The Bible is made up of many books. Who wrote them?

The Bible is called the Word of God. Does that mean God wrote the Bible?

When we ask who wrote the Bible, there are two parts we need to consider–the human part, and God’s part. Because the Bible resulted from collaboration between God and human beings.

The Human Part: Writing

On the one hand, human beings wrote the books of the Bible. We know most of their names*. For example, Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament. In many cases, the books themselves tell us who their authors are. For example, the books of the prophets bear the names of the prophets who wrote them. King David wrote many of the Psalms and the books known as Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are attributed to King Solomon. Sometimes we also have tradition or external sources that provide additional detail.

But we need to keep in mind that in ancient times, as is often the case today, that doesn’t mean the named person actually put pen to paper themselves. In some cases they probably did. In other cases, they may have had scribes or assistants who wrote under their authority. Some of the historical books, like Chronicles and Kings, were certainly written by designated scribes.

When it comes to the New Testament, the gospels bear the names of their authors. They wrote from both their own experiences and eyewitness accounts of other members of the early Christian community. Most of the epistles bear the names of their authors. The apostle John wrote Revelation.

God’s Part: Inspiration

But the books of the Bible are not just ordinary books. They were written under the inspiration of God. Divine inspiration is God’s part of the writing.

The Bible itself tells us,

…no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2Pet. 1:21)

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2Tim. 3:16-17)

You may be wondering, what do we mean by inspiration? Christians don’t always agree on exactly how inspiration works in practical terms. But we know that it results in words that speak with the power and authority of God. We know that God’s Holy Spirit, in His infinite mercy and kindness, communicated with human beings who were willing to cooperate with Him, resulting in what we know as the books of the Bible.

But Biblical inspiration is about more than just how the words got onto the page. It is also about the message those words convey. We understand that, because of God’s part in the process, the Bible contains all the truth necessary for our salvation. It tells us what we need to know about God, about ourselves, about living our lives in the here and now, and assures us of the hope for what is to come.

There is one more thing I would have you consider. When it comes to the Bible, God’s reputation is at stake. He has a vested interest in the book that is known as the Word of God. You can be assured that He not only watched over its original writing, but that He inspired it in such a way that it could be translated into different languages without losing its intended meaning. He has also protected it through the centuries so that it speaks to us in the present day with the same authority as in the day it was written.

*Some modern scholars question the traditional view of the authorship of the Bible. See my article Why Do Bible Scholars Disagree?