A Short Guide to the Origin of the Bible Text

1. The Bible wasn’t written all at once.

Think of it like a library, not one book. Different bits were written over hundreds of years, then gathered together later.

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2. It started as stories people told each other.

Before anything was written down, people told stories out loud. These were passed down for generations, especially around 3,000 years ago.

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3. Writing began around 2,900 years ago.

• The oldest parts (like poems and early laws) started getting written around 900 BCE.

• That’s about 2,925 years ago.

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4. The Old Testament came together over time.

• Different scrolls and books were written and edited over centuries.

• By about 2,200 years ago, most of it looked like what we have now.

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5. The New Testament came much later.

• Around 2,000 years ago, people started writing about Jesus—his life, teachings, and what it meant.

• Letters by Paul (a big early Christian writer) came first, around 1,975 years ago.

• The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, etc.) followed.

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6. It got collected into one book later.

• All the texts were copied and shared, and eventually organised into one book we now call "The Bible."

• This took a few hundred more years.

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TL;DR:

• Bible stories were first told by word of mouth.

• First writing: about 2,900 years ago.

• New Testament: about 2,000 years ago.

• All put together into “The Bible”: later on, over time.