The Books of the Bible: Exploring the History of the Scriptures

Pop quiz: what is the oldest book in the Bible?

The assumption many people make is that Genesis, as the first book in the Bible, is in fact also the oldest, authorship being attributed to Moses. But, as any Biblical scholar will tell you, both of these assumptions are wrong: Genesis was written in the 6^th century BCE, probably by two different groups whose works were combined, during the exile in Babylon.


Understanding the historical context of the various books in the Bible opens one up to a whole new understanding of the content of Scripture. In our above example, it takes you to a whole new place if you read Genesis knowing that Jewish priests wrote it in exile to keep the cultural memory of the Jewish people alive in anticipation of the day they would return to their destroyed temple. Yet, most Christians have no idea about when, where, or why the books in the Bible were written. Instead, they are allowed to keep thinking along the same lines as the pre-Enlightenment church, assuming that Moses wrote the Pentateuch while he wondered Sinai, and the apostle Matthew wrote his Gospel in the immediate aftermath of Jesus' death.


This uneducated view of Scripture reduces it, stripping away it's importance and purpose to those who wrote, to replace it with myth that only sows confusion and Biblical illiteracy. This lack of education is not the fault of lay Christians; instead, it lays at the feet of clergy and teachers who don't think their students and congregants are up to the challenge of hearing something that contradicts what they have been (erroneously) told their whole lives.


The purpose of this series is to explore the books of the Bible, one by one, in the order they were probably written, to understand:

• when they were written
  
• who wrote them
  
• where they were written
  
• why the author(s) felt the need to write these traditions down.
  

I want to undertake this project because, as I prepare for seminary and then my doctorate in history, I am delving into this subject matter and feel called to share what I learn as I learn it. One of my driving passions in getting my PhD in history along with a seminary education is I want to teach people about the world Jesus and his followers lived in, in an effort to deepen and grow the understanding we have of His message and example.


I don't intend this to be comprehensive. I am learning as we go, and there is always the likely probability I will miss something, or get something wrong. But know that this is a honest undertaking, and I will never intentionally lead you astray, and will correct mistakes as I catch them or are made aware.


I am going to be drawing from a variety of sources. My Harper Collins Study Bible, NRSV, is a primary sources, as it my Collegeville Bible Commentary. I also recently started reading Diarmaid MacCulloch's masterful Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, and will certainly reference it. I will also be scouring the writings of Biblical scholars I can find online. Of course, any and all sources will be shared, along with links, so feel free to check me.

As I said, this will be in the order the books were most likely written. Now, as I couldn't find any authoritative sources who listed the chronological order, my first task in this project was to do this chronology myself, something I have been working on for a couple weeks now. As I did that, I decided to include what is commonly called the Apocrypha by the Protestants. That means books that are included in the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles will be included. I do this because, in my initial studies, I found these texts to be not just authoritative to many Christians worldwide, but also central in many ways to the tradition of Judaism that Christianity arose from. Not to mention they are full of wisdom and should be read and understood by Protestants everywhere just as the rest of the Old Testament is.

I hope you enjoy this series. Please share all questions, comments or corrections you may have in the comment section; I will endeavor to answer them all in a timely manner.

And the answer to the pop quiz? The oldest book in the Bible is probably Hosea, which is where we will begin.