The "Toledoths" of Genesis
For those biblical scholars who have had the unfortunate experience of having the JEPD theory of the Documentary Hypothesis jammed down their throats the past forty years in Catholic biblical scholarship, and as long since the time of Julius Wellhausen in the late 1800s, this will be a real treat. This article will show what an absolute sham Catholic biblical scholarship has been since the 1960s; how innocent Catholics have been deceived by these pseudo-scholars; and why Catholic students all over the world have lost the faith. After you read this article, if you own Raymond Brown's "New Jerome Biblical Commentary," it may come in handy this winter when you need kindling for the fireplace. I hear that liberal biblical scholarship burns especially well. I can just hear those pages crackling now!
For those who are not biblical scholars, "JEPD" refers to the theory of modern liberal scholars positing that the the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) were not written or complied by Moses (as the Bible claims) but by a series of unknown authors separated by many hundreds of years. For example, the Documentary Hypothesis claims that Genesis 2 was written long before Genesis 1, the latter being written between 587-517 BC just before the Jews returned from captivity in Babylon. In the scheme of the J-E-P-D hypothesis, Genesis 1 was a "P" (Priestly) document. Why? Because, we are told, the Jews needed a refresher course on their divine heritage and there was no better place to start than with a wonderful creation story in order to get everyone excited about their return trip to Jerusalem. In other words, the "priest" or his trusty scribe who wrote Genesis 1 was basically making up a fairy tale for the delight of those returning captives.
All this hypothesizing comes under the name of "Catholic biblical scholarship," but it is nothing more than an attempt to discredit the Bible. If the Bible is a product of men, then it is prone to mistakes, and that is why these same "biblical scholars" teach that the Bible cannot be trusted when it gives historical information, or if a certain book claims to be written by a certain author. If you've had enough of this intellectual garbage, you will find the following paper to be very refreshing. If it were possible, his paper should be at the head of every Bible issued today, to make up for the fabrications perpetrated on the public by the fantasies of Julius Wellhausen and company for the past hundred and fifty years. For your convenience, I will underline what I believe are the more important points of the essay.
Robert A. Sungenis, M.A.
The "Toledoths" of Genesis
By Damien F. Mackey
By Damien F. Mackey
This article is all about the true structure of the Book of Genesis; a structure that is so simple and straightforward - as the reader is going to discover - that even a child would have no trouble understanding it in its basic form. The chief credit for having laid bare this structure in all its profound simplicity belongs to the British scholar, P. J. Wiseman(1), upon whose thesis the following article will be based.
Introduction
As the brilliant Australian philosopher Gavin Ardley(2) pointed out, there are two ways of going about the process of analysing or dissecting something, depending on one's purpose. Ardley well illustrated his point by comparing the practices of the anatomist and the butcher. When an anatomist dissects an animal, he traces out the real structure of the animal; he lays bare the veins, the nerves, the muscles, the organs, and so on. "He reveals the actual structure which is there before him waiting to be made manifest"(3). The butcher, on the other hand, is not concerned about the natural structure of the animal as he chops it up; he wants to cut up the carcase into joints suitable for domestic purposes.
In his activities the butcher ruthlessly cleaves across the real structure laid bare so patiently by the anatomist. "The anatomist finds his structure, the butcher makes his"(4).
The same sort of analogy may be applied, I believe, to the different methods that have been employed to analyse the structure of the Book of Genesis. Here I am only going to contrast the archaeologically-based approach, as used by P. J. Wiseman and others(5) (which method, I believe, resembles that of the anatomist in Ardley's example), with the Graf-Wellhausen approach (that to my mind approximates to the activities of the butcher).
In his activities the butcher ruthlessly cleaves across the real structure laid bare so patiently by the anatomist. "The anatomist finds his structure, the butcher makes his"(4).
The same sort of analogy may be applied, I believe, to the different methods that have been employed to analyse the structure of the Book of Genesis. Here I am only going to contrast the archaeologically-based approach, as used by P. J. Wiseman and others(5) (which method, I believe, resembles that of the anatomist in Ardley's example), with the Graf-Wellhausen approach (that to my mind approximates to the activities of the butcher).
....
For a revised and updated (more accurate) version of this now, see:
And:
Colophons in Genesis
January 7th, 2010 1 Edit No Comments »
Taken from:
http://www.astorehouseofknowledge.info/Colophons_in_Genesis
January 7th, 2010 1 Edit No Comments »
Taken from:
http://www.astorehouseofknowledge.info/Colophons_in_Genesis
Colophons in Genesis
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The colophons in Genesis are a series of statements which apparently indicate the end of each of the original documents which make up the book of Genesis.
In Genesis there are ten places containing a phrase similar to “these are the generations of” (AV) or “This is the account of” (NIV), usually with the name of a person following. These phrases are like colophons, or lines put at the end of ancient documents giving some information about the documents. They were generally placed at the end like a modern letter with a signature at the end, although they are more like the page in a modern book giving the title and author.
Contents
....
1 The sections
1.1 Heaven and Earth
1.2 Adam
1.3 Noah
1.4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth
1.5 Shem
1.6 Terah
1.7 Ishmael and Isaac
1.8 Esau and Jacob
1.9 Joseph
2 Bibliography
The sections
Chapter and verse divisions in Bibles are a later addition, and didn’t take into account the significance of the colophons, so some of the following section breaks end up in the middle of verses.
In every case, the preceding section contains information which would have been known to the person named at the end of the section, and often it finishes just before the named person’s death.
Heaven and Earth
The first colophon is in Genesis 2:4: “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.”
The preceding section describes the creation of the heavens and the earth, living things, and mankind, over a period of six days.
This is the only colophon which doesn’t name a person, and it’s also the only section which was not witnessed by any human. This suggests that the section was actually written by God Himself.
Adam
The next colophon is in Genesis 5:1: “This is the written account of Adam’s line.”
The previous section has described the introduction of Adam to the Garden of Eden, the creation of Eve, the Fall of man, and the murder of Abel by Cain, all events which either Adam was involved with or would have known.
Noah
Genesis 6:9: “This is the account of Noah.”
The previous section is mostly a chronogenealogy from Adam to Noah, information that would have been known to Noah. The remaining section is the introduction to the flood account.
Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth
Genesis 10:1: “This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.”
The section concluding with this colophon is mainly the account of the flood itself, of which Noah’s sons were some of the few witnesses.
Shem
Genesis 11:10: “This is the account of Shem.”
This section comprises a list of the descendants of Noah, known as the Table of Nations, and the account of the Tower of Babel. Although Shem is not mentioned except as the ancestor of some of the people listed, Shem’s lifespan would easily have encompassed these descendants and events.
Terah
Genesis 11:27: “This is the account of Terah.”
This section is a chronogenealogy of the line from Shem to Terah, the father of Abraham.
Ishmael and Isaac
Genesis 25:12: “This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s maidservant, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.”
Genesis 25:19: “This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac.”
This large section relates the story of Abraham and the events he was involved with, including the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It also includes Esau’s marriage to Rebekah, and the death of Abraham.
Unlike previous sections, this one appears to have been written by Isaac, but incorporating a short account from Ishmael at the end, introduced (rather than concluded) by Genesis 25:12.
Esau and Jacob
Genesis 36:1: “This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom).”
Genesis 37:2: “This is the account of Jacob.”
Another large section, this one relates the events in the lives of Esau and Jacob. It finishes with the death of Isaac and Rachel, and a list of Jacob’s sons, but like the previous section, includes at the end a short section listing Esau’s descendants, introduced by Genesis 36:1.
Joseph
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