Multiple Authorship

So, in class a major portion of our discussion has been about the multiple authorship of the first books of the Bible (J.E.D.P.R.). This is the most widely accepted theory, and who am I to argue? The experts who spend lifetimes researching and examining these things probably know a great deal about it more then I do. But rather it was written by five people, or one, or even a mystical unicorn with opposable thumbs, my question is does it really matter?

Knowing who the authors of the different books of the bible were in no way changes what these books say. Would they have less literary significance if they were just written by some random person? I come from the school of thought that the only thing that matters about a piece of literature is what you get out of it, or how it affects you. We all bring our own background and baggage to every piece of text we sit down to read. This is why almost every story has a different meaning for everybody. It could matter less who the author was, or what their intentions were, the only thing that matters is what is taken from it by the reader.

Not to say that I don't find it interesting to know. I quite enjoy learning new ‘tid-bits’ of information. But do such trivial things warrant such a large focus of our attention?