Who wrote the Bible?
A simple but most important question. Many years ago I was heading home from work on the bus. I was sitting in the back and heard a man say, “well you know man wrote the Bible!” Since he was in my earshot, I felt compelled to tell him that that was an untrue statement. Surprisingly, he listened to me as I presented my case. The scripture I used to prove my point was 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is theopneustos in the original Greek language or God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete or mature, equipped for every good work.”
The man’s reply to me was, “You’re the first person to ever tell me that!” Why do I bring this matter up? Because it is essential that we as believers can 1) know the origin of the Bible, and 2) be able to properly defend its truthfulness (1 Pet 3:15; Jude 3).
If we believe man wrote the Bible, then it is no different than any other false religious book. It does not have divine authority, and it is untrustworthy. But, if we believe the collection of 66 books are of a divine origin, then we have to believe it has absolute authority, and we MUST submit to its demands.
Here is another passage that proves that the Bible is God’s word, “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever (italics mine) by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 2:20-21).
Someone may still argue that “The words were still written by men!” True. But that is where it ends. Man did not contribute any wisdom or insight into God’s word. Man was only an instrument the Lord used to record it.
In Exodus 24:12 God commands Moses to come up to Mount Sinai so he could receive tablets of stone with the Lord’s commandments on them (Emphasis added). Once again, these are God’s words, not man’s.
All throughout scripture we read the phrase(s), “The word of the Lord came to me saying, or God spoke to….”
Jeremiah 1:4 – Now the word of the Lord came to me saying…
Jeremiah 1:9 – Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold I have put my words in your mouth.”
Jeremiah 30:2 – Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.
Ezekiel 3:4 – And he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.”
Ezekiel 22:1 – And the word of the Lord came to me saying…
Zechariah 4:8 – Then the word of the Lord came to me saying…
Jonah 1:1 – Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying…
1 Kings 21:17 – Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying…
Luke 3:2 – during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Acts 13:48 – And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
1 Corinthians 14:37 – If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things I write to you are the Lord’s commandment.
Even Jesus while on the earth respected and obeyed his Father’s commands. “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment – what to say and what to speak (John 12:49).
These men of God did not move unless commanded to do so. Jonah is an exception – he did not initially obey the word of God when he was commanded to preach to Nineveh (Jon 1:3). He did obey later on (Jon 3:1).
The aforementioned verses clearly let us know the words in our Bibles come from God. This is the order of how the word of God came to us in the present:
1
. Revelation – God supernaturally disclosing his words to the prophets and apostles and men of old
2. Inspiration – Or better translated, God-breathed. From the mind of the prophet to the original document. Lord placed his words in the minds and hearts of the human authors of scripture to record it on a document
3. Canonicity – The process that determines which books would comprise our Bibles. We have 66 books in our Protestant Bibles. The Catholic Bible has an additional 12 books called the Apocrypha.[1] Protestants do not believe the Apocrypha are inspired books. Two of the books have reliable historic material – The books of 1 & 2 Maccabees
4. Transmission – The method of preserving and getting the manuscripts through time to us in the present
5. Textual Criticism – We have numerous extant (or existing) manuscripts that have to be placed into Old & New Testaments, Hebrew and Greek Bibles
6. Translation – The process of getting our Hebrew and Greek Bibles into one’s native language
Men throughout history have carefully preserved the Biblical text. That has been their involvement regarding it. He has never had the responsibility or the right to write his own thoughts. The wisdom it contains is far too great for any man or committee of men to develop. The reason the writer of this article can dogmatically say that is because I have read the entire Bible several times, and feel like I have just scratched the surface regarding its marvelous truth. One of my teachers likened his knowledge of Biblical truth like walking along the beach standing at the shoreline with his feet barely getting wet. In his mind, he had not reached into the deep richness of God’s word. What was amazing about his statement was he had been teaching God’s word for forty years and was an amazing and extraordinary expositor of the truth before his passing.
So again, the question must be asked, “Who wrote the Bible?” If you say man wrote it, then we must conclude that it contains nothing but errors and cannot be trusted. It is corrupted and should be thrown away. But, if these are the very words of God, then we must embrace it as the most precious, priceless commodity on earth and be willing to study it diligently, learn its precepts, plumb its depths, obey its commands, preach and teach it lovingly, and boldly, and defend it at all costs. That is what faithful men and women have done throughout history; they were convinced the word of God was true and many gave their lives for it.
Why should we do this?
Simple, because its true (Pro 30:5; John 17:17).
[1] Apocrypha means hidden. These books were written in what is called the intertestamental period – between the Old and New Testaments. None of the N.T. writers quote from these books. That is why they are not included with the Canon – i.e. the sixty-six. If they are in any Bibles they should be included as a post script indicating they are non-canonical.
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