During the 19th century
various German scholars presented widely
differing theories regarding the origins of the
first five books of the Bible.
None of these theories gained
complete ascendancy until 1878, when a particular
theory — strikingly different from most of the
views previously held — was advanced by Julius Wellhausen.
Though more than a century has passed during which no new evidence for the theory has been
discovered, it is still being taught today in almost the
identical form in which Wellhausen presented it.