Bible Poll

[Catholic Dude]

At the request of some forum members I was asked to make a poll asking where the Bible came from.

This poll is all about collecting data, not debate.

Please vote to what you feel, not what someone else tells you. Also if there is not an answer up there you like vote "other"

Definition of Bible:
The 66 books/letters collected in one big book
Example of a Bible: the King James Version Bible

So the question is as follows:

Where did the Bible come from? In other words how did those 66 books find their way into one big Book so that at a moment in time a person was holding the complete 66 book Bible?

Please vote-

[arunma]

Oops, I already voted in the "fundamentalist churches" version of this thread (and I don't hang out there very often). Well, whatever, I can repeat myself. The manuscripts of the Bible were written between 1400 BC and 95 AD. The Bible itself was consolidated by the church after 100 AD.

[Project 86]

Oops, I already voted in the "fundamentalist churches" version of this thread (and I don't hang out there very often). Well, whatever, I can repeat myself. The manuscripts of the Bible were written between 1400 BC and 95 AD. The Bible itself was consolidated by the church after 100 AD.

I would say pretty much what arunma says but I would put the starting date between 1445 B.C.-1405 B.C. and the ending date possibly earlier then 95 A.D. Not to be picky or anything. ;)

[FreeinChrist]

I would say it was written before 100 AD...and consolidated later on.

I do NOT believe the statement often made that the Catholic Church wrote the Bible, or the idea that EDIT HERE noone one knew what was scripture before a council decided it.

[arunma]

I would say it was written before 100 AD...and consolidated later on.

I do NOT believe the statement often made that the Catholic Church wrote the Bible, or the idea that one one knew what was scripture before a council decided it.

LOL! I suppose the Catholic Church must have written the Bible right before they recieved the Papal Hat of Infalliblity™ from God.

[Scholar in training]

I do NOT believe the statement often made that the Catholic Church wrote the Bible, or the idea that one one knew what was scripture before a council decided it.
Some of it was written down (Paul's letters, Luke's writings) but as far as I know the gospel was spread by word of mouth. Oral tradition wasn't threatened by heresies yet, so it wasn't necessary for a formal canon to come about in the first century. There was almost no debate about Paul's letters, Acts, or about the 4 gospels, though, even before Nicene.

[arunma]

Yes, that's true. Virtually everyone used Paul's letters, and later the four Gospels and Acts. I think Hebrews was also widely used.

[Catholic Dude]

Dont consider the term "Church" in the poll to mean "Catholic Church", just consider it however you personally define "Church".

[mesue]

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
I didn't like any of the choices. :)

[ZiSunka]

Me either.

[MrJim]

What other choices would you like to see?

[ZiSunka]

I think "the church" is supposed to mean "the catholic church" and I don't think the catholic church existed as we know it today when the Bible was assembled.

[MrJim]

I think "the church" is supposed to mean "the catholic church" and I don't think the catholic church existed as we know it today when the Bible was assembled.

Dude said don't consider "the church" as "catholic". Are ya gettin' paranoid or have ya just been set up before;) ?

[ZiSunka]

Many times, menno, many times. :(

I'm going to say that I don't know who assembled the books of the Bible, but I do not believe that it was a committee that sat down and studied every possible Christian writing and decided which ones would be "canon" and which would not be. I think it's a lot more likely that some person, pastor or local church gathered up all the writings of the earliest writers that they could find that taught orthodox doctrine and copied them and bound them together in a single volume or scroll so that they would all be there when they were needed for study, preaching and reading. Remember, most church services back then consisted of an elder reading the scriptures and letters and gospels and discussing them. So all the gospels and epistles had to be handy.

Then other pastors saw all the writings bound together and made their own copy and so on and the Good News spread by passing these hand-copied NTs along to new and remote pastors who copied them and sent them on and on in an endless chain down to us.

[mesue]

What other choices would you like to see?

The ones that start the age old arguments
(sung to the tune of the oooold commercial Ken-el-Ration)
My Bible's Better than your Bible ^_^



(:doh: I just dated myself big time!)

[ZiSunka]

Yep, you did, but that puts you about my age, so you're not really that old.