“All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the mean of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Saying that God is the author of the Bible does not necessarily mean He grabbed some parchment, took pen in hand, and wrote the Scripture texts physically. Instead of physical action, the authorship of God was accomplished through the inspiration process, where humans wrote God’s message.
2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” This means that the Holy Spirit revealed the Scripture’s message to the prophets. The Bible’s authors wrote not according to their whim or will but as they were controlled or moved by the Holy Spirit.
Old Testament Authors
Here are the authors of the Old Testament:
- The Book of Amos – Amos
- The Book of Daniel – Daniel
- Psalms – David, portions of other Psalms are written by other authors
- The Book of Ezekiel – Ezekiel
- The Book of Ezra – Ezra possibly wrote the Chronicles I and II and portions of Nehemiah
- The Book of Habakkuk – Habakkuk
- The Book of Haggai – Haggai
- The Book of Isaiah – Isaiah
- The Book of Jeremiah, Lamentations, Kings I and II – Jeremiah
- The Book of Joel – Joel
- The Book of Jonah – Jonah
- The Book of Joshua – Joshua
- The Book of Malachi – Malachi
- The Book of Micah – Micah
- Deuteronomy, Numbers, Leviticus, Exodus, Genesis – Moses possibly wrote or compiled the Book of Job
- The Book of Nahum – Nahum
- The Book of Nehemiah – Nehemiah
- The Book of Obadiah – Obadiah
- Samuel I and II, Ruth, Judges – Samuel
- Song of Solomon, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes – Solomon
- The Book of Zechariah – Zechariah
- The Book of Zephaniah – Zephaniah
New Testament Authors
Below is a list of the New Testament authors:
- The Book of James – James
- Gospel of John, John I, II, and III, Revelation – John
- The Book of Jude – Jude
- Acts of Apostles, Gospel of Luke – Luke
- Gospel of Mark – Mark
- Gospel of Matthew – Gospel of Matthew
- Philemon, Titus, Timothy I and II, Thessalonians I and II, Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians, Galatians, Corinthians I and II, Romans (possibly the Book of Hebrews – Paul
- Peter I and II – Peter
The Single Author Theory of the Old Testament
The Old Testament, also known as Hebrew Bible, tells the people of Israel’s history over a millennium years ago and God’s creation of the world and humankind. It also contains stories, moral lessons, and laws that form the Christians’ and Jews’ basis of religious life.
Both Christian and Jewish traditions believed that a single author wrote Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers – the Bible’s first five books. That single author was thought to be Hebrew prophet Moses for at least 1,000 years.
However, Bible readers observed the existence of the Five Books of Moses that the Hebrew prophet himself may not have possibly witnessed. For instance, his death took place near the end of Deuteronomy. The collection of Jewish laws recorded from the 3rd to 5th centuries A.D. called Talmud dealt with that inconsistency and explained that Joshua possibly wrote the verses about the prophet’s death. Learn what lanauge the New Testament was written in here: https://www.alabasterco.com/blogs/education/language-new-testament-written-in
The Gospel Authors in the New Testament
The New Testament narrates the life of Jesus, from his birth, teaching, death, to resurrection. It serves as a narrative forming Christianity’s fundamental basis.
About four decades after the crucifixion of Jesus, around 70 A.D., four chronicles of His life that emerged to be potential Christian faith’s central documents were anonymously written. John, Luke, Mark, and Matthew Gospels were named for Jesus’s apostles or most devoted earthly disciples. These four canonical Gospels were initially believed to be the eyewitness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
However, many scholars agreed that these Gospels, the same way with the New Testament books, were not written by those people to whom they were credited. Instead, the stories forming the basis of Christianity were originally accumulated orally. Then, those stories were passed down from generation to generation before being collected and written down.
13 of 27 New Testament books were traditionally attributed to Apostle Paul. However, most scholars of the present time agree that only seven of Paul’s epistles are authentic: Romans, Corinthians I and II, Philippians, Philemon, Galatians, and Thessalonians I. These epistles are believed to be written between 50060 A.D. So, this makes them the oldest evidence for Christianity. The later epistles’ authors may have been Paul’s followers who used his name in writing.
Conclusion
The Bible’s influence is undeniable, but mysteries still surround its origins. After thousands of years of its existence, humankind is still not a hundred percent sure who exactly wrote the Bible texts or when they were written. However, what we know is that the Bible contains God’s message and love to humanity.
