who wrote the bible and is it possible it was edited or some parts left out even missing?

Question

who wrote the bible and is it possible it was edited or some parts left out even missing?

Answer 1

Many different authors wrote the various books that now constitute the Bible over a span of about a thousand years. Remember, "The Bible" is really a collection of books comprising many different genres, not a single work written by a single author.



And yes, the various books of the Bible were clearly edited at various times in their history. There are manuscripts and ancient translations of some books that are markedly different than the form in which we now know them. To take just one example, the ancient Greek translation of Jeremiah is about one sixth shorter than the Hebrew version and its chapters are arranged in a different order. By a careful examination of the texts, scholars can gain insight into how the books were edited and the source materials that were used:

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



And yes, there are many Jewish and early Christian religious texts that were not included in the Bible. But then again, the Bible was never intended to include *every* religious text from that time and culture.



The Jewish and Christian communities included those texts they thought were divinely inspired, and since they now consider their canon (list of sacred books) to be complete, *their* Bible (whether the Jewish Hebrew Bible or the Christian Bible) isn't missing anything. After all, what gets included and what doesn't in a particular canon is ultimately a subjective standard based upon the needs of a particular religion community.

Answer 2

You have it just about right. The story of how it was produced, and how it was edited and brought down to us is quite a marvel.



The book _Who_Wrote_the_Bible_ by Richard Elliot Friedman is an excellent place to start to get the facts of the matter. Friedman also explains, step by step, how our understanding of the Bible grew from the simplistic literalist view to the mature scholarly view we have today. When you read Friedman's explanation, the growth process becomes a lot more easy to understand and appreciate. A lot of people made a lot of sacrifices along the way so that we could know the truth today, which in turn does indeed make us free.



The neat thing about this book is that it is not a large book, nor is it especially hard to understand. Friedman, a brilliant Biblical scholar, has the gift of being able to write so that all of us normal folks can follow him as he guides us through the process of better understanding where the Bible comes from.



This book is about the Hebrew Bible (Friedman is a Rabbinical scholar of the first order), bit the principles he clarifies in many important cases are equally applicable to the Greek New Testament.

Answer 3

God used many men to pen his words through the pages of the Bible.

Some of the writers were Paul, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, and others. While some changes have been made in the past such as leaving out Jehovah's name in some translations, it has not been left out in all. The New World Translation for instance, has God's name, Jehovah in it's proper places. Also, the New King James Bible, I think it's called the Divine Name King James, has returned Jehovah's name to most of the places where they had taken it out previously and replaced it with the title Lord. Jehovah will always make a way to keep his word pure and accurate.

Answer 4

there's at least 1 scribal error (we'd be lead to believe) in the book of Chronicles (1 or 2, can't remember offhand) or 1 or 2 Kings. why wasn't that corrected if it were edited??? nooooooo, even the "mistakes" are kept, the scribes regarded it as that holy. and it turns out the value of pi can be derived from the "erroe" to 4 decimal places. read the descriptions of the brazen sea to understand.



the bible was not edited. that's just a modern popular piece of fiction. a fairy tale.



the middle east is a product of the koran and the old testament. the US and europe is a product of New Testament moral underpinnings. the whole world benefits from the blessings inherited by Christian values, but you're not going to find perfection anywhere. the far east is largely a product of atheism, but Christianity is thriving in China for instance due to the influence of Chinese and other brave Christians.



why would anyone even want to reject the person or teachings of the rabbi from nazareth

Answer 5

It is a collection of 66 (+7 more if your catholic) books (also letters, poems and prophecies) which were written by 40 or so people over the course of 1500 years.

Although they seem to go together fairly nicely, its clear that not one single book of the Bible was written with the intention of being put together with any other book.

There were many books proposed to be in the Bible, but not all books were included. The people who compiled the bible in the second century AD decided what books were inspired by God, which ones fit into the church and which ones did not fit.

The Idea was to pick books which clearly were inspired by God and reject ones which may or may not have been.

As it is, the Bible is approximately the length of all seven harry potter stories, or about twice the length of War and Peace.

Answer 6

Yes, the Bible was edited, some parts left out and some parts added.



But the the truth about the corruption was frankly captured in the Preface to the 1611 edition of the KJV. A pdf version of this Bible with the said preface used to be freely available on the internet - but you are unlikely to see it now.



Below are excerpts from the Preface.



Preface to 1611 Translation

1. Nay, doth not Sixtus Quintus confess, that certain Catholics (he meaneth certain of his own side) were in such an humor of translating the Scriptures into Latin, that Satan taking occasion by them, though they thought of no such matter, did strive what he could, out of so uncertain and manifold a variety of Translations, so to mingle all things, that nothing might seem to be left certain and firm in them, etc.?



2. It is certain, that that Translation was not so sound and so perfect, but it needed in many places correction; and who had been so sufficient for this work as the Apostles or Apostolic men?



3. Yet for all that, as the Egyptians are said of the Prophet to be men and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit [Isa 31:3]; so it is evident, (and Saint Jerome affirmeth as much) [S. Jerome. de optimo genere interpret.] that the Seventy were Interpreters, they were not Prophets; they did many things well, as learned men; but yet as men they stumbled and fell, one while through oversight, another while through ignorance, yea, sometimes they may be noted to add to the Original, and sometimes to take from it...



4. Again they were not out of the Hebrew fountain (we speak of the Latin Translations of the Old Testament) but out of the Greek stream, therefore the Greek being not altogether clear, the Latin derived from it must needs be muddy.

Answer 7

At least 72 different people, and some parts were written "by committee."

No originals of any books exist, so there's no way to tell what's "original" and what's been added, subtracted, or edited from any of the individual books.

It's a collection of individual books, not one big book, by the way. It was compiled, not "written." The people who put various parts of it together picked stuff they wanted in it, and discarded other stuff they didn't like. It wasn't a collection or compilation as you know it now until at least the 5th century CE.



By the way, pretty much everything "Oblivion Approaches" said is false. His claims take the "traditional view," and the magical view -- both of which have been shown completely wrong by bible scholars (most of whom are christians and jews).

Answer 8

There are many stories that man submitted for entry into the bile and many did not make the edited version!!! Only stories picked by an ancient scholar made the book of stories!!! It was assembled in order to con the dim witted out of some control but mostly to get tithes for life!!! Oh and it is the most edited book in the universe although it is only man made up stories!!!

Answer 9

It's dozens of books have over 40 authors, writing over some 1500 years. In the early 300's, they made the NT, using the best available books.

Answer 10

So called "New Age" versions, such as the New World Translation, which in reality is from Wescot and Hort, are constantly revising(38 revisions so far) to suit the beliefs of their so-called "Prophets". Read Revelation 22 to find out what will happen to them on Judgment Day.

Answer 11

It was written over a period of many centuries by many different authors. Texts were chosen for inclusion based on the doctrinal needs of the day. The individual texts were edited and changed numerous times even before they were selected for inclusion.



No one sat down and wrote the whole thing at once. It was a long process, and there were separate processes for the Hebrew texts and the Christian era texts.

Answer 12

The dead sea scrolls found in caves in the 1940.s show little change in the OT 200 years before Christ compared to today's translations.

Answer 13

Lots of people wrote the Bible (it spans several hundred years at least). Some of the books ("Apocrypha") were removed by the Protestants.

Answer 14

Yes, the last chapter is missing where the narrator wakes up and realizes it was all just a dream.

Answer 15

The Bible’s answer

Many people are told that we can’t be sure who wrote the Bible. But the Bible is often clear about who penned its contents. Some parts begin with such phrases as “the words of Nehemiah,” “the vision of Isaiah,” and “the word of Jehovah that occurred to Joel.”—Nehemiah 1:1; Isaiah 1:1; Joel 1:1.



Most Bible writers acknowledged that they wrote in the name of Jehovah, the one true God, and that they were guided by him. Prophets who wrote the Hebrew Scriptures proclaimed more than 300 times: “This is what Jehovah has said.” (Amos 1:3; Micah 2:3; Nahum 1:12) Other writers received God’s message through angels.—Zechariah 1:7, 9.



The Bible was written by some 40 men over the course of 1,600 years. Some men were used to write more than one book of the Bible. In fact, the Bible is a miniature library of 66 books. It consists of the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures, called by many the Old Testament, and the 27 books of the Christian Greek Scriptures, often called the New Testament.

Answer 16

It most certainly is not "the word of god", since all gods are imaginary.



The weak-minded 80% of adults worldwide are unable to live without their gods and their imaginary afterlife.

Answer 17

Old Testament - some Hebrews, way before Jesus

New Testament - some Greeks, well after Jesus.

Answer 18

so then its possible a lot of it is false, untrue, or edited in or out to tailor to certain control groups