Origins of the Holy Bible

Before the Holy Bible was ever the Written Word, it was the spoken Word passed down directly from the mouth of God to the servants who spread the knowledge of His existence.

The people at Mount Horeb, or Mount Sinai depending on the translation you trust most, were told by the Lord our God:

"you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." - Exodus 19:6

The Lord God commanded the prophets to "speak" to these Israelites all the words which he gave. This is important in the reflection of how the Holy Bible has survived since the inception of the ideas, the teachings, and the Law that was given through the servant Moses (or Moshe in Hebrew) to the modern cybernetic-age. 


Oral Culture, or Oral Tradition, was the definitive form of communication in humanity for as far back as humanity can be traced. It is nearly as old as the cave paintings found approximately 8-10 thousands years ago. This is not conclusive evidence that God is real, because that is a decision that we all have to make for ourselves, but to show how the Holy Bible survived through invasions, through persecution, through oppression, and is now the most purchased/read book of all time. That doesn't happen by accident or chance. 


Many people believe that Oral Culture is the concept of "I say A, B, & C to someone... By the time it gets to the 400th person the story becomes X,Y, & Z." This is true with non-important stories or gossip, but Oral Culture was a sophisticated and very integrated method of transmitting anything we humans deemed important. It was very social as opposed to the private writings of a hermit scribe. When someone in the community orally transmits an idea, the elders, as well as everyone who knows the story, would work together like a system of checks and balances. If someone said "The Lord your God says to kill anyone who you don't like" everyone in the community would correct and many times punish the orator for "bearing false testimony." 


These are the very beginnings of how the Ancient Israelites used their available tools to give us what is arguably the most influential text of all time! 


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Spiritual Corner:  I want to use this bottom space for those of you who believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God, this will be a short but concise look into the spiritual meaning to hopefully support the evidence above.


"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." -Joshua 1:8


God spoke through his servant Joshua, who is a prophet (one who speaks what the Lord God commands them to speak), who was the assistant of Moses who is believed to have spiritually written all the events of the first 5 books of the Bible (The Torah). He told the people do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth. What does that mean?

To not allow a "book" to depart from your mouth implies that you must first know the book so well that you can speak what is written with little to no difficulty. It shows us that God wanted us to take time and study His word, not simply gloss over it or read it out of obligation.

"Meditate on it day and night" shows us that to meditate is to be able to "to engage in contemplation or reflection." To contemplate or reflect means to give logical consideration to. God wants us to not blindly speak His words, but to contemplate what His words mean, to  understand them, so that we will not be deceived by arguments that sound accurate but may not be. 

We are told to be "careful to do everything written in it." Well if we take our time to understand and remember what is written, the next step is to not just be a pretty-looking reciter (or actor) but to actually live by what you have understood. The be "careful" indicates a warning because there is an awareness that is not easy for us to do. 

If we do, however, obey the Law and Commandments of God, we see that *then* we will be prosperous and successful. The Word of God is designed to make us better, to make us wiser, and ultimately to bring us success and true prosperity which is not in any way limited to monetary wealth. We will be prosperous in health, in love,  in all the things which we truly value and that brings us peace, self-control, and wisdom! 


God bless you all, and thanks for reading :)

Introduction

The Word of God, more commonly known as the Holy Bible, has been in the hot seat of world-wide acceptance and simultaneously one of the most controversial scriptures ever written. It happens to be the best seller of all time as well.

This Word is composed of 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, and 27 that are collectively called the New Testament. It is believed to be written over the course of 1,500 years (B.C.E) that covers a time span (mostly transmitted by Oral Tradition) considerably longer than the first writings.

 My purpose is to take a look into the history of how the Holy Bible has been transmitted for such a long period of time. What started as Oral Culture remembered by societies, then became written through parchments, papyrus, paper, and is now even distributed digitally.

I won't pretend to keep it a secret that I live by the Word of God, and I recognize that there are spiritual applications that can not be understood without prayer and faith in the Holy Spirit. However, that is not my only purpose and I hope I can provide information that is both fun, and that takes off some of the gravity placed on the Holy Bible.