. . . even a conservative view of
the origin of the Bible must allow that some of the books may have gone through
three stages. These are the promulgation of source materials prior to the
greater writer, the collection of the source materials and the use of them by a
greater writer in putting together a single work, and subsequent revision of
that work. The prologue to Luke’s Gospel states that it went through at least
the first two stages. . . . Regarding the ‘inspiration’ of those who first
compiled the source material, a minimal view would be that at least part of
what they compiled was true and trustworthy, and that the inspired greater
writer was then able to separate the wheat from the chaff and use only valid
material in his book. Luke, in his prologue, to his sources (Luke 1:3)
indicates more than just setting down his source material in a pleasing order.
On the other hand, many of the original
compilers of the sources themselves were surely as inspired by God as the
greater writers who followed them. In the case of Luke’s Gospel, the tradents
who stood between Jesus and Luke notwithstanding, much of the material (e.g.,
the parables) came directly from Jesus himself, and he was surely inspired! For
this reason, I believe that in the case of Genesis there was genuine divine
inspiration not only in the person of Moses but in the persons who compiled the
stories long before him. (Duane A. Garrett, Rethinking Genesis: The Sources
and Authorship of the First Book of the Pentateuch [Ross-shire: Christian
Focus Publications, 2000], 250, 251)
Further Reading:
Biblical Prophets Changing their Words and the Words of Previous Prophets
