Have you ever considered that? Someone told me it was "God's Word". But when pressed, they had no way to verify exactly how, when or in what fashion God had contacted these ancient writers.
What exactly do we know about the writers of the Bible? What was their aim, purpose and agenda?
2007-03-09 18:17:37 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Facts only please! No dogmatic babble about "faith" or other non-sense!
2007-03-09 18:18:18 · update #1
God "wrote" the Bible. About forty people did the pen-work. He wanted to convey His will to His creation, and have it stand forever. The Bible is not one book. It is 66 writings compiled and believed to be eyewitness accounts. Those that crossed the Red Sea out of Egypt were right there when moses went up on Sinai and wrote the first 5 books, and also had in hand the stones etched by God. The apostles saw Jesus do his miracles and rise from the dead, and all but one went to their deaths proclaiming the truth of it. With every shovel full of soil, Israel proves passages of the Bible with regard to places, rulers, events. The Bible is the best attested piece of literature known to man, and if you can't accept it, then you can't accept any historic testimony at all. Besides the reliability of the Bible, is the personal issue once the faith chasm is crossed, but you don't want to talk about that, so that's that. The ultimate purpose of all of Scripture is the redemption of man through Jesus Christ, and yes, even in the Old Testament. Jesus "wrote" the Old Testament, because He is that same God; incarnate.
2007-03-09 18:45:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
2 Tim. 3:16-"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"
2 Peter 1:20-"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." v. 21:-"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."**
Also read Matt. 24:35; Col. 3:16; Heb. 4:12; James 1:23; Rev. 22:19
**The inspired writers of the Bible were holy men of God who were moved, borne along, guided, and impelled by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit so guided their thoughts and writings,without suppressing their individual styles and vocabularies, that they composed and recorded (without error) in their original manuscripts the exact words God intended. Their aim, purpose and agenda was to serve and obey God. Much is known about the writers of the Bible--far too much to be written here. A good study Bible would be very helpful to you as there are introductions to each book of the Bible with info about the writers, and much more.
2007-03-10 02:47:38 · answer #2 · answered by beano™ 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Word of God was to guide us and record to us what happened since the beginning.
As we all know,Jesus existence was proven, so the only reason He died on the cross was either because He's lying, He's deluded, or He's telling the truth.
I dont believe someone capable of such teachings that even his enemies were dumbfounded several times, will die for a lie. its not smart at all.
also, there're the things that're proven by historical findings, such as the armors beneath the Red Sea talked about in the book Moses written, and the flood that covered the earth.
Jesus has also fulfilled all the prophecies about Himself, from His birth to His death, i mean, King David already prophesised about His arrival thousands of years ago. what else must you doubt?
then again, there're people who say you cant prove someone that long ago existed, yet they believe that people of that era or even earlier like King Julius existed, without doubt.
When your heart is closed, you'll do selective reasoning with double standards.
2007-03-10 02:27:19 · answer #3 · answered by Just Me 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since you are a faithless man, I will answer you in a secular manner. The Bible is just like any other literary work. It was written because a man was "inspired" to write of his experiences or feelings about something. In the case of the bible, it is inspired of god. Numerous men contributed to the bible. Before it was written down on papyrus, it was told by word of mouth through generations. The first books were attributed to Moses, then follows David, etc etc etc. The New Testament was mainly written by Paul of Tarsus. Of course, there are also Matthew, Mark , Luke , John etc etc etc. These men wrote their stories because they were "inspired" by their faith. It was their aim to propagate the faith and to encourage belief in a higher being. The purpose is to make men dependent on God and to have a source of strength and a sense of direction in life. The agenda? The agenda is to make a person a better human being so that he can love and serve others.
2007-03-10 02:28:10 · answer #4 · answered by adonisMD 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Man wrote the bible inspires by God on the facts of heaven.
2007-03-10 02:20:00 · answer #5 · answered by blesshisname2005 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want the facts concerning the bible, you have to go in many directions. Archeology and sociology are good places to start.
Check out the link in the sources area for an explanation as to why it may be impossible to verify who the actual authors of the bible are; as well as information that debunks some of those who are credited with writing books of the bible (the gospels and various other New Testament books).
As for their agenda...religion came about for many reasons, but the primary are: to explain the unexplainable, and control.
Primitive man had no way to scientifically explain fire, wind, rain, etc. so his superstitious mind invented beings who controlled those things (along with many other phenomena).
Churches came about as a means to give a society structure. By determining what would please its god(s), and what would be sinful, society was given a set of boundaries. Scriptural laws were writen, and enforced in the secular world to guide and control the direction in which society developed. For example, many societies were hedonistic. By declaring that god was against sex outside of marriage, the church could help stem std epidemics, control over-population in areas with limited resources, and redirect the focus of that particular culture. It has been evidenced that the catholic church, at many points in history, has abused this control: at certain times in history, kings answered to the church, the inquisition and crusades were a direct result of church influence, etc.
2007-03-10 02:36:54 · answer #6 · answered by Bill K Atheist Goodfella 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The way I was taught was that each book of the bible was named after the person who was chosen by God to write down what God wanted us to know. Why don't you try reading it for yourself and making up your own mind about it? It really does have some very useful information in it, even for our times.
2007-03-10 02:28:58 · answer #7 · answered by Alwyn C 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Bible evolved
2007-03-10 02:32:13 · answer #8 · answered by sahara_springs 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a scribe put together some old folk tales he heard being passed around his village. Years later, someone found his writing, misinterpreted its meaning and passed it off as divine. Centuries of this misinterpretation passed and by the age of Christianity, the latest scribe in the cycle decided to modernize it and call it the word of god because that happened to be the divine inspiration at the time.
2007-03-10 02:25:14 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
A wide variety of people each wrote books of the Bible.They did not have an agenda.
http://www.allabouttruth.org/who-wrote-the-bible.htm
2007-03-10 02:20:52 · answer #10 · answered by Serena 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋