Drollinger: Liberal Theology Tries to Undermine the Veracity of the Bible - Here's the Truth
Theological liberals tend to stereotype conservative Christians as simpletons, ignorant and lacking in intellectual support, people who cling to their beliefs in blind faith. Quite the opposite is true.
During the 19th century, at the height of deism (the belief in a supreme being who does not intervene in the universe) and Darwinism, liberals floated a theory regarding the origins of the first five books of the Old Testament.
Attributed to Moses, known to the Hebrews as the Torah and referred to by the Greeks as the Pentateuch, these books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. This new theory attempted to discount their Mosaic authorship and instead postulated that they were written much later; supposedly they were derived from other sources.
This theory flies in the face of the Torah and its self-attestation; the books themselves state that they were written by Moses. The authors of other OT books also attest that the Torah was written by Moses. Similarly, Jesus Christ himself attests in the New Testament that Moses was the Torah’s author.
Embracing a theologically liberal position regarding the origin of the Old Testament is tantamount to calling Jesus a liar. Furthermore, if the first five books of the Bible are inherently untrustworthy, at what point can we begin to trust in the Scriptures?
Why are theological liberals so bent on discounting Mosaic authorship? Because the prophecies of those books have come to pass and authenticate the divine nature of Scripture. The liberals’ response was to try to discount the otherwise overwhelming veracity of these books by postulating that they were written after the prophecies were fulfilled.
This predominant liberal theory regarding the origin of the Torah is known as the Wellhausen theory, or the J.E.D.P. theory.
What follows in this week’s study is how J.E.D.P. came into existence — views constructed with and based upon the piecemeal-at-best biblical archaeology of its day.
We’ll also examine scientific discoveries over the hundred years that have since passed substantiating the Mosaic authorship and further discounting liberal theology. The evidence for the veracity and trustworthiness of the Bible is compelling and overwhelming!
As you read “Liberal Theology’s Struggle with Modern Archaeology,” you’ll learn the compelling and overwhelming testimony of modern biblical archaeology and see three faith-building applications that will help you: 1) Discern false teaching (liberal theology is too often the basis of liberal political theory); 2) Detect blind faith; and 3) Bolster your high view of Scripture!
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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