The history of the bible, animated national geographic duration. Plus, after the twelfth century they usually had fairly extensive glosses. Say a bible since those were fairly common and a relatively consistent length. Why was the new testament not written right after jesus. How was the bible distributed before the printing press. Dec 16, 2012 well the bible is about 800,000 words long and the average person reads 250300 words per minute, so it would take about 3,200 minutes or 54 hours. Historians and archaeologists have repeatedly confirmed its authenticity. The bible is a collection of writings, and the earliest ones were set down nearly 3500 years ago. Either way, the common consensus is that the writing of the books of the bible began some time after 1500 bc, and concluded prior to 100 ad. The bible refers to itself as the word of god dozens of times e. The famous dead sea scrolls, which contain most of the books of the hebrew bible, date to 408 bc to 300 a. The books of the bible were written at different times by different authors over a.
The word bible comes from the greek word biblia, which means books. Feb 18, 2016 262 videos play all bible questions and answers finis j. But that is not to say that it took 1,500 years to write the bible, only that it took that long for the complete canon of scripture to be penned as god progressively. But moses was only one of some 40 people whom god used to write the bible. For example, john was a fisherman and luke was a doctor.
The bible we know today took a long journey through many eras, communities, and places before it became the sacred text we recognize today. One scroll found in the dead sea caves was of particular importance. As you are probably aware, the bible is not just one book. When israel actually did fall with the babylonian conquest and. When did moses write, or compile, the book of genesis. Apr 28, 2010 the commissioning of the king james bible took place in 1604 at the hampton court conference outside of london. These bible translations were the chief inspiration and chief cause of the lollard movement, a prereformation movement that rejected many of the distinctive teachings of the roman catholic. The books of the bible were written at different times by different authors over a period of approximately 1,500 years. Another important issue concerning the writing of the book of genesis concerns when it was written. Most biblical scholars believe the book of genesis was the first book to be written down. So lets start at the beginning of this fascinating story. Thirdly, it cannot be proven that the catholic church is solely responsible for the gathering and selection of the new testament books. But that is not to say that it took 1,500 years to write the bible, only that it took that long for the complete canon of scripture. Even what king james had in his day was translated into latin.
Did illuminated texts take substantially more time to create. Why was the new testament not written right after jesus time. History of the bible who wrote the bible why its reliable. And yet, though many of the authors never met each other, they all wrote about a unified theme. In fact, it can be shown that the new testament books were gathered into one volume and were in circulation long before the catholic church claims to have taken its action in 390 at the council of hippo. The egyptians refined this technique and developed an early form of writing.
The bible was written over a period of several hundred years. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. From christianity today, provides over 1,000 unique, downloadable bible studies for personal, small. It didnt take the full 1,500 years to write the bible.
How long did it take a medieval european scribes to copy a book. This does not mean it took 1,500 solid years of writing to. The message is a personal paraphrase of the bible in english by peterson from the original languages. God wanted different people to write at different points in history so we could see his plan for. The bible was written over about 1,500 years from 1400 bc to ad 90. Why did it take so long for the church to write about jesus. These bible writers wrote as they were inspired by the holy spirit see 2 timothy 3. Why did it take so long to write the bible after jesuss. This is a more accurate description of what the bible isa collection of many books, like a. If you write out the entire bible on looseleaf, the bound book wont be in signatures and wont open flat the way a book should. God wanted different people to write at different points in history so we could see his plan for the world. This does not mean it took 1,500 solid years of writing to complete the bible. It was a scroll of the book of isaiahfrom which only a few words were missing. God used moses to write the first five books of the bible.
Ironically, the inventor of the most mportant invention in history never profited from his invention and died in poverty though the proceeds from the sale of just one single leaf from his bible in todays market would have provided gutenberg with enough money to live out his last years comfortably. Charging the bible was the result of oral transmission, claiming, writing did not exist in the days of abraham and moses. I am finishing up the process now and i broke it down into 3 categories. 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. We dont know exactly when the books of the bible were written, but we can, through crossreferencing external sources, determine when the historical figures in the bible lived. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy which are called the pentetuch.
But that is not to say that it took 1,500 years to write the bible, only that it took that long for the complete canon of scripture to be penned as god progressively revealed his word. Surprisingly, the first old testament book recorded, in time sequence, was not by moses but by job. Even though the men were so different and the bible took so long to write, the bible presents the same storyits all about gods plan. Most people have heard that up until the time of johannes guttenberg in 1455, bibles and all other books were produced by hand, generally by the members of monasteries and other religious foundations. If you do about 3 to 4 chapters a day you can do it in a year. And one of its most remarkable qualities is the complete unity of the overall message despite having so many different authors writing over many centuries on hundreds of controversial subjects.
But moses was only one of some 40 people whom god used to. Therefore, the bible was written down after long periods, its words are not reliable. Moses is credited for the first five books of the old testament. What king james did was commission a translation of the books of the bible, not write the bible itself. There is no evidence that shakespeare participated in the project, and, while both his works and the kjv are among the greatest literary feats of all time, his elaborate metaphorheavy style and that of the kjv which. There was a 400year gap, for instance, between malachi, the last book of the old testament, and the gospel of matthew that starts the new testament. How long did it take for the temple in jerusalem to be rebuilt. The bible is not a book but a library biblios of 66 books. The dead sea scrolls contained old testament scripture dating 1,000 years older than any manuscripts we had. The contemporary american slang used in the translation deviates. The earliest writing began when symbols were scratched or pressed on clay tablets.
Why did it take 3540 years after the ressurection and ascension of jesus to begin to write the gospels or the new testament. Dear holly, the bible was written over a period of at least 1,600 years, although no one really knows for sure. Biblica, the international bible society, is a worldwide ministry that has been helping people read and understand gods word for over 200 years. There was a 400year gap, for instance, between malachi, the last book of the old testament, and the gospel. Wycliffes bible is the name now given to a group of bible translations into middle english that were made under the direction of john wycliffe. Because it s thin, you will experience some show through, just as you would from bible paper, but each journal contains 480 pages.
Even if the gospels, for example, were written before 50 a. About the best that can be said for that notion is that if god really did write the bible through a millenniumlong sequence of various authors, he was certainly doing it the hard way. The king james version remains one of the greatest landmarks in the english tongue. This is a more accurate description of what the bible isa collection of many books, like a library. The sixtysix books that make up the bible were written over a span of approximately 1,500 years. Some men were used to write more than one book of the bible. About how long would it take to hand write the bible answers. How long did it take a medieval european scribes to copy. The bible was not written in one specific year or in a single location. Some of the authors wrote one book, some wrote several. It is a simplistic translation of the original languages of the bible.
Why didnt they write the events down as they were happening. Posted by theosophical ruminator under apologetics, bible, historical jesus, theology 11 comments our earliest canonical gospel, mark, was probably written sometime in the early or mid50s, approximately 2025 years after jesus ascended to heaven. It is modernday skeptics, claiming to be bible scholars, who assign dates to the gospels that are often long after the actual events. The bible in contemporary language is a highly idiomatic translation of the bible by eugene h. Its words point unerringly to christ, whose work on the cross was ordained by godthe true author of. The hebrew bible was already in existence in many scrolls during the lifetime of jesus as the torah, the prophets, and the writings, though not brought together as a single group, but studied together and with commentaries that became the talmud r. To me, looseleaf is the worst option for what you want to do. The new testament was written in about 40 years, after the death and resurrection of christ. These bible translations were the chief inspiration and chief cause of the lollard movement, a pre reformation movement that rejected many. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy and job were recorded by moses. As mentioned, it did not take a full 1,500 years to write the bible. As for the actual historical evidence regarding who wrote the bible. Suffice it to say, this kind of writing success is without parallel in its. Despite forty authors writing from three continents over nearly two thousand years, it maintains a perfect consistency of message.
The bible is the holy scripture of the christian religion, purporting to tell the history of the earth from its earliest creation to the spread of christianity in the first century a. The commissioning of the king james bible took place in 1604 at the hampton court conference outside of london. But these dates come from their lack of belief in the bible. The first five books of the bible are attributed to moses and are commonly called the pentateuch literally five. Apr 17, 2008 what king james did was commission a translation of the books of the bible, not write the bible itself. How long did it take to write the old testament, from the time of the first book to the authoring of its final chapter. Americas meat obsession wont change soon, but some experts. Why did the writers of the new testament wait so long before writing about the events of jesus. Don stewart when did moses write, or compile, the book of genesis. P recisely 451 years after the june 19, 1566, birth of king james i of england, one achievement of his reign still stands above the rest. Its writers lived at different times and came from many walks of life.
Using the writers own writing styles and personalities, god shows us who he is and. As for the purpose of the gospel accounts, see the four gospels. At the time, other english bibles existed, but king james did not like the most popular translation, the geneva bible, because he felt that some of. Even though the men were so different and the bible took so long to write, the bible presents the same storyits all about gods plan to save the world through his son, jesus. How long was a year in the bible during the time of genesis. How long did it take a medieval european scribes to copy a. The earliest hebrew scripts which were the written form of a long, long oral tradition that eventually became the torah the first five books of the bible were written around 900bc, and the tenakh the earliest hebrew bible was compiled around 400bc. Moses was the first person to write portions of scripture while john, the disciple of jesus, was the last. Youd think that, but the bible as the unit we currently think of today is actually a relatively recent invention coming from the thirteenth century. The spirit of god did not inspire anyone to write any new scripture during the 400 years of silence.
Jun 19, 2017 p recisely 451 years after the june 19, 1566, birth of king james i of england, one achievement of his reign still stands above the rest. Because its thin, you will experience some show through, just as you would from bible paper, but each journal contains 480 pages. Throughout the bible, it is obvious that god is being quoted. What does the bible say about how long did it take to. Very few people over the 2,000 some years since the last original work was finished speak hebrew or greek. Scholars have developed their own take on who wrote the bibles first five. They appeared over a period from approximately 82 to 95. We are committed to providing the bible in accurate, contemporary translations and formats so that more people around the world will have the opportunity to be transformed by jesus christ. In fact, the bible is a miniature library of 66 books. The king james bible, published in 1611, was englands authorized version of the bible translated from the original hebrew and greek languages into english at the request of king james i of england.
The bible was written over a period of about 1400 years. It has decidedly affected our language and thought categories, and although produced in england for english. We get that number by adding up the number of years from before the time of moses, to just after the apostle john finished the book of revelation. One person who most assuredly did not write the kjv, although he had been long rumored to have done so, is william shakespeare. The catholic church did not give the world the bible.
We get that number by adding up the number of years from before the time of moses, to just after. So the oldest biblical text we found is about 2700 years old. Feb 16, 2009 the bible was written over a period of several hundred years. While writing out a bible is in itself a prodigious feat of handwriting, it should be recognized that the monks did much more in order to bring their treasured books into existence. It is a library of 66 books which were written by a variety of authors from the time of moses until the book of revelation which was probably written sometime between 80 and 120ad.
Unlike other religious writings, the bible reads as a factual news account of real events, places, people, and dialogue. As to the time, please understand that gospels do not mention when they were written. In fact, they theorize the bible is a collection of neareast mythology. Most of them we know, but there are anonymous writers too. Well the bible is about 800,000 words long and the average person reads 250300 words per minute, so it would take about 3,200 minutes or 54 hours. Apr 01, 2011 among all the books ever written, the bible is absolutely unique. Since we know that moses was about 120 when he died, he wrote most of those books in the last 40 years of his. If moses was the author or compiler of the events in genesis then the book was written during his lifetime.