The Various Tools Used by the Writers of the Bible
Introduction
The bible is most read book in the world today, as we know it. It is also the longest lasting book or should I say oldest, still available in our bookshelves across the world. The Lord has blessed us with the technology that we have today. We have computers, laptops, typewriters, and even pocket size machines that are capable of writing things down, or even voice recordings. But think back to the days when the words that fill the pages of the bible were being lived and mapped out. What was the time like in those days? Think, back of the tools that were used just to give us the book we know today as our guide to know the real God. I know that even now we still struggle with this process, but think how much harder it must have been for those people of that times period to write pages beyond pages of stories and accounts. The endless hours it must have taken to write just one book of the bible. The process of gathering information and the fact that all these books could have survived the times and be brought all together to form just one single book that would last over a thousand years later. In this paper I will tell you al little about the various tools used by the writers of the bible.
Papyrus
Papyrus is a water plant whose fibers were used by the people of Egypt to make a writing material. It also was used as material for mats, sandals, and sailcloth. The brownish flowers were made into garlands for the shrines of the Egyptian gods. Many people think the mother of Moses hid her son in an ark made of Papyrus. The papyrus plant still grows in the Nile valley of Egypt. It is also found in Ethiopia, Syria, southern Italy, and Sicily. Th...
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...her diverse literature. The Christian Old Testament organizes the books according to their type of literature: the Pentateuch, corresponding to the Torah; historical books; poetical or wisdom books; and prophetical books. Some have perceived in this table of contents a sensitivity to the historical perspective of the books: first those that concern the past; then, the present; and then, the future. The Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Old Testament place the books in the same sequence, but the Protestant version includes only those books found in the Bible of Judaism. The New Testament includes the four Gospels; the Acts of the Apostles, a history of early Christianity; Epistles, or letters, of Paul and other writers; and an apocalypse, or book of revelation. Some books identified as letters, particularly the Book of Hebrews, are theological treatises.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New. Cambridge: Printed by John Field ..., 1668. Print.
^ a b c d e f g h i John Arthur Thomas Robinson (1919-1983). "Redating the New Testament". Westminster Press, 1976. 369 halaman. ISBN 10: 1-57910-527-0; ISBN 13: 978-1-57910-527-3
The Christian Scriptures is the entire Christian Bible. It is composed of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Testament. The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is composed of several books all containing stories about Jesus, and the Christian Testament (New Testament) which contains the stories of Jesus and the earliest Christian Communities. Although these stories cannot confidently prove to us that they are true there are several distinct similarities, which are contained in nearly all of the books. These similarities are so frequent that their constant occurrence seems more than coincidence. Although these similarities occur often in the books of the Hebrew Scriptures, there are four short books included in the Christian Testament, which we must rely on to understand Jesus’ ministry and life.
Papyrus is one of the most amazing and “ahead of its time” inventions of ancient Egypt. Papyrus is ancient paper that the Egyptians somehow miraculously figured out how to make, which in all ways is amazing. The papyrus paper is made out of, as its name explains, the papyrus plant, which was a plant that grew well in the marshes of Egypt! This plant had a hard and “crisp” outside, with a soft inside. Papyrus was in fact a reed, and it had many uses. The outside part was used for a number of things, including Sandals and boats. Granted the list of the uses for the outside, grows quite long, the uses for the soft inside were to say the least few. The very main use, was in fact for papyrus paper! On another note, the back of the papyrus was somewhat shaped like a triangle or pyramid! This leads me to believe that there may have been some sense of spirituality behind papyrus, but enough about the papyrus plant, let's explore how papyrus paper was made!
Kethuvim (the Writings) "…contains the most diverse material…" (Harris, 6), is a miscellaneous repository for all the books accepted later. It contains books of history, prophecy, wisdom, and poetry randomly tossed together in a mixed bag. Jewish books written in Greek such as the Apocrypha were not included as part of the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Apocalypses "…means an "uncovering" and "revelations"…(Harris, 6) symbolic visions to encourage the righteous to remain faithful despite persecution.
One could very well conclude that the Egyptians of the northern kingdom were critical thinkers in order to discover this intricate technique that forever left a lasting impact on mankind and his ability to pass on knowledge for future generations. We would later discover just how much the papyrus plant was important to later Egyptian creations during the unification, such as the creation of the Mdw-Ntr (Hieroglyphic) writing system—imagine having a writing system with nothing practical in everyday life to write on. Although stones were carved into, the papyrus plant would have made it easier for scribes to pass on more information at a time.
For centuries now Christians have claimed to possess the special revelation of an omnipotent, loving Deity who is sovereign over all of His creation. This special revelation is in written form and is what has come to be known as The Bible which consists of two books. The first book is the Hebrew Scriptures, written by prophets in a time that was before Christ, and the second book is the New Testament, which was written by Apostles and disciples of the risen Lord after His ascension. It is well documented that Christians in the context of the early first century were used to viewing a set of writings as being not only authoritative, but divinely inspired. The fact that there were certain books out in the public that were written by followers of Jesus and recognized as being just as authoritative as the Hebrew Scriptures was never under debate. The disagreement between some groups of Christians and Gnostics centered on which exact group of books were divinely inspired and which were not. The debate also took place over the way we can know for sure what God would have us include in a book of divinely inspired writings. This ultimately led to the formation of the Biblical canon in the next centuries. Some may ask, “Isn’t Jesus really the only thing that we can and should call God’s Word?” and “Isn’t the Bible just a man made collection of writings all centered on the same thing, Jesus Christ?” This paper summarizes some of the evidences for the Old and New Testament canon’s accuracy in choosing God breathed, authoritative writings and then reflects on the wide ranging
New International Version: Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
Spanning fifteen hundred years with over 30,700 manuscripts, extensive archaeological evidence and 2000 prophecies that have been fulfilled, the Bible is God 's word to us. (Yohn, 2013). In the Bible, the Father is essentially giving us a picture of the history of the world and is also leading us to a place where we must make a decision that involves whether we choose to accept his son or reject him and remain guilty. Additionally, the Word of God tells us what happened that caused this breach between us and God, the result of this and how God has rectified it through the blood of his son. In fact, from the beginning of the Bible (written 1400 B.C.) to the last book (A.D. 96), God is showing us why we need Jesus and how to find him. Just as a plant’s root system propagates and occupies the pot that encloses it, Jesus permeates the entire Bible. Therefore, the motif of the Bible is the story of the redemption of mankind and it all points to Jesus as the messiah and savior who secures this for all.
The Old Testament is divided into six major sections. During each of these sections, elements of Old Testament history foreshadow various New Testament themes and events. Some of these various accounts recorded in the Old Testament are prophetical in nature and foretell specific details about various events that will be fulfilled in New Testament times. Each of the six major sections carries its own unique overarching theme that will in some way tie into New Testament history and theology. The six major sections of Old Testament are: creation (Genesis 1-11), covenant (Genesis 12-50), congr...
The Bible contains two parts, which are the Old Testament, the so-called the Jewish Bible, and the New Testament. Though many different writers involved in writing the Bible, the two Testaments are not independent; they are cross-referenced to each other. Christians often treat the Old Testament not only as the historical documents or literatures of the Israelites, but also as an important element of the foundation of the New Testament, because the writers of the New Testament lay strong emphasis on the relationship of Jesus with the prophecies of the Old Testament, which includes "the birth of Jesus, the place of His birth, the flight into Egypt, the return to Nazareth, the role of John the Baptist in preparing Jesus for His public ministry," the crucifixion of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus.
—. The Unity of the Bible: Exploring the Beauty and Structure of the Bible. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2003.
The Bible is a collection of sixty books that was written by diverse of authors, including the apostles and the disciple of Jesus. The Bible divided into two Testaments; the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament or the old contract is a collection of thirty-six books and the New Testament has twenty seven books. The New Testament is a contract between God and the humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Koran was written by Muhammad, a prophet of God. Muslims believed that he received a message from Angel Gabriel and wrote the Koran. However, Both the Bible and the Koran are the words of God. The Christians believe in the resurrection of Christ Jesus has the son of God while the Muslims do not believe Jesus Christ as the son of God.
Answering these questions is the purpose of this essay. I begin by arguing that the Bible cannot be adequately understood independent of its historical context. I concede later that historical context alone however is insufficient, for the Bible is a living-breathing document as relevant to us today as it was the day it was scribed. I conclude we need both testimonies of God at work to fully appreciate how the Bible speaks to us.