Old Testament Intro. (OTI) - part 6: What do the Critics Say?

This will be the last post in a series of posts on the Old Testament Intro class I took at Westminster. Today, I'll give a summary on what modern scholars say about the OT, how we can respond, and why we shouldn't just ignore their views.

How do modern scholars view the OT? For most of them, the Bible is like any other human book and should be rejected as myth. In the 21st century, readers might find stories of a talking donkey (Numbers 22) or a talking snake (Genesis 3) a bit strange and out of date.

In the 19th century, parts of the culture invaded the Biblical studies department in many universities. The Enlightenment was in full-swing in Europe, and it exalted the human mind as the final standard and source of truth. Before the 19th century, most Christian seminaries and universities accepted God's word as truthful, authoritative, and final. With the Enlightenment, many scholars began to think that human beings could investigate the world without God. God was told to get out and stay out. This shouldn't be too surprising. In the Garden of Eden, mankind decided to play umpire between what God said and what Satan said. Rather than trusting God and His word, man decided to think and act apart from his Creator. Falling to the oldest trap in the book, Biblical scholars rejected God's word and began to view all religious (including Christianity) as man-made products of culture and experience. The Bible was rejected as a book of myths.

DEUTERONOMY: BRIDGE BETWEEN LAW AND PROPHETS

How did all of this happen? The book of Deuteronomy is a key battleground. You can think of Deuteronomy like purple states in the US Presidential Election. Certain states are consistently red (Republican) or blue (Democratic). However, some states are purple, and they are the key swing states. If a candidate can capture these, they will likely win the White House. Our understanding of Christ and God's redemptive history hinges on how we understand and interpret Deuteronomy.

Why is Deuteronomy so important? Deuteronomy is the lynchpin of the Old testament, and it's a critical link between the Law (1st 5 books of the OT) and the Prophets. Written by Moses, the Law is the foundation for the rest of the OT because it contains important things such as: God's redemption (Exodus), the moral law (10 Commandments), the sacrificial system, and God's covenant promises. The prophets consistently refer to the Law when the Israelites disobey God. The prophets are God's messengers who accuse Israel of breaking God's covenant and failing to return the love and loyalty that God had first shown to Israel.

Modern scholars have rejected Deuteronomy as a “pious fraud”. They reject Moses as the author of Deuteronomy, and have proposed alternate theories that tear the Law and the Prophets apart. They believe that somebody much later than Moses wrote Deuteronomy. They believe that the Law was written after the Prophets and wasn't originally part of Judaism. In short, they reject the Law and take the Prophets.

By rejecting the Law, these scholars redefine the OT by saying that God didn't give us the law and sacrificial system. God just wants you to be a good person. Their proof-text would be something like Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Christianity doesn't deny the need to do these things, but we deny that we can do these apart from the person and work of Christ.

Are there any good arguments for rejecting Deuteronomy? There are some difficult questions, and we shouldn't bury our heads in the sand. Here are a few examples:
Numbers 12:3 describes Moses as the most humble man on earth. Hmmm, this doesn't seem to humble. Perhaps somebody else wrote the Law?
If Moses was the author, why did he refer to himself in the 3rd person? Deuteronomy 1:1 gives us a narrator's perspective.
If Moses was the author of Deuteronomy, how could he write about his own death in Deuteronomy 34?

However, we can address these questions without giving up our key assumptions. We can still view God's word as trustworthy and true, and that we are dependent on the Holy Spirit to teach us about Christ and His word. One scholar (E. J. Young) has said that we can make a case that Moses was essentially the author of the 1st 5 books of the OT, but the actual writing could have been done by others, just like Jesus is the author of the Sermon on the Mount, but He didn't actually write it down.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

What is at stake? Does it matter if Moses wrote the Law or if we even have the Law? We might be tempted to think this is all a bunch of pointy-headed stuff for people locked up in ivory towers. But, if the OT is the foundation for understanding the NT, then we have to wrestle with these issues.

Our God claims to work through history to redeem a people for Himself. The Exodus from Egypt is a pattern of God's work that comes to completion in our deliverance from sin. Moses is a go-between for God and God's people (Deut. 5:22, Ex. 20:18-21), another pattern that comes to completion in Christ, our perfect Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5). The Law of God and the sacrifices are essential for us to understand Christ and His sacrifice, which rescues us from the law of sin and death. At stake is the heart of Christianity! Modern scholars can say, “Just follow the good example of Jesus and be a nice guy like Him” because they have thrown out the Law and redefined Christianity. Many of the more liberal denominations in America take this view today. They may call themselves Christians, but they have side-lined the word of Christ given to us in the Law and the Prophets.

Jude calls us to contend for the faith (Jude 3). As we study the OT scriptures, we are fighting for God and the gospel, the things that this culture and its scholars have rejected. Yet, fighting for the faith must be done in humility. We recognize that these truths are a gift of God and an act of His grace. Without the grace of God, we would not see Christ and the beauty of OT.

With this post, I'm wrapping up this series on the Old Testament Intro class. I hope it's been as fun and informative for you as it has been for me.