Who wrote the bible?

First of all, I believe the bible (and all other 'holy' texts for that matter) was written by people. Most of it's stories were ripped off older religions and the many errors, inconsistencies and absurdities show this. Jesus was only a normal human then, even one of many since palestine at the time was riddled with so called divine magicians. But I prefer to think he never existed since there's no evidence except the bible.

Now that that's cleared,

Who really wrote the bible? And why?

The old testament was supposedly written in between the 11th century BC
and the 2nd century BC and the new testament in between 45 AD and 140 AD.

Did Mark, Matthew, Luke and Paul really exist? Is there any outside evidence that they did?

What do you think are the motives behind writing these texts? Was it for power? If so, what was the organisation behind it, because individual writers would not gain the power. Or were their visions simply due to drugs?

For me the bible is nothing more than a part of jewish mythology, but I'm interested as to why people write mythology

posted by DarkSide
First of all, I believe the bible (and all other 'holy' texts for that matter) was written by people. Most of it's stories were ripped off older religions and the many errors, inconsistencies and absurdities show this. Jesus was only a normal human then, even one of many since Palestine at the time was riddled with so called divine magicians. But I prefer to think he never existed since there's no evidence except the bible. Now that's cleared,

Who really wrote the bible? And why? The old testament was supposedly written in between the 11th century BC and the 2nd century BC and the new testament in between 45 AD and 140 AD. Did Mark, Matthew, Luke and Paul really exist? Is there any outside evidence that they did? What do you think are the motives behind writing these texts? Was it for power? If so, what was the organization behind it, because individual writers would not gain the power. Or were their visions simply due to drugs? For me the bible is nothing more than a part of Jewish mythology, but I'm interested as to why people write mythology.

Let me add my belief that Emperor Constantine is the real FOUNDER of Christianity. Sometime around 330 AD, the Emperor ordered the leading clerics of the time to compile a group of books or letters that would best serve the interests of a centralized organized religion with doctrines, dogmas and liturgies. After the assemblage had picked most of the 27 books to become our New Testament, Constantine ordered the production of 50 copies. One each to be chained to the altar in each of the 50 churches Constantine ordered for his new capital, Constantinople. Around 400 AD, the last book was added to the Canon, the Revelation of Jesus Crist to John. This disputed work was rejected by at least half of the old line Christians of the time. It is still doubtful if it has much to do with any of the remainder of the New Treatment.

Christians adopted the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible in Greek as our Old Testament.

Constantine had earlier called a church council to meet in 325 AD at Nicea, a resort city near Constantinople. It was the FIRST council since James and Peter called Paul to task in Jerusalem. NOTE that in neither instance was the Bishop of Rome consulted or even invited. FYI, I date the Catholic Church as we know it today from about the 5th or 6th century, AD. Hmm?

[edit on 8/6/2007 by donwhite]

I thought Stephen King wrote the Bible.
He's written everything else.

Darkside, Moses wrote the first 5 books in the OT- but after that I don't know. King David is one I'm sure- Have to ask my aunt.


The drug deal I don't think they had any knowlege of that, not that early. Of course the things avalible then is different then today.

Stephen King wrote the Bible?.................................Oh gee whiz give me a break.

[edit on 8/6/2007 by Leyla]

google these:

the king james bible as we know it today was basicly written at the council of nicaea:

en.wikipedia.org...

www.tertullian.org...

which was basicly dictated by constantine when he converted as the leader of rome (and not too pleasently by the way) :

www.newadvent.org...

www.columbia.edu...

If this doesnt answer your questions, or lead you to them, I dont know what will...



[edit on 6-8-2007 by Grock]

Let me add my belief that Emperor Constantine is the real FOUNDER of Christianity.

If this doesnt answer your questions, or lead you to them, I dont know what will...

Well that is very interesting. o there were lots of contradicting texts in existance about jesus and it was at Niceae that bishops selected the ones they wanted and destroyed the others?

But that doesn't answer who wrote these texts 200 years before the council.

Darkside, Moses wrote the first 5 books in the OT- but after that I don't know. King David is one I'm sure

But there is no evidence that moses existed either.

The drug deal I don't think they had any knowlege of that, not that early. Of course the things avalible then is different then today.

Drug use has always been part of human life and goes back probably tens of thousands of years. I mean tribal shamans use them so why not jews and greeks???

Originally posted by Leyla
Darkside, Moses wrote the first 5 books in the OT- but after that I don't know.

alright, can you give me some extra-biblical documents that verify the existence of this guy?

King David is one I'm sure- Have to ask my aunt.

they say he wrote some of the psalms...

As far as Im aware, the Bible itself was fictional novel based on true events that predated its claims. Why was it written? Well, thats probably the easiest question to answer about religion. Take a look around

posted by DarkSide

Let me add my belief that Emperor Constantine is the real FOUNDER of Christianity.

Well that is very interesting. o there were lots of contradicting texts in existence about Jesus and it was at Nicaea that bishops selected the ones they wanted and destroyed the others? But that doesn't answer who wrote these texts 200 years before the council. Drug use has always been part of human life and goes back probably tens of thousands of years. I mean tribal shamans use them so why not Jews and Greeks?

Well, except for the letters of St. Paul, I don’t think there is any way to know who wrote which. The book of Hebrews is attributed to Paul but he did not include his authorship as he did in his other letters. I have heard people who study this era say that authorship was not considered crucial as it is today. The recipients knew full well who wrote the letter. True believers absolutely thought Jesus would be returning in their lifetime. There were no copyright laws and no royalties then.

After the 66 AD Jewish Revolt when most of the New Testament was reduced to writing, authorship might have led Romans to the writer which unless your name was Flavus Josephus was not a good idea. The Book of Revelations of Jesus Christ is written by John but which John? It seems “John” was as popular a name then as it is now. Prior to the 19th century’s Historical Criticism movement that began in Germany, most Christians attributed Revelations to John the Apostle who is also credited with the 4th Gospel and 3 letters by his name. All that is just traditional however.

I began my religious readings with Albert Schweitzer’s PhD dissertation which he published as “The Quest for the Historical Jesus” and which is still around. He was a famous missionary to Africa and composer of organ music. I believe his book is a must read for anyone seriously interested in the historicity of Christianity. Although Gibbons’ “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” was de rigeur in my childhood, I don’t hear it mentioned much anymore. But if you can plow through the first 4 volumes, you can see how the Catholic Church melded into the governance of Rome in the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, CE.

That background will aid in understanding the endless religious clashes and especially those after 1517 until essentially ended by the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. A copy of which is available on the Avalon Project website by Yale U. It is a good read provided you skip over the endless enumeration of German political entities. Someone says there are 214!

Unfortunately and for myself unintentionally, a high percentage of today’s Catholics who came to maturity before Vatican 2 (1962) have a very low threshold for any criticism at all of the Official Line on the origins of the Catholic Church. See Note. The Baltimore Catechism reaffirmed for them the unsupportable proposition that Peter was the first Pope and that he died in Rome. Regrettably, as they say in a courtroom setting, they are assuming facts not in evidence.

As a fact, the Bishop of Rome did not cement his primacy over the Church Councils - formerly the highest Church authority - until the First Vatican Council (1869). The final struggle which for us Protestants is symbolized in the (recent) doctrine of papal infallibility when speaking on matters of faith and morals. The struggle between Rome and councils began in earnest after the Council of Trent in 1545. A 300 years long struggle. Just as our one president can outmaneuver the 545 Members of Congress so one pope can outmaneuver 75 Cardinals.

As you have pointed out Mr D/S, so also is Moses a mythological character. Perhaps with irony, the Jewish people believe the Pentateuch is divinely inspired but not the remaining books of the Hebrew Bible. All books in the Hebrew Bible are indeed held to be “sacred” but “sacred” as used here implies that the books deserve special status because they are supremely old. Like a bristlecone pine. Christians came along 3,000 years after the fact and (ignorantly) declared ALL the books to be inspired. This is more a Protestant thing than a Catholic thing. But see 2Timothy 3:16, which I hold is mis-translated. But also cf. 1 Corinthians 7:12 and 7:25. This shows what can happen when you practice religion verse by verse.

Note: Origins. Imagine how different the world would be if the original person or persons who assigned names to the Holy Books had named the First Book "Origins of the Hebrew People" instead of Genesis?

[edit on 8/7/2007 by donwhite]

Originally posted by Leyla
Darkside, Moses wrote the first 5 books in the OT- but after that I don't know.

That is only legendary, and indeed, is not possible. For example, the fifth book of the Bible, which is the last book of the Torah, details Moses' death. It is unlikely that Moses, assuming that he existed, wrote anything in the Bible.

King David is one I'm sure- Have to ask my aunt.

Archeologists still disagree on whether or not David actually existed, or was only mythological. I tend to believe he was real, or at least that the story of David was based on a real person, but I certainly can't prove it. According to legend, David wrote many of the Psalms, while his son Solomon supposedly wrote the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

posted by Masonic Light
Archeologists still disagree on whether or not David actually existed, or was only mythological. I tend to believe he was real, or at least that the story of David was based on a real person, but I certainly can't prove it. According to legend, David wrote many of the Psalms, while his son Solomon supposedly wrote the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

Modern scholarship tells us there were two writers of Isaiah and two maybe 3 of Genesis. As for Kings Saul, David and Solomon, there is no evidence that any of them existed. The Temple of Solomon is most like a figment of imagination. The 12 tribes of Israel were never defined in real life. The Jewish people were never slaves in Egypt. The most sacred object of Judaism, the Ark of he Covenant, is most likely also an invention.

None of this means the good parts of Judaism or Christianity are not still worthwhile; it is just that we will someday have to deal with the Holy Books including the Holy Koran as they are and not as we’d like them to be. If you think there is life after death, you can thank the Egyptians for that comforting thought. And etc.

[edit on 8/7/2007 by donwhite]