The Bible is made up of 66 individual books. They were written down by people of many occupations spread over a time period of hundreds of years.
The table below shows the large variety of backgrounds, cultures and time periods from which the writers of the books of the Bible came.
Backgrounds | Locations | Situations | Date |
Slave | Egypt | Single | 1450 BC |
Temple servant | Israel | Married | To |
Priest | Babylon | Marital problems | AD 96 |
Captive in foreign land | Persia | ||
Shepherd | Rome | ||
King | Greece | ||
Musician | Turkey | ||
Royal descent | |||
Herdsman | |||
Customs officer | |||
Doctor | |||
Prisoner | |||
High-rankingJew | |||
Fisherman |
There is no other book in the world written by so many different authors spread over a period of 1,500 years that has one consistent message.
Some of the Bible writers suffered terribly or even died for giving their message. People must believe their message if they are prepared to die for it. The Bible writers had very good reasons to believe that their message was true.
The challenge
How does the Bible come to have a consistent message, relevant to everyone, when it was written by people from such vastly different cultures and times?
The "ring of truth" found in the Bible
Similar ideas and principles running throughout the Bible
The writers of the Bible message