Who wrote the Bible?

It’s a fair question, and one with no concrete answer. Much of the New Testament is fairly well ascribed to earlier followers of Jesus. That which we call the Old Testament is more difficult to identify, although the first few books of the Old Testament are believed to have been written by Moses.

In both cases, the writings which we know as the Bible were essentially historical records.

Or were they?

Other cultures also created historical records. And it is understood that some of these writings contained fictionalized accounts and gross exaggerations. We need to recognize that the political elements at any given time, may have influenced these writings. Perhaps the ruler of the moment contracted to have himself portrayed in a more heroic fashion. Perhaps an inspired writer invented stories in the same way that today’s writers create literature intended to entertain. Parts of the Bible are clearly poetry or akin to song lyrics.

Since the Old Testament portrays God in a variety of moods and actions, it is easy to conclude that the writers of these texts were guilty of flavoring their writing with their own interpretation of events. Even if we believe that the writings of the Bible were inspired by God, we need to accept that there was a human interpretation of God’s message. We also need to consider that some of the written texts were the result of  verbal accounts passed from one generation to the next until someone made the effort to create a physical record.

While modern archaeology has uncovered evidence to support many of the Bible tales, some elements remain questionable. If Moses was the author of the book of Genesis, he obviously could not be relating an eye-witness account of events that occurred before he existed. If Adam and Eve were the first humans, where did Cain’s wife come from after he was exiled?

While those questions will forever remain a mystery, there is one Old Testament element that clearly supports the idea that those writings were inspired by God – the Ten Commandments. Mixed in with stories of epic battles, enslavement, and brutal human behavior, the Ten Commandments stands as a revolutionary notion of ideal human interactions. It is a summation of moral and ethical standards that is the foundation of most of the laws that exist today.

Generations later, the teachings of Jesus clothed those Ten Commandments in simple everyday examples that people could identify with. Jesus’ use of parables might raise new questions of the legitimacy of those stories, but ultimately leads to the fundamental question that provides the answer to all the rest.

Is the Bible true or “truth?’ Think about it.

There is a difference.