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Occasionally while researching the historicity of the Old Testament you will come across scholars who argue that “Judaism” did not arise until the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. The opinion of some liberal scholars is that the Jews did not really have their “religion” in literary form during the earliest periods in Hebrew history; instead the Hebrews relied almost exclusively in oral “forms” or stories to preserve their faith. Consequently, Judaism’s appreciation and obedience to its literature is a rather late development in Jewish spirituality and culture, a development that occurred when the Jews returned to the Southern Kingdom (i.e., Judea) from exile after the fall of the Babylonian empire at the hands of the Persians; thus the term “Judaism.”

Extremely radical and secular scholars would additionally assert that it was at this point that Judaism began to become distinctly different from pagan religions. Therefore, I wish to address this issue of orality (also aurality in some technical works) with respect to the pagan religions of the Roman world, as well as the true origin and basis of authentic Judaism, which always found its roots in its historical Hebrew faith and writings. For the remainder of the blog please understand that I am using the terms “the Hebrew faith” and “Judaism” as synonyms; consequently, understand that in this blog these concepts refer to the same belief system.

Judaism was very different compared to pagan religions because it was primarily a text-based faith—even in the very beginning during the time of Moses. Pagan religions, however, were all based on myths that were almost exclusively passed on via oral traditions and dissemination.  Pagan religions were different because unlike Judaism they were not based upon actual historical events (e.g., the Exodus; the Great Flood; the 40 year wanderings in the desert).  That is not to say that some pagan religions do not refer to actual historical events (e.g., the flood), but that at their core they are not based in reality, instead they are grounded in myths and legends about the mortal life and the pantheon.  Judaism, however, is based upon the historical reality of God’s personal intervention within human history.  Exclusive orality of tradition, therefore, has never been the basis of the Jewish faith (see Duet 4.1-2, 13-14; 6.4-9; Josh 1.6-9). From as early as the time of Moses, Judaism was founded upon written texts that are contained in the Old Testament, specifically beginning with the Pentateuch. Moreover, Jews were expected to be able to read and understand their religious texts if they wished to correctly obey them. Consequently, the literacy rate among Jews was in all probability higher than that of polytheistic Gentiles whose worldview consisted of a belief in the pantheon and mystery religions, which all were primarily rehearsed and preserved through oral mediums. Some modern scholars have suggested that the literacy rate during the Roman empire was around 10%, and even lower among Jews.  However, more recent scholarship has observed historical data that contradicts this assertion, as well as the apparent weaknesses and significant gaps in the research techniques of those who promote such a conjecture concerning Jewish literacy rates.

Nevertheless, this is not to say that oral traditions were not important in Judaism, for clearly oral traditions were a part of the practice of Judaism since Jews often depended upon priests, scribes, and Pharisees to explain the correct application of God’s word—and many of these later explanations were originally communicated orally. However, it is to say that unlike the pagan religions that surrounded Israel, Judaism was grounded in a written text that was fixed and not subject to change. This is evident in Jesus’ rebukes of his opponents for either their outright disobedience of God’s written word (Mark 7.1-13) or their misunderstanding of the emphasis of God’s Word (Matt 23.23-28).  Furthermore, Jesus, his opponents, and Paul all referred to the Law of Moses as being originally composed by Moses himself and containing the correct practice and theology of Judaism, as well as prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah (Luke 20.28 & 37; Rom 10.5).  Most importantly, Jesus himself believed that Moses was the actual human author of the Mosaic Covenant in its original written form; consequently, his writings preserve the origin and correct practice of the Hebrew faith, which is referred to by Second Temple period scholarship as “Judaism.”  Jesus never credited Ezra or any of the scribes and priest from the Babylonian exile with the origins of Judaism (i.e., the original authentic beliefs and practices contained in the Mosaic Covenant). Jesus knew the progenitors of the Jewish nation were Abraham and Sarah, and the authentic Judaism began with the Mosaic Law, which was recorded and preserved by Moses himself (such an assertion does not deny that Moses may have used scribes to assist in recording the Mosaic Covenant; e.g., Joshua or Aaron).  Most importantly, Jesus argued that Moses actually wrote about him (John 5.45-47); consequently, if one is inclined to reject that Moses was the original author of the Torah, then they must also conclude that Jesus did not know what he was talking about, and thus Jesus was also a bumbling idiot and a fraud. It is more likely, however, that the incarnate God knew what he was talking about.

Some liberal scholars argue that there was no such thing as “writing” during the time of Moses, and whatever type of writing existed in that era the average Jew could not read it. This is a poorly defended argument; most scholars recognize that even in Moses time there existed styles of written communication among both the Egyptians (hieroglyphics) and the Hebrews (pre-paleo-Hebrew). Moreover, an very obscure passage in Judges 8.14 reveals that when Gideon capture a “young” man (or boy) that he was able to “write down” the names of the leaders of the city, which numbered more than 70 men.  It is not likely that later copyist would insert such an obvious potential anachronism into a text that they were inventing. It is more probable that they would have simply recorded that the boy “told” them the names of the leaders of the city.  However, the text states that it was the young boy that “wrote down” the names of the men that Gideon was seeking.  Consequently, to assert that these were not written forms of communication is simply ludicrous. In fact, in our technologically advanced modern era we are now returning to a similar method of communication with our Smartphones that is eerily similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics, which we call “emojis” and/or “memes.” For example, if you text to me a time and a place to have coffee and while doing so you insert an emoji of a cup of coffee with the following symbols “@ 9am @ McD’s”, and I text back to you a “thumbs up,” we both have communicated in written form even though we have not actually used English words.  Another example is a cigarette encircled in red with a red strip across it. Everyone knows that this symbol means that cigarette smoking is prohibited in that area. Consequently, Evangelical scholars should recognize that Moses communicated in some type of written form to the Hebrews the covenant that he received directly from God, and he expected them to be able to read and obey it for themselves.

This is not to assert, however, that we do not have “progressive revelation” from God contained in the scriptures. By progressive revelation I mean new prophetic writings inspired by God that reveal his will for his people during the rise and fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Consequently, the people of God received new prophetic and historic books that also became part of the canonical the Old Testament (e.g., Psalms, minor and major prophetical writings, and historical writings such as the books of Esther or Nehemiah). God continued to reveal himself to the Jews by speaking to them through his prophets who continued to faithfully preserve God’s commands and directives in written form. The preservation of God’s word into written form occurred before the exilic period, during the exilic period, as well as after the exilic period. It is to argue, however, that authentic Judaism was not “invented” during the exilic or post-exilic periods, as many radical liberal scholars assert. Consequently, the paradigm that radical Form Critics use to explain the “development” of the Old and New Testaments (i.e., that the sacred texts of both Jews and Christians “evolved” and changed over time) is severely flawed. The bottom line of this blog is that Jesus believed and taught that Moses was the original author of the Mosaic Covenant (i.e., the Pentateuch). It is this covenant, which was preserved in written form during the earliest periods of Jewish history, that provides the authentic origin and basis of the Hebrew faith. Moreover, the Hebrew faith, commonly referred to in biblical research as “Judaism,” was not originally preserved in written form until the exilic or post-exilic periods; instead it finds its origins from the very hand of Moses himself. Consequently, since Jesus believed and taught that the recording of Judaism originally began with Moses, this should be our conviction as well.

Doc.

Monte Shanks Copyright © 2012