The Pentateuch in the Twentieth Century The Legacy of Julius Wellhausen [Paperback]

This book arises from the conviction that much in research on the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament) needs to be subjected to rigorous scrutiny and that much is radically mistaken. Ernest Nicholson argues that the century-old work of Julius Wellhausen, for all that it needs revision and development in detail, remains the securest basis for understanding the Pentateuch.

Part I: From Julius Wellhausen to Martin Noth
1. The Documents of the Pentateuch
2. Behind the Documents of the Pentateuch
3. From Tradition to Literature
Part II: The Problem of the Pentateuch in Current Research
4. The Theory Under Attack: Rolf Rendtorff's New Paradigm of the Origin of the Pentatecuh
5. Attempts to Redate the 'Yahwist'
6. New Proposals Concerning the First Tetrateuch and its Sources
7. Renewed Debate about P
8. The Documentary Theory Revisited
9. Understanding the Final Form of the Pentateuch

The publication of this book is quite welcome. Nicholson does not merely survey the history of the field...He reviews many studies in great detail and subjects their assumptions, their reasoning, and their treatment of sample passages to a close analysis. This well-written book is both crucial reading for Pentateuch specialists and an excellent aid for other biblicists who need to keep abreast of the revolutions and counter-revolutions that have taken place in Pentateuchal criticism. --Review of Biblical Literature.

This book ... treats the gamut of modern Christian scholarship on the Pentateuch in the last two centuries, and this comprehensive approach proves extremely useful. --Review of Biblical Literature.

The book genuinely helps make recent challenges to the Documentary Hypothesis more accessible even as it defends the older view. --Review of Biblical Literature.

Throughout the book he is in dialogue with the major scholars in the bibllc'