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The Bible’s origins are debated due to different beliefs about its divine nature. Scholars suggest there are multiple texts in the first five books of the Old Testament, with some written by Moses and others by priests or rabbis. The chronology of when the Bible was written is also questionable. Different translations and versions of the Bible exist, with some containing additional books. Ongoing research continues to rewrite and clarify the Bible. The New Testament was written between AD 50 and 95, while the Old Testament dates range from 2166 BC to 440 BC.
The question of when the Bible was written raises a lot of debate due to the different theology. Many believe it is specifically the word of God, and therefore, writing the Bible implies that humans had something to do with it and could corrupt it. Thus, for example, much of the Old Testament, especially the first five books, is held by both Jews and Christians to be the divine word of God, written by Moses around 1400 BC According to believers, there is no possibility error in writing the literal word of God.
What many biblical scholars suggest, however, is that different interpretations appear to exist within the Old Testament. Particularly in Genesis it is confusing to many that there are two, or some count three, creation stories. “Why does God,” some argue, “deliberately tarnish his own words?”
This has led many Bible scholars to believe that there are actually two to three texts in the first five books of the Old Testament, or Torah. One is likely the work of Moses, another an overlay of priests or rabbis, to spin the Bible towards beliefs deemed important at the time of writing. Indeed, some scholars believe that the current first five books continued to be edited until about 800 BC.
Biblical scholars also object to the thought that the first five books were written by Moses during his rather short time on the Mt. Sinai. How did he manage to write all five books? This suggests earlier study of some books, and thus additional information from Moses and his followers, as well as later study of Moses. So the chronology of when the Bible was actually written is questionable even for some devout Bible students.
Because the Bible has gone through numerous translations, some biblical scholars suggest that earlier translations were full of errors. Also, not all Bibles are created equal. The Catholic Version, for example, contains several books that are not in the King James Version. This has to do with decisions about which books are divinely inspired and which books are not. Thus the Catholic Apocrypha is considered not to be a part of the King James Bible, and for many non-Catholics, represents a divergence in what is believed in Christianity.
Ongoing biblical research has rewritten the Bible in many parts. New translations where words are now more clearly understood occur frequently. They can change the policies of a church or not. So, in a sense, the Bible continues to be written, as biblical archeology makes new discoveries about how words were used at the time certain books were written.
From a more traditional perspective, all the books of the New Testament have been considered to have been written between AD 50 and 95. The Old Testament dates are as follows:
Job is considered to have been written between 2166 and 1876 BC.
Genesis, Leviticus, Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are dated around 1400 BC
Joshua and Judges are dated between 1400 and 1000 BC
Ruth, Samuel, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs were written between 1050 and 900 BC
Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Amos, Naum and Zephaniah were written between 800 and 700 BC
Jeremiah, Daniel, Re, Ezekiel, Habakkuk and Lamentations are dated in 600 BC
Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, Chronicles, Ezra, Malachi and Nehemiah were written around 600-440 BC.
