Who wrote the Bible?
Moses was the first person to write portions of Scripture while John, the disciple of Jesus, was the last. Other famous people who wrote the Bible include: Daniel, Peter, Paul, Jonah, Isaiah, Solomon and David.
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Diversity of Bible writers
Those who wrote the Bible lived at different times, some separated by hundreds of years. In many cases they were complete strangers to one another. Some Bible writers were businessmen or traders; others were shepherds, fishermen, soldiers, physicians, preachers, kings—human beings from all walks of life. They served under different governments and lived within contrasting cultures and systems of philosophy.
All 66 books of the Bible agree
But here is the wonder of it all: When the 66 books of the Bible with their 1,189 chapters made up of 31,173 verses are brought together (KJV), we find perfect harmony in the message they convey. As the great scholar F. F. Bruce noted: “The Bible is not simply an anthology; there is a unity which binds the whole together.”
The Bible writers gave God’s messages by voice and pen while they lived, and when they died, their writings lived after them. These prophetic messages were then gathered together, under God’s leading, in the book we call the Bible.
Who wrote the Bible: God or man?
The Scripture says in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit revealed to the prophets the messages of Scripture. The writers of the Bible wrote not according to their own will or whim, but only as they were moved, or controlled, by the Spirit of God. The Bible is God’s own book!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Holy Bible affects human beings so profoundly, because “all” the Bible is “God-breathed.” It’s more than a nice collection of moral principles; it’s more than a great book; it’s an inspired document, God’s book. The prophets who wrote the Bible related what they saw and heard in human language, but their message came directly from God.
Alphabetical list of Old Testament authors
- Amos: The book of Amos
- Daniel: The book of Daniel
- David: Psalms (Other authors wrote portions of Psalms as well)
- Ezekiel: The book of Ezekiel
- Ezra: The book of Ezra (Additionally Ezra is thought to have written 1st and 2nd Chronicles and possibly portions of Nehemiah)
- Habakkuk: The book of Habakkuk
- Haggai: The book of Haggai
- Hosea: The book of Hosea
- Isaiah: The book of Isaiah
- Jeremiah: 1st and 2nd Kings, Lamentations, the book of Jeremiah
- Joel: The book of Joel
- Jonah: The book of Jonah
- Joshua: The book of Joshua
- Malachi: The book of Malachi
- Micah: The book of Micah
- Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Moses possibly compiled/wrote the book of Job)
- Nahum: The book of Nahum
- Nehemiah: The book of Nehemiah
- Obadiah: The book of Obadiah
- Samuel: (Samuel is believed to have written 1st and 2nd Samuel, Ruth, and Judges)
- Solomon: Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Solomon (also known as Song of Songs)
- Zechariah: The book of Zechariah
- Zephaniah: The book of Zephaniah
Alphabetical list of New Testament authors
- James: The book of James
- John: Gospel of John, 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John, Revelation
- Jude: Book of Jude
- Luke: Gospel of Luke, Acts of the Apostles
- Mark: Gospel of Mark
- Matthew: Gospel of Matthew
- Paul: Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon (possibly the book of Hebrews)
- Peter: 1st and 2nd Peter
