The Church on the Origin of the Pentateuch

Let us say that the Church has viewed this theory, the “four-source theory” or Wellhausen hypothesis, with a certain reserve over the years. This has ranged from a practical prohibition of Catholic scholars holding the theory (the inferences drawn from the various responses of the Pontifical Biblical Commission during the reign of St. Pius X)  to something almost like practical approval (St John Paul II’s use of the fourfold division to explain the text of Genesis in his theology of the body).

The principal issue from tradition is the role of Moses in the formulation of the Pentateuch, or first five books of the Old Testament. It would seem that some form of Mosaic authorship is required but that the nature of this is left to the judgment of scholars. It is also clear from the practice of St. John Paul II that the use of this formula of interpretation is licit, whatever its ultimate historical value may be.

Most biblical scholars would regard it as hopelessly naive to question the reality of multiple sources, but at present there is more variety and freedom regarding the various theories that could be adopted, and perhaps even a slight movement toward more traditional hypotheses—for example, in the work of the Protestant scholar Margaret Barker.