Bible Course for the Laity - 2004, DVK, Bangalore

Full Reports on the Bible & Theology Course - 2004

Module-5 continues on Day 8 of the Bible course narrating the long, formative process of the Bible.

5.2   Bible Formation - A Continuous Process with Certain Patterns

Over the course of hundreds of years of oral communication, writing, re-writing, and editing of the books of the Bible, the Biblical books went through various stages of composition. Some of these compositions became frozen in time and were handed down to us as distinct books, in the same form as they appear in the Bible today. Other books underwent further re-working and changes, eventually becoming part of larger documents.

There are two entirely separate accounts of creation right at the beginning of the Bible. The story of creation in seven days is described in the first chapter of the book of Genesis. Later, the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is mentioned. This contradiction just shows that different layers of traditions have been incorporated in making the books of the Bible.

5.2.1 Question of authorship

Although it is common belief that Moses wrote all five books of Torah (Law books - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), with stories of creation, flood, patriarchs, and the exodus, the truth is that the books come from different authors, and not just one person. The books are about the meaning of life and not exactly about the actual origin of the earth. These first five books, known as the Law books, are the most important books of the Bible.

The original Bible stories in Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers are distinguishable for the most part by their style, terminology, and subject matter. Like most ancient stories, they had no title and no one knows who authored them except that they were produced by a learned scribe of a court.

5.2.2 Exodus - The heart of the story

The heart of the salvation history is the Exodus. The Exodus is considered the most important event of the Bible. In this great epic, Israel is delivered from the control of the Pharaoh in Egypt. David portrays his Israelite state as the home of the free and the land of promise, as much as the modern free world.

The Exodus is an ancient pilgrim father's story. The Exodus might not have been a one-time migration of a whole populace; rather it might have been occasional migrations to Negeb (south) with their sheep and cattle to escape Egyptian oppression. This became a kind of epic by successive narrations. This story of Exodus was written with a view to achieving national cohesion or unity for the fledgling Israelite state that was constantly under threat from Egypt.

5.2.3 The New Testament

The English Bible lists the book of Malachi as the last book before the New Testament. This book is referred to at the beginning of the Gospels in a very significant way.

Malachi says: "Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

Malachi's reference to the coming of Elijah and the Lord to the temple is one of the three scriptural bases of Mark's story of Jesus. The others are the story of the Exodus and the whole book of Isaiah, especially the metaphor of the 'servant' of the Lord. The book of Mark was written to make sense of the Lordship of Christ in the light of changing circumstances towards the middle of the first century AD.

Mark's synthesis of principal Old Testament themes, with Jesus as Christ, is significant. However, Matthew, Luke, and John nourished the original Marcan version by giving more comprehensive versions of the "Jesus Event". Matthew contains nearly the whole of Mark, and much more. Matthew uses almost 600 of Mark's 661 verses.

The four Gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John) followed evolution processes identical to the books of the Old Testament. Matthew was written because Mark wrongly conveyed a notion that Jesus had no regard for the old law (Torah - the first five books), the author of Matthew wanted to correct this impression. Matthew's Gospel is divided into five major sections - a reflection of the first five books of Moses. Here, Jesus gives a new law based on the old law. This law is found in the Sermon on the Mount (Beatitudes and other sections", which is a reflection of Sinai where Moses received the laws.

Luke and Acts constitute a single work in two volumes. Luke is also a revision of Mark, possibly with an awareness of Matthew. Luke aims to incorporate the work and teachings of Peter and Paul, especially Paul whose teachings became very significant towards the end of the first century. As the message of Jesus spread beyond the boundaries of Palestine to Asia Minor and eventually to Rome itself, Luke realized that different cultural contexts called for new interpretations; Paul, the new champion of the Gospel in the context of the Roman empire, had to be made an indispensable part of the Gospel. It had to be shown to the late first century readers that the Christian way represented a genuine fulfillment of not only the Torah, but the prophets in scriptures as well.

The relation between the Gospels according to John and Mark is less clear and debated, but is likely that John was indebted to Mark in major forms. In fact, John's horizons are actually a good deal more confined than those of the other Gospels.

5.2.4 New Testament Timeline

The approximates dates of composition of the books of the New Testament:

• ca. (ca. = circa = around) AD 30 - 63: Paul's letters; Romans; 1 Corinthians; 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Philippians; 1 Thessalonians; Philemon
• ca. AD 70 - 100: Mark, Matthew, Luke, John; Acts; Ephesians; Colossians; 2 Thessalonians; 1 Timothy; 2 Timothy; Titus; Hebrews; James; 1 Peter; 1 John; 2 John; 3 John; Jude; Revelations
• ca. AD 71 - 132: 2 Peter

5.3   Conclusion

Do not regard the Bible as pure history; instead, consider the Bible as theology. The Bible may have fiction, myths, history, stories, etc. Exaggerations do not imply falsehood or fabrication; they are a style of writing.

The Bible is very simple and practical. "Happy is the man who has found a good wife. She is like gold."

The Bible is dynamic and growing. It is the life-giving word of God. It never ends.

"Science teaches you how heavens go. The Bible teaches you how to go to heaven." -- Galileo

This ends Module-5 of the "Bible Course for the Laity - 2004".

From the next module, the New Testament is discussed in detail.

Module 5, Part 1   Module 5, Part 2   Bible Course Index   Bible Course Outline

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