Bible history

Q What is the history of the Bible?

A The Bible took more than 1,000 years to write.  The first five books of the Bible are called The Pentateuch.  For many centuries it was believed that Moses wrote these books, but now many scholars believe that other authors could have been involved.  It is believed Moses lived between 1450 B.C. and 1250 B.C.  The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is attributed to St. John and was probably written between 68 A.D. and 90 A.D.

The Bible includes 46 books of the Old Testament (books written before Jesus) and 27 books in the New Testament (books written after Jesus died).  The 46 Old Testament books come from the translation of Hebrew texts into Greek about 200 years before Christ.  The New Testament books come from writings of those who knew Jesus and witnessed the events described or interviewed those who sought to preserve the teachings of Christ.

Around 100 A.D., Jewish leaders rejected seven books in their Bible, mainly because they could not prove they had been written in Hebrew.  The resulting 39 books are known as the Palestinian canon.

When Martin Luther broke off from the Catholic Church in the 16th century, he accepted the Palestinian canon, leaving out the seven books rejected by the Jewish leaders, probably because they disagreed with his personal views.  He also wanted to kick out some of the New Testament books, including the Letter of James.  Allegedly, he said he wanted to “throw Jimmy into the fire.”  But, for some reason, he ended up accepting all 27 books of the New Testament.

For more than 300 years after Christ there was no Bible as we know it.  That’s right!  The apostles did not carry around a Bible as they spread Jesus’ word.  The early fathers of the Church did not have a Bible until 367 when St. Athanasius came up with a list of 73 books that he believed were divinely inspired.  This list was approved by the church in 382 and confirmed by the Councils at Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397.

For more than 1,000  years these 73 books were accepted as the canon (an authoritative list of books) of Scripture.

All books of the Bible are the word of God.  As a result, they are without error because God cannot tell an untruth.  God inspired the authors on what to say, but he did not tell them exactly how to say it.  “To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever He wanted written, and no more” (The  Catechism of the Catholic Church).

As a result, the Bible teaches the truth, but it is not a history book; therefore, every book of the Bible may not be historically accurate.  For instance, the Book of Genesis has two creation stories.  Both cannot be historically accurate but both tell the truth.

The Catechism goes on to say, “In sacred Scripture, God speaks to man in a human way. To interpret Scripture correctly, the reader must be attentive to what the human authors truly wanted to affirm, and to what God wanted to reveal to us by their words.”

It was the Catholic Church that gave the world the Bible it has today.  St. Augustine once said “I would not believe in the Gospels were it not for the authority of the Catholic Church.”

Deacon Hooper is a deacon assistant at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs. He can be reached at [email protected].