DATE: Saturday, October 18, 1997            TAG: 9710170070

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Issues of Faith 

SOURCE: Betsy Wright 

                                            LENGTH:   80 lines

2 VIEWS - WHICH, OF COURSE, CONFLICT

Third in a series

IT TOOK MORE THAN 1,000 years for dozens of divinely inspired humans to write the many books of the library we call ``The Holy Bible.''

Who were these humans? For Jews and Christians alike, there are two conflicting answers to that question.

The Biblical/Traditional Account: This account of the human authors of the Bible was generally accepted by both the rabbis and the Church up until 250 years ago. In some cases, the Bible itself claims an author. In other cases, religious tradition credits someone - often a biblical hero - with authorship.

Today, the Biblical/Traditional Account is accepted mostly by orthodox believers: Orthodox Jews, members of the Eastern Orthodox Churches and conservative Protestants and Roman Catholics.

The Extra-Biblical Account: This account is more complicated. It takes the Biblical/Traditional Account of authorship and adds historical information from works other than the Bible, some written long before the first books of the Bible were penned.

It also includes archaeological and scientific findings along with technological advances. Then, too, it heavily considers the detailed study of biblical text: the way the words flow, the author's style, the author's choice of certain words and phrases.

The Extra-Biblical Account did not fully evolve until the last 250 years, beginning with the Enlightenment. Basically, it grew from the many scientific discoveries of those years, which led scholars to investigate the history of the Bible itself, rather than just what it says or means. This realm of scholarship is called biblical criticism.

Please understand, ``criticism'' in this case does not mean finding fault with the Bible. Many scholars who use the term are devout believers and revere the holy book for its wisdom and Godly authority.

The word here means ``the scientific investigation of literary documents to discover their origin, history or original form.'' (Webster's New World Dictionary)

Biblical criticism has been panned by many orthodox believers as detrimental to faith. Defenders, however, say that biblical criticism is about finding fresh meanings within biblical stories. Defenders also say that true authority can withstand challenges, and the Bible's authority is no exception.

The Extra-Biblical Account of who wrote the Bible also considers two other facets of ancient literature: oral tradition and pseudonymous tradition.

Because writing didn't emerge until about 3000 B.C. and then took almost 2,000 more years to evolve into something practical, ancient people depended on storytellers for their tales of faith. Before Genesis was ever written, the stories in it had been told and retold for thousands of years. This is oral tradition.

Scholars tell us that as stories passed from generation to generation, details changed. This wasn't considered deceptive by ancient peoples. On the contrary, they thought it wise to adapt a basic theme to different times and different cultures. To the ancient world, a story was ``true'' not if every detail was told and retold perfectly intact. A story was ``true'' if it told a great truth about the human condition.

This oral tradition was also present when the New Testament books were written. The oldest Gospel, Mark, was penned between 65 and 75 A.D., about 35 years after the death of Jesus. In those 35 years, however, the story of Jesus was told and retold to countless people. Details changed with each retelling and then again when it was finally written down.

When speaking of ancient people, it is also important to understand something called pseudonymous tradition. ``Pseudonymous'' means ``written under a pseudonym,'' or false name. Scholars believe that many, many books of the Bible - both Old and New Testament books - were not written by the credited author. It was very common in ancient times - especially in religious circles - for writers to attribute their works to their more famous teacher or religious leader, someone usually long dead.

For example, scholars say the New Testament book of II Peter was not written by Jesus' famous disciple but was actually the last New Testament book to be written, dating around 130 A.D., long after Peter's death.

Again, this kind of truth-stretching - claiming that a work had a famous author - wasn't seen as deceptive by ancient folks. It was seen as the highest form of flattery. It was a way a follower could honor a leader.

Next week I'll list each book of the Bible (both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible), with the biblical/traditional author and the extra-biblical author.Third in a series

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