Did Moses write the Torah?

[otseng]

There are two main views regarding the authorship of the Torah (Pentateuch). The traditional view holds that Moses wrote it during the Exodus from Egypt, around the 15th or 13th century BC, depending on the early or late date of the Exodus. The scholarly view proposes that the Torah was compiled during the post-exilic period in Persia, between approximately 539 and 333 BC.

Debate topic: Did Moses write the Torah?

[POI]

There are two main views regarding the authorship of the Torah (Pentateuch). The traditional view holds that Moses wrote it during the Exodus from Egypt, around the 15th or 13th century BC, depending on the early or late date of the Exodus. The scholarly view proposes that the Torah was compiled during the post-exilic period in Persia, between approximately 539 and 333 BC.

Debate topic: Did Moses write the Torah?

I would first like to know your position, as it is yet another one of those debated topics.... Is your position that...

a) Moses wrote all of the Torah?
b) Moses wrote some of the Torah?
c) other?

[POI]

There are two main views regarding the authorship of the Torah (Pentateuch). The traditional view holds that Moses wrote it during the Exodus from Egypt, around the 15th or 13th century BC, depending on the early or late date of the Exodus. The scholarly view proposes that the Torah was compiled during the post-exilic period in Persia, between approximately 539 and 333 BC.

Debate topic: Did Moses write the Torah?

Second response, in which I'm open to adjust, but it's almost pointless anyways.... I'll explain below.

Did Moses actually exist? Dunno? Maybe so, maybe not?

Did Moses write the Torah? Dunno? Assuming he really existed, maybe he only wrote some of it and not all of it? But even IF we were to confirm Moses existed, and wrote some/all of it, should a sensible person believe all of what was written within the Pentateuch - (including the supernatural claims)?

At the end of the day, if I were to hold the position that Moses existed, and wrote some/all of the Pentateuch, it would not move my "belief needle" at all, as I simply do not buy any of the supernatural claims within any of the storylines. Call me unsensible if you wish Just because the story can identify with actual events in part, or even in full, does not then bolster any more veracity in the supernatural claims as well.

*************************

And for what it's worth, now that we have the power of AI, here is more fuel to the fire.:

AI Overview:

There is no definitive historical or archaeological evidence outside of the biblical text to confirm the existence of Moses or the Exodus story. Many scholars believe the biblical narrative, including the story of Moses and the Exodus, is a myth or legend, potentially drawing on older Near Eastern myths and adapted to the cultural and religious context of the Israelites.

Here's why some scholars doubt the historicity of Moses:

Lack of Extra-Biblical Evidence: While the Bible describes Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, there are no contemporary Egyptian records or archaeological findings that corroborate this event.

Dating Issues: The Exodus story is typically dated to the 13th century BCE, a period with relatively well-documented Egyptian history, yet there is no mention of a large-scale Israelite exodus or related events.

Mythological Parallels: The Moses story shares similarities with other ancient Near Eastern myths and legends, leading some to suggest it is a cultural myth rather than a factual account, according to a World History Encyclopedia article.

The Name "Moses": The name "Moses" is Egyptian, meaning "born of," and is found in other Egyptian names. This doesn't prove the biblical Moses didn't exist, but it does suggest a possible Egyptian origin for the name and potentially the story.

Scholarly Debate: Many scholars, especially historians and archaeologists, find the biblical account problematic and view the Exodus story as a foundational myth for the Israelite religion and identity.

Arguments for historicity are largely based on faith in the biblical text and interpretations of the text as literal history. For example, some point to the appearance of Moses in the Transfiguration of Jesus as evidence of his historical existence, according to A Frank Voice. However, this interpretation is not universally accepted, and even within religious traditions, there is room for interpreting the biblical narrative as having symbolic or mythological elements.

[otseng]

I would first like to know your position, as it is yet another one of those debated topics.... Is your position that...

a) Moses wrote all of the Torah?
b) Moses wrote some of the Torah?
c) other?

My belief is Moses wrote most of the Torah.

as I simply do not buy any of the supernatural claims within any of the storylines.

Whether the supernatural realm exists or not is an entirely different topic. And just because someone writes about the supernatural does not mean they didn't write it.

And for what it's worth, now that we have the power of AI, here is more fuel to the fire.:

As I've demonstrated before, AI can be wrong. So please cite the actual source that AI is referencing in the future so we can look at those.

[otseng]

Debate topic: Did Moses write the Torah?

It is generally accepted multiple authors over a span of time are involved in the writing of the Torah.

The composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) was a process that involved multiple authors over an extended period of time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_Torah

There is no consensus on what was the process, particularly among scholars.

The precise process by which the Torah was composed, the number of authors involved, and the date of each author remain hotly contested.

Scholars frequently use these newer hypotheses in combination, making it challenging to classify contemporary theories as strictly one or another. The general trend in recent scholarship is to recognize the final form of the Torah as a literary and ideological unity, based on earlier sources, was likely completed during the Persian period (539–333 BCE).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_Torah

Previously, the documentary hypothesis (DH) was very popular.

The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). A version of the documentary hypothesis, frequently identified with the German scholar Julius Wellhausen, was almost universally accepted for most of the 20th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis

However, modern scholars have moved away from the classical DH model because of its many problems.

The consensus around the classical documentary hypothesis has now collapsed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis

Replacing the DH model, other models, such as the "fragmentary" and "supplementary" models, have been proposed.

As a result, there has been a revival of interest in "fragmentary" and "supplementary" models, frequently in combination with each other and with a documentary model, making it difficult to classify contemporary theories as strictly one or another. Modern scholars also have given up the classical Wellhausian dating of the sources, and generally see the completed Torah as a product of the Achaemenid period (probably 450–350 BCE), although some would place its production as late as the Hellenistic period (333–164 BCE), after the conquests of Alexander the Great.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis

In biblical studies, the supplementary hypothesis proposes that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) was derived from a series of direct additions to an existing corpus of work.

While documentarians originally placed the authorship of the Pentateuch in the 10th to the 6th centuries BCE, the supplementary hypothesis places the authorship of the Pentateuch later, in the 7th to 5th centuries.

The supplementary hypothesis denies the existence of an extensive Elohist (E) source, one of the four independent sources described in the documentary hypothesis.

While the hypothesis is not the only revision of the documentary hypothesis to be made, it is one of the few at the forefront of Pentateuch studies and has been suggested by many scholars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplementary_hypothesis

[POI]

My belief is Moses wrote most of the Torah.

Can you please clarify what you mean exactly by 'most of the Torah'? This is a somewhat vague, or an overly broad statement. Since it is a debated topic, I'd like to your position about it? Exactly what part(s) weren't and what parts were written by 'Moses' and how do you know?

And just because someone writes about the supernatural does not mean they didn't write it.

??? I know someone had to write it. Quite honestly, anyone who makes many many many claims of the supernatural is going to raise an eyebrow or two regarding credibility. The question kind of remains though... <Was> Moses an actual person from antiquity? Hmmm? If Moses was not a real dude, then I guess we can obviously rule him out as a viable option.

As I've demonstrated before, AI can be wrong. So please cite the actual source that AI is referencing in the future so we can look at those.

Didn't you also demonstrate that cited source(s) can also be 'wrong'? So really, what's the difference.... Anyone can argue anything. As I've also stated prior, when AI doesn't give one an answer one likes, keep searching.