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Let’s short circuit the debate.  God wrote the Torah. Not J. Not E. Not D. Not P. Not King Josiah or the priests who rediscovered Deuteronomy. Not multiple authors over a period of several centuries. Not Cecil B. DeMille.

God. Well, actually Moses, as directed by God.

I could proceed to discuss the flawed principles of Biblical criticism, starting with Wellhausen’s rigid rejection of divine or unitary authorship, but why bother? The Bible itself provides the ultimate proof.

This week we commence the reading of the Book of Leviticus (VaYikra). Q.E.D.

Not convinced? How, you ask, does the Book of Leviticus prove anything?

Because no sentient human being to whom we might have ascribed authorship would have included Leviticus in this Bible. No writer would have wrecked his narrative. No editor would have permitted its intrusion. No publisher would have countenanced such buzzkill smack dab in the middle of what was going to be the runaway best seller of all time.

Visualize the Bible as it might have been: You recount the creation of the world and the failed experiments that end in the flood and the tower of Babel. You detail the saga and covenants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the drama of fraternal conflict, the descent to Egypt and slavery. You create the imagery and majesty of the redemption from Egypt, the splitting of the sea, and the climactic, dramatic, and cinematic shock and awe at the benefaction of the Torah. Then the adventures in the desert. Finally, the series of majestic and poetic valedictions of Moses.

Oh, wait. Visualize the real thing. In the middle, for a full twenty percent of the Book, you insert rituals of animal slaughter, the details of blood sprinkling, diagnosis and treatment of various skin diseases, rules for identifying which animals, fish, and insects may be eaten, periods of........

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