Where did the bible come from?

Question

I've heard it was gathered by a bunch of bible believers who were borrowing each other's texts they found... I've heard that writings of jesus' followers were put together and maybe even edited to create a religion and therefore create some system of control? I like to try to use the bible as evidence, but where does it actually come from? and also, does anyone know where it says something that it was influenced by god or that he breathed his spirit into the word?

Answer 1

The bible is a collection of books. The Old Testament consists of the Torah and other books that were taught, in the synagogues, by the Jews. As Jesus' followers and others who knew Jesus disciples began to write their own letters and epistles, they were copied and given to the churches (this happened, if course, after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven). The bible was put together by the church fathers who took careful consideration of the books that were in general acceptance by the churches of the day, who accepted them as true and inspired. There are many fakes, books that were put forth as "inspired", but were left out for reasons that the church fathers decided upon. That is where we got our collection of 66 books by 40 authors.



Anyone can say to anyone, oh this book is inspired by God. The real test is this: does it transform a life? Millions of people who have placed their faith in Jesus, and read the word, and seen what God has done with His word in their lives, will tell you yes, that is exactly what it is.



God will reveal to any willing and open heart that you can trust His word as true. Please look very carefully at those two words: willing and open. Because there will be many answers from people who have neither of those characteristics.

Answer 2

Old testament is a collection of stories about events that happened in the distant past and which were passed along in an oral tradition. Only after hundreds or even thousands of years, these were written down, understandably in a form that no longer matched the original story.

The new testament is based on events that can be dated back somewhere between 400 BC and 30 AD. Based on historical facts (destruction of the temple in 70 AD) we know that the book can not be gathered (different authors) any earlier than that. The only person writing in those missing 40 years was Paul (who by the way failed to mention most of the events, like virgin birth, crucifixion and so many other things)

Would the bible have been influenced by one author (be it God or one person) it would have shown a bit more coherence and less internal conflicts.

Answer 3

the Bible has a variety of sources. The Old Testament is Jewish scripture which was compiled over hundreds of years. The New Testament is written by a variety of people who knew Jesus, plus Paul, Luke and Mark.



In the early church, different communities were using different documents. once Christianity became legal, groups became more open and gathered to compile an official set of scripture: the Bible. This involved lengthy discussion on what was thought to be true versus a forgery or incorrect teachings. Some books were simply too new to have been written when it was claimed they had been written, for example.

Answer 4

The first side of the Bible, the Old Testament, was once in the beginning it sounds as if an oral textual content that was once written down among 1500 and one thousand BC till approximately 500 BC. (These dates mark the oldest inscription thoguht to be out of the Bible, till the final of the minor prophets throughout the Persian interval in Palestine). It was once written in Hebrew (and in a few materials, aramaic). The authors are both unknown or conventional (equivalent to Samuel, Moses) or self-ascribed (Moses, Baruch, different prophets) The moment side of the BIble, the New Testament, was once written among 60 and 100AD. They are most of the time self-ascribed (besides Hebrews). The so much historic fragments date with a couple of a long time of this time interval.

Answer 5

Gospels and Epistles were circulated amoung believers for about 300 years before they started turning up badly translated copies of the originals as the originals started to degrade.



Usually what would happen is because of the nature of the church at that time (many people were executed for having a copy of these things in their home), we are lucky to have the material that we do have, although I fear that much of it was lost before it was properly translated into the "common tongue" or the Vulgate.



Badly translated from Greek to Latin or from Hebrew to Greek to Latin....by the time 250 years had passed (and Jesus STILL hadn't returned), the holy father began to worry that there would be disunity amoung the Christians, and since the time of Constantine, there was greater religious freedom, he ordered St Jerome a newly converted Christian, who was about at that time 40 or 45 years old and a studied man of letters (probably a lawyer) to have the scriptures translated properly.



So St Jerome travelled to Bethlehem and stayed at a monastery, where several monks helped him translate the documents (it took about 50 years). While Bethlehem was nearby to Jerusalem, he was able to consult with several of the Jewish priests regarding the scriptures.



At the time in Jerusalem, there was a great debate about certain apocryphal books, which some felt were redundant (repeated the same things) and they felt that those scriptures should not be included in the bible St Jerome was planning on compiling.



It took a lifetime to put that together and place it in your hands.



Remember St Jerome when you pick up a bible.

Answer 6

2Timothy 3:16 - All scriptures are inspired by God.

Is that the verse you are looking for ?



The bible is a compilation of writings, for some weird reason they are called books becasue most of the New testaments are letters.



Can letters written by a man albeit who claim enlightenment be called scriptures ? I don't know. Sounds and looks fishy to me.



The bible comprises of old testament (39 books) and new testaments (27 books)

Total 66 books.



So the bible is actually a compilation of 66 separate writings....

And it's man that authorizes such a work for even Jesus did not command his words be published.



He did not instruct his disciples as recorded in the book of acts to wait in the upper room for a personalized leather bound, personally autographed by Christ himself....no !



He told his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit..!

Answer 7

However, Christianity is not a blind faith. It is the only religion that can prove itself, and a main source of that proof is the Bible. Although it is becoming less common, there are still people who tell others that they follow Christianity “because it feels right” (or use wording like that). This is unfortunate, since there is a lot of evidence supporting Christianity. The existence of all that evidence is one reason we started this site. We want people to learn about the solid evidence that supports their faith, and have a place that collected that evidence so they can show it to others.



By the way, if you would like some reference materials that are a little more portable than a computer with an Internet connection, a book we recommend is Know Why You Believe by Paul Little. This book is available in larger bookstores and most Christian bookstores. Also, the Tucson Community Church recorded a seminar called “Knowing The Facts Behind The Faith.” It is available on DVD and VHS video (NTSC format). If you are interested in purchasing a copy, you can get one directly from the church that produces them at the Tucson Community Church website. They also handle international orders.



The Proof of Science

There is a great deal of scientific evidence that supports the Bible. Enough that we have a separate page to discuss this proof alone. If you would like to see our science page, click on this sentence.



The Proof of Prophecy

One of the strongest arguments for the accuracy of the Bible is its 100% accuracy in predicting the future. These future predictions are called “prophecies.” The Old Testament was written between approximately 1450 BC and 430 BC. During that time, many predictions of the future were recorded in the Bible by God’s prophets. Of the events that were to have taken place by now, every one happened just the way they predicted it would. No other “sacred writing” has such perfectly accurate predictions of the future.



One Type—The Messianic Prophecies

Of these prophecies, the most striking examples are the predictions about an “anointed one” (“Messiah” in Hebrew) who was to arrive in the future. About 4 BC, a miraculous event occurred—a boy named Jesus was born to a virgin named Mary. You can read His story in the book of Luke. Starting at age 30, Jesus fulfilled more and more of these prophecies written about the Messiah. His fulfillment of these prophecies was very spectacular: Jesus gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, cured those who had leprosy, gave the deaf hearing, and raised people from the dead! These miracles and others were done many times in front of thousands of witnesses for three years. About 30 AD, Jesus was crucified (a prophecy) and died (a prophecy). Three days later he rose from the dead (another prophecy), after which He was seen by over 500 witnesses. Since these prophecies were written down at least 400 years before they happened, there is no doubt that the Bible’s writers were inspired supernaturally—by God. To examine these prophecies yourself, click on the link below.



The Messianic Prophecies



A Second Type—Fulfilled Prophecy Dealing With Nations

There are many prophecies that can be proven through archaeology, especially prophecy dealing with entire nations. Typically, when God declared judgment on a nation, He would send a prophet to announce to the citizens why He was judging them and what He was going to do to them if they continued their evil behavior. On occasion, God would also tell the citizens how He would reward them if they started doing what was right. The book of Jonah records a case where the Assyrians stopped doing what was evil as a result of Jonah’s short prophecy. This is what God wanted, and God did not punish them as a result of their change of heart. However, most often the people would jeer at God’s prophet and continue their bad behavior—later becoming recipients of the exact punishment that God threatened.



Like other prophecy recorded in the Bible, these predictions support the supernatural inspiration of the Bible. The prophecies recorded in the Bible came true in such a detailed way that they could not have been predicted by chance. Further, archaeologists have evidence that these prophecies were written down many years before they were fulfilled, proving that they were not falsified documents claiming to be prophecies that came true. (The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls stopped the majority of that talk.) Although an entire web site could be filled with this information, we will provide one example—the foretelling of the destruction of Edom and its capital city of Petra.

Source(s):

http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/b_…

Answer 8

Well, men wrote it.



As the church evolved and changed, they continued to edit and add stories.



As stories lost favor they were removed, the "good ones" were modified, embellished, and given additional weight.



Ultimately, it came from men, LOTS of men. Hundreds of years of modifications.



--not superstitious

Answer 9

It's a collection of the mythology of the ancient Middle East, edited and selected by committee.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_Christian_biblical_canon

Answer 10

Idk, anyone says its from God, cant prove it because they did not see with their own eyes God writing it.