Who Wrote The Bible?

Considering the fact that the Bible is the bestselling book of all time with several copies in many homes, one would get diverse responses to the question: Who wrote the Bible? Many Jews, Christians, and Muslims will answer, ‘God’. Others will refer to unnamed, unknown authors of the distant past. Some will refer to multiple authors such as Moses, Daniel, Isaiah, or Ezekiel. Most will probably shake their heads, admit they do not know, and continue with their business of the moment. A few will say: "Who cares?" Despite the fact that it is the most popular book in the world, its contents and structure remain a mystery to a vast majority of those who swear by its supposed message. One is almost forced to wonder whether many people reverence their idea of what the Bible should be, rather than the Bible itself.

Reading the Bible by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1755) Louvre Museum. (Public Domain)

Opiniated Scholars

The question remains: Who wrote the Bible? The study behind this question usually reigns in the rarified atmosphere of theological institutions but has implications far beyond the halls of academia. The Bible and other sacred texts, which have profoundly shaped man’s world view in ways of which one is not even aware, were all compiled by groups of men who had already formed and solidified their ideology. They had a fully formed point of view and an aggressive agenda. They really thought they knew best what should be released to the public and what should be discarded.