The Bible

The Bible has not always existed in the form in which we know it today. The vari
ous books which comprise the Bible were first bound together as pages in a singl
e book in the 5th and 4th century BC. Prior to this, the sacred texts of Judaism
consisted of a library of separate texts, each written on a scroll of which mos
t were rewritten by the Prophet Ezekiel in the 6th and 5th century BC during the
captivity of the Jews in Babylon. These scrolls made up a collection or library
of sacred texts, but different congregations had and still have different colle
ctions of scrolls that are considered sacred.
It was not until the year 90 BC in a council held at Jamnia (Jabneh, Palestine)
that the Jewish community achieved agreement on which works were to be considere
d canon (scriptures that are binding in matters of doctrine and practice). It wa
s even later in the second century AD that Christian scholars decided only writi
ngs by Apostles would be accepted as Christian scripture; an idea that excluded
the writings of other early church leaders such as First Clement which was writt
en in the early second century AD by the bishop of Rome to the church at Corinth
.
The formulation of the list of sacred works was not a straightforward one or wit
hout controversy for either the Jews or the Christians, although the Torah, the
first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), were
universally accepted as sacred text by Jews.
The Book of Ezekiel was problematic for the Jews because its description of the
Temple differs from that found in the Torah, and it was not until an agreement w
as achieved that Ezekiel could be reconciled with the Torah before it was accept
ed. The Book of Ecclesiastes was questioned by some because they felt that its p
essimistic outlook was at variance with Judaism. The Book of the Song of Songs (
The Songs of Solomon) seemed much too erotic to be divinely inspired scripture,
but eventually the viewpoint prevailed that its overt eroticism was really an al
legory for God's love of Israel. The Book of Esther was debated for well over a
century after Jamnia (90 AD), because the word God did not appear in it and beca
use it introduced the feast of Purim, a feast that was not set forth in the Tora
h. There was general agreement that inspired scripture had ceased to be written
at the time of Ezra, so (with the exception of Jonah and Daniel, which were writ
ten somewhat later) works written after about 400 BC and the council at Jamnia w
ere not accepted as inspired.
But there were more problems to be discussed. Several other books were found in
latter years of which a lot were much older than the Bible scrolls itself. For i
nstance the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Book of Jasher (this book w
as mentioned in the Bible in Joshua 10:13 were is written 'Is not this written i
n the Book of Jasher?' and in Samuel II 1:18 'Behold it is written in the Book o
f Jasher.' and many other sacred books of which they had even more disagreement.
(The Forgotten Books of Eden, and The Book of The Cave of Treasures). At recent
time (The Dead Sea Scrolls) has been found evidence that the composition of the
Jewish as well as the Christian Bible was premature and should be considered fo
r reconstruction.
Not only the Jews but also Christians had as many problems, if not more, to cont
end with in establishing their list of canonized works. Full agreement was never
achieved, and the Bibles of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Ch
ristianity differ in some of their contents.
Keep in mind that the Apostles (Jewish) had many arguments with Paul (Roman) abo
ut the way to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and other subjects regarding th
e way to explain the Old Testament. Paul had his own interpretation about Jesus
as the only Son of God, which was the beginning of the break between the beliefs
 of the Jews and Christianity, and later on in the sixth century AD with the Isl
am.
For instance, the Roman Catholic tradition accepts:
1 Esdras (Ezra), 2 Esdras (Nehemiah), Tobias (Tobit), Judith, the Book of Wisdom
, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 Machabees, and 2 Machabees as part of the canon, whi
le Protestants consider these to be Apocrypha, books that might be useful to rea
d but not sacred scriptures.
The Eastern Orthodox Church includes the books 'The Song of the Three Young Men'
, 'Susanna', 'Bel and the Dragon' and 'Prayer of Manasseh', books not found in t
he Roman Catholic canon. Furthermore, some of the pre Christian works accepted a
s scriptures by both the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox churches are n
ot accepted as canon by Judaism.
During the first and second centuries BC, many different Jewish works were writt
en, some in prophetic style and others in the genre of literature or history, bo
oks that did not become canonized by the Jewish community. Despite their not hav
ing been viewed as scripture by the Jews, some of these books are regarded as su
ch within the Christian community.
For instance, eighteen of these pre-Christian books are published as part of the
Roman Catholic scriptures:
1.First Esdras, 2.Fourth Ezra, 3.Tobit, 4.Judith, 5.Additions to Esther, 6.The W
isdom of Solomon, 7.Sirach 8.Baruch, 9.Letter of Jeremiah, 10.Prayer of Azariah,
11.Daniel and Susanna, 12.Bel and the Dragon, 13.The Prayer of Manasseh, 14.Fir
st Machabees, 15.Second Machabees, 16.Third Machabees, 17.Fourth Machabees, 18.P
salm 151.
Other Jewish texts, called Pseudepigrapha, were written during these same centur
ies or even as late as New Testament times by authors who used the names known f
rom the earlier Hebrew sacred writings. For instance the Books of Josephus and P
hilo (both Jews), written in the first century AD, were not accepted because the
y were not written in the Hebrew language.
The Dead Sea Scrolls found in Qumran in 1947 proves the authenticity of most of
these scrolls.
The best known of these Pseudepigrapha scrolls, of which most belongs to the so
called Forgotten Books of Eden, are:
1. The Book of Jubilees
2. The Books of Adam and Eve
3. Life of Adam and Eve-Slavonic Version
4. A Fragment of the Apocalypse of Moses
5. The Martyrdom of Isaiah
6. The book of Enoch
7. The Letter of Aristeas
8. The Apocalypse of Adam
9. The Revelation of Esdras
10. The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
11. The Testament of Abraham.
12. The book of Jasher
13. The book of the Cave of Treasures