Old Testament
The Old Testament is the first section of the Bible, covering the creation of the Earth through Noah and the flood, Moses and more, ending with the expulsion of the Jews to Babylon.
The Old Testament of the Bible is very similar to the Hebrew Bible, which originated in the ancient religion of Judaism. The exact beginnings of the Jewish religion are unknown, but the first known mention of Israel is an Egyptian inscription from the 13th century BC
The first known mention of the Jewish god Yahweh is found in an inscription relating to the king of Moab in the 9th century BC. It is speculated that Yahweh may have been adapted from the mountain god Yhw in ancient Seir or Edom.
REJECTED BOOKS OF THE BIBLE AND WHAT HAPPENED
Hezekiah
It was during the reign of Hezekiah of Judah, in the 8th century BC, that historians believe what would become the Old Testament began to take shape, the result of royal scribes recording royal history and heroic legends .
During the reign of Josiah, in the 6th century BC, the books of Deuteronomy and Judges were compiled and added to. The final form of the Hebrew Bible developed over the next 200 years, as Judah was swallowed up by expansion The Persian Empire.
Septuagint
Following the conquest by Alexander The Greatthe Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the 3rd century BC
Known as the Septuagint, this Greek translation was initiated at the request of King Ptolemy of Egypt for inclusion in the library of Alexandria. The Septuagint was the version of the Bible used by the early Christians in Rome.
The Book of Daniel was written during this period and included in the Septuagint at the last moment, although the text itself claims to have been written around 586 BC.
New Testament
The New Testament tells the story of the life of Jesus and the early days of Christianity, notably Paul’s efforts to spread the teaching of Jesus. It brings together 27 books, all originally written in Greek.
The sections of the New Testament relating to Jesus are called the Gospels and were written about 40 years after the first written Christian documents, Paul’s letters, known as the Epistles.
Paul’s letters were distributed by churches around AD 50, perhaps just before Paul’s death. Scribes copied the letters and kept them in circulation. As circulation continued, the letters were collected into books.
Some Church members, inspired by Paul, began writing and circulating their own letters. Historians therefore believe that some New Testament books attributed to Paul were actually written by disciples and imitators.
As Paul’s words circulated, an oral tradition began in churches telling stories about Jesus, including teachings and accounts of post-resurrection appearances. Sections of the New Testament attributed to Paul speak of Jesus with direct feeling, but Paul never knew Jesus except in the visions he saw, and the Gospels were not yet written at the time of Paul’s letters.
The Gospels
Oral traditions within the Church formed the substance of the Gospels, the first book of which is Mark, written around AD 70, 40 years after Jesus’ death.
It is theorized that there may have been an original document of Jesus’ sayings known as Source Q, which was adapted into the Gospel stories. The four gospels were published anonymously, but historians believe the books were named after Jesus’ disciples in order to provide direct connections to Jesus and give them greater authority.
Matthew and Luke were next in the timeline. Both used Mark as a reference, but Matthew is considered to have another distinct source, known as the M source, because it contains different elements from Mark. Both books also place greater emphasis than Mark on proving the divinity of Jesus.
The Book of John, written around 100 AD, was the last of the four and has a reputation for hostility towards Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries.
The four books cover the life of Jesus with many similarities, but sometimes contradictions in their depictions. Everyone is seen as having their own political and religious agenda related to authorship.
For example, the books of Matthew and Luke present different accounts of the birth of Jesus and all contradict each other regarding the resurrection.
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the Bible, an example of apocalyptic literature that predicts a final heavenly war through prophecy. Authorship is attributed to John, but little is known about the writer.
According to the text, it was written around AD 95 on an island off the coast of Turkey. Some scholars believe this is less of a prophecy than a response to the Roman destruction of the Great Temple and Jerusalem.
This text is still used by evangelical Christians to interpret current events in anticipation of the End Times, and elements of it are frequently used in popular entertainment.
Biblical canon
Surviving documents from the 4th century show that different councils within the Church issued lists to guide how various Christian texts should be treated.
The first known attempt to create a canon along the same lines as the New Testament took place in Rome in the 2nd century by Marcion, a Turkish businessman and church leader.
Marcion’s work focused on the Gospel of Luke and the letters of Paul. Disapproving of this effort, the Roman Church expelled Marcion.
The second-century Syrian writer Tatian attempted to create a canon by uniting the four gospels under the name Diatessaron.
The Muratorian Canon, believed to date from 200 AD, is the first compilation of canonical texts resembling the New Testament.
It was not until the 5th century that all the different Christian churches came to a basic agreement on the biblical canon. The books that were ultimately considered canonical reflect as much the era in which they were adopted as the era of the events they describe.
During the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, books written not in Hebrew but in Greek, such as Judith and Maccabees, were excluded from the Old Testament. These are known as the apocrypha and are still included in the Catholic Bible.
Gnostic Gospels
Additional biblical texts have been discovered, such as the Gospel of Mary, which was part of the larger Berlin Gnostic Codex found in Egypt in 1896.
Fifty other unused biblical texts were discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945, known as the Gnostic Gospels.
Among the Gnostic Gospels were the Gospel of Thomas – which purports to be previously hidden words of Jesus presented in conjunction with his twin brother – and the Gospel of Philip, which involves a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The original texts are thought to date back to around 120 AD.
The Book of Judas was discovered in Egypt in the 1970s. Dated to around 280 AD, some believe it contains secret conversations between Jesus and his betrayer Judas.
These are never part of the official biblical canon, but come from the same traditions and can be read as alternative views on the same stories and lessons. These texts are considered indications of the diversity of early Christianity.
King James Bible
The King James Bible may be the most famous edition of the Bible, although in England it is known as the “Authorized Version”.
First printed in 1611, this edition of the Bible was commissioned in 1604 by King James I after feeling political pressure from Puritans and Calvinists demanding reform of the Church and a complete restructuring of the church hierarchy. ‘Church.
In response, James called a conference at Hampton Court Palace, at which it was suggested to him that there should be a new translation of the Bible, as the versions commissioned by previous monarchs were considered corrupt.
King James eventually agreed and decreed that the new translation should be written in contemporary language, using common and recognizable terms. James’ goal was to unite warring religious factions through a uniform sacred text.
This version of the Bible remained unchanged for 250 years and is considered one of the greatest influences on the English language, alongside the works of Shakespeare. The King James Bible introduced a host of words and expressions now common in the English language, including “an eye for an eye”, “bottomless pit”, “two-edged sword”, “God forbid”, “goat emissary” and “turned the world upside down,” among many others.
Sources
The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible. John Rogerson, ed..
The book: a story from the Bible. Christophe De Hamel.
History and literature of the New Testament. Dale B. Martin.
The Gnostic Gospels. Elaine Pagels.
From Jesus to Christ. First line.