Demystifying the Bible

The origin and how it was written to its present state

1. The Word Bible comes from the Greek Word Biblia which means ‘Books’ – a collection of many books – Each biblical book has a unique history and took a distinctive route on its way to inclusion in the Bible.
2. Many Authors in different places and times wrote and edited the books that constitute the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament over a thousand-year period.
3. Traditionally, Christians and Jews dated the earliest biblical writings to the time of Moses.
4. The earliest biblical texts were written on scrolls made from papyrus (a plant-based paper found mainly in Ancient Egypt.

During the ancient time Scribes where special because they could read and write, literacy was not widespread, the Scribes were also Editors.

For example, a Scribe living in Ancient Egypt possessed a number of scrolls of Jeremiah and he edited these texts and traditions together into a unified scrolls now called the scroll of Jeremiah, and another Scribe in Jerusalem then received a copy of this scroll but edited the text to reflect his own community Theology understanding of Jeremiah legacy. In this way different versions of Jeremiah scroll will emerge in different communities

The process like this occurred numerous times before there was even a ‘BIBLE ‘as we know it today.

The Biblical Books had to be copied over again and again – so that they could be preserved for others to read them.

1. This process of re writing the books of the Bible was not always perfect- sometimes mistakes were introduced, or words were added or dropped.
2. That is why we ended up with different versions like the King James Version and various different Bible versions all over the World.
3. During the times editions of versions of these books were collected and religious communities gradually narrowed down the list of books they deemed authoritative.

Hebrew Bible -Old Testament and its genesis.

BIBLE – Old and New Testament and its genesis.

The Bible -The King James version

1. The King James version of the new testament was completed in 1611 by 8 members of the Church of England.
2. There were and still are not original texts to be translated.
3. The oldest manuscripts we have were written down hundreds of years after the last apostles died.
4. There are over 8000 of these old manuscripts with no two alike.
5. The King James translators used none of these, anyway instead they edited previous translations to create a version their King and Parliament would approve.

So what the 21st Century Christians believe is the ” WORD OF GOD ” -is a book edited in the 17th Century from the 16th Century translations of 8000 contradictory copies of 4th Century scrolls that claim to be copies of lost letters written in the 1st Century—That is not FAITH that is INSANITY.

The Canonisation of the Scriptures.

1. A list of Books that were considered scriptures for any particular group of people is called a CANON.
2. The Word CANON comes from Greek word meaning – ‘measuring stick ‘and refers to a group of opinion about whether or not a book ‘measures up ‘up to being called a scripture and having a scared status.
3. Within the Christians traditions, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestants communities have slightly different Canons.

The Council of Nacea- the birth of Christianity – canonisation of the Gospels.

1. In 325 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine (Himself a non-believer they call them Pagans) commissioned a Council of Christian Bishops convened in the Bithynian City of Nacea in the present-day Turkey.
2. The Council established the equality of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity and asserted that only the Son became incarnate as Jesus Christ.

Three main things happened at the Council of Nacea.

1. Settlement of the Christian issue of Divine Nature of God the Son and his relationship with to God the Father.
2. The Construction of the Nicene Creed.
3. Mandating uniform observance of the Date of Easter and Promulgation of early Canon Law.

It is important to note that the Doctrine of Trinity in Christianity was born around 150-160 AD by Tertullian– research more to understand or google it.

1. The Christian Doctrine of Trinity – Latin Trinus -meaning ‘threefold’ defines GOD an existing in three co-equal and co-eternal.
2. The doctrine was formulated to try and understand the relationship between Jesus and God in their scriptural doctrines and traditions.

It is important to note that other religious views are different e.g.

1. In Judaism God is understood to be the absolute one indivisible and incomparable who is the cause of all existence.
2. The idea of GOD as a duality or trinity is heresy and even considered by some to be POLYTHEISTIC (Opposite of MONOTHEISM)

ISLAM also believe the same as Judaism and recognise Jesus as a Prophet like Mohammad.

This brief summary was meant to help understand the Genesis of the Bible how it came into existence and help to demystify it.