Dr Paul Allen

 Who wrote the Gospels 

  Since the biblical text is a composite document that contains portions of oral tradition, legal pronouncements, historical chronicles, poetry, prophecy, and wisdom literature, it is a standard conclusion among scholars that several groups of editors at one time or another had a hand in creating what eventually became the canonical text of the Bible.  One group collectively known as the “Deuteronomistic Historian” has been identified as responsible for much of the material contained in the books from Deuteronomy through 2 Kings.  This so-called Deuteronomistic history contains distinctive and identifiably consistent vocabulary, syntax, themes, stylistic formulas, and a well-defined theological perspective on the events in Israelite history. It is also clear from its emphasis on Jerusalem as the place where “God’s name dwells”—and its generally positive presentation of the Davidic dynasty of rulers—that the Deuteronomistic Historian is a scribal voice from the Southern Ki...

When Christians refer to the Bible as the word of God, they mean that — and I would say, I mean. I’m one of those people who believe this; I’d stake my whole life on it. So, I mean that the Creator of the universe, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who upholds the universe by the word of his power, was guiding and is guiding all things according to a great purpose. God has chosen to reveal himself to human beings in human language. He has chosen to speak. Amazing. Hebrews 1:1–2 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son [Jesus Christ].” That’s simply staggering: God has spoken. The phrase “Thus says the Lord” occurs over four hundred times in the Old Testament, as the writers put forward in their writings that God has spoken. The phrase “God said” occurs over six hundred times in the Old Testament. So, there’s this pervasive claim of the human writers that they are deliverin...

Different communities of people who call themselves Christians use different Old Testaments. Here’s what I mean: Everyone agrees about thirty-nine of the texts in the Old Testament, but—if you attended Mass in a Roman Catholic congregation this weekend—the Old Testament readings would come from a canon that includes seven books more than the thirty-nine books in the Old Testament at the Protestant church down the street. A few blocks further down the street at the Jewish synagogue, a reader who probably doesn’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus at all will be chanting a Hebrew or Aramaic text from the same Old Testament canon that the Protestants are studying in translated form. The Orthodox Church across town will be reading an Old Testament that encompasses a total of ten more texts than Jews and Protestants recognize. All of these disparities spawn a difficult question: If people who claim to be Christians can’t be sure about which books belong in the Old Testament, how ...

The belief that the Bible is the Word of God is foundational to our lives as Christians. When the Scripture says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105), we assume that in the Scriptures we have truthful and reliable direction from God. But just how secure is that assumption? In Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel The Da Vinci Code, the brilliant historian Sir Leigh Teabing declares,   The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven.… The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book. Although this statement is spoken by a fictional character in a novel, it accurately depicts what some people think about the Bible. In fact, in the introduction to this book, Dan Brown claims: “All descriptions of … documents … in ...

All of the authors of the books of the Old Testament should be classified as prophets. That term refers to messengers, and that is exactly what these authors were doing—delivering the message of God to the people of God. Some books specifically name the author, other books imply or point to a person as the author, and still other books are anonymous. One of the most important issues of authorship regards the Pentateuch , the first five books of the Old Testament. The traditional view is that Moses is the author of these books. This has been held by Jews since the Pentateuch was written and by Christians since the first century.  Even though the Pentateuch itself does not directly state that Moses is the author, there is evidence that indicates this is the case. For example, Moses did receive many of the laws recorded in these books directly from God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19ff.). Also, several books begin with the statement that God spoke to Moses and that Moses was to pass...