Moses & History (part 3)

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
Romans 15:4

In part 2, we continued answering a student’s questions about what was being taught in her college class regarding Moses and the Bible’s history. She informed us that the “professor has mentioned several times that those pieces of the Bible may not be historically accurate, but are just told to depict a characteristic of God.” We barely scratched the surface of the voluminous evidence regarding the Bible’s accuracy and reliable transmission, confirming its inspiration. Now we turn to the most attacked of God’s inspired scribes.

MOSAIC AUTHORSHIP

Regarding Moses’ authorship of the Torah, it was never seriously questioned until the 18^th century during the Enlightenment. Here is a brief history:

1656 – Dutch Jew Baruch de Spinoza was expelled from the congregation of Amsterdam for insisting Moses did not compose the Torah.

1753 - French professor of medicine Jean Astruc (1684-1766) anonymously published a book stating Moses is rightfully called the author, as Moses compiled the current book of Genesis from multiple documents. Astruc believed there had been two different authors for Creation (ch. 1 & 2), as well as 2 to 4 composers of the other Genesis narratives, mostly because of the use of either Yahweh or Elohim.
This would be the basis of what would later become the Documentary Hypothesis as used by critics of Mosaic authorship, though Astruc supported Moses as the author through what would become the Toledoth/Wiseman hypothesis.

1800s – through the works of Hermann Hupfeld (1796-1866, German), Karl Heinrich Graf (1815-1869, German), Wilhelm Vatke (1806-1882, German), Julius Wllhausen (1844-1918, German), and Édouard Guillaume Eugène Reuss (1804-1891, French) came the Documentary Hypothesis, referred to as JEDP.

JEDP (Documentary Hypothesis) teaches four sources for the Torah, all of which came centuries after Moses. This serves to discredit Moses and the Torah’s history.
J – Jehovistic documents: composed around 900-850 B.C., these author(s) used the name Jehovah (YHWH) in their texts.
E – Elohimic documents: composed around 750-700 B.C., these author(s) used the name Elohim in their texts.
D – Deuteronomic documents: composed possibly around the time of King Josiah’s reforms c. 621 B.C., these author(s) composed Deuteronomy.
P – Priestly documents: priests added to and compiled the complete Torah during the Babylonian exile after 586 B.C.

1970s – the Documentary Hypothesis was actually discredited in the 1970s by John Van Seters (1935-, Canadian), Hans Heinrich Schmid (1937-2014, Swiss), and Rolf Rendtorff (1925-2014, German).
However, they had no cohesive replacement for the Documentary Hypothesis, only that it was bad scholarship. Here’s why:
In Genesis:
YHWH is used 164 times in chapters 2-22, 24-32, 38-39, 49.
Elohim is used 219 times in chapters 1-9, 17, 19-28, 30-33, 35, 39-46, 50.
The usage of these names overlap chapters and toledoths.
Thus, the usage of these two names does not prove anything, yet it is the crux argument for the skeptics!

As Dr. Peter J. Gentry, professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, states, “Many scholars today are just unaware of the latest advances in research... and all of these things uphold the claims of the text and show that the criteria used to establish the Documentary Hypothesis is completely false.” Hence, Jesus and the entirety of the Bible are validated in their unified testimony that Moses was the inspired author of the Torah.

To hear more of Dr. Gentry and other great scholars, we HIGHLY recommend the DVD or Blu-ray of Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy, available at the ministry’s bookstore.

www.creationtruth.com/store

Once again, as one who studies historiography, I am convinced there is NOTHING in antiquity that is more solid, accurate, and faithfully transmitted through millennia than the Old & New Testaments, including Genesis through Deuteronomy. It is an absolutely incredible testimony to the divine inspiration of God’s Holy Word.

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January 2026 Printed Newsletter

January 24, 2026

Lighthouse in front of a Milky Way Galaxy sky

Providence

By Matt Miles • January 23, 2026

As we begin a new year, it brings new potential and a figurative “clean slate”. Yet at all times it is always good to remember that the Lord never changes and neither does His purposes. His desire is that all come to Him for salvation. As it is not all will seek their Creator, yet He is always at work around us guiding life through the present sinful, cursed world. His purposes are always to bring glory to himself as our Great Almighty Lord God. This divine guiding, moving, and protecting of His Spirit in the affairs of life is called Providence , our theme for the year here at Creation Truth. His Providence has always been at work since the beginning, guiding for the purpose he has designed us for. Over the course of history, we as people have missed it or chosen not to follow it. Providence of the Lord is what guided His people out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Even while suffering judgment for their sin in the desert, there was Providence , providing for their needs with daily manna and encouraging them on to the Promised Land. At just the right time, Providence bestowed to us a Savior, Jesus Christ. Never would we have planned or made provision for the Savior of the world in the manner He came to earth. All of His work while in the flesh was done to point us to Him and His Glory. Providence was fulfilled on the cross for all eternity with the way for all to find the Lord and salvation, to be guided out of death and overcome the trial of this life through His death, burial and resurrection. Providence , 250 years ago, guided our country’s forefathers to seek a land to freely worship their Creator and Savior, with freedom from tyranny and a pursuit of liberty for all. Even though not all were followers of the Lord, it was still more than evident that they knew His Providence had a protecting hand on us. Only by His great Providence did we become a country, for the Lord knew we would become a beacon of that freedom and, ultimately, the only true freedom that comes from Christ. Through many trials and failures in history we have sinned before our Lord, and we must continually repent and seek Him for forgiveness. His Providence has allowed our nation of people from many tongues and tribes to melt together. We have been, and I pray continue to be, the largest Christian nation in the world, proclaiming who He is before all else. This year, as we focus on His Providence , may you seek Him and be reminded of all the times He has guided, protected and blessed you for His name. David wrote in Psalm 31:3-5 of the Lord’s Providence : “For You are my high rock and my fortress; For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me. You will bring me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O Yahweh, God of truth.”(LSB) We at Creation Truth Foundation look forward to another year of opportunities to serve, champion, and exalt His Name. May you be guided, protected and blessed through Providence this year.

A Miraculous Storm-part 1

By Ryan Cox • January 23, 2026

EACH OF THESE ARTICLES ARE EXCERPTS FROM AMERICA’S EPIC ADVENTURE TM - CTF'S NEWEST VBS CURRICULUM From Lesson 1: The Pilgrims, Walking by Faith in the Lord – Proverbs 3:5-6