Origin of the Bible

The Bible is one of the world's oldest books. Its oldest sections were written about 1500 years before the birth of Christ. Even its newest sections were written about 1900 years ago. Clearly, then, having been written over a period of about 1600 years, the Bible was not written, by one person. No one knows precisely how many people contributed to the Bible. It is estimated there were about forty authors. One of the most important facts about the Bible is that those who wrote it did not claim to be the source of the ideas they wrote about. Sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, the authors assert that what they were writing really came from God. For example, one of the writers, Paul, made this statement: All Scripture [i.e., the Bible] is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for comrection, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Another writer, Peter, wrote: for no prophecy was ever made by the act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Pet. 1:21), Other Bible writers confirm the statements of Paul and Peter. (2 Pet. 1:21). Other Bible writers confirm the statements of Paul and Peter. If you are not familiar with the form of the Bible references used in this and the lessons to follow, two helpful tables are included with this lesson. The first, entitled Bible References, explains a widely used system for specifying chapters and verses of the Bible. The second, entitled The Books of the Bible, is a list of the hooks of the Bible, along with their abbreviations, in the order in which they occur in the English Bible. Through the years there were those to whom the writings of men such as Paul and Peter were sacred. They understood these writings originated with God Himself. Some of these people dedicated themselves to collecting, arranging, and preserving the Scriptures that existed in their day. Today the names of most of those who did this work are unknown to us, We do know that well before the time of Christ the Jews had already finished assembling the divinely inspired writings of the Hebrews. It is a collection of 39 books, In the list of Bible books appearing elsewhere in this lesson, it is called the Od Testament. Following Christ's life on earth additional scared books were written. some of these books record historical  events pertaining to christ and his early followers. others are letters written to explain christ christ's teaching or to encourage the followers of christ to practice the normal principles He taught. there are twenty seven books in this letter collection. together they form the new testament.