Authors of the Bible
Who Wrote The Sacred Texts ?
The Pentateuch, which constitutes the first five writings of the Bible, has long been attributed without question to the prophet Moses who would've wrote them under divine influence. These ancient sacred texts tell the story of the people of Israel and that of Moses, who appear in the Book of Exodus where he guides Hebrew people out of the land of Egypt and through the Sinai desert where God gives him the gift of the Ten Commandments on an engraved tablet, and events described there would date from the 2nd millennium BC.
Other texts of the Bible such as Canticles or The Book Of Proverbs would be the work of King Solomon, King of Israel, while the different Gospels would have been written by those bearing their names: John, Mark, Luke and Matthew. The question however remains: who are the true authors of the bible ?
Who wrote the bible ?
In the course of the 17th century, a rationalist philosopher pointed out logical inconsistencies in the writings of the Old Testament and mentionned the fact that the stories ended with the death of Moses, who himself would be the author of the bible. Two centuries later, philologists note that several styles of writing are used in the Pentateuch Bible. It now appears that the Hebrew Bible was not written by a single author but rather is a composite set of texts written at various times during the first millennium BC. The last writings of the Old Testament would be dated from the 6th century BC.
The New Testament Bible, which includes the four Gospels and tells the story of Jesus of Nazareth and his Apostles, is also the product of multiple elaborations whose origins are nowadays impossible to trace. The sacred texts were written from even older manuscripts and from long gone oral traditions. Determining the true authors of the Bible is practically mission impossible and contemporary exegetes rather prefer to talk about chronology.
Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1947, in a cave on the shores of the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake shared between Israel and Palestine, were discovered ancient scrolls dating from the time of Jesus. In total, nearly 900 scrolls divided into several thousand fragments were found in Qumran before being handed over to the Jerusalem Bible School. Forty years later, in the 1990s, the texts were finally made accessible to the public and many specialists undertook the difficult task of interpreting them. These include many fragments of the Hebrew Bible and several previously unknown texts that relate the existence of great biblical figures like Noah and Enoch.
Essenism at the origin of Christianity ?
According to some historians, the site of Qumran would have been inhabited in the time of Jesus by the Essenes who would have led a puritan existence while developing their doctrine, Essenism, precursor of Christianity. In addition to bits from the Old Testament Bible, some of their manuscripts include apocryphal books such as the Book of Enoch.
For others, the scrolls of Qumran would rather be the work of scribes who would've copied and commented on fragments of the Bible and there would be no direct link with Christianity.
A scientific reality hidden behind the miracles of the Bible?
Miracles are commonplace in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. Is it possible to trace back who wrote the Bible by searching among historical sources for facts that could be at the origin of the stories told in the sacred texts? Or are these simply the fruit of a symbolic doctrine?
The Plagues of Egypt
In the Book of Exodus, Moses predicts a wave of scourges that must serve to punish Pharaoh who refuses to free Hebrews from slavery. Scientists have tried to associate some of the ten calamities inflicted by God on Egypt (Nile water changed to blood, frog rains, pestilence, thick darkness) to very real weather phenomena such as a volcano eruption on the island of Santorini that could have been at the origin of some facts stated in the Bible ...
Crossing the Red Sea
The Bible texts say that Moses, after separating waters of the Red Sea, would have crossed it with the Hebrews on dry land. Pharaoh's army was then swallowed up before reaching the shore. Some have vainly tried to explain the event by strong winds that would've suddenly change direction while others speak of submarine volcanic activity ...
The resurrection of Christ
Two days after his burial and three days after his crucifixion, Jesus returns from the dead after an angel announced his resurrection. The greatest miracle of the New Testament Bible, it is the basis of Christianity and for believers is proof of eternal life. For unbelievers, Jesus would've rather fallen into a coma before regaining consciousness a few days later ...
