What Religion Wrote The Bible
The Bible is the holy scripture of the Christian religion, purporting to tell the history of the Earth from its earliest creation to the spread of Christianity in the first century A.D. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament have undergone changes over the centuries, including the the publication of the King …
What Belongs In The Bible
There was no Bible as we know it for the first 350 years of Christianity. Jesus did not give his Apostles a list of the books of the Bible before he ascended into heaven. Rather, the early leaders of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, discerned which books belonged in the Bible. This process took centuries.
Some criteria for determining the canon of Scripture were as follows:
- Special relation to God, i.e., inspiration
- This means that, guided by the Holy Spirit, the leaders of the early Church discerned that these books were inspired by God
Scriptures Authors: Human And Divine
Just as we humans participate in Gods ongoing creation through procreation, we also had a part in creating the Scriptures. God and his people have always worked side by side. God chose Mary to bear Jesus. The prophets brought Gods message to Israel. Jesus sent the Apostles on a mission to preach the Gospel to the whole world. The message that God wants conveyed is contained in the Scriptures, but the way in which it is conveyed was left up to the specific authors.
Therefore, it is very true to say that God is the author of the Scriptures, but it is also true that the human authors are the authors of the various books of the Bible. For example, St. Paul is the author of the First Letter to the Corinthians. God is also its author. Each Gospel has a different flavor based on the personality and goals of its human author.
The Bible is the written account of the human experience with God. Many parts of the Bible are oral tradition that was written down. Most people were illiterate and relied much more on their memories to pass on traditions and stories. Oral tradition was the norm long before writing and reading was popular.
Different books have different histories. For example, Genesis likely involved many sources passed down over hundreds of years. Pauls first letter to the Corinthians has one human author and was written within 30 years of Jesus death and resurrection.
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Types Of Authors Who Wrote The Bible
Sometimes we assume every book was written by one, easily identifiable person. And thats true in many cases, but not always. Heres a brief rundown of the variety of human tools and methods God used.
Who Wrote The Bible God Or Humans Are All Bibles The Same
The Bible is one of the books that is read by Christians globally, but is it right? Have all the translated versions got it right? Who wrote and compiled the Bible? These are all questions that we will look at in this blog.
The Bible and its many different versions are controversial subjects. Many people ask who wrote the Bible and the difference between the other versions. This blog investigates whether God or human beings wrote the Bible.
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How Did Humans Write The Word Of God
Humans wrote the Bible God wrote life. Or study cells, or living things, seek truth with open hand. The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand. The truth has left its living word for anyone to read. So turn and look where best you think the story is unfurled. Humans wrote the Bible God wrote the world.
How Did Christianity Spread Around The World
The Epistles, or letters, written by Paul the Apostle to churches dotted across the Mediterranean world which are our best source for the initial spread of Christianity confirm that Christianity started in Jerusalem, but spread rapidly to Syria and then to the rest of the Mediterranean world, and was mostly accepted by non-Jews, says John Barton, former professor of the interpretation of holy scriptures at the University of Oxford.
The epistles are our earliest evidence for Christianity, says Barton. The first date from the AD 50s, just two decades after the death of Jesus.
As Pauls letters to churches such as the one in the Greek city of Thessalonica reveal, the first Christian communities were often persecuted for their beliefs.
And its such persecution, particularly at the hands of the Romans, that may have inspired the last book of the New Testament, Revelations. With its dark descriptions of a seven-headed beast and allusions to an imminent apocalypse, Revelations is now widely believed to be a foretelling of the grisly fate that the author believed awaited the Roman oppressors of Christianity.
Versions of the Bible
Different editions of the Bible have appeared over the centuries, aiming to further popularise the stories and teachings within. Here are three of the most notable versions
King James Bible
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Who Wrote The Bible: The New Testament
Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount.
Finally, the question of who wrote the Bible turns to the texts dealing with Jesus and beyond.
In the second century B.C. with the Greeks still in power, Jerusalem was run by fully Hellenized kings who considered it their mission to erase Jewish identity with full assimilation.
To that end, King Antiochus Epiphanes had a Greek gymnasium built across the street from the Second Temple and made it a legal requirement for Jerusalems men to visit it at least once. The thought of stripping nude in a public place blew the minds of Jerusalems faithful Jews, and they rose in bloody revolt to stop it.
In time, Hellenistic rule fell apart in the area and was replaced by the Romans. It was during this time, early in the first century A.D., that one of the Jews from Nazareth inspired a new religion, one that saw itself as a continuation of Jewish tradition, but with scriptures of its own:
Wikimedia CommonsPaul the Apostle
While the writings attributed to John actually do show some congruity between who wrote the Bible according to tradition and who wrote the Bible according to historical evidence, the question of Biblical authorship remains thorny, complex, and contested.
What Does It Mean To Be Inspired By The Holy Spirit
Peter, Paul, and the New Testament writers agree with Jesus: The Bible is the Word of God by virtue of His ministry through chosen vessels to reveal His intent. First, Peter says,
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit .
Then, Paul writes unequivocally:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness .
Does inspired mean that God mechanically directed the hand of each biblical author to record Gods own voice? Absolutely not. What is so marvelous about the Bible is that Gods Word comes to us through the personalities, the circumstances, the challenges, the joys and sorrows with people just like us. Just as God sent His only begotten Son to live the life we could never live and die the death that should have been ours, who rose from the grave on the third day, so God wrote the Bible. He revealed His Word to us in a way that we could understand, in a way that is accessible, and a way that is both beautiful and unified.
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All 66 Books Of The Bible Agree
But here is the wonder of it all: When the 66 books of the Bible with their 1,189 chapters made up of 31,173 verses are brought together , we find perfect harmony in the message they convey. As the great scholar F. F. Bruce noted: The Bible is not simply an anthology there is a unity which binds the whole together.
The Bible writers gave Gods messages by voice and pen while they lived, and when they died, their writings lived after them. These prophetic messages were then gathered together, under Gods leading, in the book we call the Bible.
Who Wrote The Bible
Scholars have investigated the issue for centuries, but many questions persist.
Over centuries, billions of people have read the Bible. Scholars have spent their lives studying it, while rabbis, ministers and priests have focused on interpreting, teaching and preaching from its pages.
As the sacred text for two of the worlds leading religions, Judaism and Christianity, as well as other faiths, the Bible has also had an unmatched influence on literatureparticularly in the Western world. It has been translated into nearly 700 languages, and while exact sales figures are hard to come by, its widely considered to be the worlds best-selling book.
But despite the Bibles undeniable influence, mysteries continue to linger over its origins. Even after nearly 2,000 years of its existence, and centuries of investigation by biblical scholars, we still dont know with certainty who wrote its various texts, when they were written or under what circumstances.
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Development Of The Christian Canons
Development of the Old Testament canonDevelopment of the New Testament canonSt. Jerome in his StudyJeromeLatinVulgate
The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the 4th century a series of synods produced a list of texts equal to the 39, 46, 51, or 54-book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, most notably the Synod of Hippo in 393 CE. Also c. 400, Jerome produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible , the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. With the benefit of hindsight, it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time.
The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”.
Some denominations have additional canonical holy scriptures beyond the Bible, including the standard works of the Latter Day Saints movement and Divine Principle in the Unification Church.
Ethiopian Orthodox canon
Who Were The Human Writers
So, who were the human writers of the Bible? Thats the most direct way this question was posed. Let me try to answer it as directly.
At least ten of the books of the Bible are unsigned. The authors did not see fit to include their names in the books they wrote. For example, Job and Esther in the Old Testament we dont know who wrote them. In the New Testament, Hebrews we dont know who wrote Hebrews. But the traditional list of authors would go like this:
- Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible and at least one of the Psalms .
- Ezra the scribe wrote the books of Ezra and 12 Chronicles.
- Nehemiah wrote the book of Nehemiah.
- Psalm writers include David, Asaph, the sons of Korah, Ethan, Heman.
- Solomon wrote some of the Psalms, most of the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
- Agur and Lemuel wrote some of the Proverbs.
Then all the prophets wrote the books by their own name:
- Isaiah
- Jeremiah, who also wrote Lamentations
- Ezekiel
Then the writers of the Gospels in the New Testament:
- Matthew
- Luke, who also wrote Acts
- John
In fact, its interesting: If youd ask most people, Who wrote most of the New Testament? theyd probably say Paul, because he wrote thirteen letters. But actually, Luke wrote most of the New Testament because the books of Luke and Acts together comprise more of the New Testament than any other author which is why we named our first son Luke, but nobody calls him Luke anymore he goes by Karsten.
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How Did God Use Humans To Write The Bible
Amanuenses, or human agents, were utilized by God, the Ultimate Author of the Bible, to accomplish His goals, and the outcome was the divinely inspired Word of God. The Quest Study Bible is a highly recommended resource. Obtain even more insights from your Bible study by downloading Logos Bible Software for free now. Topics that are related include:
Did God Dictate The Bible To The Authors
The premise is the same even if God did not dictate His Word to the human authors in the way that some people think. Amanuenses, or human agents, were utilized by God, the Ultimate Author of the Bible, to accomplish His goals, and the outcome was the divinely inspired Word of God. Who was the author of the Bible? To get our Questions of the Week, simply enter your your address here.
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So What Is The Answer
When it comes to authorship of the Bible, of course men were involved. Christians would be the first to point this out. For example, Paul wrote letters to early churches that are included in the Scriptures . David wrote many of the Psalms. Moses wrote the Pentateuch, or the Torah . In fact, it is estimated that over 40 different human authors were involved.2 So, this is not the issue.
The issue is this: did God have any involvement or not? Did God inspire the authors of the Scriptures?3 When someone claims that the Bible was written by men and not God, this is an absolute statement that reveals something extraordinary.
It reveals that the person saying this is claiming to be transcendent! When one claims that God was not inspiring the human authors of the Bible, that person is claiming to be omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent!
Set Aside What Religious Tradition Says And Discover Who Wrote The Bible According To The Scholars Who Have Examined The Actual Evidence
Wikimedia CommonsA depiction of Paul the Apostle writing his epistles.
HOLY BOOKS HAVE A REACH that goes far beyond what virtually all works of literature can ever accomplish. Unlike, say, The Great Gatsby, the Bible is a text upon which millions and millions of people have based their entire lives.
That fact can be good or bad, and its often been both over the many centuries throughout which Christians have been reading the Bible and Jews have been reading the Torah. But given its immense reach and cultural influence, its a bit surprising how little we really know about the Bibles origins. In other words, who wrote the Bible? Of all the mysteries surrounding the Bible, that one may be the most fascinating.
Were not completely ignorant, of course. Some books of the Bible were written in the clear light of history, and their authorship isnt terribly controversial. Other books can be reliably dated to a given period by either internal clues sort of the way no books written in the 1700s mention airplanes, for instance and by their literary style, which develops over time.
Religious doctrine, of course, holds that God himself is the author of or at least the inspiration for the entirety of the Bible, which was transcribed by a series of humble vessels. About the best that can be said for that notion is that if God really did write the Bible through a millennium-long sequence of various authors, he was certainly doing it the hard way.
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