How The Bible Came Into Existence
It took many centuries to give us the Bible. "Holy Men of God spake as the Spirit gave them utterance." (2 Peter 1:21). They not only spoke the message but they wrote it down as well. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God." The word "inspire" means "breathed in". When we speak of the Scriptures as "inspired" we mean that God by His Spirit breathed them into the minds of men and gave them the words to write and speak. "Which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth: comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (I Corinthians 2: 13).
From Moses, the first writer, until the Apostle John, the last writer, it took approximately 1600 years to write the Bible. From 36 to 40 different men were involved in the writing from Moses, to Joshua, to Samuel, to David, to Solomon, to the prophets the Old Testament came into being. From Matthew, to Mark, to Luke to John, to Paul, to Peter, to James, to Jude the New Testament came into existence. The kingdoms of men rose and fell but the continual revelations from God, here a little and there a little, until all this marvelous word was given.
Each writer wrote his own book on a scroll. A scroll was a type of "book" that rolled up. An ordinary scroll would be about 10 to 12 inches wide and anywhere from one to a hundred feet long or longer. It would be made either of papyrus, a sort of paper, or of parchment, a kind of leather. The first known written words were written on tables of stone, being the laws given by God to Moses. These were cherished and put in the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant placed in the most holy place of the Tabernacle and later the temple. Joshua wrote on tables of stone the law at Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:32) but there was a book of the law also from which he read the blessings and the curses to the law and encouraged them to keep the law of God.
Hundreds of scrolls were written. It seems that the first five books of the Old Testament, which were called "The Law" was the first collection. Later the historical books were added and the poetical books and the prophetical books until finally there were the 39 books of the Old Testament.
In New Testament times the apostles traveled around and preached Jesus. They told of their own conversions and confirmed the message of Jesus with signs following (Hebrews 2:3,4). After a period of time by God's choice the four inspired men wrote Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John some writing early and John writing near the end of the first century. This was to tell the world of what Jesus did and taught. About a third of their content have to do with the last week of his ministry, his crucifixion, his resurrection and briefly of his ascension. Paul's inspired letters were written from about A. D. 58 through 64 or 65 when he was martyred. Peter wrote his books about the same time as did James and Jude. Finally the Revelation was given to John which concluded with a curse on any who would add to or take from the Holy Scriptures (Revelation 22:18, 19). Finally there were 27 books that were collected into one book known to us as the New Testament.
In The Roman world a new kind of book came into existence similar in style to modern books, consisting of separate pages which were sown together at an edge, instead of a long scroll. It was easier to handle and it was easier by this method to write longer books. It was much harder to unroll a scroll to a passage of scripture than turning a page to find it. These new type of books were called "codex's".
After the invention of the printing press copies of the Bible could be made easily, faster, and cheaper. Today we can buy Bibles very economically.
The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew. Parts of Daniel are in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek.
Versions of the Bible into other languages were made early. The Old Syriac in the second century. The Old Latin in the second or third century. Later the Vulgate was a revision of the Old Latin. This was still being used when the King James Version of the Bible was translated. The King James Version was an English version which King James I of England commissioned about 40 scholars to translate from the original languages as they had them. It was first published in 1611A. D. It is sometimes referred to as the "authorized version," since King James authorized its publication. Before the King James Version was made Martin Luther translated the Bible into the German Language. Also the Bible was translated into many other languages through the years so the people could read in their own languages. The American Bible Society has translated the Bible into over 1200 languages and dialects. It is the world's most widely read book. The principles of the republic of the United States of America are mostly Bible based.
For Your Review
1. How did Holy men of God speak? _________________________________________________
2. How is all scripture given?________________________________________________________
3. What does the word "inspire" mean? ________________________________________________
4. Were the words of the scripture given by the Holy Spirit? _________________________________
5. Who was the first writer of some Old Testament books?__________________________________
6. Did Joshua do any writing? ________________________________________________________
7. Name some of the other writers of the Old Testament books._______________________________
8. What were the first 5 books of the Old Testament called? _________________________________
9. Describe the scrolls used to write books of the Bible._____________________________________
10. What is a Codex? ______________________________________________________________
11. How many books are in the Old Testament? __________________________________________
12. Name the 8 writers of the New Testament books.______________________________________
13. What is the most famous English translation of the Bible? _________________________________
14. Are people influenced by the Bible? ________________________________________________
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