What do Christians think about the Bible being constructed in the 7th century BCE?

Question

I'm reading "The Bible Unearthed" right now, and although very good, it doesn't address what religious people think about this evidence, which frankly, is overwhelming. The book basically proves, several times over, that the Bible is a collection of factual history interlaced with myths to help the political ambitions of King Josiah in the 7th century BCE. Though it talks about and claims to be about the 2nd millennium BCE, many of the oddly specific geographical references and social and political practices are exclusive to the 7th century BCE.

I haven't gotten the chance to see what people at my church think about this, especially my pastor and high people who've always treated it as word for word accurate. I don't want to settle on this one idea without hearing the other side, so I suppose my question is for a rebuttal: YouTube, article, whatever. Are people who believe the Exodus and Patriarchs occurred at their claimed time just ignorant, or is there another side?

JFK fan, I'm talking about the Old Testament. Yes, changes may have been made up to much later, but the basic Torah and Hebrew Bible were constructed a lot earlier.

Answer 1

the bible was actually 'constructed' as you put it, in the 4th century and financed by constantine...but let's not quibble over a few measly centuries eh...

Answer 2

What you fail to recognize is that the Jews don't assert that pen was put to paper ... or stylus to papyrus ... in the 2nd millennium BC... I believe that most every educated Biblical scholar recognizes that it was oral tradition prior to being written. They state that the origins of the stories are from that era.

When pen was put to paper is irrelevant as that is not the origin of the story.

You also need to recognize what is theory and what is evidence. Too, writers can always modify ancient tales with their own contemporary understandings. This does not negate the historical usefulness of the Bible. Indeed while the book you are reading disputes some things, a great deal of the historical nature of the Bible has in fact been substantiated.

Reading the works of a single author will never provide the clarity necessary to fully understand both sides of a discussion. Even though I'm not a Christian, I suggest that after this book, you consult one espousing a contrary view.

Answer 3

The Bible is based on a vast amount of information and usually reads in a very condensed fashion, especially many of the Old Testament books.

The oldest book is Genesis. In the Masoretic text or Leningrad Codex copies in Genesis we find certain passages separated by the letters Pe and Samek; it appears to me that some of these marked portions which were later put together. And Genesis reads that way. We have 1) a creation story, 2) garden of Eden story, 3) early chronology, 4) Noah story, 5) Further early chronology, 6) story of Abraham, 7) story of Isaac, 8) story of family of Jacob and his work, 9) story of Esau, 10) story of Joseph in Egypt.

These and subsequent books are so highly developed, with profound plots, and intricate details, that they could not all have suddenly sprung into existence and it is unlikely that all of a sudden it was codified in the 6th or 7th centuries BC when there was so much trouble in the region which was after the Kingdom was divided into the Kingdom of Judah and the Kingdom of Israel, and the Assyrians took over, then the Babylonians took over, then the Medes and Persians took over, then the Greeks then the Romans.

The careful scribal work began where scribes flourished, in Egypt. The content in Genesis dates from about 13005 or 13006 BC to about 1870 BC (1877 according to some). The Exodus dates to probably no later than 1440 BC and probably no earlier than 1447 BC.

From a close reading of the Ancient Hebrew originals it is my opinion that these writings were not written down much later than the times of these events initially, at least within the life spans of those who experienced these events.

Answer 4

I'm not a Christian, but I do know that all histories are reinterpreted for their contemporary audiences. It still goes on today, My family come from Cyprus and listening to the Turkish and Greek sides of the island's history you wonder if they are talking about the same place.

Check out The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts by Mark S. Smith, it gives a comparison of the mythic elements in the Bible to the mythic texts of Ugarit, a nearby city state. They share some interesting religious ideas, but one became monotheistic while the other stayed polytheistic.

Answer 5

Most scholars recognise that the different books of the Old Testament were originally written over several centuries, and that many have undergone revision and reediting over that time. Through careful reading it is possible to determine older sources for many of the books, and where different texts have been stitched together to make a newer text. This is actually how many ancient books came to be, and is a function of how they were reproduced - copied by hand, rather than printed as today.

There's over three hundred years of scholarship and criticism underpinning the understanding of modern biblical scholars. If you're interested, maybe start with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_criticism

If you can find it, I highly recommend http://www.amazon.com/Biblical-Exegesis-Beginners-John-Hayes/dp/0804200319 which provides a clear outline of the basic techniques of exegesis: textual, historical, form, grammatical, tradition, literary and redaction criticism.

Answer 6

I don't know I have never studied the Old Testament in depth. But it would be a somewhat valid claim from the beginning because the books of Moses detail the death of Moses, the book of Joshua has the death of Joshua, the book of Judges has several generations of history so it couldn't be written by one of the Judges mentioned, and the book of Samuel details the death of Samuel.

Answer 7

And most ancient religions have a fall of Man, and reconciliation to God through a Savour of some sort. Many religions have a dying and rising god, some were born on December 25 in a cave instead of a manger, born of a virgin, etc etc etc. Many old religions document many of the same happenings in the Bible, such as the flood. The Christian story is not unique, this is for sure. One only has to open their narrow field of vision to read about history and comparative religions, and the blinders instantly come off.

Kudos to you for reading about actual historical happenings, although try to read a good range, and take some with a grain of salt as not all is correct. Look for common threads and ask God to guide you. You will see that all religions in fact worship the same God, as I've read before, all religions approach God, but it's only Christianity that takes you inside the face of God, and that's why Christianity is the end, final, most complete and true religion there is.

Answer 8

Most everyone knows the Bible in not the absolute word of God.

Those who say it has never been changed are lying so beware of them.

.

Answer 9

Books don't sell without a deliberately "provocative" theme and I think you would be well-advised to be aware of that and not permit yourself to be overly-influenced by popular science/history books with provocative themes. Serious scholarship is a far more worthwhile pursuit,particularly with respect to the history of religion.

Answer 10

what????????
the bible was written after Jesus was crucified, around 33 AD/ CE Im not Christian and I know that
oops i made a mistake
that should say gospel so i guess i dont know the answer