Mosaic Authorship

Definition and Meaning

Mosaic authorship is the view that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, from Genesis through Deuteronomy. It is the traditional position long held by Judaism and Christianity. It stands in contrast to the documentary hypothesis, which holds that the Pentateuch was compiled at a later date from multiple sources.

Those who accept Mosaic authorship do not all hold the same view. One position holds that Moses personally wrote the entire Pentateuch. Another holds that the substance of the work came from Moses but that some later editorial additions were made, as in Deuteronomy 34, which records the death of Moses.

Biblical and Historical Background

• The Pentateuch contains passages stating that Moses wrote down the words of the Lord (Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 31:9). The New Testament likewise refers to the Pentateuch as "the book of Moses" and "the law of Moses" (Mark 12:26; Luke 24:44; John 5:46). Proponents treat these passages as their principal evidence. Critical scholars regard them as merely the customary idiom of the time rather than statements that settle the question of authorship.
• The Talmud, a repository of Jewish tradition, is reported to regard the Pentateuch as the work of Moses while stating that the account of Moses' death was added by Joshua.
• From the seventeenth century onward, the question of the Pentateuch's authorship was raised in earnest. The documentary hypothesis, systematized by Julius Wellhausen in the late nineteenth century, gained wide acceptance in the academic world. In response, conservative theology has defended Mosaic authorship together with biblical inerrancy (the doctrine that Scripture contains no errors).

Practice in the Korean Church

Because many of the early missionaries taught a conservative theology, Mosaic authorship was long accepted as a given in the Korean church. At the 1934 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Chosen, the Rev. Kim Young-ju's denial of the Mosaic authorship of Genesis is reported to have been taken up as a matter of concern. After Korea's liberation, a controversy arose between Kim Chai-choon and Park Hyung-ryong, among others, over Kim's acceptance of biblical criticism. This controversy became one of the factors leading to the separation of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (see Schisms in Korean Presbyterianism).

Current denominational tendencies are as follows:

• Conservative Presbyterian bodies such as the Hapdong, Kosin, and Hapshin denominations, along with Holiness and Full Gospel churches, generally teach Mosaic authorship in connection with the authority of Scripture.
• Seminaries of the Tonghap denomination tend to present both the traditional and the critical views.
• Seminaries of the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea and of the Korean Methodist Church accept historical-critical methods relatively broadly.

Nevertheless, regardless of denomination, it is common in most pulpits and Sunday schools to refer to the Pentateuch as "the books Moses wrote."