Who Wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by people in the varying ages of history, but all were guided or “inspired” to write their sections by the power of God called the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21:
"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (more correctly called Holy Sprit)."
So who were these people? Here is a list of them in rough order of the books they wrote:
Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Ruth, David, Solomon, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. These wrote down the books of the Old Testament section of the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Jude and Peter wrote down the New Testament section. All these lived at different times in the history of the nation of Israel. From the time of the exodus - the mass departure of the Israelites out of Egypt (about 1600BC) - until well after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus (about 90 AD).
The Bible is divided in to two parts; the Old testament, which was written between about 1600BC and 400BC, and the New Testament which was written about 40AD to about 90 AD.
"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (more correctly called Holy Sprit)."
So who were these people? Here is a list of them in rough order of the books they wrote:
Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Ruth, David, Solomon, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. These wrote down the books of the Old Testament section of the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Jude and Peter wrote down the New Testament section. All these lived at different times in the history of the nation of Israel. From the time of the exodus - the mass departure of the Israelites out of Egypt (about 1600BC) - until well after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus (about 90 AD).
The Bible is divided in to two parts; the Old testament, which was written between about 1600BC and 400BC, and the New Testament which was written about 40AD to about 90 AD.
How did the Bible Come to Us?
It is quite remarkable how the Bible has been preserved through the ages. The Old Testament was preserved by Jewish scholars on the one hand. The Holy Scriptures, as they call this section, was first preserved by Jewish scribes who meticulously copied down the ancient writings letter by letter, line by line. In about 3 BC the Old Testament, which was written in the Ancient Henbrew language, was translated by seventy scholars into the Greek language. Between 1946 and 1956 ancient copies of Old Testament texts were found in caves above the Dead Sea in Israel. These documents date from as early as 400 BC and were probably hidden in the caves at the time of the end of the first Jewish revolt about 70 AD. There are almost 1000 different texts, with extracts from all Old Testament books except for the book of Esther.
The New Testament was preserved by a number of lines. The Gospel records and letters of the Apostles were widely circulated among the early Christians. These were copied by hand and sent to new Christian communities as required.
The list of books as we have them today was established by the mid 4th century AD. A Latin translation of the entire Bible (Called the Vulgate) was completed by Jerome in 382 AD, although it did not include the Psalms. These were added about 20 years later. It is from all these sources that we are able to have Bibles today.
The New Testament was preserved by a number of lines. The Gospel records and letters of the Apostles were widely circulated among the early Christians. These were copied by hand and sent to new Christian communities as required.
The list of books as we have them today was established by the mid 4th century AD. A Latin translation of the entire Bible (Called the Vulgate) was completed by Jerome in 382 AD, although it did not include the Psalms. These were added about 20 years later. It is from all these sources that we are able to have Bibles today.
The Bible in English
During the Dark Ages, the only Bibles which were allowed in Western Europe were Latin Bibles. These were commonly chained to a pulpit. In this period, most common people could not read or write, they were unable to understand much of the Latin and therefore did not know or undertand most of the Bible's teachings. It became forbidden to translate the Bible into the language of the people.
In 1382 John Wycliffe published an English translation of the Bible. This was a very literal translation from the Latin Vulgate – the only Bible available to him. It is difficult to read and was written in Old English. His Bible was banned by the church and fifty years after his death he was declared a heretic. Only about 250 copies of this bible survive today.
Following him, Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press. This led to the mass production of books, which would be identical in content. In the sixteenth Century printing presses were established all over Europe and England. It led to a number of translations, starting with at of William Tyndale, who published his translation of the New Testament into English in 1526. This translation was a milestone in the long history of the Bible, as it was an authoritative version, as well as being relatively easy to read and understand. It too was banned by the church, but because of the printing press, copies were printed and distributed faster than they could be destroyed.
In 1604 a suggestion was made to King James I that a new “Authorised” translation should be made. And so it happened - a group of fifty four scholars was assembled to translate the Bible into English from all sources available. In 1611 the translators published the first Authorised version of the English Bible. It was not perfect, mostly due to printing errors and went through a series of mostly minor revisions. In 1885 to 1891 a new translation of the Bible was produced called “the Revised Version”. Its aim was to update the language, while keeping the style and to correct errors in translation. Since this time there have been a plethora of new translations. Some good, some very ordinary, but nevertheless, the Bible is with us today in English.
In 1382 John Wycliffe published an English translation of the Bible. This was a very literal translation from the Latin Vulgate – the only Bible available to him. It is difficult to read and was written in Old English. His Bible was banned by the church and fifty years after his death he was declared a heretic. Only about 250 copies of this bible survive today.
Following him, Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press. This led to the mass production of books, which would be identical in content. In the sixteenth Century printing presses were established all over Europe and England. It led to a number of translations, starting with at of William Tyndale, who published his translation of the New Testament into English in 1526. This translation was a milestone in the long history of the Bible, as it was an authoritative version, as well as being relatively easy to read and understand. It too was banned by the church, but because of the printing press, copies were printed and distributed faster than they could be destroyed.
In 1604 a suggestion was made to King James I that a new “Authorised” translation should be made. And so it happened - a group of fifty four scholars was assembled to translate the Bible into English from all sources available. In 1611 the translators published the first Authorised version of the English Bible. It was not perfect, mostly due to printing errors and went through a series of mostly minor revisions. In 1885 to 1891 a new translation of the Bible was produced called “the Revised Version”. Its aim was to update the language, while keeping the style and to correct errors in translation. Since this time there have been a plethora of new translations. Some good, some very ordinary, but nevertheless, the Bible is with us today in English.