HOW CAME THE BIBLE?

HOW CAME THE BIBLE?

(General Knowledge)

Who Wrote the Bible?

Many people contributed to the writing of the Bible. In fact, the Bible is a diverse collection of writings from about 40 main contributors—30 in the Old Testament and 10 in the New Testament.

Some books are actually collections of writings from several authors, not just one. For example, while many people think of David when they think of the book of Psalms, there are individual psalms attributed to Moses, Asaph, a man named Ethan, and the sons of Korah.

Old Testament authors

The accounts preserved in the Old Testament—also known as the First Testament or Hebrew Scriptures—go back thousands of years. They were written down and communicated orally. Many regard Moses as the primary human author of the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah. Regardless of the role others may have played in compiling the Torah, it’s thought that Moses ensured the narratives, genealogies, and law codes were collected and retold faithfully in these five books (which are, after all, known by many Jewish people as the “five books of Moses”).

As already mentioned, David is considered the main human author of the Psalms, though others contributed too. David’s son, King Solomon, is credited with writing or inspiring much of Bible’s wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, etc.).

The First Testament also contains oracles from prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and others. Many of these messages were delivered in person—shouted from street corners, spoken in front of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, or pronounced in the royal courts of Israel and Judah. Only later were these oracles written down, often by the prophets themselves or by their scribes.

As time passed, all these writings were collected together into the First Testament. The Jewish people received them as divinely inspired Scripture.

New Testament authors

The New Testament consists of stories, teachings, and letters that circulated among the first Christian churches. Letters from apostles like Paul and Peter are among the earliest writings in the New Testament. These letters were meant to be read aloud by communities of believers in specific locations. After the recipients heard the message intended for them, they often memorized it and shared it with neighboring Christian communities.

 Luke and Acts, a two-volume series on the life of Jesus and the early church, was penned by a physician named Luke, who was also a traveling companion to the apostle Paul. The gospel of Matthew is popularly attributed to a tax collector variously known as Levi or Matthew—though given its content, some think it was written by someone with more training in the Hebrew Scriptures. Mark’s gospel is thought to record the memoirs of Peter, as told through the pen of John Mark. The gospel of John was written by one of Jesus’ closest disciples, giving us an eyewitness account of the Messiah's life.

Not just any book, not just any author.

Of course, for Christians, the Bible is more than just a human book. It is the authoritative, written Word of God. Through this ancient collection of books, God speaks into our world, revealing who he is and how he’s at work—then and now—repairing all that is broken. God did not simply give dictation to the human authors of Scripture; their contribution is real. Their personalities, perspectives, and writing styles are all discernable in the text—as are the unique situations and circumstances of those to whom they were writing. Yet God’s universal message is present from Genesis to Revelation.

It is truly amazing that God used so many people to tell his big story, one that transcends language, culture, and time. The Bible is a diverse collection of literature, yet it contains a unified message of redemption and renewal. God has given us a Bible that’s fully human and fully divine—fully inspired by his Spirit and fully a product of the world in which it was written.

How Did We Get The Bible?

The universe and all in it screams, 'There is a God!' (Romans 1:18-21), but the universe cannot tell us how it was made, its history, how we should live our lives, or about when its Creator came to Earth.

For that, God has given us His Word, the Bible. Because of the Word of God, we know that God created all things in six normal-length days, that it was originally a 'very good' place, and that the first man, Adam, disobeyed the Creator, thus corrupting the entire creation (Genesis 1-3; Romans 8:20-22). We know that Jesus Christ (the Creator) came to Earth to save His people from their sins, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures (1Corinthians 15:3-4).

Where did the Bible come from?

What we today call 'The Bible' is actually a collection of 66 books, written by about 40 different authors from all walks of life (kings, fishermen, a tax collector, tent maker, etc.) over a period of 1,600 years. Each book was considered God-breathed and was received as part of the canon of Scripture, since it came from a recognized speaker of God (normally a prophet or apostle, or someone under their supervision), and contained no historical, factual or doctrinal mistakes.

The various authors wrote their books under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16, literally ‘All Scripture is God-breathed’). This means that God the Holy Spirit guided the writers so that all of the very words they recorded in their own distinctive styles on the original scrolls were without error (2 Peter 1:21). The men who penned the books listed in what we call the ‘Old Testament’ (OT) wrote mainly in the Hebrew language (a few parts were written in Aramaic). The writers of the ‘New Testament’ (NT) books (written after Jesus returned to Heaven) wrote mainly in the common language of their time—Greek.

Since the Bible is the complete Word of God, who cannot lie, we can trust it to tell us the truth about the things we need to know. Because it is the Word of the Creator, we accept it as our final authority in every area it touches on. When we take the Bible as the writer intended, and in the way his original audience would have understood it, we have a basis for understanding and explaining what we observe in the world.

Bible 

Four hundred years after Christ returned to Heaven, people began to use the Greek word biblia (meaning ‘books’) to describe the collection of the sacred writings. Our word ‘Bible’ comes from biblia.

Word of God

The Bible claims to be the ’Word of God’ over 3,000 times (John 10:35; Hebrews 4:12). The authors of NT books often begin a quote taken from the OT with the phrase, ‘God said’ (Matthew 15:4–6). And direct quotes of God speaking in the OT are often begun with ‘Scripture says’ in the NT (Romans 11:2, 1Timothy 5:18). So the NT authors believed the ‘Word of God’ and ‘Scripture’ were the same.

Scripture

This word was used by the NT authors to refer to the sacred books of the OT (2Timothy 3:15, Romans 3:2) and also to other books of the NT (2 Peter 3:15-16, 1 Timothy 5:18, 2 Timothy 3:16). Christ Himself cited the Bible as final authority many times and said, 'Scripture cannot be broken' (John 10:35).

Prophet

A prophet was a special spokesman for God—he spoke, by God's power, the actual words God gave him.

Apostle

An apostle, as used here, was a man who had seen Christ after His Resurrection (Acts 1:21–22), and who was called by Jesus to be His ‘messenger’.

Canon 

Canon originally referred to a ‘reed’, which was used as a measuring rod, much as we use a metre rule or yardstick today for measuring. The complete list of Biblical books is called the canon, meaning the ‘measuring rod’, or the ‘authority’, for truth.

Divisions of the Bible

The Old Testament has 39 books. The Jews divided these books into three divisions: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Our English Bible divides the OT into four main groups:

1.      The Law: These books relay the history of the universe from the very beginning. They also tell about God’s working through the nation of Israel, and the laws given for Israel to follow.

2.      History: These 12 books continue the history of Israel, cover 1,000 years, and show the results of disobedience or obedience to God.

3.      Poetry: These books express worship toward God, give advice, and address some deep issues.

4.      Prophets: These books proclaim God’s blessings and judgments, and tell about future events. They are divided into Major and Minor prophets depending on the length of the book.

The 27 books of the New Testament are arranged into four divisions:

1.      The Gospels: These four books record the time Jesus spent on Earth, His death, and Resurrection.

2.      Church history: The book of Acts records the beginning of the church, and the spread of Christianity to the time of the Apostle Paul.

3.      The Letters: These 21 letters from apostles were addressed to churches in such places as Rome, Galatia, Ephesus and Colosse, or to individuals, or to Christians in general. They teach about Christianity and how to live the Christian life.

4.      Revelation: This book was written to encourage Christians suffering persecution. It also reveals what will happen in the future, when new heavens and a new Earth will be created for those who have received the free gift of eternal life.

Written of Years

1.      Matthew -AD 37

2.      James  -AD 46-49

3.      1Thessalonians-Early 50s

4.      2 Thessalonians  -Early 50s

5.      Luke-Early 50s

6.      Galatians-Early 50s

7.      Mark-AD 50s

8.      Philemon-AD 60-61

9.      1 Corinthians-Mid-late 50s

10.  2 Corinthians  -Late 50s

11.  Romans-AD 60

12.  1 Timothy-AD 62-63

13.  Titus  -AD 63

14.  1 Peter  -AD 63-64

15.  Colossians-Early 60s

16.  Ephesians-Early 60s

17.  Philippians-Early 60s

18.  Acts-Early-mid 60s

19.  Revelation-AD 64-66 [Ed. note: most conservative scholars date Revelation to c. AD 95]

20.  2 Peter -AD 64-66

21.  Hebrews-AD 64-68

22.  John-AD 65-69

23.  Jude-AD 66 [Ed. note: most conservative scholars date John’s Gospel to c. AD 85]

24.  1 John-AD 66-69

25.  2 John  -AD 66-69

26.  3 John-AD 66-69

27.  2 Timothy-AD 67