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Not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 17:12=Psalm 109:8). Therefore, Christianwhether Jew or Gentileembrace your Scriptures. Initially, in his 1780 Introduction to the Old Testament, Eichhorn said that Moses copied previous texts. So the writings that Jesus authorized through his apostles are included in our Bibles because they summarize the completion of what was promised in the Old Covenant, namely, the New Covenant. There are other examples in Scripture that lend some credibility to the idea that Moses saw his coming death and wrote about the circumstances. In this case, Lot was Abraham's brother's son, i.e., Abraham's nephew. Whats Wrong with the Framework Hypothesis? And the LORD said to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book." (Exodus 32:30-33) In order that Israel might be saved from the wrath of God, Moses stood ready to offer his own lifeto take the punishment of the people's sins on himself if God could find no other way to forgive them. A "Hebrew" is anyone who is descended from "Eber" (Ever in Hebrew), an ancestor of Abraham and Moses (See Genesis 10:24). These are the three implications. Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. Genesis 1:12:4a is the fir Genesis 6:4 reads: The Nephilim were on the earth in those daysand also afterwardwhen the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. Galatians 3:10,13,24 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them, Galatians 4:21-31 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? One of the major attacks on the Bible in the past 300 years has been directed against Moses and his authorship of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. They were implicitly Deistic or atheistic in their thinking. As this hypothesis was developed by a number of Jewish and theologically liberal Christian scholars in the late seventeenth to the late nineteenth centuries, there were a number of different proposals of who wrote what and when. Spinoza's arguments included these: 1), All people need to know where they came from, where their place in history is, or they will be very confused people. There is also the fact that since the Israelites were never enslaved in Egypt and there was no Exodus, then there is no historical place for a Moses. We can answer this question in a number of ways. Did Moses have little or nothing to do with the writing of the book of Genesis or the rest of the Pentateuch? And besides all these explicit quotes from Scripture, Johns Gospel is strewn with indirect allusions to Scripture. What Does Genesis 12:13 Mean, Why Does It Matter. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. What does the word witness imply? The first five books of the BibleGenesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomyare commonly referred to as the "five books of Moses.". Internet Explorer is no longer supported. 1.He Was Qualified. He's talking about this issue of divorce. Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular. He knew that Genesis says Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day of creation. These are the Yahwist (J), Elohist (E), and Priestly (P) sources which in turn reflect older oral traditions . This is confirmed by the singular Jewish testimony (until the last few centuries) that these books are the writings of Moses. Genesis is the first book of the Bible, and one of the five books of the Pentateuch. My thoughts were: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. These postmosaica establish a principle that later inspired editors/redactors can contribute to the writing of the Pentateuch. Jesus had met Abraham in Genesis 12 and 15, and in Exodus 3:13-17. The Bible begins with these famous words in Genesis 1, laying the foundation for the rest of the Bible. Genesis 1 and 24-hour Creationism. For example, one translation of the Bible we surveyed said this in its introduction to the Pentateuch: Despite its unity of plan and purpose, the book is a complex work, not to be attributed to a single original author. Please check errors and resubmit. . But, perhaps the most convincing passage of all is found in John 5:46-47 where Jesus said: "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. While he believed in the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, he noticed that a few verses (e.g., Genesis 12:6, Genesis 22:14) had some phrases that seemed mysteriously out of place.4 But he never pursued these mysteries to resolve them.5, About 500 years later, the famous Jewish philosopher Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza (16321677) picked up on what Ibn Ezra had stated and asserted that Ibn Ezra did not believe Moses wrote the Pentateuch. The Mosaic Law: A Preparatory Gospel Answer (1 of 6): Ok so we have seen that Moses could have written Exodus through Deuteronomy based upon his own eyewitness . God said things and did things in the Scriptures which, if we had understood them, would have given us a glimpse of Jesus and would have prepared us to recognize him and receive him when he came. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. There are postmosaica in the book of Genesis as well. Not one of his bones will be broken (John 19:36=Psalm 34:20). During their captivity in Babylon, the Hebrews . 16. . The most decisive thing about this New Covenant is that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, died for sinners so that both Jews and Gentiles who trust him would become the heirs of the Old Testament promises. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Verse Concepts. Scripture was divinely inspired. And just as Christian authors today can quote truthful statements from non-Christian sources without thereby endorsing their wrong ideas, so the Biblical authors could quote non-believers or non-biblical sources without introducing false statements into their divine writings (e.g., Joshua 10:13, 2 Samuel 1:18, Acts 17:28, Titus 1:12, Jude 1415). Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. . Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural. Jesus shows up often in the Old Testamentnot by that name, and not in the same form as we see Him in the New Testament, but He is there nonetheless. Nothing is said about the authorship of the mass of literature of which this was a part. In John 1:34, John the Baptist says, "I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.". Several lines of evidence should lead us to reject the documentary hypothesis as a fabrication of unbelievers. The theme of the entire Bible is Christ. Demonstrative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. To date, no manuscript evidence of the J-document, E-document, P-document, D-document, or any of the other supposed fragments have ever been discovered. Heres a quick survey to give you a sense of how important the witness of Scripture is for John. And studies of non-literate people groups have shown that they have much better memories for maintaining the accuracy of their oral traditions than people groups that rely primarily on written communication to learn and pass on information. So a witness is ordinarily one who has seen something and can witness to what he has seen. Who wrote Genesis? John wrote, No one has ever seen God. It's not far-fetched to think Moses wrote the account of his own death and burial, particularly since God revealed his word and works to Moses (Ps. If you are Christs, then you are Abrahams offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:7, 29). So we have indirect allusions, direct quotes to show specific fulfillments, and we have statements, like in chapter 12, that show the whole Old Testament revelation of God is a revelation of Jesus. Right from the start it is important to note that the Pentateuch is anonymous. Just as "son of" in Hebrew doesn't always mean a literal father-son relationship, so the Hebrew word translated here as "brother" doesn't always mean a literal brother, but can refer more generally to a familial or tribal relative. Answer. Traditions attributes the Book of Genesis to Moses, but this is a view that few scholars would now support. Both Old Testament and New Testament. (Only David. And John 19:35 says, "He who . Listen to the way John uses the word. "But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? A similar obituary of Joshua was added by an inspired editor to the end of Joshua's book (Joshua 24:2933). But to say that the composition, even the origins, of the Pentateuch is to be associated with Moses certainly does not mean he wrote every word. All of them. Learn more in Tremper Longman's video series on the book of Genesis . Wrote This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all . Isaiah is witnessing to the glory of Jesus because when he saw the glory of God revealed from heaven, he was seeing the glory of Jesus. But what about the first book of the Bible? InJohn 2:17 Jesus drives out the money changers in the Temple, and John quotes Psalm 69:9 and says, His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house will consume me.. This is a good place for this focus because twice in this passage Jesus says that the Old Testament Scriptures are written about him. but I say unto you"Jesus settled whatever disputes existed between Torah and its application. They still do not necessarily mean that Moses wrote every word, but they do imply a belief that Moses had an integral connection with the composition of the Pentateuch. Others disagreed, pointing to other statements by Ibn Ezra that contradicted Spinoza's conclusion. Nevertheless, further attacks on the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch began taking hold in France through Jean Astruc, whose book Conjectures about the original memoirs which it appeared that Moses used in composing the Book of Genesis with certain remarks which help clarify these conjectures was published in 1753. Now back to John 5:39: You search the Scriptures, Jesus says, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. So Jesus is saying that the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures, our Scriptures, taken as a whole, witness to Jesus. Nevertheless, we can know that the book is God-breathed, and like many concepts in Scripture, although we may not fully understand all of it, we know enough about the book to see how it fits into Gods greater plan for humanity and salvation. "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. First, Moses could have easily written this without knowing that the Canaanites would be removed after his death, because due to warring kingdoms or other factors, people groups did get removed from territories. We call it the Old Testament, or Old Covenant, because we believe that the Jewish Messiah has comenamely, Jesusand by his death and resurrection has inaugurated a New Testament, that is, a New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:13; 12:24; 13:20). 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. In John 3:11, Jesus says, "We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen.". Seeking the Gospel in Malachi, the Last Book of the Old Testament. There is abundant biblical and extra-biblical evidence that Moses wrote the Pentateuch during the wilderness wanderings after the Jews left their slavery in Egypt and before they entered the Promised Land (about 14451405 BC). First, Moses was qualified to write the books. In John 6:4445, Jesus teaches that no one comes to him unless the Father draws him. 103:7). The story is of a spiritual Eden where Adam existed (and then Eve) in eternity past before creation. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.". Consider the following: Exodus 17:14Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it . In the New Testament, when quoting the Pentateuch, people often spoke of Moses being the author. It seems Rachel viewed this as the Lord finally turning the tide in judgment and permitting her a son. It is too obviously the product of more than one author, writing at different times and places. For more on this topic, see Henry Morris, The record of Esau's descendants contains a. There also appears to be evidence (Genesis 5:1) that Moses had used other documents to compile his book, such as the genealogies. It is certain that if Moses wrote these books he did not call them "Genesis," "Exodus," "Leviticus," "Numbers," "Deuteronomy;" for these words, again, come from languages that he never heard. We are still an immigrant people journeying somewhere better. From here, the door flew open to profess that other portions of the Law were not written by Moses. According to the Bible, Moses was the prophet who led Israel out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to the edge of the promised land. Where did Moses write about Jesus? In Genesis 14:14 the narrator reports that Abram chased the four ancient Near Eastern kings who kidnapped Lot as far as Dan. This reference to the city of Dan is a postmosaica because this city, earlier called Laish, was not named Dan until the time of the Judges (see Judges 18), and of course the name derived from the tribe of Dan, named after Jacobs son Dan, Abrahams great grandson. First, other biblical authors, including Joshua, Ezra, Daniel, and Paul, point squarely to Moses . 15:43 - 1 - Moses wrote of the need for Christ. However, that said, a number of passages in the Pentateuch mention that Moses wrote things down. Moses couldn't have written about his own death, which shows that he didn't write Deuteronomy. For had ye beleeued Moses, ye would haue beleeued me: for he wrote of me. In fact, Jesus insisted this has always been the truth behind the Torah. Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. We follow Abrahams generations through Joseph and how Israel ended up in Egypt due to a massive famine. Following Eichhorn, other ideas were advanced in denial of the Mosaic authorship of the first five books on the Old Testament. In other words, where did Moses get information on the patriarchs? A witness gives firsthand evidence. But much of the Bible was written from the eyewitness experience of the authors (e.g. - American Standard Version (1901) The Lord Jesus says in Matthew 19:8, "Moses, for the hardness of your heart, suffered you to put away your wives.". The books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) were all written roughly 1,400 years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Nothing is said about Moses in the Hebrew title to Genesis. Though modern editors do this usually in a footnote, we cannot demand the same literary convention be applied to the ancient editors. A second answer comes from the writings of the first century Jewish historian, Josephus. Genesis 14:14 mentions Dan. You're almost done! Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. After all, depending on when Genesis 1 occurred, even by conservative estimates, this would mean that Moses wrote down the events thousands of years after they occurred. Enhance your schools traditional and online education programs by easily integrating online courses developed from the scholars and textbooks you trust. This means that the way the Old Testament gets people ready to know Jesus is not merely by specific prophecies that have specific fulfillments in Jesus (like being born in Bethlehem), but far more profoundly, the point is: If you meet God, and know God, and admire God, and trust God, and are shaped by God as he truly reveals himself and his ways in the whole of the Old Testament, then when Jesus comes, you will know him. Modern source criticism, because of its late dating of the Genesis sources abandoned this traditional view. The tradition probably began with the legalistic code of the Book of Deuteronomy and was then gradually extended until Moses, as the central character, came to be regarded not just as the mediator of law but as author of both laws and narrative. This is simply astonishing. Of course, this question in itself can raise a number of disputes because people have not reached an agreement as to when Moses lived on earth. In Exodus 33:17, the Lord said to Moses directly, "I know thee by name.". Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from HarperCollins Christian Publishing (501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214 USA) providing information about products and services of HCCP and its affiliates. Traditional approaches to this question acknowledge that Moses did not write the entirety of the Pentateuch when they point to a so-called postmosaica. Seminary courses, theology books, introductions to the Pentateuch in Bibles, and the secular media have promoted the man-made idea that Moses did not write the Pentateuch (also known as the Law or Torah). He refers to Isaiah 54:13, It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. So the prophets point to how people will come to the Messiah, Jesus. John 12:3741 is an amazing window onto how Jesus viewed the Jewish Scriptures. From there, we have the well-known story of the Great Flood, and the birth of the Israelite nation through Abraham. of Ibid., p. 6364. This will refute any attempt of claiming that Muhammad was the prophet that Moses predicted. Jesus said, "He who hears My word, and . (See above about Luke. The implications of this for ourselves and for people of other religions are huge. 2 Peter 1:16) or as a result of research by the author (e.g., Luke 1:14). We could devote entire books to these questions, but after perusing this article from Apologetics.com, which I highly suggest reading, I would love to once again mention that Jesus did assert the authority found in Genesis. Our English Bibles translate toledoth variously as "this is the account" or "these are the generations" of Adam, Noah, Shem, etc. Moses the great leader of Israel, the man of God, was a type of Jesus. After all, we dont want to dive into the New Earth vs. Old Earth debate. . All the manuscript evidence we have is for the first five books of the Bible just as we have them today. Second, we also have evidence throughout Scripture, writes Don Stewart, of tradition being passed down from specific prayers of Abraham to the bones of Joseph. Most of the authorship of Scripture goes uncontested. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. The fact that these adversaries do not know Jesusdo not perceive his deity or Messiahship or his role as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53) shows that they dont know God. http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_tradition_bailey.html, http://science.jrank.org/pages/10523/Oral-Traditions-Oral-Traditions-Source-Method-Historical-Construction.html, Noahs Flood: a Historical, Global Catastrophe, Adam by direct divine revelation, so not connected with Adam's name. Jimmy Akin 1/1/2013. They assumed that Israel's religion was simply the invention of man, a product of evolution, as all other religions are. At most Jesus admits that through Moses came this com-mandment. How was Moses able to read pre-Tower of Babel texts? They are also called the Torah (Hebrew, "instruction," "law") and the Pentateuch (from . As yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead (John 20:9=Psalm 16:10). The Genesis course, taught by Tremper Longman III, illuminates the book of Genesis in light of the Bibles grand story. How do we know that Moses, and not a series of authors as proposed in the JEDP theory linked above, wrote this book? Theirs was a "pick and choose" approach to studying the Bible, which is hardly honest scholarship in pursuit of truth. . But how do we know this? . Privacy Policy and In addition, when the heavens . Luke 16:16. First, consider what the Bible itself says about the authorship of the Pentateuch. There is, however, a large amount of evidence that the author or compiler of the Book of Genesis was Moses. . In John 5:23, Jesus says, Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. The Father and the Son are revealed in Scripture as such a unity that if you dishonor one, you dishonor the other. The Documentary Hypothesis: Moses, Genesis, and the JEDP? He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me (John 13:18=Psalm 41:9). Perhaps the most astonishing statements about the Scriptures in the Gospel of John is John 12:3741 where John quotes Isaiah 6 (verse 10) which has in it the famous vision of God: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory! (Isaiah 6:3). There he was trained in "all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds" (Acts 7:22). Their subjective bias led them to illegitimately assume that any biblical statement was unreliable until proven reliable (though they would not do this with any other ancient or modern text) and when they found any disagreement between the Bible and ancient pagan literature, the latter was automatically given preference and trusted as a historical witness. However, that said, a number of passages in the Pentateuch mention that Moses wrote things down. (2) He received the information by direct revelation. Still, there are good reasons to co. The events at the conclusion of the Book of Genesis occurred some three hundred years before Moses was born. Furthermore, we have testimony from Jesus himself that Moses wrote these books. These additions may only be the most obvious examples of textual material added after the time of Moses and we cannot determine precisely what was authored by Moses or added by later inspired editors. John 7:21-22 - 21 Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. Nowhere in the Pentateuch is an author named, not Moses or any other person. .1. 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. 18:43 - 2 - Moses wrote of prophesies that were to be fulfilled by Christ. From A.D. 33 until approximately A.D. 80, the Holy Spirit breathed out His Word in twenty-seven books and nine authors. In 1805, Wilhelm De Wette contended that none of the Pentateuch was written before King David and that Deuteronomy was written at the time of King Josiah. But again, even if "near Dan, for that is the name of the other spring of Jordan" was added by a later inspired editor, this would not mean that it was inaccurate to say the Moses wrote Genesis.21. Of all the documents in the Bible, should we hold Genesis as the most suspect? The letters stand for: Then around 400 BC some redactors (i.e., editors) supposedly combined these four independently written texts to form the Pentateuch as it was known in the time of Jesus and modern times. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. Breakdown of the toledoth sections from Genesis 111. If we know God as he really is in the Old Testament, we know Jesus. For many, the answer to this question is a matter of orthodoxy, and debates quickly become passionate. The editorial comment would in no way deny the Mosaic authorship of the book of Genesis. - King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. God promised Abram in Genesis 12:23, I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you . And then in John 5:46, 47 Jesus says, "For if you believed Moses you would believe me, for he wrote of me. The authors of the New Testamentand even Jesus himselfappear to credit Moses as the author of Genesis. The skeptics erroneously assumed, without any other ancient Hebrew literature to compare with the biblical text, that they could, with scientific reliability, establish the date of the composition of each book of the Bible. In essence, John is saying: Where God is manifest in the Old Testament, Jesus is manifest. Exactly when Genesis was written down is not known. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. Because Genesis is technically an anonymous work, many readers wonder who wrote it. On the contrary, we embrace it as the word of God in preparation for Messiah Jesus, and as the word of God in the ongoing illumination of the meaning of Jesus and his work. - New American Standard Version (1995) For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. This specific place (Dan) was known to Abraham as one of the springs of Jordan. The traditional Jewish and Christian view that Moses wrote Genesis wasn't seriously challenged until the 1800s. But he was, and that too pointed to his truth. All rights reserved. . Several sources, or literary traditions, that the final redactor used in his composition are discernable. Notice this in John 8:57-58. Long-age geology, big bang cosmology, secular archaeology, liberal theology, and philosophical attacks on miracles in the Bible have deceived many people to believe that the Bible is not true and therefore cannot be trusted. Answer (1 of 13): There is no doubt that early Jewish and Christian tradition, is virtually unanimous in ascribing Genesis through Deuteronomy to Moses. Terms of Service apply. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. These references to the Book or Law of Moses are not necessarily, and until the postexilic period are unlikely, indicating the Pentateuch in its final form as we know it, but still they attest to some body of writing that was connected to the figure of Moses. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth., Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them., Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. He will have so shaped your mind and heart that when he comes in the flesh, there will be no discord, no dissonance, no contradiction between the God you know from the Old Testament and the appearance of God in Jesus. Evidence for Mosaic Authorship of the Torah. Jesus himself, quoting the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16) and a case law (Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9), said, For Moses said, Honor your father and mother, and Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death (Mark 7:10). From the base of peran; properly, through, i.e. Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it . [3] Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, How Do We . Lets close by looking at three of these. The Bible says that Jesus, God the Son, has been with the Father for all eternity. God saw Jesus and knew Jesus long before Jesus was on the earth. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason. Because in them you come to know God for who he really is, and that means coming to know Jesus. Mosaic authorship is the Judeo-Christian tradition that the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, were dictated by God to Moses. But most scholars place the compilation of the book somewhere between 1445 BC or 1290 BC. Considering he wrote these books thousands of years after the events, this bolsters the support for the veracity of Genesis. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:1112). How would he know about the events of Genesis and other events that happened hundreds (even thousands) of years before his time? Selected passages confirming Mosaic authorship. . Jesus Christ was greater than Moses. Its, of course, difficult to summarize all the events that happen in Genesis. No. For Instructors and School Administrators. The author of the book of Jasher and the time period of which it was originally written is a mystery, but it is validated as authoritative in several references in the Bible: II Samuel 1:18, Joshua 9, and Joshua 10:13. .. We are told that he was trained in all the wisdom and knowledge of Egypt. Galatians 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured . Hope Bolingeris an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, and the author 21+ books.