الأم ماغي خزام

First Humanitarian Middle Eastern Media In America And The World

...

Who Is the Writer of the Holy Bible?

The Holy Bible is the oldest Book in circulation worldwide, the most Book supported with ancient manuscripts, and the most read and distributed Book in all of human history. It is the only Book that has been translated into the most languages of the world, as it has been translated into nearly two thousand languages and about six billion copies have been printed of it in the last two centuries only. It is the Book about which the most studies, books and researches have been published, and the Book that inspired the most paintings, musical pieces, poetry, literature, plays and films. It is the only Book that brought together dozens of prophets who faithfully wrote down the words of God as inspired to them by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Bible consists of 66 Books, 39 of them are in the “Old Testament”, which includes the “Torah”, the “Prophets” and the “Psalms”, and 27 Books in the “New Testament”, the Gospel. In addition to these Books, there are 7 Books in the Old Testament, which are recognized by the Catholic and Orthodox churches but not by the Protestant Church because most Jews did not recognize them; as they were written in the period of 400 BC when there were no prophets then.
The Holy Bible is divided into:
I/ The Old Testament:
1- The Torah: The Five Books of the Prophet Moses
2- Historical Books
3-The Books of the Prophets
4-The Wisdom
II/ The New Testament (the Gospel):
It is also divided into four Books:
1- The Gospel According to the Four Evangelists
2- Acts of the Apostles
3- Twenty-one Epistles from the disciples and apostles
4- The Revelation of John the Theologian
All Christians believe that the whole Holy Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
In the Second Epistle of Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The Apostle Paul also confirms the same idea, as the Apostle Peter, in the Second Epistle to Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”

Who is the writer of the Holy Bible?
In fact, the events in the Holy Bible extended from Genesis and Adam to the LORD Jesus Christ and to His disciples as well, i.e., nearly 8000 years long between Adam and Jesus Christ, so naturally one person only could not have written down all these eight thousand years; it would be illogical. If one person, from the beginning, wrote down all these events, then this means that we have absolutely no free will. And if he came at the end and wrote down the events of the eight thousand years, this would raise suspicion and make us doubt his credibility; since he was not there eight thousand years ago to know what happened. Therefore, every historical era was recorded by its prophets and saints.
There are forty-one writers of the Holy Bible, thirty-three of them are in the Old Testament and eight are in the New Testament. All the writers of the two Testaments were led by the Holy Spirit.
The LORD God used different people, among them were prophets like Isaiah, priests like Ezra, kings like David, Solomon, and Lemuel, leaders like Joshua the son of Nun, singers like Asaph, judges like Nehemiah, tax collector like Matthew, fisherman like John and tent maker like Paul. Not all the writers of the Holy Bible were prophets, and with this diversity we see that our LORD did not come to a specific group of people, but He rather came to all and He uses everyone according to His will.

How do we know that the Holy Bible is the word of God?
Despite the different professions, personalities, cultures and eras of those who wrote down the Holy Bible, forty-one people over a period of 1500 years, the reader of the Holy Bible feels as if it was written by one person with one spirit that has no contradictions nor errors. Meaning that, who wrote 1500 years ago is the same spirit that wrote ten years ago. This proves to us that there is only one true God behind this Book and one way, given in this Book, which is the way of salvation.

The writers of the Holy Bible and the time of writing each Book:who-is-writer-of-the-holy-bible-old

1- The first writer: the Prophet Moses
He was a scholar, a shepherd, a prophet, and a leader; these descriptions about him can be found in the Pentateuch which he wrote. Moses wrote five Books: (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) in addition to Psalm 90. The Prophet Moses finished writing his Books in 1473 BC.
Someone might wonder: “How did the Prophet Moses write down the story of creation, the story of Adam, and what happened with Abraham, all of whom preceded him by thousands of years?”
The answer:
The news about the creation, the early fathers and what happened with them since Adam, were passed down orally from one generation to another, from Adam, Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Levi, Kohath to Moses. Moreover, Moses the Prophet did not write by his own, but he rather wrote down led by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is capable of purifying any impurities transmitted throughout history; just as the Holy Spirit guided him and showed him in a vision how the shape of the tabernacle should be, its details, materials and the way it should be built.
There is also another suspicion in which the enemies of the Holy Bible say: “How can the Prophet Moses be the author of the Pentateuch, while his death is mentioned at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy? How could he write about his own death?”
The answer is found in the same Book of Deuteronomy 34:9 “And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.”
So it was Joshua the son of Nun who wrote the end of the “Book of Deuteronomy”, and he was the one who wrote that Moses had died and how he was buried. Then he moved to the “Book of Joshua the son of Nun”.
2- The second writer: Joshua the son of Nun
Joshua the son of Nun was not a prophet, but a leader. He wrote the “Book of Joshua” and finished writing it in 1450 BC.
3- The third writer: Samuel
He was one of the Levites, from the sons of Levi, and he was a prophet. Samuel was the first prophet to come after Moses, he wrote (Judges, Ruth, and part of the first Samuel), and he finished writing it in 1080 BC.
4- The fourth writer: Gad
He was a prophet and he wrote part of the “First Book of Samuel”; he lived at the same time period as the Prophet Samuel and was followed by the Prophet Nathan. Gad the Prophet wrote the “Second Book of Samuel” and co-wrote the “First Book of Samuel” in 1040 BC. Gad was mentioned in the “Second Book of Samuel” in chapters 22-23-24.
5- The fifth writer: Nathan
He was also a prophet, and he wrote a part of the “Second Book of Samuel” with the Prophet Gad in 1040 BC. The Prophet Nathan was mentioned in the “Second Book of Samuel” in chapters 7 and 12, and he was also mentioned in the “First Book of Kings”. He was the prophet who was a contemporary of King David in his last days; as he was the one who told King David that the LORD was angry with him because of the sin he committed. He carried on with King Solomon as well.
6- The sixth writer: Job
Job was not explicitly mentioned as the writer of the “Book of Job”, but what he said about himself in Job 31:35 “Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is…” indicates that he was the writer of it. Studies also suggest that Elihu participated with Job in writing the “Book of Job”, in which he described Job’s friends:
Job 32:15 “They were amazed, they answered no more: they left off speaking.”
Elihu is of the seed of Abraham. The book was found written in Hebrew, and the researchers believe that it was written in the sixth century BC.
7- The seventh writer: David
David was not a prophet, as it is known about him, but he began his life as a shepherd and musician, then he became a king. David was the writer of most of the “Psalms” (also known as the Psalms of David). Others co-wrote them, but he had the greatest share. The Psalms were written in 1037 BC.
8- The eighth writer: Sons of Korah
They wrote eleven of the Psalms (Psalms 42-44-45-46-47-48-49-84-85-87-88)
9- The ninth writer: Asaph
Asaph was not a prophet, nor a leader or a judge, he was only a singer. He wrote twelve of the “Psalms of David” (Psalms 50-73-74-75-76-77-78-79-80-81-82-83).
10- The tenth writer: Heman the Ezrahite
What is known about Heman, from the Holy Bible, is that he was a wise man, without any more information about him. He participated in writing (Psalm 88) and although he wrote only one, but the writers have the right to be mentioned whether they wrote a chapter or books.
11- The eleventh writer: Ethan
It is stated in the Holy Bible, that Ethan was a wise man, and the writer of (Psalm 89).
All of: the Sons of Korah, Asaph, Heman the Ezrahite, Ethan, and Solomon had participated in writing the Psalms over the same time period as David, from 1037 BC to 1000 BC; i.e., during thirty-seven years.
Why are they called then the “Psalms of David” when there were other writers who had participated with him?
Because there are 150 Psalms, 25 of which were written by the Sons of Korah, Asaph, Heman the Ezrahite, and Ethan while David wrote the most parts (as there are 125 Psalms for David), so they were called the “Psalms of David”.
This is why some were irritated, when I said that David was not a prophet, wondering how could he not be, though he wrote the Psalms?
But this is not strange, as there are four or five others who participated in writing the Psalms with him though they were not prophets; Asaph was not a prophet, Ethan was not a prophet, yet they wrote Psalms as well. The Psalms were all inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Why did the Church in the Middle East have to say that David was a prophet?
The answer is: To please the Muslims, who think that every person mentioned in the Holy Bible is a prophet.
12- The twelfth writer: Solomon
Solomon was not a prophet either, but a king. He built the temple called the “Temple of Solomon”, and he was a very wise man. He wrote most of the proverbs (as there were others who had participated in writing them too). Solomon was also the writer of the “Book of Song of Songs”, “Psalm 127” and “Ecclesiastes”. Solomon’s writing was completed in 1000 BC.
13- The thirteenth writer: Agur
The only mention to Agur in the Holy Bible is that he was the writer of chapter 30 of the “Books of Proverbs”.
14- The fourteenth writer: Lemuel
Lemuel was a king, no further details about his life were given except that he wrote chapter 31 of the “Books of Proverbs”.
Both Agur and Lemuel lived in the same time period as Solomon; i.e.,1000 BC.
15- The fifteenth writer: Jonah
Jonah was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Jonah” in 844 BC.
16- The sixteenth writer: Joel
Joel was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Joel” in 820 BC.
17- The seventeenth writer: Amos
He was a shepherd and a prophet as the Holy Bible tells us about him. He was the writer of the “Book of Amos” in the year 804 BC.
18- The eighteenth writer: Hosea
He was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Hosea” in the period between 730-745 BC.
19- The nineteenth writer: Isaiah
He was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Isaiah”. He finished writing it in 732 BC.
20- The twentieth writer: Micah
He was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Micah”, which was written between 717-730 BC.
21- The twenty-first writer: Zephaniah
He was also a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Zephaniah”, which was written in 648 BC.
22- The twenty-second writer: Nahum
Nahum was also a prophet, and the “Book of Nahum” was written during his time and by him in 632 BC.
23- The twenty-third writer: Habakkuk
Habakkuk was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Habakkuk” in 628 BC.
24- The twenty-fourth writer: Obadiah
He was also a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Obadiah” in 607 BC.
25- The twenty-fifth writer: Ezekiel
He was a prophet and priest, who wrote the “Book of Ezekiel” in 591 BC.
26- The twenty-sixth writer: Jeremiah
Jeremiah was also a prophet and priest like Ezekiel, and he wrote the “Book of the First Kings”, the “Book of the Second Kings”, in addition to the “Book of Jeremiah”, and the “Book of Jeremiah’s Lamentations”.
For those who wonder about Jeremiah’s relationship with the first and second Book of Kings, you will find the answer in the Book of Kings in (the second chapter and the chapters 24-35-36); as we find that he lived in that era, and he was the one who wrote the two Books of Kings. Jeremiah finished writing his Books in 580 BC.
27- The twenty-seventh writer: Daniel
He was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Daniel” in 536 BC.
28- The twenty-eighth writer: Haggai
He was a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Haggai” in 520 BC.
29- The twenty-ninth writer: Zechariah
He was also a prophet and the writer of the “Book of Zechariah” in 518 BC.
30- The Thirtieth writer: Mordecai
A wise Jew, as the Holy Bible tells us about him, who became later a prime minister. He was the writer of the “Book of Esther” in 475 BC.
31- The thirty-first writer: Ezra
The Holy Bible tells us about him that he was a priest and a skilled writer. He was the writer of the “Book of Chronicles the First and the Second”, and the “Book of Ezra”.
32- The thirty-second writer: Nehemiah
He was the ruler of the half part of Bethzur, meaning that he was a governor as the Holy Bible says about him. He was the writer of the “Book of Nehemiah”, and he wrote it after 443 BC.
33- The thirty-third writer: Malachi
He was a prophet and the last of the Old Testament writers as well. He wrote the “Book of Malachi” in the period after the year 443 BC.

So there are thirty-nine Books in the Old Testament, written by thirty-three writers, among them were prophets, priests, scribes, kings and wise men, they all wrote over a period of time between 1000 and 1500 years. Each of them wrote, recorded, and chronicled his era and the Jews have preserved this legacy and heritage in the form of scrolls until today; as not all Books were within one book, but each of them was a separate book in itself, and the Jews kept them just like manuscripts. We find in:
Luke 4:17 “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,”
This verse shows us that they only gave Jesus the “Book of Isaiah the Prophet”, meaning that they did not hand to Him all the Holy Bible; since each Book was separate from the other, they gave Him the “Book of Isaiah” to read and answer them from it.
These books were all written in Hebrew, but were translated into Greek by 72 scholars during the reign of King Ptolemy II between 285 – 247 BC. Ptolemy the King chose six scholars from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, for a total of 72, to ensure an accurate and correct translation of the Old Testament.

By this, we have finished discussing the Old Testament with the suspicions about it regarding its writers, their professions, and the period of time in which it was written. We will go now to the New Testament, or as we call it “the Gospel”, which is the Gospel of the LORD Jesus Christ. The New Testament was written by eight apostles and disciples of the LORD Jesus.

The Writers of the New Testament:
who-is-the-writer-of-the-holy-bible-new
1-
The first writer: Matthew
He was a tax collector, a disciple of the LORD Jesus Christ and the writer of the “Gospel according to Matthew”. He wrote it in the year 41 AD, i.e. about 8 years after the resurrection of the LORD. Therefore Matthew alone, without referring to the rest, answers those who try to challenge the Holy Bible claiming that it was written hundreds of years after Christ. Matthew wrote the “Gospel according to Matthew” just eight years after Christ has risen, in the year 41 AD, i.e., in the same time period as Christ.
2- The second writer: Luke
Luke was a doctor, an Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle and the writer of the “Gospel according to Luke” and the “Acts of the Apostles”. Luke the physician was neither a disciple of the LORD Jesus Christ nor a contemporary of Him, but he was with Paul the Apostle, and before that he was with the seventy apostles. The “Gospel according to Luke” was written in the year 60 AD.
3- The third writer: Mark
He was an Evangelist, one of the seventy apostles and the writer of the “Gospel according to Mark” between 60-65 AD.
4- The fourth writer: John
John was a fisherman, one of the LORD’s disciples and the writer of the “Gospel according to John”. He also had three Epistles “The First, Second and Third Epistle of John” in addition to the “Book of Revelation of John the Theologian” in 98 AD.

Many wonder: “Where is the Gospel that Jesus Christ brought or that was descended upon Him?”
Jesus Christ is the LORD and nothing was sent down to him from anyone. He is not a messenger to receive and deliver a message, He is the Gospel, the Message and the Good News. He commanded His disciples to impart what they had heard from Him, and therefore they were preaching Christ as the Gospel of the Gentiles. This “Good News” was the good news of the Kingdom, which humans were not allowed to think of before Christ. He came and gave us a promise of the Kingdom and a proof that He is able to resurrect us after death, as He has risen from the dead Himself, as well as thousands of miracles that never leave a blind without opening his eyes to the fact that Christ is the LORD.
Skeptics also wonder; “why were there four people to write the Gospel and not just one?”
The answer:
Did only these four write the Gospel? No, there were probably big numbers of apostles and disciples who wrote the Gospel, but the complete manuscripts have reached us only from these four. As we know, Christians have been subjected to various kinds of torture and persecution since the first century AD., resulting in the loss of many manuscripts and writings, but we are confident that the LORD preserved for us all that we need. Also, the presence of two Hebrew and two Gentile writers, who spoke different terms and were from different environments, proves the miraculous uniqueness of the Holy Bible, and how these four wrote the events of the Gospel in a way that is closer to identical, is an evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in all of them.
The church could simply collect the Gospel according to the four Evangelists in one Gospel and call it the “Gospel of Christ”, deleting or burning the other copies (as Uthman ibn Affan did, for example, when he burned dozens of copies of the Quran at his whim and kept the “Quran of Uthman”, which is still in circulation today). The Church preferred to honestly hand us over what she had received, bearing in mind the importance of each one of the four Evangelists and preserving his rights.
We have to pay attention to an important thing that has been commonly spread, as people say (the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of John) which is wrong, for the Gospel is not for Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but rather the Gospel of Jesus Christ (the Good News), so we say “the Gospel according to Matthew”, “the Gospel according to Mark”..etc. We have to start with ourselves in terms of correcting our terminologies, so that they reach the other nations correctly.
5- The fifth writer: James
He was the apostle of Christ. He is considered one of the pillars of faith, and the brother of the LORD Jesus, as the Holy Bible says. He wrote the “Epistle of James” in the year 62 AD.
6- The sixth writer: Peter
He was one of the LORD’s disciples, and his profession was fishing. He wrote the “First and Second Epistle of Peter” in the year 64 AD.
7- The seventh writer: Paul the Apostle
He was the apostle of Christ to the Gentiles, and he was a tent maker. He wrote most of the epistles; the “Epistle to the Romans”, the “First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians”, the “Epistle to the Galatians”, the “Epistle to the Ephesians”, the “Epistle to the Philippians”, the “Epistle to the Colossians”, the “First and Second Epistle to the Thessalonians”, the “First and Second Epistle to Timothy”, the “Epistle to Titus”, the “Epistle to Philemon”, and the “Epistle to the Hebrews”. He wrote the epistles around 65 AD.
8- The eighth writer: Jude
He was one of the disciples of the LORD, and the brother of the LORD and James, as the Holy Bible says about him. He was also the writer of the “Epistle of Jude” in the year 65 AD.

– What is the source of the dates that I have mentioned, and how did each writer write down, starting from 1500 BC.?
There is no event in the world and which was written about in the Holy Bible, unless we found manuscripts about it. These manuscripts have either had the date of their era on them, or have been scanned with the help of experts, who came to know the exact date of each manuscript and to which era it belongs.

Skeptics also ask: “Why are there so many writers of the Holy Bible? Wouldn’t the Holy Bible have been more reliable if it had been written by only one writer?”
No, on the contrary, and this is what I have previously mentioned. If only one writer came to tell me all these events that took place over 8000 years, I would not believe him, because if he was here today, then how would he know what happened 8000 years ago? In the same way, if he was there at that era, 8000 years ago, how would he know about the events that were going to happen after all those years with names, dates and details? If he already knew and he existed from the beginning, then this would mean that the entire globe is a toy, and we have no free will, but that is not true, because our LORD gave us free will, therefore the most logical and credible thing is that there was a writer for each era and at every period of time to write down about it.
The inimitability of the Holy Bible that is not found in any other book, is that the forty-one writers who wrote over the course of 1500 years, most of them did not see each other, and each of them belonged to an environment, a time period, a culture and a profession that was different from the other, yet their writings came out without mistakes or contradictions of faith.
The enemies of the Holy Bible say: “We find some mistakes in the names or ages, for example, the name of Uriah’s wife is once mentioned as “Bathsheba” and another time as “Betsheba”, also the age of the King Ahaziah when he reigned is once said to be 22 and another time 42.”
The answer: These are considered typographical errors and not doctrinal ones. The Holy Bible has been translated into more than two thousand languages and printed in hundreds of printing houses, and as we know the translators and editors are human beings so they may make mistakes in a diacritical mark or number, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and this gives the Holy Bible more credibility. If the church was authorized, like Uthman ibin Affan, to revise, burn and correct what is written, she would have fixed these minor typographical errors, but the church has preserved for us what she has received as it is, even with its marginal errors.

The Holy Bible consists of 66 Books, the Old Testament (Torah and the Prophets), and the New Testament (the Gospel), and they have been combined in one Book representing the official, direct and only words of the LORD God to mankind which He put on the mouth of His men from prophets, kings, saints and apostles. Despite its diversity, the Holy Bible has one message from its beginning to its end, which is the redemption. The LORD God gave us a complete human book and a complete divine book, fully inspired by His Holy Spirit and directed to all nations. Many other religions had copied the verses of the Holy Bible to compose what they claim to be “divine books”, this made Christians hold on more to their Holy Bible. Is there any sane person who would leave the direct words of the LORD God to follow the copied?

Oct / 14 / 2019