The Bible
What if I told you that the Bible didn’t fall from the sky, fully assembled, leather-bound, and King James approved?
What if I told you that some of the earliest Christians didn’t even have a Bible?
That the “books” we now treat as sacred Scripture were, for centuries, just circulating scrolls, oral traditions, and letters passed between churches?
And what if I told you that many of the books we don’t have in our modern Bible were also cherished…debated…even read out loud in early Christian communities?
Who wrote the Bible?
When was it written?
And who decided what got in – and what got left out?
This isn’t about tearing down Scripture. It’s about telling the truth about how it came to be.
Because the story of the Bible’s formation is more complex – and more human – than most people were ever told in Sunday School.
But that doesn’t make it less sacred.
If anything, it might make it more sacred.
Section II: What even is the Bible?
Lets start with something basic that most people never actually say out loud:
The Bible isn’t a book.
It’s a library of books.
Sixty-six, if you’re reading a Protestant Bible.
Seventy-three, if you’re Catholic.
And a whopping eighty-one if you’re part of the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition – the oldest still-existing Christian tradition in the world.
This “library” wasn’t written by one person, in one time, or with one audience in mind.
It was written in three languages – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek – over the course of more than a thousand years, by dozens of authors from radically different eras and cultures.
It includes:
· History books
· Poetry and songs
· Prophetic oracles
· Royal court records
· Temple instructions
· Personal Letters
· Apocalyptic visions
· And law codes that read like ancient IRS guidelines
Some of these writings are anonymous.
Some are attributed to figures we can’t historically verify.
And some were written under someone else’s name altogether.
In fact, it might be more accurate to say:
The Bible is a sacred scrapbook – a curated collection of what different communities believed was worth preserving, repeating, and passing down as a witness to the divine.
And just like any library, some books were more central than others. Some were controversial. Some were added late. Some were lost altogether.
So when we talk about “what the Bible says,” it’s worth asking:
Which book? Which voice? Which era? Which translation?
Because the Bible isn’t a single voice – it’s a conversation.
And that’s part of what makes it so powerful.
Section 3: The Hebrew Bible – When and How It Came Together
So lets start with the first half of the Bible – what Christians call the Old Testament, and what Jews call the Tanakh.
Now, tradition says that the first five books – Genesis through Deuteronomy – were written by Moses himself.
But if you’ve ever read them closely, you might have noticed some issues with that theory. Namely, how Moses supposedly wrote about his own death and burial. Or how these books describe things that didn’t happen until long after Moses was gone.
This is where modern scholarship enters the chat.
Most scholars today believe that the Torah wasn’t written by one person, but was instead a composite of several earlier sources, stitched together over centuries. This is called the Documentary Hypothesis – and it proposes that there were at least four major written traditions behind the Torah:
· The J source: which calls God “Yahweh” and tells earthy, vivid stories like Adam and Eve.
· The E Source: which uses the name “Elohim” and focuses more on prophetic leadership
· The D Source: short for Deuteronomist, which shaped the sermons and laws in Deuteronomy.
· And the P Source: or Priestly tradition, with all those detailed temple rules and genealogies.
Now, these sources weren’t just sitting in folders waiting to be stapled. They evolved through oral tradition, scribal activity, and political necessity – especially during and after the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE.
Imagine a traumatized people, ripped from their land, trying to preserve their identity. That’s when much of what we now call the Hebrew Bible was compiled, redacted, and preserved.
The other sections – the Prophets and the Writings – came together gradually.
By the time of Jesus, many of these books were circulating, but there was no fixed Old Testament.
Some groups used 22 books.
Others used 39.
And the order wasn’t standardized.
In fact, Greek-speaking Jews used a version called the Septuagint, which included extra books you won’t find in most Protestant Bibles today – books like Tobit, Wisdom of Soloman, and 1 & 2 Maccabees.
More on those later. We’ll also do a whole episode on books that didn’t make the final cut.
The key takeaway?
The Hebrew Bible as we know it wasn’t sealed until well after Jesus walked the Earth.
Section IV: The NT
Now lets talk New Testament.
If you grew up in church, chances are you were told that the New Testament was written by Jesus’ disciples – eyewitnesses, inspired by God, writing it all down as it happened.
But here’s the reality:
Jesus didn’t write anything down himself.
And the earliest writings about him didn’t appear until decades after his death.
The earliest New Testament texts we have aren’t the Gospels.
They’re letters – written by the Apostle Paul to early Christian communities, trying to help them navigate this brand-new Jesus-following way of life.
These letters – Romans, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, and a few others – were written in the 50-s and 60s CE, just 20 to 30 years after Jesus’ crucifixion.
The Gospels came later.
· Mark is considered the earliest Gospel – probably written around 65-70 CE.
· Matthew and Luke were written around 80-90 CE, and both borrow heavily from Mark.
· John comes last, around 90-100 CE, and reads more like theological poetry than a historical bio.
Now, despite the names attached to them, most scholars agree that none of the Gospels were written by actual eyewitnesses. These names – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – were added later as a way of assigning authority.
Same goes for many of the New Testament letters.
· Letters like 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus were almost certainly written decades later, in Paul’s name – but not by Paul himself.
· This was a common practice in the ancient world. It wasn’t necessarily seen as deceptive – more like honoring a tradition. But it still means we have to be honest about authorship.
And then there’s Revelation – written around 95 CE by a man named John, exiled on the island of Patmos. But no, it’s not the same John who followed Jesus, or the John who wrote the Gospel.
Bottom line?
Most of the New Testament was written by people we can’t definitively identify, based on oral traditions, community memory, and theological reflection – not by direct dictation from heaven.
And it wasn’t all written at once.
It developed slowly, through letters exchanged, stories retold, and questions asked.
Section V: How the Canon was Chosen
So by the end of the first century, Christians had a growing collection of letters, stories, and teachings.
But they didn’t have a New Testament.
They didn’t even have a list of which books belonged.
Instead, different churches were reading different sets of texts.
Some read Paul’s letters.
Others were reading Gospels that didn’t make the final cut – like the Gospel of Thomas or the Gospel of Mary.
So how did we end up with this Bible?
It wasn’t quick. It wasn’t clean. And it definitely wasn’t unanimous.
Over the first few centuries of Christianity, church leaders began to ask:
“Which writings truly reflect the faith handed down from the apostles?
Which ones are worth reading in worship?
And which ones might actually be leading people astray?”
There was no divine fax from heaven.
What emerged instead was a gradual process of consensus, driven by four main criteria:
· Apostolic authorship – Was it written by an apostle or someone close to them?
· Orthodox theology – Did it line up with what mainstream Christian churches were teaching?
· Liturgical use – Was it already being used in worship?
· Widespread acceptance – was it read across the known Christian world, not just in one corner?
By around 170 CE, we get the first partial canon list in something called the Muratorian Fragment. It includes most of the books we have today – but not all. Some books were still debated for centuries.
The final push came in the 4th century when the church had gone from being a persecuted minority to a state-sponsored religion under Emperor Constantine.
In 393 CE, the Synod of Hippo recognized an official list of New Testament books.
The Council of Carthage affirmed that list in 397.
Even then, not everyone agreed – and disputes continued for centuries.
The Bible as we know it wasn’t formally “closed” until the Council of Trent in 1546 for Catholics, and later affirmed by Protestants in response.
And lets not forget: different Christian traditions still disagree on the contents of the Bible.
What’s “in” depends on whether you’re Catholic, Orthodox, Ethiopian, or Protestant.
So the next time someone says, “Well, the Bible says…”
Maybe ask: “Which one?”
Oh-and we can’t talk about ancient texts without mentioning one of the biggest archeological discoveries of the 20th century:
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves near Qumran, these scrolls include some of the oldest surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible – along with dozens of other religious writings that never made it into the canon.
Some of these texts predate Jesus. Others gives us a glimpse into the diversity of Jewish thought at the time – about messiahs, resurrection, angels, apocalyptic hopes, temple practices…even communal bathrooms. (Seriously.)
But here’s why the scrolls matter:
· They show that there wasn’t one version of the Old Testament in circulation.
· They confirm that scribes were editing, preserving, and sometimes adapting the text.
· And the prove that faith communities were wrestling with big theological questions long before there was an official Bible.
In short, the Dead Sea Scrolls blew the idea of a fixed, pristine Bible out of the water –
And instead revealed a tradition that was dynamic, living, and always In conversation.
Section VI: What was left out and why
So now that we’ve talked about what made it in…lets talk about what didn’t.
Because the early Christian world wasn’t just overflowing with letters and Gospels that did get canonized. It was full of others that were loved, copied, and shared – but ultimately rejected.
Lets name a few:
· The Gospel of Thomas – a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus, with a mystical, almost Zen-like tone. No miracles. No death or resurrection. Just teachings.
· The Gospel of Mary – as in Mary Magdalene – where she’s portrayed not just as a disciple, but as someone Jesus trusted with secret wisdom.
· The Gospel of Peter – which had some wild resurrection imagery, including a talking cross
· The Shepherd of Hermas – a visionary, symbolic book that was hugely popular in the second century
· The Didache – basically an early Christian church manual, full of instructions on baptism, fasting, and how to spot fake prophets.
So why were these left out?
Mostly for three big reasons:
1. Authorship issues – Many were written too late to be plausibly linked to apostles.
2. Theological concerns – Some were too mystical, too Gnostic, or too strange to fit emerging orthodoxy.
3. Control – As the institutional church grew in power, it favored books that reinforced its structure, hierarchy, and doctrine.
And lets be honest:
Choosing a canon wasn’t just about theology – it was also about politics, power, and imperial alignment.
As Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, it needed unity, not open-ended mystery.
Books that left too much to interpretation – or gave too much authority to women or mystics – were seen as dangerous.
But just because a book didn’t make the cut doesn’t mean it had no value.
Many early Christians read these texts alongside what we now call “Scripture.”
Some were even included in early Bibles before the canon was finalized.
The real story of the Bible isn’t just about what got included – it’s also about what got lost.
Before we move on, lets talk about that awkward family of biblical texts that everyone seems a little unsure about:
The Apocrypha.
“Apocrypha” literally means “hidden” or “obscure,” but what we’re really talking about are books that appear in some Bibles…but not others.
Here’s the breakdown:
· If you’re reading a Protestant Bible, your Old Testament ends with Malachi.
· If you’re reading a Catholic Bible, it keeps going with books like:
o Tobit
o Judith
o Wisdom of Solomon
o Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
o Baruch
o And additions to Daniel and Esther
These were mostly written in Greek, not Hebrew, and were included in the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible used by many Jews and early Christians.
The Catholic Church officially recognized these books as canon at the Council of Trent in 1546, partly in response to the Protestant Reformation.
But Martin Luther?
He moved them into a separate section, calling them “useful and good to read” – but not equal to Scripture.
Eventually, most Protestant Bibles just dropped them altogether.
But the Orthodox churches still include them, and the Ethiopian Bible includes even more.
So depending on where you stand in the Christian tradition, what counts as “the Bible” could change by up to 15 books.
Which just goes to show: The Bible you read is shaped not just by God – but by history, geography, and tradition.
Section VII: Translation, Standardization, and Control
By the time the biblical canon as mostly settled, there was still one major issue:
Hardly anyone could read the original languages.
Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek?
Not exactly languages of the people –
Especially as Christianity spread across the Roman world.
So the next big step in the Bible’s formation was translation.
Enter: Jerome.
In the late 4th century, Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus to translate the Bible into Latin – the common language of the Western Roman Empire.
The result was the Latin Vulgate, and for over 1,000 years, it became the Bible in the West.
But here’s the thing: for most of that time, the church didn’t want the Bible in the hands of regular people.
They were afraid of heresy, chaos, and competing interpretations.
So the Bible stayed locked behind language, accessible only to the educated and ordained.
It wasn’t until the 15th and 16th centuries –
With the printing press and the Protestant Reformation – that things started to change.
People like William Tyndale dared to translate the Bible into English – and he was burned at the stake for it in 1536.
A few decades later, the King James Version was born – commissioned in 1604, completed in 1611, and infused with political motives just as much as spiritual ones. It wasn’t just about clarity. It was about uniformity, authority, and reinforcing the power of the English crown.
Even the beloved “thou shalts” and “verilys” were stylistic choices, meant to sound majestic – not more accurate.
Fast forward to today:
We’ve got hundreds of English translations, each with the own goals:
· Literal accuracy (like the NASB)
· Readability (like the NLT)
· Gender-inclusive language (Like the NRSV)
· And yes – some translations with very specific theological agendas (Looking at you, ESV and The Passion Translation).
Translation is never neutral.
Every version of the Bible you read is an interpretation – shaped by the time, culture, and theology of its translators.
Which is why when someone says,
“Well, the Bible clearly says…”
You might want to ask:
“Which version? Which manuscript? Which language?”
Section VIII: Do we have the originals
This is a question that comes up a lot –
Especially in conversations about biblical authority:
“Do we have the original copies of the books of the Bible?”
The short answer?
No.
Not a single one.
What we have are copies of copies of copies – handwritten by scribes over centuries.
And while that sounds alarming at first, lets put it in context.
For many ancient documents, we’re lucky if we have a handful of copies that were made hundreds of years after the original.
But with the New Testament?
We have over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, some dating to within 100-150 years of when they were originally written.
Add in Latin, Coptic, Syriac, and other translations, and the total manuscript count climbs to over 25,000.
So no – we don’t have Paul’s original handwriting or the scroll Mark wrote on.
But we do have an abundance of manuscripts that allow scholars to compare variations, track changes, and get remarkably close to the original wording.
Now, let’s be honest:
There are discrepancies.
There are verses that were added later.
And there are passages – like the story of the woman caught in adultery – that likely weren’t in the earliest versions.
But textual criticism – the field dedicated to studying these manuscripts – lets us be transparent about those differences. It doesn’t weaken the Bible’s power; it shows that real people preserved it, shared it, and sometimes messed up.
The Bible wasn’t dropped from the sky.
It was shaped by human hands, over centuries – through faith, doubt, power struggles, and the pursuit of truth.
And honestly?
That makes it even more meaningful.
Okay – deep breath.
We’ve covered a lot.
We’ve talked about:
· How the Bible isn’t a single book, but a library
· How its texts were written over centuries by dozens of authors
· How the canon was shaped by debate, politics, and power
· How different traditions include different books
· How no translation is ever neutral
· And how we don’t have the originals – but we do have enough
And that doesn’t make it less sacred.
It makes it more human, and maybe more relevant – because it means it was shaped by people like us.
Wrestling. Reflecting. Trying to find meaning.
So the next time someone says,
“The Bible is clear,”
You can say:
“maybe. But the history sure isn’t.”
And that’s ok.
Because the Bible was never meant to be a weapon.
It was meant to be a witness – to love, justice, mercy, and mystery.
Inerrancy
Before we wrap up, let’s tackle one of the biggest claims you’ll hear in modern evangelical circles: that the Bible is inerrant. That means it’s completely without error in everything it teaches – even in the original manuscripts. Sounds airtight, right? Well, let’s take a closer look.
1. Where did this idea even come from?
Here’s the thing: the belief that the Bible is error-free is actually pretty new. It wasn’t hammered out by the apostles or the early church fathers. It came together in the late 19th century as a reaction against modern science and biblical criticism – and it was formalized in 1978 in something called the Chicago statement on Biblical Inerrancy. If you’re keeping score, that’s almost 2,000 years after Jesus.
2. Early Christians Didn’t buy this
Augustine, Origin, even Jerome – they all saw Scripture as inspired, yes, but they didn’t insist that it was perfect by modern standards. Augustine even admitted that mistakes existed, usually in copying or interpretation. They believed the Bible’s purpose was to reveal God, not to serve as a flawless fact-checkable manual.
3. The Manuscript Problem
And here’s a practical problem: if inerrancy only applies to the original manuscripts, and those originals no longer exist – what are we even talking about? Today, we have thousands of handwritten copies with tens of thousands of differences. Some are small, like spelling, but others are big – like entire verses that were added later. The ending of Mark? The story of the woman caught in adultery in John? Those weren’t in the earliest manuscripts.
4. Contradictions in the Text
And then there are the internal inconsistencies. How did Judas die? Matthew says he hanged himself. Acts says he fell headlong and burst open. The resurrection accounts? They don’t agree on who was there, when it happened, or what they saw. Now, these differences don’t destroy the beauty or truth of Scripture, but they do blow a hole in the idea of perfect consistency.
5. Ancient Worldview
Let’s also remember the Bible was written in an ancient context. It reflects a flat earth, a solid dome sky, slavery, and patriarchy. That’s not God endorsing those things – that’s God speaking through people in their time and space.
6. Why This Matters
Here’s the danger: when we build faith on inerrancy, we set people up for collapse. They find one contradiction, and the whole house of cards falls. But the Bible was never meant to be an error-free textbook. It was meant to be a story – a story of God engaging in humanity in all its messiness.
7. A Better Way Forward
Instead of inerrancy, think inspiration. The Bible is God-breathed, yes – but that doesn’t mean God bypassed human limitations. It means God worked within them. And maybe that’s the most beautiful part of the story.