Why I Like the Etiological Approach to Tanach

Hermann Gunkel was a German Protestant OT scholar in the late 19th and early 20th century. One of his key contributions to the study of the Torah was his analysis of Biblical stories as etiological tales. That is, as tales concerning origins. He argued that many if not most Biblical stories, particularly in Breishit, were composed in order to explain present day realities at the time of composition. They were merely reverse projections of the present.

Examples: Israel and Edom had a close connection, so we come up with a story of common ancestry. Beit El is a holy city, so we come up with a story of how Yaakov started it all. We perform infant circumcision, so we have a story of a covenant with Avraham. Various tribes are being unified, but maintaining northern and southern blocs, so we have another story of common ancestry, just this time with separate mothers based on geography. Etc, etc., etc.

What I like about this approach is that it implies that ancient Israelites didn't necessarily believe the stories when they were composed. I can imagine my ancestors sitting around a fire and inventing these tales, just like the Dybbuk or the Tooth Fairy. They become part of tradition, but as you grow up and realize they are not true you continue passing them on because they also provide meaning and a message and a national history to explain our way of life.