Who really wrote the bible? -Debate-

Great Debates
1

I’ve seen multiple theories and arguments as to who really wrote the bible. This thread is more for the people who already realize it’s not true, because I don’t really think “Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc., etc., etc.” is a very truthful belief. I’m asking more about the Old Testament, because I have seen some proof to whom actually wrote the New Testament. I’m not voicing my opinions quite yet, just trying to get a feel for what this community believes.

I’m looking for:

Name
Approximate Age
Approximate Year of writing
Guess as to why
Whether you believe they saw it as the truth

I’d like it to be kept kind of serious, but bible jokes are always welcome. xD

2

Dex and Eutychus.

(wrote a series of articles on the topic, that is. I don’t think they wrote the bible, though I guess you never know)

3

It’s still quite a debate, as there isn’t enough evidence there to give a clear and definite answer.

4

Which makes me think you might not have read the reference. Or ALL the reference.

Or maybe you didn’t realize the link was only Part 5 of 5. Did you start at Part One?

Which part do you think isn’t clear?

5

Bet you haven’t.

But anyway, I was about to list my theories about who wrote which books, but seriously, Dex and Euty’s articles cover it pretty well. And you don’t have to be “somebody who realizes it’s not true” to accept modern critical consensus on Biblical authorship. Plenty of people believe in the Bible as a sacred document without having any trouble with the notion that a lot of the authorship is traditionally misattributed.

6

“All we can say is that many scholars look to Jamnia and 90 AD as the point at which the Hebrew Bible was fixed. Others point to dates anywhere from 200 to 400 years earlier. We can only assert, with a fair degree of confidence, that the Hebrew Bible was certainly fixed by 90 AD and probably before that.”

They just admitted they’re not sure about that.

7

But yet you have proof of who wrote it and when? Why don’t you share it with us?

8

There’s nothing wrong with saying, “We don’t know.” Do you have any stronger evidence that wasn’t considered?

9

You can’t start a thread like this, drop a line like that, and not expect us to immediately demand a cite.

10

Is that supposed to be a problem? We’re discussing texts that are a few thousand years old. We can come up with some well informed ideas about the sources of the books but there’s almost zero chance we’ll ever know the precise names of the authors and editors of any books of the Bible.

11

I’ll tell you who didn’t write the new testament: Anyone who saw Jesus with his own eyes.

12

This answer makes me wonder if you even understand your own OP. You seem to me to be asking who wrote individual pieces of the OT and when and why they did it. Yet the part you quote from the Dex and Eutychus article is talking about when the books in the OT became accepted as the Hebrew canon, not when or by whom anything was written.

13

There seems to be a lot that he doesn’t understand about the Bible-for instance, until a very recent Googling, he didn’t know why Jews didn’t follow the New Testament. Cite.

14

Paul is generally accepted to have written several books of the NT, and claims to have seen Jesus with his own eyes (post-resurrection).

Edit: Okay, maybe he just hears Jesus in a bright light. I withdraw the nitpick.

15

Pretty sure we could have gathered that the OP doesn’t have a firm foundation on biblical authorship since his wording implied that he wanted a singular author for a collection of texts.

16

Which book?
A minimal effort of research on any given book or section of the Bible will give you a reasonable overview.
I think it’s unlikely that any particular author was faking their component (however wrong they might have been).

How did Moses make tea? Hebrewed it.
Etc.

17

Or an invitation to correct the grammar.

It’s who, not whom!

18

Wow! Thanks for pointing that out. We have a biblical scholar here. For those who don’t want to click:

19

Which was the followup to this gem:

20

I like how it’s the general reason and not the specific one.