--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Ramseyer, A. A. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 11 number: 6 published: 1908-04 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'A. A. Ramseyer, "Who Wrote the Pentateuch?," *Improvement Era* 11, no. 6 (April 1908): 437–442.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1106unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1106unse start_page: 437 end_page: 442 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1908-04) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1106unse publication_year: 1908 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1908, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Who Wrote the Pentateuch? WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? BY A. A. RAMSEYER. In a general sense, the books of the Old Testament may be classed under three headings, viz: the Law, the Prophets and the History. The first division, containing the first five books commonly attributed to Moses, is not a mere collection of laws, it is an historic and a prophetic, as well as a legal work. Have the Latterday Saints any good reason to believe that Moses wrote that collection of five books called the Pentateuch, apart from the traditional authority created by the fact that his name is, in the Bible, written or printed along with those books? Yes ; for we have the word of the Lord on that subject. But first, let us analyze the Pentateuch. The first book, Genesis, is the book of beginnings: the creation is dealt with, the origins of nations, of languages, the migrations of the heads of the respective peoples. It traces history from its source, not profane history, it does not deal with military heroes, but it speaks of the divine purposes of the creation, the fall of man, the promise of a Savior to work out the redemption of man and of this earth. One noble character is depicted, his life is told with simplicity, yet with enough details to show his trials, his struggles, his achievements and his worthiness to be chosen as the Father of the faithful. Thus Abraham, the friend of God, links Adam and Noah to Jacob and his twelve sons. The inner plan of Genesis is evidently "to exhibit the election and preparation of a special people for a great purpose." Exodus, the second book, recites the phenomenal growth of the children of Israel in Egypt, their oppression and their deliverance. Exodus means departure; they were to depart from the 438 IMPROVEMENT ERA. midst of an idolatrous, cruel nation, to become the ransomed of the Lord, a peculiar people, "a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation" (Ex. 19: 1-6). God established his covenant with them, descending on Mount Sinai, and giving them his laws. Israel has thus become a consecrated nation, destined to become the repository and the custodian of the word of God to successive ages and to far off nations. Hence, its separation and its departure from Egypt. The third book, Leviticus, is the "Book of the Law of the Priests." It is entirely taken up with rites, regulations and ceremonies committed to the priests and to the people for their guidance. The higher law with the higher priesthood being rejected of the people, the lower, Levitical, law is given, with the lesser, Aaronic, priesthood to administer in the same. Israel is shown how to become a holy people by abstaining from certain things and by doing certain acts. The great atoning sacrifice of Christ is constantly brought to their remembrance in their sacrifices of clean animals; for "without shedding of blood (there) is no remission" (of sins) says Paul, the great exponent of the Mosaic law. Numbers, the fourth book, takes up the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness. The people is numbered preparatory to their desert march during thirty-eight years. The old murmurers who longed for the flesh pots of Egypt died out. A new generation, undefiled by idolatry, unacquainted with the debasing worship of Apis, hardened and invigorated in their bodies by their long sojourn in the open air of the plains, and by the unavoidable observance of the Word of Wisdom, arose from the degraded positions of slaves to that of prospective conquerors of Canaan. The sons of the desert had prepared themselves through their physical, mental and spiritual training for the founding of a great empire . Deuteronomy— the repetition of the law — opens in the plains of Moab, just previous to entering Palestine. Moses exhorts the people to faithfulness, recounting the goodness and guidance of God, laying down the statutes and judgments to be observed in the promised land — Joshua is appointed leader, Moses being permitted only to view the Holy Land. But before leaving them, he solemnly warns them that the Lord will raise up a prophet from among WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? 439 them, in whose mouth shall be the word of God; unto him they shall hearken (Deut 18: 15-19). If Moses had written but these few (five) verses, he would have expressed all that the law intended or was aiming at, as we are told by Peter (Acts 3) and Paul (Hebrews chapters 9 and JO, and II Nephi 11: 4). Israel was a holy nation, a kingdom of priests,and the law, delivered to them by Moses, was a schoolmaster leading to Christ. They were to receive the High Priest when he came to bis own, for this was the intent and import of the law. Now did Moses really write this passage, embodying, as we have seen, the whole purport and intent of the law? Yes; for the Book of Doctrine and Covenants tells us, "And upon them that hearken unto the voice of the Lord, shall be fulfilled that which was written by the Prophet Moses: that tbey should be cut off from among the people" (Sec. 133, called the Appendix). Thus said the Lord, forever putting his seal and testimony upon the law, viz., the Pentateuch, a most perfect literary production, historically, prophetically, or legally, if we but consider its inner plan and its intent. When an artist has finished a masterpiece, he does not need to tell us in so many words what he intended to paint, to write or to chant. It is childlike to write under a picture, this is a lion, a horse, etc. The artist needs but the appreciative eye or ear to have his production understood and judged; what he at most needs do, is to sign his name, or put his seal in some corner of his painting. In the case of the Pentateuch, the Lord himself placed an everlasting, unmistakable seal upon it, when he declared in the Appendix that Moses wrote that warning prophecy to Israel. The intent of the writer and his identity are at once made manifest. But in the Pearl of Great Price we have far greater testimonies that Moses is the author of the Pentateuch, as the following references will show. Book of Moses 1:1, "The words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceeding high mountain .' ' Ibid 1 : 23, ' 'And now of this thing [Satan attempting to deceive Moses] Moses bore record." Ibid 1: 40, 41, "And now, Moses, * * thou shalt write the things which I shall speak. And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as 440 IMPROVEMENT ERA. naught, and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee, and they shall be had again among the children of men." Ibid 2: 1, "The Lord spake unto Moses saying, Behold I reveal unto you concerning this heaven and this earth, write the words which I speak." Ibid 4: 32, "And these are the words which I spake unto my servant, Moses, and they are true, even as I will." The preceding passages clearly prove that Moses was taught of the Lord concerning the creation and the fall, concerning Jesus Christ and Satan also, and that he wrote what he was shown and what he was told concerning the primitive history of our race and of our planet. He saw God face to face, and God spake unto him. It does not follow, however, that Moses wrote down all of Genesis from what he was told and shown in that vision. We are told a little further in the Book of Moses (chap 6: 5-8): And a book of remembrance was kept, in the which was recorded in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; And by them their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled. * * * and a genealogy was kept of the children of God. And this was the book of the generations of Adam. Thus a historical and genealogical record was kept, we are informed,from the days of Adam on. Josephus, on the other hand, says concerning Seth's children that they were virtuous like him, and had a knowledge of astronomy, and that they wrote their discoveries1 upon some pillars of brick and stone, to preserve that science from oblivion. If they wrote upon stones they doubtless had metals, hence they would, as did Nephi, record their astronomical science on metal plates. What, then, became of those records? Abraham tells us: But I shall endeavor, hereafter, to delineate the chronology running back from myself to the beginning of the creation, for the records have come into my hands which I hold unto this present time. * * * * But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as WHO WROTE THE PENTATEUCH? Ill they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day. (Book of Abraham 1: 28-31.) Modern investigators of the Pentateuch agree that Moses had certain records from which to draw while writing his five books. Evidently the ancient records which Abraham had received from the fathers, even the patriarchs, with the priesthood, were by him transmitted to Isaac, and from Isaac to his faithful son Jacob; these records, as was the case with the Nephite records, were certainly handed down to the religious leaders of the people, and finally to Moses. In this manner Moses was enabled to write the Pentateuch by the help of three infallible means; viz., first, by the help of the personal revelations of God to himself; second, by the help of the ancient record, reaching back to Adam; and third, by actually seeing the historical events in which he was an actor himself. Is there, indeed, a historian who has been more signally favored in thus having access to first hand material and evidence? The Latter-day Saints have thus every assurance that Moses was the writer of the five sacred books bearing his name. But what of the Babylonian records concerning the creation, the fall, the flood, etc.? Well, what of them? The Babylonians had a written language, too, and they would naturally desire to transmit to their posterity a knowledge of the past, as far as the memory of their fathers had been able to retain it, and as far as their minds were capable of grasping the mighty truths handed down; but a third element must be taken into account, in judging historical records, viz., the personal bias of the writer. Neither the religious faith, nor the system of ethics of the Babylonians, could compare with the pure faith and the sublime code of morals inculcated by Moses, therefore it is easy to understand why pagan deities, in their record, take the place of Jehovah and his associates, and why the Babylonian account of the early world's history, although supporting in the main the Mosaic account, is marred by childish traits. To suppose that Moses drew inspiration from those heathen records, would be equivalent to claim that our sun and our moon derive their splendor from the weak starlight that greets our eyes at night. Let rather those Babylonian records be as the twinkling starlight which diminishes the darkness of the night when no moon shines; let the moon, with its rich, 442 IMPR 0 VEMENT ERA . mellow light typify the Biblical account of the beginnings of man and earth; then think of the splendor of the rising sun as representing the flood of light thrown upon those subjects by modern revelation, and you would have an adequate idea of the comparative value of these three different sets of records. Forest Dale, Utah. EASTER SONG- {For the Improvement Era.) 'Tis at the faintest flush of dawn, I come with noiseless tread, I brush away night's cloud of gloom, And peer within the darkened ^tomb, To see him 'mong the dead. The sepulcher — securely sealed — Is strangely open wide, And there, within, two angels sit — How wondrously my sunbeams flit — The Lord is not inside. Who rolled away the pond'rous stone, That I might enter n? Who dared to break the guarded seal? Now I the darksome place reveal — No body lies within. The Lord is gone! 0, come and see! Behold, his bands are riven; I am the Resurrection Morn, The winding sheet aside have torn, By the decree- of heaven. My day of triumph ! Earth is mine, Inhabitants and all! Death, I undo — he reigned before — All power is Christ's forever more, And he the dead will call. The Lord is risen! 0 soul, rejoice! Twine evergreens for aye; And lilies' perfume sweet distilled Breathes o'er the world with rapture thrilled, This Resurrection Day. Salt Lake City, Utah. Lydia D. Alder.