The question of who really wrote the Bible has been debated for ages, with people disagreeing over how much (if any) of it was divinely inspired or transmitted directly from God. This is a question scholars have attempted to answer through a combination of historical study and literary analysis, and one highly respected expert has provided an estimate of how many writers contributed to the Old and New Testaments that are in circulation today.
According to Professor Elizabeth Polczer, a Biblical Scholar in the Department of Religion at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, the latest research suggests that dozens of people wrote the various parts of the Bible, with 40 authors likely representing the minimum number.
“Each book of the Bible needs to be treated on its own to decide who authored it,” Professor Polczer told the MailOnline, confirming the process of determining exactly who these people were is “quite complicated.”
The Old and New Testaments combined consist of 783,137 words divided into 66 separate books, which highlights the extremely difficult task facing those who’ve tried to identify all of its authors (who may or may not have been divinely inspired, depending on how one views that issue).
The History of the Bible, Condensed
Across the globe, millions of Christians regard the Bible as the sacred word of God. It relates an extraordinary account of the world's history, spanning from creation to salvation and culminating in God's final judgment of humanity. This revered text contains well-known stories such as Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, which are familiar even to those who do not read the Bible often (or at all).
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Painting of Adam and Eve showing Eve trying to prevent Adam from eating the apple, a creation myth in the Book of Genesis of the Bible. (Public Domain)
Rather than being composed as a single work, the Bible is a compilation of various writings, with some of the earliest sections dating back nearly 3,500 years. It consists of two main parts: the Old Testament, also referred to as the Hebrew Bible, and the later New Testament.
The Old Testament was written over approximately nine centuries, beginning around 1200 BC and reaching completion around the first century BC.
"Some of the most ancient material may date as early as 1200 BC, but the books were likely edited into their present form in the 6th or 5th centuries BC," Professor Polczer explained.
In contrast, the New Testament was composed over a much shorter time frame, during the latter half of the first century AD. In some cases, scholars can confidently identify the authors of specific biblical books, while in other instances, authorship remains uncertain.
"Scholars agree that Paul of Tarsus wrote the Letter to the Romans, and John of Patmos wrote Revelation," the Biblical scholar said. "Although books like Genesis and Exodus have been traditionally attributed to Moses, due to contradictions and duplications in their material, they are now thought to have been authored by several sources over the course of centuries."
One of the most significant portions of the New Testament is the four Gospels, attributed to the Four Evangelists—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—though the true authorship remains a subject of debate.
"The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all technically anonymous, and were attributed in very early stages to these four evangelists by Church Fathers," Professor Polczer noted. "It's difficult to know how much of that attribution is real history, and how much of it was legendary … attributing to Matthew and John is convenient and credible since they were Jesus's direct disciples, but historical factors seem to undermine these attributions."
The symbols of the four Evangelists depicted in the Book of Kells. The four-winged creatures symbolize, top to bottom, left to right, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. (Public Domain)
Other books were traditionally assigned to well-known figures, including Solomon ("Song of Solomon") and Paul the Apostle ("The First Epistle to Timothy"). Yet scholars widely consider these attributions to be dubious.
Certain books, however, may have accurately accredited to their actual authors in the past. One such example is Psalms, a collection of sacred songs and poems found in the Old Testament.
"Psalms are traditionally thought to have been authored by King David, and some of the psalms may well have been," Professor Polczer confirmed. "However, others were more likely to have come from other hymn-writers and they were later compiled together as one collection."
Solving a Historical Riddle of Monumental Proportions
Philip Almond, a religious cultural historian at the University of Queensland in Australia who addressed the issue of Bible authorship himself in an article published last year, describes the question as "complex and problematic."
"This is partly because it’s hard to identify particular authors," he explained.
By the third century AD, Christianity was expanding steadily but was still considered a cult, with its followers often facing persecution. During this period, Judaism and various pagan religions dominated, yet Christianity continued to spread throughout the Roman Empire, including into Britain.
Originally, the Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and it was not translated into English until the 14th century, according to Professor Polczer. That translation, known as Wycliffe’s Bible, was completed by University of Oxford theologian John Wycliffe and was based on the Vulgate, a late 4th-century Latin version of the Bible.
Later, in 1526, William Tyndale produced the first English translation derived directly from the Bible’s original Hebrew and Greek texts, though it was incomplete.
William Tyndale is burnt at the stake in Belgium; he cries, "Lord ope the king of England's eies." From an Elizabethan edition of Foxe's Martyrs. (Public Domain)
"It did not include the Old Testament, portions of which he translated in later years," Professor Polczer said.
Tyndale was ultimately condemned as a heretic in 1536 and was executed by strangulation before his body was burned at the stake. Several other versions of the Bible appeared in subsequent decades, leading to the publishing of The King James Bible 1611. It is this edition of the world’s most-read book that scholars are working with today, as they continue their efforts to determine the true identifies of its various authors.
Top image: Image of the holy Bible. Source: manusapon/Adobe Stock
By Nathan Falde
