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Who Wrote the Bible? The Bible is actually a collection of ancient Jewish
documents, poetry, philosophy, historical records (compiled at the time for
various reasons), prophetic writings and practical letters written during the
difficult years of the early Christian era. There are 66 books in all, and they
were written by 40 different authors
ranging from a huge variety of backgrounds.
The collection spans a period of about 1,500 years. Some authors wrote just one single book,
others wrote several of the books.
Many of the authors are known historically; several are still unknown
from other sources at this point. The Bible boldly claims to be divinely inspired. Is it true?
On this subject, I found this
delightful snippet many years ago, and have also come across it several times
since. It has never had a name
attached, so I don’t know who originally wrote it, but the truths contained
in it are too good not to share: Could an ordinary person have put the Bible together? Or did God do it? If an ordinary
person could do it, let’s look at what would have to be done.
Our task completed,
we now have to preserve the books in a hostile world for at least 2,000
years, all the while subjecting them to the sceptical scrutiny of the
scholars of every age. And after 2,000
years this collection of books must still be able to speak, and bring hope,
to a lost and confused humanity. Could an ordinary person have put the Bible together? Or did God do it? When beginning to explore and study
the Scriptures, one of the big surprises is the amazing continuity and consistency
that becomes apparent through such a seemingly hotch-potch collection of bits
and pieces of ancient literature. Despite the large assortment in
types of manuscripts, the many different writing styles, and the incredibly
long time period spanning the writings, the books of the Bible hold a common
thread and a consistent theme from Genesis, the first book, through to
Revelation at the end. Facts given in
the various books regarding events, history and geographical locations all
agree well with each other and with known history from other sources. But back to the question of
authorship. Firstly, Scripture itself
claims to be ‘inspired’ by God (the literal
translation of ‘inspired’ being ‘God-breathed’). 2 Timothy 3:16 clearly states that, ‘All Scripture is inspired by God’’,
and 2 Peter 1:21 says that, ‘No
prophetic message ever came just from the will of man, but men were under the
control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that came from God’’. This bold claim to divine intervention in
authorship later becomes validated through the astonishing number of fulfilled
prophecies. Jesus himself knew that the words written in the Scriptures by the prophets were given by God (see Mark
7:5-13). He also gave the Scriptures supreme authority – when countering
the religious leaders of his time (see Mark 7:1-20), and when countering
others who were out to trap him (see Mark 12:1-27). Secondly, the weight of evidence to
the fact that the Bible is inspired by God is enormous when seen in the light
of changed lives of those who read
it. Throughout history there have been
countless millions of stories of people whose lives have been completely
transformed for the better, just through having spent time with the
Scriptures. Sir Walter Scott once said, ‘Compared with the Bible, all other books
are mere leaves, or fragments. Many
books give us information or inspiration, but only the Bible can give us
permanent transformation’. The writers of the Bible were undoubtedly human, but the author was God. No other book gives us more insight into
our lives. No other book gives us more
hope for our future. And there is no
other book like the Bible that takes us on a journey that can bring us into a
relationship with the Creator of the Universe. The Bible really is ‘a lamp to our
feet and a light for our path’ (Psalm 119:105). |
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