ABRAHAM, THE PATRIARCHAL LEADER

Introduction  ABRAHAM, THE PATRIARCHAL LEADER  Did Abraham really live? Was there actually a man in history, son of Terah, who was known as Abram, then later Abraham? Could his story have been a myth? Was this a tradition passed down orally through the generations about a supposed man of history?  ABRAHAM, THE PATRIARCHAL LEADER  Did Abraham really live? Was there actually a man in history, son of Terah, who was known as Abram, then later Abraham? Could his story have been a myth? Was this a tradition passed down orally through the generations about a supposed man of history?

 Were the stories of Adam, Noah, Methuselah, and Abraham simply the work of a mixture of stories from early cultures handed down from parents to children?

 One cannot deal properly with the topic of Abraham without answering some of the problems with the text of the book of Genesis.  Gensis yields some puzzling textual problems that will help us understand topics of the patriarchs like Abraham.  So, take a look at some of the interesting textual studies involved.  One cannot deal properly with the topic of Abraham without answering some of the problems with the text of the book of Genesis.  Gensis yields some puzzling textual problems that will help us understand topics of the patriarchs like Abraham.  So, take a look at some of the interesting textual studies involved.

The Documentary Hypothesis  Some 18 th Century Bible scholars thought the stories to be mythological. As a result of the emergence of the Documentary Hypothesis, the world has been subjected to a maze of ideas about how our Bible came to be. And, this hazy misinformation has continued to be touted by all the postmodern scholars of our day.

 The Documentary Hypothesis, and its step- children with all their variations, have tainted the thinking of most of the modern scholars. Hardly a current commentary, dictionary, or encyclopedia is published today untainted by this infidel assumption.

 Briefly, the DH began with challenges offered by H. B. Witter, a protestant priest in Jean Astruc, a French physician, enlarged on Witter’s queries about supposed contradictions in Genesis in 1753.

 Later, J. G. Eichorn added more ideas in 1783, while Heinrich Eward in 1823 published another early work with the same channel of thought. Karl Graf picked up on these postulations in 1860, and Julius Welhausen in 1876 gave some of the crowning thoughts and is often thought of as the father of the hypothesis.

 All of these men studied and wrote, one building upon the other until today there is the full-blown modernistic assault upon the veracity of the Bible.

 Briefly, the theory assumes there were 4 major records in the Old Testament by a series of authors that were later edited by a Redactor to produce the five books of the Pentateuch. The major documents are called “J-E-D-P.”

 The “J” document is supposed to be the account where the name Jehovah (YHWH) is found in Genesis. The E”” document is where Elohim is used in Genesis. Because sections of Genesis switch back and forth in the use of these words for God, the assumption is that there were different authors.

 The “D” document is supposedly written by the man who gave the Deuteronomic codes and laws, while the “P” document concerns the priestly functions and laws,

 A “Redactor” is essential to this theory as he must have been the one to take the four major works and blend them together into what is now known as the first five books of the Bible.

 This theory is an attempt to give a human reason behind the writing of the Bible. It denies any idea of inspiration.  The unity of the 66 books of the Bible is one of the strongest arguments to defeat the hypothesis.  This theory is an attempt to give a human reason behind the writing of the Bible. It denies any idea of inspiration.  The unity of the 66 books of the Bible is one of the strongest arguments to defeat the hypothesis.

 How could forty men over a period of 1600 years, all living in different countries, separated by centuries, come up with such a unified story of redemption accomplished through the seed of Abraham?  How does one account for such blended history of the promise?  How could forty men over a period of 1600 years, all living in different countries, separated by centuries, come up with such a unified story of redemption accomplished through the seed of Abraham?  How does one account for such blended history of the promise?

 There just were too many years, too much distance from each other, for the oral traditions of myths to produce the Bible.

 (See Josh McDowell, More Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Campus Crusade for Christ International, Arrowhead Springs, San Bernadino, CA, 1975, pp for a condensed look at the Documentary Hypothesis and its refutation.)

 As for the actuality of Abraham and the other men of the Old Testament, one has to deny many other things to come to such a conclusion.

 The prophets uniformly spoke of these early patriarchs, as did Jesus and the writers of the New Testament. If these men were only mythological persons, then Jesus and host of others were surely misinformed!

Genesis as a book  Genesis (the LXX used “Ge/nejiß” or generation) is simply the oldest book in the world. It is the oldest history in the world. There are scattered mss found that may be earlier, but for any definitive composition known as a history book, Genesis is it.

 The first part of the book is a history of the world, the latter part contains the history of the Hebrew race and the unfolding of the promise of God.

 Genesis a “Book of Beginnings”

 Outline of the Genesis

 The Importance of Genesis

 The Voice of Jehovah at the Opening of Great Eras

The Days of Creation  Were they 24-hour days?  Does it make any difference whether they were 24-hour days or eons?  Was there a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?  Were they 24-hour days?  Does it make any difference whether they were 24-hour days or eons?  Was there a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?

 Genesis and the Nature of God

 “the angel of the L ORD ”

 Abraham a Real Historical Person?

 Digest of Life

 Four Pericopes

 Significant Voices of Jehovah

 Inspired Outline of Abraham’s Life

 Successive Theophanies

 Highest Trials Highest Blessings

 Abraham’s Character

 “And there builded he an altar unto Jehovah”

 Abraham’s Worship

 Role As a Leader

 Independence As a Leader

 Important Texts in the NT About Abraham