What is the history of the Bible?

Answer 1

The original authors did not set out to write a volume that we would know as the Bible. Instead, they wrote short books that met the needs of their times. These were altered, added to and improved by later authors. Later, religious leaders selected those books they felt worthy to be included in their canon.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are the first five books of the Bible. Collectively called the Pentateuch, they are the most important books of the Old Testament. The Documentary Hypothesis holds that there were at least four main sources that created the Pentateuch - the Elohist ('E' source), the Yahwist ('J' source), the Deuteronomist ('D' source) and the Priestly source ('P' source). Scholars believe that the Deuteronomist wrote Deuteronomy, which was 'found' in the Temple during renovations that took place about 622 BCE. The Deuteronomist also combined material believed to have been written by the Elohist and the Yahwist some centuries earlier, and added new material, to create the earliest version of Genesis and Exodus. The Priestly source further improved the earlier version during or shortly after the Babylonian Exile, and the Redactor finalised the Pentateuch, more or less as we know it today. Over time, a tradition developed, that Moses had been the author of the Pentateuch, although modern scholars find many reasons to disbelieve this.

The Deuteronomist also wrote the 'Deuteronomic History' - the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. These form an integrated block of text covering the period from the conquest of Canaan through to the end of the kingdom of Judah and the beginning of the Babylonian Exile.

The Books of Chronicles is another history that more or less parallels the Deuteronomic history, but presents the priestly point of view. It attempts to resolve some of the inconsistencies found in the Deuteronomic history and introduces new theological concepts by placing them in a pre-Exilic context. The principal author is now referred to as the Chronicler, but it was actually written as a composite work some time after the Return from the Babylonian Exile.

The Council of Jamnia, which appeared to have taken place around 90 CE, is believed to have finally defined the canon of the Hebrew Bible, except for the Ethiopina Jews who do not accept its legitimacy. However, recently some scholars have suggested that the Council was not about canonicity at all, asserting that they were actually dealing with other concerns entirely.

By the fourth century, the Christian church began to concern itself about exactly what Old Testament books should be included, and Bishop Melito of Sardis went to Palestine to discover which Hebrew books belonged in the canon. The sixteenth century Council of Trent finally established the Catholic Old Testament canon, in response to Protestant arguments. The sixteenth century was really the point at which Catholic and Protestant Churches all identified exactly what books were regarded as forming the Old Testament.

Apart from Paul's epistles, all the books of the New Testament were written anonymously or pseudonymously. The gospel now attributed to Mark was written around 70 CE by an anonymous author. Matthew was written in the 80s and the anonymous author relied on Mark for his information about the life of Jesus, and on a hypothetical 'Q' Document for further sayings attributed to Jesus. Luke was written in the late 90s or early in the second century, and also relied on Mark and Q. John was the last New Testament gospel to be written.

Irenaeus was the first to use the term, "New Testament", about 180 CE. He also gave the explicit formation of exactly four gospels. He argued for Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, saying that four gospels were as natural as the four winds. The New Testament, as we now know it, was formally accepted by a council at Rome in 382.

The authenticity of some books now part of the New Testament was already in question in antiquity, particularly Hebrews, James, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation. Ultimately, these were included because they were accepted as of theological merit, regardless of the real authors.