Origin of the Bible. The essence of the biblical narrative

The Bible is called differently: the Book of Books, the Book of Life, the Book of Knowledge, the Eternal Book. Her enormous contribution to the spiritual development of humanity over many hundreds of years is undeniable. Literary texts and scientific treatises, paintings and musical works have been written based on biblical stories. Images from the Eternal Book are depicted on icons, frescoes, and sculptures. Contemporary art - cinema - has not bypassed it. This is the most popular and widely read book that the human hand has ever held.

However, people have long been asking a question to which they have not yet given a completely unambiguous answer: who wrote the Bible? Is she really God's providence? Can you unconditionally trust what is written there?

To the history of the issue

We know the following facts: The Bible was written almost two millennia ago. More precisely, a little over one thousand six hundred years. But the question is not entirely correct from the point of view of people of faith. Why? It would be more accurate to say - I wrote it down. After all, it was created in different eras by representatives of different social strata of society and even different nationalities. And they wrote down not their own thoughts, observations of life, but what the Lord told them. It is believed that those who wrote the Bible were guided by God himself, putting His thoughts into their minds, moving their hand over parchment or paper. Consequently, although the Book was written by people, it contains precisely the word of God and no one else. One of the texts says this directly: it is “inspired by God,” i.e. inspired, inspired by the Almighty.

But the Book contains many inconsistencies, contradictions, and “dark spots.” Some are explained by inaccuracies in the translations of canonical texts, some by the mistakes of those who wrote the Bible, and some by our thoughtlessness. In addition, many texts of the Gospel were simply destroyed and burned. Many were not included in the main content and became apocryphal. Few people know that most fragments of Holy Scripture were made available to the broad masses after one or another Ecumenical Council. That is, no matter how strange it may seem, it played an important role in the embodiment of God’s providence.

Why was the Bible written and not, let’s say, its contents passed on orally? It seems because in oral form one thing would be forgotten, the other would be conveyed in a distorted form, with the conjectures of the next “reteller.” Written recording made it possible to avoid loss of information or unauthorized interpretations. In this way, some of its objectivity was ensured, and it became possible to translate the book into different languages and convey it to many peoples and nations.

Does all of the above allow us to assert that the authors merely mechanically, thoughtlessly wrote down thoughts “from above,” like somnambulists? Not really. From about the fourth century, the saints who wrote the Bible began to be considered its co-authors. Those. the personal element began to take place. Thanks to this recognition, explanations emerged for the stylistic heterogeneity of sacred texts, semantic and factual discrepancies.

Sections of the Bible

We all know what the Bible consists of - the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament - everything that came before. These are stories about the creation of the world, about the Jews, the people of God. It is worth mentioning that for Jews only the first part of the Gospel has sacred power. The Bible is not recognized by them. And the rest of the Christian world, on the contrary, lives according to the canons and commandments of the second part of the Bible.

The volume is three times the volume of the New. Both parts are complementary and separately are not entirely clear. Each contains a list of its own books, which can be divided into groups: instructive, historical and prophetic. Their total number is sixty-six and was compiled by thirty authors, among whom were the shepherd Amos and King David, the publican Matthew and the fisherman Peter, as well as a doctor, scientist, etc.

Some clarifications

It only remains to add that for people far from faith, the Bible is a wonderful literary monument that has survived centuries and has earned the right to immortality.

Where did the Bible come from?

The word “Bible” translated from ancient Greek means “books” (cf. the word “library”), so it is not one book, but a whole collection of books. They were written by men, Christians believe, inspired by the Holy Spirit. And then other people saved and rewrote these books, because no original is eternal, and determined which of the books would be included in the Holy Scriptures.

The biblical authors lived in different countries at different times and spoke different languages - Hebrew and Aramaic (Old Testament) and ancient Greek (New Testament). But the point is not only about language in the strictly linguistic sense of the word; the language of culture is no less important. If the Bible originated in Japan, on its pages we would find cherry blossoms and samurai swords, and if in Australia, then boomerangs and kangaroos.

People also called the Bible the Bible. A book can become Holy Scripture only in a community of believers who recognize its authority, determine its canon (exact composition), interpret it, and finally preserve it. Christians believe that all this happened under the influence of the same Holy Spirit who prompted the authors of the biblical books to write. In the same way, we still need the Spirit today to truly understand what is written. But the Spirit does not abolish human individuality and freedom; rather, on the contrary, it allows it to reveal itself in full. And this means that the Evangelist Mark wrote completely differently than John, the prophet Isaiah - not like the prophet Jeremiah. To understand what they said, you need to take into account the personal characteristics of each of them, and what unites them.

In those days there was neither a printing press nor the Internet, and books were copied by hand, usually on a very short-lived material - papyrus. It’s hard to believe, but even in the time of the apostles, such book details as are familiar today, such as a table of contents, notes, punctuation, or even spaces between words, did not exist. The Jews, however, made spaces between words, but they did not indicate most vowels in writing. The famous phrase “to execute cannot be pardoned” is a minor difficulty compared to the questions that may arise when interpreting the biblical text.

Therefore, biblical manuscripts are far from identical - in fact, anyone who has ever copied notes knows that there are no two completely identical manuscripts in the world. The originals did not reach us, and distortions and discrepancies inevitably crept into copies from copies, and sometimes the meaning of old words was forgotten, and then a careful copyist, trying to correct the absurdities or inaccuracies of the text lying in front of him, took it even further from the original.

But then, perhaps, there is no single Bible at all, but only many manuscripts, similar in some ways and different from each other in others? This is, perhaps, what would have happened in the end if there had not been a community of believers who consider this collection of books to be their Holy Scripture, carefully pass it on from generation to generation, and are engaged in its interpretation and study. That is, the Bible is, first of all, a book born in the Church, although everyone can read and try to understand it, regardless of their beliefs and religion.

Among the thousands of biblical manuscripts that have reached us, no two are exactly alike, but one can only be surprised that there are none in which we would find some fundamentally different teachings - for example, that the heavens and the earth were not created by One God or that this God allowed killing , stealing and perjury. Although the Greek version of the book of Esther is a third longer than the Hebrew and in this complete version we see many additional details, it is exactly the same story.

So what is the Bible?

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WHERE DOES THE “ABILITY” COME FROM? Those people (there are relatively few of them) whom demons consider capable of serving the purposes of seducing and capturing other human souls, they “endow” with such supernatural abilities as clairvoyance, telepathy, hypnosis, levitation,

The Christian faith is built on the Bible, but many do not know who its author is or when it was published. To get answers to these questions, scientists have conducted a large number of studies. The dissemination of Holy Scripture in our century has reached enormous proportions; it is known that every second one book is printed in the world.

What is the Bible?

Christians call the collection of books that make up the Holy Scriptures the Bible. It is considered the word of the Lord that was given to people. Over the years, much research has been done to understand who wrote the Bible and when, so it is believed that the revelation was given to different people and the recordings were made over many centuries. The Church recognizes the collection of books as inspired by God.

The Orthodox Bible in one volume contains 77 books with two or more pages. It is considered a kind of library of ancient religious, philosophical, historical and literary monuments. The Bible consists of two parts: the Old (50 books) and the New (27 books) Testament. There is also a conditional division of the Old Testament books into legal, historical and teaching.

Why was the Bible called the Bible?

There is one main theory proposed by biblical scholars that answers this question. The main reason for the appearance of the name “Bible” is associated with the port city of Byblos, which was located on the Mediterranean coast. Through him, Egyptian papyrus was supplied to Greece. After some time, this name in Greek began to mean a book. As a result, the book the Bible appeared and this name is used only for the Holy Scriptures, which is why the name is written with a capital letter.

The Bible and the Gospel - what's the difference?

Many believers do not have an accurate understanding of the main Holy Book for Christians.

The gospel is part of the Bible, which is included in the New Testament.
The Bible is an early scripture, but the text of the Gospel was written much later.
The text of the Gospel tells only about life on earth and the ascension to heaven of Jesus Christ. There is much more information provided in the Bible.
There are also differences in who wrote the Bible and the Gospel, since the authors of the main Holy book are unknown, but regarding the second work there is an assumption that its text was written by four evangelists: Matthew, John, Luke and Mark.
It is worth noting that the Gospel is written only in ancient Greek, and the texts of the Bible are presented in different languages.

Who is the author of the Bible?

For believers, the author of the Holy Book is the Lord, but experts can challenge this opinion, since it contains the Wisdom of Solomon, the book of Job and more. In this case, answering the question of who wrote the Bible, we can assume that there were many authors, and everyone made their own contribution to this work. There is an assumption that it was written by ordinary people who received divine inspiration, that is, they were only an instrument, holding a pencil over the book, and the Lord led their hands. When figuring out where the Bible came from, it is worth pointing out that the names of the people who wrote the text are unknown.

When was the Bible written?

There has been debate for a long time regarding when the most popular book in the whole world was written. Among the well-known statements with which many researchers agree are the following:

Many historians, answering the question regarding when the Bible appeared, point to VIII-VI century BC e.
A huge number of biblical scholars are confident that the book was finally formed in V-II centuries BC e.
Another common version of how old the Bible is indicates that the book was compiled and presented to believers around II-I century BC e.

The Bible describes many events, so we can come to the conclusion that the first books were written during the lives of Moses and Joshua. Then other editions and additions appeared, which shaped the Bible as it is known today. There are also critics who dispute the chronology of the writing of the book, believing that the presented text cannot be trusted, since it claims to be of divine origin.

What language is the Bible written in?

The majestic book of all times was written in ancient times and today it has been translated into more than 2.5 thousand languages. The number of Bible editions exceeded 5 million copies. It is worth noting that the current editions are later translations from the original languages. The history of the Bible indicates that it was written over many decades, so it contains texts in different languages. The Old Testament is largely presented in Hebrew, but there are also texts in Aramaic. The New Testament is presented almost entirely in ancient Greek.

Given the popularity of Holy Scripture, it will not surprise anyone that research was carried out and this revealed a lot of interesting information:

Jesus is mentioned most often in the Bible, with David in second place. Among women, Abraham's wife Sarah receives the laurels.
The smallest copy of the book was printed at the end of the 19th century using the photomechanical reduction method. The size was 1.9x1.6 cm, and the thickness was 1 cm. To make the text readable, a magnifying glass was inserted into the cover.
Facts about the Bible indicate that it contains approximately 3.5 million letters.
To read the Old Testament you need to spend 38 hours, and the New Testament will take 11 hours.
Many will be surprised by this fact, but according to statistics, the Bible is stolen more often than other books.
Most copies of the Holy Scriptures were made for export to China. Moreover, in North Korea, reading this book is punishable by death.
The Christian Bible is the most persecuted book. In all of history, no other work is known against which laws were passed, for violation of which the death penalty was imposed.

Not all people can answer the question: what is the Bible, although it is the most famous and widespread book on the planet. For some it is a spiritual landmark, for others it is a story that describes several thousand years of the existence and development of mankind.

This article provides answers to frequently asked questions: who invented the Holy Scripture, how many books are in the Bible, how old it is, where it came from, and at the end there will be a link to the text itself.

What is the Bible

The Bible is a collection of writings compiled by different authors. The Holy Scriptures are written in different literary styles, and interpretation comes from these styles. The purpose of the Bible is to bring the words of the Lord to people.

The main topics are:

creation of the world and man;
the fall and expulsion of people from paradise;
life and faith of the ancient Jewish peoples;
the coming of the Messiah to earth;
life and suffering of the Son of God Jesus Christ.

Who wrote the Bible

The Word of God was written by different people and at different times. Its creation was carried out by holy people close to God - apostles and prophets.

Through their hands and minds, the Holy Spirit brought the truth and righteousness of God to people.

How many books are in the Bible

The Holy Scriptures of the Russian Orthodox Church include 77 books. The Old Testament is based on 39 canonical writings and 11 non-canonical ones.

The Word of God, written after the Nativity of Christ, contains 27 sacred books.

What language is the Bible written in?

The first chapters were written in the language of the ancient Jews - Hebrew. The texts compiled during the life of Jesus Christ were written in Aramaic.

For the next few centuries, the Word of God was written in Greek. Seventy interpreters were involved in the translation into Greek from Aramaic. Servants of the Orthodox Church use texts translated by interpreters.

The first Slavic Holy Scripture was translated from Greek and is the first book to appear in Rus'. The translation of the sacred collections was entrusted to the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

During the reign of Alexander I, biblical texts were translated from Slavic into Russian. Then the Synodal translation appeared, which is also popular in the modern Russian Church.

Why is this the Holy Book of Christians

The Bible is not just a holy book. This is a handwritten source of human spirituality. From the pages of Scripture people draw wisdom sent by God. The Word of God is a guide for Christians in their worldly life.

Through Biblical texts the Lord communicates with people. Helps you find answers to the most difficult questions. The books of the Holy Scriptures reveal the meaning of existence, the secrets of the origin of the world and the definition of man's place in this world.

By reading the Word of God, a person comes to know himself and his actions. Becomes closer to God.

Gospel and Bible - what is the difference

The Holy Scriptures are a collection of books divided into the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament describes the time from the creation of the world until the coming of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is the part that makes up the Bible texts. Included in the New Testament portion of Scripture. In the Gospel, the description begins from the birth of the Savior to the Revelation, which he gave to His Apostles.

The Gospel consists of several works written by different authors and tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ and His deeds.

What parts does the Bible consist of?

Biblical texts are divided into canonical and non-canonical parts. Non-canonical ones include those that appeared after the creation of the New Testament.

The structure of the canonical part of Scripture includes:

legislative: Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Numbers and Leviticus;
historical content: those that describe the events of holy history;
poetic content: Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Job;
prophetic: writings of great and minor prophets.

Non-canonical texts are also divided into prophetic, historical, poetic and legislative.

Orthodox Bible in Russian - text of the Old and New Testaments

Reading Biblical texts begins with the desire to know God's Word. The clergy advise the laity to begin reading from the pages of the New Testament. After reading the New Testament books, a person will be able to understand the essence of the events described in the Old Testament.

To understand the meaning of what is written, you need to have at hand works that provide a decoding of the Holy Scriptures. An experienced priest or confessor can answer any questions you may have.

The Word of God can provide answers to many questions. Studying Bible texts is an important part of the life of every Christian. Through them, people come to know the grace of the Lord, become better people and move spiritually closer to God.

“It has served us well, this myth of Christ...” Pope Leo X, 16th century.

“Everything will be fine!” said God and created the Earth. Then he created the sky and all kinds of creatures in pairs, he also did not forget about vegetation, so that the creatures had something to eat, and, of course, he created man in his own image and likeness, so that there would be someone to dominate and make fun of at his mistakes and violations of the commandments of the Lord ...

Almost each of us is sure that this is what actually happened. What does the supposedly holy book, which is so ingenuously called, assure? "Book", only in Greek. But it was its Greek name that caught on, "Bible", from which in turn came the name of the book repositories - LIBRARIES.

But even here there is a deception, which few or no one pays attention to. Believers are well aware that this Book consists of 77 smaller books and two parts of the Old and. Does any of us know that hundreds other small books were not included in this big Book only because the church “bosses” - the high priests - the intermediate link, the so-called intermediaries between people and God, decided so among themselves. At the same time changed several times not only the composition of the books included in the largest Book itself, but also the contents of these smallest books.

I am not going to analyze the Bible once again; many wonderful people before me read it with feeling, sense and understanding several times, who thought about what was written in the “holy scripture” and set out what they saw in their works, such as “Biblical Truth” "David Naidis, "Funny Bible" and "Funny Gospel" by Leo Texil, "Bible Pictures..." by Dmitry Baida and Elena Lyubimova, "Crusade" by Igor Melnik. Read these books and you will learn about the Bible from a different perspective. Yes, and I am more than sure that believers do not read the Bible, because if they read it, it would be impossible not to notice so many contradictions, inconsistencies, substitution of concepts, deception and lies, not to mention calls for extermination of all the peoples of the Earth, God's chosen people. And these people themselves were destroyed several times at the root during the selection process, until their god selected a group of perfect zombies who very well assimilated all his commandments and instructions, and, most importantly, strictly followed them, for which they were pardoned with life and continuation sort of, and... new.

In this work, I want to draw your attention to what is not included in the above canonical books, or what hundreds of other sources say, no less interesting than the “holy” scripture. So, let's look at the biblical facts and more.

The first skeptic, who pointed out the impossibility of calling Moses the author of the Pentateuch (and this is precisely what Christian and Jewish authorities assure us of), was a certain Persian Jew Khivi Gabalki, who lived in the 9th century. He noticed that in some books he talks about himself in the third person. Moreover, sometimes Moses allows himself extremely immodest things: for example, he can characterize himself as the meekest man of all people on earth (book of Numbers) or say: “...Israel never again had a prophet like Moses.”(Deuteronomy).

Further developed the topic Dutch materialist philosopher Benedict Spinoza, who wrote his famous “Theological-Political Treatise” in the 17th century. Spinoza “dug up” so many inconsistencies and outright blunders in the Bible - for example, Moses describes his own funeral - that no amount of inquisition could stop the growing doubts.

At the beginning of the 18th century, first the German Lutheran pastor Witter, and then the French doctor Jean Astruc made the discovery that it consists of two texts with different primary sources. That is, some events in the Bible are told twice, and in the first version the name of God sounds like Elohim, and in the second - Yahweh. It turned out that virtually all the so-called books of Moses were compiled during the period of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, i.e. much later, than the rabbis and priests claim, and clearly could not have been written by Moses.

Series of archaeological expeditions including the expedition of the Hebrew University, found no traces of such an epoch-making biblical event as the exodus of the Jewish people from this country in the 14th century BC. Not a single ancient source, be it papyrus or an Assyro-Babylonian cuneiform tablet, ever mentions the presence of Jews in Egyptian captivity at this time. There are references to the later Jesus, but not to Moses!

And Professor Zeev Herzog in the Haaretz newspaper summed up many years of scientific research on the Egyptian issue: “It may be unpleasant for some to hear and difficult to accept, but it is absolutely clear to researchers today that the Jewish people were not enslaved in Egypt and did not wander in the desert...” But the Jewish people were enslaved in Babylonia (modern Iraq) and adopted many legends and traditions from there, later including them in a revised form in the Old Testament. Among them was the legend of the global flood.

Josephus Flavius Vespasian, the famous Jewish historian and military leader who supposedly lived in the 1st century AD, in his book “On the Antiquity of the Jewish People,” which was first published only in 1544, moreover, in Greek, establishes the number books of the so-called Old Testament in the amount of 22 units and says which books are not disputed, because they have been handed down from ancient times. He speaks of them in the following words:

“We don’t have a thousand books that disagree with each other and don’t refute one another; there are only twenty-two books that cover the entire past and are rightly considered Divine. Of these, five belong to Moses. They contain laws and legends about the generations of people who lived before his death - this is a period of almost three thousand years. The events from the death of Moses to the death of Artaxerxes, who reigned after Xerxes, were described in thirteen books by the prophets who lived after Moses, contemporaries of what was happening. The remaining books contain hymns to God and instructions to people on how to live. Everything that happened from Artaxerxes to our time is described, but these books do not deserve the same faith as the above-mentioned ones, because their authors were not in strict succession with the prophets. How we treat our books is evident in practice: so many centuries have passed, and no one dared to add anything to them, or take anything away, or rearrange anything; Jews have an innate belief in this teaching as Divine: it should be held firmly, and if necessary, then die for it with joy ... "