and arguments. For the individual who's overly simplified view of the Bible might be characterized as 'bibliolatry', the textual theory of 'J - E - P - R - D' is indeed jeopardy. For the Christian (or Jew) who equates human religious tradition with divine truth, I won't recommend this book -- at least not until spiritual development has freed him from this comfortable but confused view. Likewise, the secularist opponent of scripture may narrowly delight in the critical dissection of these texts, but will probably resist recognizing that the assembled whole is more than the sum of its parts. In other words, it's an interesting and perhaps valuable book to the reader who can approach it with honest questions and without excessive dogmatic pre-commitments. Many biblical literalist-traditionalists and many supposed skeptics of the Biblical canon will not fit this description.

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Summary: not bad reading, even if you don't like the bible
Review: Covers parts of the old testament. Mostly analysis of the writers of the bible based on the political climate and history of the time. I found myself agreeing with the author a lot of the time, his theories make sense, could be true and sound more likely than a lot of theories about the origin of the Bible. Very readable,and no religious nonsense, just some theories based on evidence.

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Summary: Gulp...my paradigm of the Bible is disintigrating!
Review: Considering the academic nature of the topic, Mr. Friedman does an incredible job at keeping the topic matter approachable and engaging.

As a Christian raised with a conservative protestant background, I found the information Mr. Friedman presents to be both fascinating and very disturbing. Disturbing in the sense that he describes a `story' of the creation of the first 5 books of the old testament in a way that differs markedly from what I have been taught in church about the Bible.

And yet, I am finding that there is freedom in this new (at least for me) way of seeing the Bible because, frankly, I don't think it held together very well the way it had been presented to me at church. That being said, it also has caused me to really question and search out what the Bible really has to offer. That has led me to reading The Bible Unearthed by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman (Whoa! Not to be read by the faint of heart!) and An Introduction to the Old Testament by Walter Brueggmann (I hope he will help me figure out how to put the pieces of my disintegrated Bible paradigm back together in a new picture that still functions in some spiritual fashion).

A worthwhile read for those exploring the part of the Bible and its origins.