How was the bible written and who wrote it?
Is the bible the inspired word of God or is it a fancy well written collection of books written by religious scholars? There has been great discussion on this issue but there is actually a lot of evidence to prove that the bible was written by God through his chosen servants.
What the word, ‘bible’ means.
The bible is the greatest book of all time, because of its age, the number of copies bought, the amount of languages that it has been translated into and because it is quite simply a literary masterpiece not to mention the fact that it has survived a lot of controversy. Let’s begin with the name. The word ‘Bible’ translates from the Greek word, ‘bi-bli’a’ which means, ‘little books’. This is derived from ‘bi’blos’ which describes the inner of the papyrus plant from which a primitive form of paper comes.
Over time, ‘bi-bli’a meant a number of things, from writings and scrolls to eventually the collection of books that make up the bible.
How many books?
There are sixty six books in the bible. It starts with Genesis and ends with Revelation. Thirty nine of those books make up three quarters of the bible and are the Hebrew Scriptures and a few small parts are written in Aramaic. The last part of the bible is the Christian Greek Scriptures. The way the bible was originally written changed over the course of the years, not the scriptures themselves but the way they were presented. The Masoretes divided the Hebrew Scriptures into verses then come the thirteenth century chapters were added. This makes it much easier to read the bible and pick out what one wants to study. Even though the bible is divided into chapters and verses, the book forms a complete whole that contains a very important message to mankind.
How many writers?
Forty human ’ghost-writers’ were used by God to create this masterpiece, among them are men that many people have heard of such as Moses and Daniel and Matthew and Luke but there are also small books that were written by men such as Habakkuk, Mordecai, Ezra, Nehemiah and Hosea. All these men were inspired by God. ’All scripture is inspired of God’ and this expression means, ’God-breathed’. So, by breathing on these remarkable men God used his spirit to direct what he wanted to be written and recorded. Think of God’s spirit as he directed these men as his holy finger writing the bible as shown in Exodus 8;18,19.
The men that wrote the bible were remarkable in the fact that some of them had no scholastic training and were uneducated. Some were shepherds, farmers, fishermen and tax collectors while others were priests or physicians. If you read any part of the bible, its amazing how well written it actually is and this is because God put his thoughts and purpose into these men’s minds and hearts.
He saw to it that the written word of truth was easily understood and could be translated easily also.
How long did it take to write?
The bible took 1,610 years to write and that is another reason why it is so remarkable because God’s theme is carried throughout from Genesis to Revelation. In 1513 B.C.E, Moses began writing. In 443B.C.E Nehemiah and Malachi wrote their books before there was a gap of 500 years until Matthew wrote his account. 60 years after that John added his writings and the bible was complete. No other book was written this way and has stood the test of time.
What about the authenticity of the bible?
The bible has been attacked by many but not one of these efforts has undermined its position and power. Its history is accurate and can be fully relied upon, from the fall of Babylon to different Kings and emperors such as Augustus and Pilate. It is vastly prophetic too and described the last days of mankind, from earthquakes to wars and famine and racism. All these things are happening now and cannot be ignored or disregarded.
To conclude, I think that the bible is an amazing collection of books and there is so much more information that cannot be contained in just one article. Some people may say that the bible is just a very good book but the facts tell a very different story. It demonstrates the integrity, the zeal, the passion and the painstaking efforts of 40 remarkable men whose burning desire was to see the word of God written down for everyone on the earth to read, and that is quite simply a divine miracle.
