2007-01-24 19:20:55 · 17 answers · asked by sees_lwo_na 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Hi.
There are three questions here, really (maybe more!).
- Who wrote the books of the Bible?/Who inspired it?
- Who assembled the Bible and determined what should go in it?
- Who translated and made available the Bible?
WHO WROTE IT:
The Bible is a composite work with contributions from many authors. There are various opinions about who wrote what, and I believe that the authors of some books of the Bible are still unknown.
Most (all?) Bible-based religions believe that the books of the Bible were written by humans who were influenced by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) are generally sourced to Moses (and are called the Five Books of Moses). Even that, though, is up for debate. More about this can be found at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbible1.html
WHO ASSEMBLED IT:
The assembly of the Old Testament (39 books) was determined by the Jews, who decided which of the old works were canonical. The New Testament was largely (exclusively?) determined by the Catholic church.
More about this can be found at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbible5.html
WHO TRANSLATED THE BIBLE:
St. Jerome is credited with translating the Bible from Greek and Hebrew to Latin, when it became most widely used. More about this can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome
HTH!
2007-01-24 19:29:57 · answer #1 · answered by Idiot_Savante 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A whole bunch of different people. In fact much of the bible is just retelling of older Neo-Lithic & Sumerian cultures (ie. Noah's ark, and Moses and the 10 commandments, etc...). It's mostly just Jewish mythology. Kinda like Greek mythology, but people actually take the bible literally.
It's also been translated and re-translated so many times into and from different languages that much of what was/is written isn't really correct anymore, or has been greatly embellished.
It's believed that it was eventually Constantine the great, with his council of Nicaea around 325AD that made the final call on the new testament to make Jesus immortal and a Diety. Christianity had grown so large and uncontrolable that Constantine (who was actually Pagan), became a Christian on his death-bed to keep the peace and to prevent a civil uprising.
2007-01-25 03:26:43 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
What a question! And the answers!!! They range from dogma to something approximating the truth.
If you really want the answer to such a serious question you wouldn't ask here. There are well documented and definitive answers to this question. Go to a library!!! Search the net!! Talk to a biblical history scholar!!!
Posing questions like this here invites ignorance and misconception.
WHILE I'M ON THE SOAPBOX
This whole site is full of rubbish like this. I've visited here three times and every time I've been either shocked at the people touting ignorance as truth or offended by the banality of the answers, not to mention some of the questions.
God help us all. To think that some will go away from here thinking they learned something......
Pathetic. Yahoo should be ashamed for exploiting us all.
2007-01-25 03:36:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
the bible is made up of 66 books written by different people through the ages mostly on the lives of prophets people God guided. the books were all brought together after Jewsus' death although most of the oild testiment already existed for the Jews.
2007-01-25 03:26:39 · answer #4 · answered by Mim 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The Catholic Church had filtered and put it together as Bible.
2007-01-25 03:29:52 · answer #5 · answered by Troy Girl 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Puffin books
2007-01-25 03:28:48 · answer #6 · answered by Kita 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Someone having hallucinations of people walking on water, making enough fish to feed thousands, having an ark that would carry two of everything.Can you say LSD?
2007-01-25 03:27:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
The bible was written by men who were inspired by God to write His revelation. These men were like secretaries. God gave them the thoughts and they wrote them down.
2007-01-25 03:25:41 · answer #8 · answered by upsman 5 · 0⤊ 4⤋
constantine the great, with his council of nicaea. 325AD
what's great about it: constantine was a pagan roman emperor.
a PAGAN led the council that edited and compiled the bible!
what a hoot!!! it's like buying a car that was built and designed by a hairdresser!
2007-01-25 03:24:29 · answer #9 · answered by jen1981everett 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Paul made many of the first edits, in favor of his beliefs.
2007-01-25 03:28:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋