Who Wrote the Bible Anyway?

 

Image: Our Savior Lutheran Church

I suppose that most of us who attended Sunday School or Hebrew School as children at some point wondered who actually wrote the books that were compiled into what we refer to as The Bible.  I do not remember much about what we were taught but have a vague recollection that we were taught that Moses wrote the Old Testament, that the disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the Gospels, and the Apostle Paul wrote the Epistles.  It was pretty simple.

 

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There were many Bible-story books and some pretty good stories.  None of the chronology or geography came into the picture, however.  It seems that the adults did not think it was important or more likely that they had no idea about these things. If you start asking too many questions, Sunday School teachers get very nervous.  I suppose I was an adult when I first seriously asked myself who actually wrote these books and how they were put together.

The answers were enlightening.

For the purposes of this post, the term "Bible" refers to the Hebrew Bible (basically what is called the Old Testament by Christians) used by Jews, the Holy Bible with Apocrypha, and the Holy Bible without Apocrypha used by various Christian denominations.  We will discuss all of these and how they were compiled.  I will try to keep this very complex topic as lucid and succinct as possible without leaving out important details. Be assured that this format and the purpose of this forum do not lend themselves to verbose descriptions.  Many intermediate steps in the process of Bible-making will not be included for the sake of brevity.

The place to start is the beginning:  The Book of Genesis, the Torah, and the Hebrew Bible.  As I have said, the official position of the Christian church and the Jewish tradition is that Moses wrote the five books of the Torah (the Pentateuch in Greek), the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, is the canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the Nevi'im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (writings).

To be blunt but clear, in response to the traditional teaching, Moses DID NOT write the Torah or any other part of the Hebrew Bible as far as can be determined.  

Not that a man named Moses never told a story that got included in some version but scholars agree that the Torah and the other books in the Hebrew Bible were written over a period of hundreds of years by many authors who fell roughly into four schools of thought and who produced at least four (more counting redactors and editors) separate narratives that were stitched together to make the books read somewhat like a continuous narrative.

To be fair, this theory was developed over many years by many scholars and its history is complex.  I will simplify it here to make it a bit more clear.

The work of scholars produced a theory, dubbed the Documentary Hypothesis by Biblical historians.  Keep in mind, that the explanation here is profoundly simplified from the original work of the scholars who have developed it.

The Torah was written over a period of at least four hundred years from at least four main sources, identified as follows:

By about 1900, it was generally agreed there were four main sources, combined into their final form by a series of redactors, (R):

the Yahwist source (J) : written c. 950 BCE in the southern Kingdom of Judah;

the Elohist source (E) : written c. 850 BCE in the northern Kingdom of Israel;

the Deuteronomist (D) : written c. 630 BCE in Jerusalem during a period of religious reform; and

the Priestly source (P) : written c. 550 BCE by Kohanim (Jewish priests) in exile in Babylon.

Other, smaller sections of the Torah are not attributed directly to these sources.  Some verses from other sources were added apparently to promote continuity.

The original work on this hypothesis was done by a group of German researchers led by a scholar named Julius Wellhausen in the late 1800s.  Their work was published in 1885.  Later refinements were made by Richard Elliott Friedman, Joel Baden, and others, who have contributed to the evolution of the theory from the nineteenth century up to now.

The remaining books of the Hebrew Bible, the Nevi'im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (writings) were written by a number of authors over a long period of time.

Nevi'im (Prophets) is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the Torah and Ketuvim. This division includes the books which cover the time from the entrance of the Israelites into the Land of Israel until the Babylonian captivity of Judah Their order is not chronological, but thematic. 

The Former Prophets (Nevi'im Rishonim)

Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings 

The Latter Prophets (Nevi'im Aharonim)

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel 

The Twelve Minor Prophets ("The Twelve"), which are considered one book:

Hosea, Joel, Amos,Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah

Ketuvim consists of eleven books. 

Poetic books

Psalms

Proverbs

Job 

Five scrolls:  The five relatively short books of the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther are collectively known as the Ḥamesh Megillot (Five Megillot). 

Song of Songs, also known as Song of Solomon (on Passover)

Ruth (on Shavuot)

Lamentations (on Tisha B'Av)

Ecclesiastes (on Sukkot)

Esther (on Purim) 

Other books

Besides the three poetic books and the five scrolls, the remaining books in Ketuvim are Daniel, Ezra–Nehemiah, and Chronicles.

The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them.

Two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in Tanakh with significant portions in Aramaic.

Daniel

Ezra and Nehemiah

Chronicles and Malachi

[source: Wikipedia (Hebrew Bible)]

The authorship of these books (Prophets and Writings) is varied and complex.  A complete explanation of the development of these books is beyond the scope of this essay.  It is generally believed that the prophets named had a hand in writing the books attributed to them but with caution from scholars that over the centuries, much has been added and taken away.  The resources listed at the end of this post provide a much more detailed explanation of what scholars know about the origins of these books.

The Hebrew Bible as it comes down to us was compiled by rabbis and priests during and following the Babylonian captivity which lasted from 598 BCE to 538 BCE.  These books are frequently composites of narratives from oral traditions and earlier writings that have been canonized for the purpose of providing an orthodox scripture for Judaism.  This orthodox scripture was later adopted by Christians, as well.

By around the first third of the first century CE (AD), the Hebrew Bible was essentially in the form that we have today.

At some time around 30 to 35 CE, the teacher, Yeshua bin Joseph, from Nazareth lived and worked around the area of the Sea of Galilee, preaching, teaching, and gathering followers, twelve of whom would come to be known as the Twelve Disciples.  Yeshua and his disciples traveled as far as Jerusalem, where he angered the priests in the Temple and eventually ran afoul of the Roman authorities who found that the claim by his followers that he was "King of the Jews" was intolerable.

Editorial note:  The Christian Messiah has been called "Jesus" in English-speaking countries.  "Jesus" appears to be a Latinized form.  In Aramaic and Hebrew, his name is closer to Yeshua (Joshua), never "Jesus."

Yeshua was executed by the Roman governor and according to Christian tradition, on the third day following his execution, he rose from the dead and made himself known to his disciples and other followers.  After instructing them, he ascended to heaven to join YHWH, his Father.

As far as we know, no eyewitness to Yeshua's execution or to his resurrection or ascension wrote an account of the event at the time.

It is believed that stories of Yeshua, his teachings, and his death and resurrection circulated around Roman Judea and that possibly, there were written accounts soon after the events took place.  If there were early writings, however, they have not come down to us.  

The Christian New Testament today contains:

4 canonical gospels by the "Four Evangelists" (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), The Acts of the Apostles,13 Pauline epistles, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 7 general epistles, and The Book of Revelation.

The books of the New Testament are not presented in the order that they were written.  The very earliest of the New Testament books is the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.  

A majority of modern New Testament scholars date 1 Thessalonians to 49–51 AD, during Paul's 18-month stay in Corinth coinciding with his second missionary journey. (Metzger, 1987)  This is important to note because this text is what we believe is the oldest extant writing by any Christian writer about Yeshua and what was, at that time, his cult.  All of the canonical Gospels were written after the first epistles of Paul. The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. CE 66–70, Matthew and Luke around CE 85–90, and John CE 90–110.

Most scholars believe that Paul (Hebrew name "Saul," called "Apostle" only by himself.  He was not one of the twelve disciples and never met the corporeal Yeshua in person) actually wrote seven of the Pauline epistles (Galatians, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians), while three of the epistles in Paul's name are widely seen as pseudepigraphic (First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus). Whether Paul wrote the three other epistles in his name (2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, and Colossians) is widely debated.  According to some scholars, Paul wrote the questionable letters with the help of a secretary, or amanuensis, who would have influenced their style, if not their theological content. The Epistle to the Hebrews, although it does not bear his name, was traditionally considered Pauline (although Rome questioned its authorship), but from the 16th century onwards opinion steadily moved against Pauline authorship and few scholars now ascribe it to Paul, mostly because it does not read like any of his other epistles in style and content and because the epistle does not indicate that Paul is the author, unlike the others. (Metzger, 1987)

Following his crucifixion and resurrection, Yeshua's followers expected him to return soon, certainly within their own lifetimes, and there was little motivation to write anything down for future generations, but as eyewitnesses began to die, and as the missionary needs of the church grew, there was an increasing demand and need for written versions of the founder's life and teachings.

The Gospels themselves are not presented in the Bible in the order in which they were likely written.  As we have seen, the first Pauline epistles were written around 50 CE and the gospels followed: The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. CE 66–70, Matthew and Luke around CE 85–90, and John CE 90–110.  It is believed that the Gospel of Mark was a main source for both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The canonical gospels were written anonymously and scholars believe that none of them was written by an eyewitness to the events. The formation of the gospels was likely a composite of oral tradition, written collections of miracle stories, parables, sayings, etc., with oral tradition continuing alongside these.

Scholars have identified likely sources of the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke).  The Gospel of John is unlike the synoptic gospels in its focus and in its sources. These sources are identified for convenience as the Q source, which was a source for Matthew and Luke, the M source, exclusive to Matthew and the L source, unique to Luke.

Scientists and historians have reached near-consensus that the Gospel of John had its origins as a gospel that circulated within the Johannine community (which produced the Gospel of John and the three epistles associated with the name.

The book following the gospels in the Bible is the Acts of the Apostles.  This book is usually dated to around 80–90 CE, although some scholars suggest 110–120 CE.  It tells of the spreading of the new religion.  The book tells of the expulsion of Christians from Jerusalem and the establishment of the church at Antioch. The later chapters narrate the continuation of the message as taught by Paul and conclude with his imprisonment in Rome.  It is believed to have been written by the author of the Gospel of Luke and, in fact, the text is from a codex that contains both books presented as part one and part two. 

Following the four gospels, the epistles, and Acts, the last book in the New Testament canon is the Book of Revelation, an apocalyptic text, told in a highly symbolic and thrilling manner that might be described as horrifying, telling of the soon-to-come end of time which would pit the forces of evil (Babylon, likely symbolizing the Roman Empire who had subjugated Israel of the day) and the Son of Man, who would cleanse the world and set up the New Kingdom with Christ at its head.

These books were written, copied, and circulated, along with a large number of additional books, consisting of gospels, letters, and other writings, in the first two centuries following the life of Yeshua on earth.  They were not compiled into the New Testament we have today until 367 CE.  As the Church grew, the authority and seat of power in the Church was centered at Rome and (also at Constantinople in around 330 CE).  Several times councils of bishops met to determine the composition of the Bible as well as to discuss many theological issues.  There was little consensus in those early centuries which version of Christianity would prevail.

The earliest known complete list of the 27 books found in today's New Testament is found in a letter written by Athanasius, a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria, dated to 367 AD.  The 27-book New Testament was first formally canonized during the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) in North Africa. Pope Innocent I ratified the same canon in 405, but it is probable that a Council in Rome in 382 under Pope Damasus I gave the same list. These councils also provided the canon of the Old Testament.

Finally, by 382 CE, there was a complete Holy Bible for Christians.  But wait.  That's not all!

Without becoming too technical and unnecessarily wordy, we need to discuss the fact that not all Bibles used by all denominations and sects use exactly the same Bible consisting of the same books.

Here is a brief and highly simplified explanation:

Without attempting to discuss every single book which has been included in every version of the Bible, we will look specifically at the King James Bible, since it has become something of a standard in the US and the UK.

Wikipedia gives a pretty succinct listing.  

1 Esdras (Vulgate 3 Esdras), 

2 Esdras (Vulgate 4 Esdras)

Tobit

Judith ("Judeth" in Geneva)

Rest of Esther (Vulgate Esther 10:4 – 16:24)

Wisdom

Ecclesiasticus (also known as Sirach)

Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy ("Jeremiah" in Geneva) (all part of Vulgate Baruch)

Song of the Three Children (Vulgate Daniel 3:24–90)

Story of Susanna (Vulgate Daniel 13)

The Idol Bel and the Dragon (Vulgate Daniel 14)

Prayer of Manasseh

1 Maccabees

2 Maccabees

-Wikipedia (Biblical Apocrypha)

Some Christian denominations recognize some or all of these books.  Others recognize others.  Some recognize none of these.

We have seen that the Bible was written, edited, redacted, and compiled over centuries by hundreds of authors, storytellers, editors, priests, rabbis, preachers, theologians, monks, copyists, and printers.  The myths that have come down to us, such as the myth that the Bible is a single, perfect, inerrant document or that Moses wrote the Torah are simply not sustainable in the light of scholarship.  This does not, however, take away from the Bible's value to believers, historians, and all students of the human phenomenon.

This article was compiled from a number of sources.  The listing below provides these citations and is a good place to begin further reading.

Baden, Joel S.  The Composition of the Pentateuch Yale University Press  2012

Cassuto, Umberto. The Documentary Hypothesis. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: Shalem Press, 2006.

Ehrman, Bart D. Jesus Before the Gospels  HarperOne. Kindle Edition.

Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus  HarperSanFrancisco 2005 

Ehrman. Bart D.  The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings, Oxford, New York, 2004

Friedman, Richard Elliot. The Hidden Book of the Bible. New York: Harper Collins, 1999.

Friedman, Richard Elliot. Who Wrote the Bible? New York: Summit, 1987.

Friedman, Richard Elliot. he Bible with Sources Revealed. New York: Harper Collins, 2003.

Metzger, Bruce M. (1987). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (PDF). pp. 295–96. ISBN 0198261802. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-01.

Wellhausen, Julius. Prolegomena to the History of Israel. Translated by J. Sutherland Black and Allan Menzies. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1885