WHO WROTE THE BIBLE?

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Dec 19, 2021
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#1
In addition to understanding that every word in the Bible is completely infallible, the Bible student must also understand just who wrote the Holy scriptures. Immediately we can turn to the scriptures and point to various men who historically wrote the books that make up the Holy word of God.

2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

They wrote it because they were used by God to do so, but the person who held the pen and paper (the scribe) is of least importance to us. Rather it is of utmost value and importance to understand who dictated the words that have been written, and that is none other than God.

Jeremiah 30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

God gets the credit for every word penned by the men he chose, because the scribes he used only penned the very words of God , thus making it the same as if though God was speaking and writing to us directly. Therefore God is the one who wrote the Bible and not man, and it is of no importance nor significance to know the personal writing styles of these individuals nor their back round, nor any other information about them that is not contained within the scriptures themselves. God has given us an excellent example of this type of understanding within his word.

As we begin reading the book of Romans, it becomes evidently clear to us that Paul is the one speaking here as if it were Paul himself writing these very words.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:8 First, ***I ***thank*** my ***God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is*** my ***witness, whom*** I ***serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing*** I ***make mention of you always in ***my ***prayers;


Yet as we conclude the book of Romans, we discover something altogether different. We discover that Paul was not the writer of the epistle to the Romans, but rather it was another man named Tertius.

Romans 16:22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.

What can we learn from this? God is teaching us that even though the books in the Bible may be written as if though they were the writers' own words, we can be sure that they were not the writers' words at all, rather those words belonged to the one who dictated them to the writers and the book is correctly recognized to be the words of the one who dictated the words, not the one who penned them.

In other words, many people give Paul the credit for writing the book of Romans instead of Tertius. Tertius’ credentials, back round or writing style are never questioned nor examined. Instead, many theologians try to learn as much as possible about the apostle Paul’s background and style of writing through church history books and yet fail to understand what God is revealing to us here.

God is teaching us that just as Paul dictated the book of Romans to Tertius, and Tertius penned those words, and Paul is the one who gets the credit for writing the book of Romans, that God has done the very same thing with everyone He chose to pen His words in the Bible. Therefore, the same way Tertius’ credentials and style of writing are ignored for being the scribe of Paul, we must also do for every other scribe who wrote the words of God. This means that Paul’s credentials for writing the other books of the New Testament are just as unimportant as Tertius’. The same goes for every other scribe of the Bible.

The focus is always on the one who dictated the words and not on the one who penned them. We can therefore boldly proclaim that God is the one who wrote the Bible.
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,705
113
#2
God did. We usually call it "inspiration".

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
 
Dec 22, 2021
41
11
8
#3
In addition to understanding that every word in the Bible is completely infallible, the Bible student must also understand just who wrote the Holy scriptures. Immediately we can turn to the scriptures and point to various men who historically wrote the books that make up the Holy word of God.

2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

They wrote it because they were used by God to do so, but the person who held the pen and paper (the scribe) is of least importance to us. Rather it is of utmost value and importance to understand who dictated the words that have been written, and that is none other than God.

Jeremiah 30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

God gets the credit for every word penned by the men he chose, because the scribes he used only penned the very words of God , thus making it the same as if though God was speaking and writing to us directly. Therefore God is the one who wrote the Bible and not man, and it is of no importance nor significance to know the personal writing styles of these individuals nor their back round, nor any other information about them that is not contained within the scriptures themselves. God has given us an excellent example of this type of understanding within his word.

As we begin reading the book of Romans, it becomes evidently clear to us that Paul is the one speaking here as if it were Paul himself writing these very words.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:8 First, ***I ***thank*** my ***God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. 9 For God is*** my ***witness, whom*** I ***serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing*** I ***make mention of you always in ***my ***prayers;


Yet as we conclude the book of Romans, we discover something altogether different. We discover that Paul was not the writer of the epistle to the Romans, but rather it was another man named Tertius.

Romans 16:22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.

What can we learn from this? God is teaching us that even though the books in the Bible may be written as if though they were the writers' own words, we can be sure that they were not the writers' words at all, rather those words belonged to the one who dictated them to the writers and the book is correctly recognized to be the words of the one who dictated the words, not the one who penned them.

In other words, many people give Paul the credit for writing the book of Romans instead of Tertius. Tertius’ credentials, back round or writing style are never questioned nor examined. Instead, many theologians try to learn as much as possible about the apostle Paul’s background and style of writing through church history books and yet fail to understand what God is revealing to us here.

God is teaching us that just as Paul dictated the book of Romans to Tertius, and Tertius penned those words, and Paul is the one who gets the credit for writing the book of Romans, that God has done the very same thing with everyone He chose to pen His words in the Bible. Therefore, the same way Tertius’ credentials and style of writing are ignored for being the scribe of Paul, we must also do for every other scribe who wrote the words of God. This means that Paul’s credentials for writing the other books of the New Testament are just as unimportant as Tertius’. The same goes for every other scribe of the Bible.

The focus is always on the one who dictated the words and not on the one who penned them. We can therefore boldly proclaim that God is the one who wrote the Bible.
I surely agree that the Holy Scriptures are God's authoritative words spoken through men he inspired; but I'd not want to go too far in the dictation characterization, which erases the styles and perspectives of the human penmen God chose. As an example, when you use a Harmony of the Gospels to compare the same events or words of Jesus, they can be recorded in an individual manner, as an example:

Matt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
compared with the parallel
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Matthew usually uses the Jewish practice of not speaking the name of God, so it reads "kingdom of heaven" instead of Mark's phrase "kingdom of God". In doing a word study it is important to put emphasis on how a particular penman uses a word over how others may use the same word because sometimes there may be a slightly different perspective. For instance doing a word search for "believe" and you see how much John uses the word in compared to the other gospel writers.
 
Dec 22, 2021
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#4
God did. We usually call it "inspiration".

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Hi Oyster! Not long ago I encountered another perspective on that important verse as is shown in the literal quote you have given. The word "is", is added by the translators. If you remove the translator's addition, it would read like the ASV:

"Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness:" (2Tim 3:16, ASV)

The REB reads similar: "All inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living," (2Tim 3:16, REB)

The RSV & NRSV give that as an alternate reading in the margin. Since there were spurious writings and such to appear like the gnostic gospels, maybe it was important to distinguish the truly inspired words of God from the frauds. I believe it takes the Holy Spirit to guide and illuminate for us because you have the inerrant word, written from the perspective of individua penmen, still being perfectly accurate and true, but then it comes to us by translation which is not inspired.... or at least I don't consider a translation to be inspired, not even the LXX that Jesus and the Apostles used so often.
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,130
3,689
113
#5
Hi Oyster! Not long ago I encountered another perspective on that important verse as is shown in the literal quote you have given. The word "is", is added by the translators. If you remove the translator's addition, it would read like the ASV:

"Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness:" (2Tim 3:16, ASV)

The REB reads similar: "All inspired scripture has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, or for reformation of manners and discipline in right living," (2Tim 3:16, REB)

The RSV & NRSV give that as an alternate reading in the margin. Since there were spurious writings and such to appear like the gnostic gospels, maybe it was important to distinguish the truly inspired words of God from the frauds. I believe it takes the Holy Spirit to guide and illuminate for us because you have the inerrant word, written from the perspective of individua penmen, still being perfectly accurate and true, but then it comes to us by translation which is not inspired.... or at least I don't consider a translation to be inspired, not even the LXX that Jesus and the Apostles used so often.
A translation can be inspired by God. There are examples all throughout scripture. The following is an example. From Genesis 42-45 Joseph spoke Egyptian to his brethren, yet, the scripture contains the translation of that conversation into Hebrew. In these verses, the bold represents the words of Joseph that were originally spoken in Egyptian but were translated into Hebrew and that translation into Hebrew was inspired by God.

Genesis 42
7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
8 And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
10 And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
11 We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.
12 And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.
13 And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
14 And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
15 Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.
16 Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

17 And he put them all together into ward three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
19 If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
20 But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

21 And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#6
How did we decide which books belonged in the Bible, Old and New Testament? A lot of possible writings, like Thomas gospels weren't included. A lot of other writings weren't included.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,485
13,786
113
#7
How did we decide which books belonged in the Bible, Old and New Testament? A lot of possible writings, like Thomas gospels weren't included. A lot of other writings weren't included.
“We” didn’t “decide”; rather, people over the early centuries recognized which books were from God and which were not.
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#8

GRACE_ambassador

Well-known member
Feb 22, 2021
3,215
1,614
113
Midwest
#9
There were many other books that could have been accepted as part of the New Testament
Precious friend, God Knows What we need, Correct? IF there are any Contradictions
found
in your "10 books" as compared to God's PRESERVED (For ALL generations)
Word (KJB/underlying manuscripts),
that is probably WHY "they were NOT included."

Might as well Get Very Busy With What God HAS Given us, eh?:

(2 Timothy 2:15; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:9 =
Grace/Mystery fellowship {Romans – Philemon}, For ALL “to SEE,” today?)


Please Be Richly Encouraged, Enlightened, Exhorted, and Edified!
God’s Simple Will!
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#10
Precious friend, God Knows What we need, Correct? IF there are any Contradictions
found
in your "10 books" as compared to God's PRESERVED (For ALL generations)
Word (KJB/underlying manuscripts),
that is probably WHY "they were NOT included."

Might as well Get Very Busy With What God HAS Given us, eh?:

(2 Timothy 2:15; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:9 =
Grace/Mystery fellowship {Romans – Philemon}, For ALL “to SEE,” today?)


Please Be Richly Encouraged, Enlightened, Exhorted, and Edified!
God’s Simple Will!
You post a lot of meaningless gobbleddy gook. So let me ask directly and please provide a direct answer. Who decided what books would be in the New Testament. How can we trust their decision to be correct? No gobbledygook please.
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#11
“We” didn’t “decide”; rather, people over the early centuries recognized which books were from God and which were not.
Please be more specific, who were these 'people' who decided. How do we know they were correct in selecting the books of the New Testament? Thanks.
 

arthurfleminger

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2021
1,405
780
113
#13
Precious friend, God Knows What we need, Correct? IF there are any Contradictions
found
in your "10 books" as compared to God's PRESERVED (For ALL generations)
Word (KJB/underlying manuscripts),
that is probably WHY "they were NOT included."

Might as well Get Very Busy With What God HAS Given us, eh?:

(2 Timothy 2:15; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:9 =
Grace/Mystery fellowship {Romans – Philemon}, For ALL “to SEE,” today?)


Please Be Richly Encouraged, Enlightened, Exhorted, and Edified!
God’s Simple Will!
Be more specific, you've posted a lot of nonsense. Who chose the books of the New Testament? That question demands a specific answer. And, how do we know they chose correctly? Thanks.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,776
113
#14
The focus is always on the one who dictated the words and not on the one who penned them.
Being "moved by the Holy Ghost" to write the words of God may have involved both dictation as well as divine inspiration. To have an in-depth understanding of this (which cannot really be explained fully) please read The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible by B.B. Warfield.
 
Dec 19, 2021
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#15
I surely agree that the Holy Scriptures are God's authoritative words spoken through men he inspired; but I'd not want to go too far in the dictation characterization, which erases the styles and perspectives of the human penmen God chose.
Thank you for your reply, however, if we're to be led only by the truth and examples set forth by the scriptures, how many people do you know that have taken the time to examine the writing style of Tertius for the book of Romans? None that I know of, he was merely a scribe as Paul dictated to him what words to write. Well, God is teaching us that His Word was written in the same exact way. Whatever Moses wrote, or Jeremiah or Paul, etc were the exact words given to them by God. We have Plenty of examples of this taking place, but not one of the scribes (like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John or Paul) inserting their own wording into the scriptures.

Jeremiah 30:1–2 (KJV 1900)
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I HAVE SPOKEN unto thee in a book.

What they spake were the very words breathed from the mouth of God and never their own. God teaches us this principle with the 10 commandments which represent the complete word of God (10, 100, 1,000 in the Bible is used to represent completeness of whatever is in view). And God takes complete credit for writing it.

Exodus 32:16 (KJV 1900)
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

This is why trying to study what each man was like is really a waste of time (no offence) because you are relying on sources outside of the scriptures to do so. In other words, you're relying on corrupted texts when compared with the Word of God. Therefore, a corrupted text cannot shed light on an incorrupted one.


Romans 3:4 (KJV 1900)
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

I hope you find this helpful.
 
Dec 19, 2021
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#16
Being "moved by the Holy Ghost" to write the words of God may have involved both dictation as well as divine inspiration. To have an in-depth understanding of this (which cannot really be explained fully) please read The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible by B.B. Warfield.

Thanks for the reply, you are correct, it most certainly involved both dictation and inspiration. We can be 100% sure of this as we have record of God dictating his word to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 30:1–2 (KJV 1900)
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I HAVE SPOKEN unto thee in a book.

And also the creation account had to either be dictated or inspired as there were no eye witnesses. Michaiah also spoke the very words of God, yet we don't see God speaking with Michaiah at anytime prior.

1 Kings 22:14 (KJV 1900)
14 And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak.
 
Dec 19, 2021
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#17
Please be more specific, who were these 'people' who decided. How do we know they were correct in selecting the books of the New Testament? Thanks.
Thank you for your question. The answer is that it doesn't matter who the men were who put together the Bible, just like it doesn't matter who actually penned the Bible. All were used as instruments of God to accomplish His task. So, the final product that we ended with was not based on any informed decision makers here on earth (although that's the only thing atheists may see), but it was by the doing of God. How can we be so sure? Well, God, in his wisdom, has given us assurance in His very word, that he has taken it upon himself to be the one who preserves and protects his Word pure forever. The only thing the wisdom of men could have done (if it was left up to them), was no doubt mess the whole thing up.


Psalm 12:6–7 (KJV 1900)
6 The words of the Lord are pure words:
As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord,
Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

This is why we can be completely confident that the Holy Scriptures are not missing any books, nor have any uninspired books within it. The translations we have is another story altogether as none are inspired by God. Their mistakes in translation are proof of this. The only word that God promised to preserve was his original writings, no matter how many times they were copied over.
 
Dec 19, 2021
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#18
A translation can be inspired by God. There are examples all throughout scripture.
Thank you for participating in this thread. I agree and like what you stated as well as using the scriptures to demonstrate it. However, we're talking about 2 different things. A translation dictated by God is certainly infallible, perfect and altogether true. But all that took place before the scriptures were completed and it was those words (the original text) which God promised to preserve and keep pure for ever.


Psalm 12:6–7 (KJV 1900)
6 The words of the Lord are pure words:
As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord,
Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The lingual translations which took place after God completed the revelation of His word, cannot be viewed under the same light by the biblical examples you gave as that would be violating God's own words (Rev 22:18) to no longer add to his words. And since God continually added to his words by many different means, then we can be sure that those means he is no longer using. Furthermore, every translation can be scrutinized against the original text and I have yet to find any that is without error.

I hope you find this helpful.
 

Lafftur

Senior Member
Apr 18, 2017
6,895
3,634
113
#19
I love it when I know the answer to the question!!!!

Who wrote The Holy Bible? God!!!!

It’s soooooo obvious that God wrote the Bible….,so many translations, been around since Moses….and so many grammatical mistakes that upset people and political correctness that upset people……

Oh yes indeed, God wrote the Bible and no one can understand it except the Holy Spirit gives us understanding.

Oh sure, we’ll think we understand it according to our human reasoning but NOPE!

Human reasoning is BLIND and DEAF. We need the Holy Spirit to open our ears and eyes and give us understanding.

God has hidden Himself in plain sight…lol! :giggle::love:(y)
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,776
113
#20
Please be more specific, who were these 'people' who decided. How do we know they were correct in selecting the books of the New Testament? Thanks.
Since the Lord Jesus Christ put His own stamp of authority and approval on the 24 books of the Hebrew Tanakh (our Old Testament) in Luke 24, that is beyond dispute. Then the Holy Spirit through Peter put His stamp of approval on all of Paul's epistles (over half the NT). Several other books show internally that they were divinely inspired. As for the rest, the Holy Spirit guided faithful Christians (since the first century) to include certain books in the NT canon and exclude others. Thus we have an almost complete list of the canon recorded in the 2nd century (the Muratori Canon). The Protestant Bibles have the true OT canon, but the Bibles of the Catholic and Orthodox churches have included apocryphal books.