WHO WROTE THE BIBLE?

 

The truth that God is the ultimate source of the Bible does not deny the fact that the Bible was also written by human authors. But it wasn’t just anyone whom God chose to write His Word. These authors were God’s own prophets and messengers, with different backgrounds and settings.

Peter said in 2 Peter 1:21, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The Scriptures have always been regarded as the Word of God because they are prophecy from Him. Peter mentioned that the Scripture (“prophecy”) was not produced by the will of man—in other words, man was not its ultimate source. The biblical authors were only “carried along by the Holy Spirit” as they wrote the Scriptures. What does this mean? The phrase “carried along” (Gk. phero) literally means “forcefully borne along” or “carried by a strong force.” The same word is used in Acts 27:15–17 to describe how a ship was driven by strong winds, to the point that even experienced navigators could do nothing but yield to its force. That’s the idea behind the Greek phero. For Peter to use this strong word to describe how the biblical writers were guided, directed, and driven by God, we can be sure that the Holy Spirit is the real author of Scripture through these people.

OLD TESTAMENT WRITERS

The OT was written by prophets. Some were prophets by office/profession, while others were considered prophets because they received messages from God. Moses, traditionally regarded as the author of the first five books (also called “the Law”), was a prophet (Deut. 18:15). The rest of the OT books are also called “the Prophets” (Matt. 5:17; Lk. 24:27) because they were considered prophetic writings. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, and others were prophets by career, while some were not. Daniel was an adviser to the king (Dan. 1:18–20), yet Jesus referred to him as a prophet (Matt. 24:15) because he received visions from God. David, who composed most of the psalms, was a shepherd, warrior, and king by profession, but also called a prophet (Acts 2:30) since he too received God’s Word (2 Sam. 23:1–2). This shows that all OT writers had access to God in ways that ordinary people did not. Also take note that the work of prophets in their day was mainly “oral proclamation,” so it’s likely that many of them did not personally record the writings attributed to them. Instead, scribes wrote them down for future generations. Nevertheless, these prophets are still considered the original authors since the content ultimately came from them.

NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS

The NT was not written by prophets but by God’s messengers. Paul, who wrote nearly half of the NT, claimed to be writing under God’s inspiration: “When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths” (1 Cor. 2:13). In other letters, he declared that any prophet must acknowledge his writings as “a command of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37). In 1 Thess. 2:13, Paul equated their message with the “Word of God,” not merely human words. That’s why Peter, one of the Church’s major leaders, recognized Paul’s writings as Scripture (2 Pet. 3:15–16), since they were written with God’s wisdom (v. 15). Paul himself also recognized the authority of the Gospel of Luke, quoting Lk. 10:7 as Scripture (1 Tim. 5:17–18). Other writers like Matthew and John were members of the Twelve, guided by the Spirit of Truth (Jn. 16:13; 14:26). Others, such as Luke and Mark, were closely associated with the apostles, while James and Jude were respected servants of God.

Since God ordained the Bible to be written by chosen people, we can clearly see each author’s writing style, vocabulary, themes, and perspectives. The biblical writers were not used by God as mere stenographers to take dictation, nor were they put into a trance while writing. God allowed each writer’s literary style and personality to shine through while still perfectly communicating His intended message.

The result? We now have the Word of God that we can all embrace—written by people just like us. How amazing! Stay Curious.