Review of The Pentateuch in the Twentieth Century
The Pentateuch in the Twentieth Century: The Legacy of Julius Wellhausen by Ernest Nicholson is probably the best contemporary defense of the Documentary Hypothesis. It does an excellent job of covering not only the history of the hypothesis but also the current challenges to it.
The first section of the book is devoted to a history of the development of the theory in the 19th century. Although any number of introductions to the Old Testament present such a summary, Nicholson’s treatment is much more in-depth, making it a good introduction to the history of scholarship on this subject.
The second — and longer — part of the book deals with modern alternatives to the theory in the wake of the break down of the consensus concerning the Documentary Hypothesis. It begins with the challenge to the theory by Rolf Rendtorff in the 1970s and moves through questions concerning the redating of J, the influence of Deuteronomy on J, the disappearance of E, and the debate over the nature of P. His command of the literature is impressive, and he does an excellent job summarizing the positions of each scholar. He covers Rendtorff, Blum, Schmid, van Seters, and a number of others.
Of course, being convinced of the correctness of the Documentary Hypothesis, Nicholson does not merely summarize these scholars; he also critiques their positions, which adds to the usefulness of this book. Due to the extensiveness of the arguments against the Documentary Hypothesis, his arguments against their arguments are sometimes rather thin, but he does at least attempt to address their concerns.
This book is a little too dense to be used as an undergraduate book on the source critical study of the Pentateuch. It is not an easy read. It would be difficult to read without already understanding at least a little about Pentateuchal studies. It would be excellent as a primary text for a seminary or Ph.D. class, provided it was supplemented with the readings of the scholars he is critiquing. If any scholar is looking for a book to bring them up to speed on contemporary thinking on source criticism, this book would fit that bill as well.