Canonization of Scripture (how the Bible was compiled

p CANONIZATION OF SCRIPTURE (HOW THE BIBLE WAS COMPILED

2007

The ancient world was not the world of railways , airplanes and radio it greatly differed from nowadays . Today 's trip in few hours could take months and , even , years . The earliest collections of the Bible were incomplete and a tiresome work of scribes could not cover the needs of citizens . Moreover , the sacred scriptures had to be hidden in the times of persecutions . There were no councils and conferences , where Christians from all over the world could gather and compare letters and

br notes they had . Therefore , the earliest collections of the Bible especially the books of the New Testament , greatly differed in various places and the process of canonization was slowed down by the lack of time and communication

The origins of the Old Testament

One of the smallest nations , which numbers 0 .02 percent of world 's population , is , however , the only one that has preserved the origins of traditions , culture , language and genealogy of forefathers . Jews , known for their accuracy and perseverance , are carrying the fire of God 's promises to their nation starting from Abraham , the first Jew , till today . God had chosen them to give the sacred book to the whole world that was premised on the Mount Sinai in Ten Commandments

The Bible , as it is known today , is a collection of books that traditionally , were ascribed to the leaders , who have become famous in the Jewish history . Among them are - Moses , Samuel , David , Solomon However the scholars of the Old Testaments had proved that many books represent the latest compilations of ancient traditions and documents For example , the Book of Genesis contains the fragments that have been written in 10 B .C . and dated from 800 years ' oral prescription , but the entire book was , probably , written not earlier than 5 B .C

Till the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A .D , the canon of Jewish Scriptures was not clearly defined . Ancient scrolls known as Scripture , circulated in synagogues however , the center of their religion was the Temple and its ceremonies , where sacred scriptures were protected by priests . Nevertheless , the complete version of all ancient writings is dating from the 3rd B .C . Seeking for refuge Jews had fled to different parts of the empire , forming the Hellenic dynasty and losing the Hebrew language

During the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus - the follower of erudition and initiator of the great Alexandrian Library , 70 (or 72 Jewish scholars had made the Greek version (Septuagint , which means seventy in Latin , by the number of translators ) of the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic original manuscripts in Alexandria , Egypt between 300-200 B .C . Eventually the Septuagint came to be regarded as a kind of inspired paraphrase by teachers in the churches , mainly because the apostles had used it , and partly because they suspected that the Jews had deliberately corrupted the Hebrew text in anti-Christian ways since it was translated (Marlowe , para .12

The Septuagint differs from...