The bible is at best (or worst - depends on your perspective)
a scary guide for living one's life, an anthology used by faiths
of all kinds to support, in various ways, belief in Devils, Spirits,
God, Gods, Christ, Apostles of Christ, Angels, Heaven, Hell,
and all sorts of magical/mystical things.

Some religions believe it is the word of God. Most religions
use the bible as an inspiration to construct icons/demonstra-
tions to validate their faith, such as crosses, buildings, art-
work, and singing hymns-chanting-praying-kneeling, etc.

Over 40 humans wrote the bible and none of the original work
has survived to this day. The bible used by any faith is a com-
pilation of works, not only of the original writers, but also all
the interpreters and interpolators over the centuries.

Who wrote the source documents? Little historical information
is available regarding claimed authorship or historical valida-
tion on the writers of the bible. The synoptic gospels (Matthew,    
Mark, Luke, and John) for example were written by Greeks
decades after the supposed Jesus would have had to have
lived based on the information within the documents them-
selves.

Who were these Greeks and where did they get their informa-
tion? Unknown, although scholarship has led to the theory that
the gospel of Mark is the basis for most of the other gospels
and a mysterious Q document as well as the wealth of myths
in the Greek, Roman, Jewish, and other cultures were also at
play.

- - -

Excerpt from chapter 15 of "The Meme Machine", by
Susan Blackmore:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0198503652

"... The theologian Hugh Pyper (1998) ... argues that
Western culture is the Bible's way of making more Bibles.

And why is it so successful?

Because it alters its environment in a way that increases
the chances of its being copied. It does this, for example,
by including within itself many instructions to pass it on,
and by describing itself as indispensable to the people
who read it. It is extremely adaptable, and since much of
its content is self-contradictory it can be used to justify
more or less any action or moral stance. ..."

- - -

When were the source documents written?

Assembled based on information from a table
on page 451 and from information on holy books
on pages 451 to 453 of "Webster's New World
Book of Facts":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0028634853

Books ~Years Ago (approximate)

- - - - - - - - - - -

Books in the bible (excluding Apocrypha)
listed in order based on when books were
estimated to have been "finished"...

1. 1 Samuel ~2,900 years ago
1. 2 Samuel ~2,900 years ago

2. Amos ~2,775 to 2,750 years ago
2. Genesis ~2,750 years ago

3. Hosea ~2,732 years ago

4. Numbers ~2,850 to 2,650 years ago
4. Leviticus ~2,650 years ago
4. Deuteronomy ~2,650 years ago

5. Nahum ~2,626 years ago

6. Jeremiah ~2,604 years ago

7. Habakkuk ~2,600 years ago

8. Exodus ~2,950 to 2,586 years ago

9. 1 Kings ~2,600 to 2,550 years ago
9. 2 Kings ~2,600 to 2,550 years ago
9. Joshua ~2,550 years ago
9. Judges ~2,550 years ago

10. Lamentations ~2,586 to 2,536 years ago

11. Haggai ~2,520 years ago
11. Zechariah ~2,520 years ago

12. Ezekiel ~2,600 to ~2,500 years ago
12. Joel ~2,500 years ago

13. Ezra ~2,450 years ago
13. Nehemiah ~2,450 years ago

14. Malachi ~2,430 years ago

15. Job ~2,600 to ~2,400 years ago

16. 1 Chronicles ~2,300 years ago
16. 2 Chronicles ~2,300 years ago

17. Ruth ~ + 2,200 years ago
17. Isaiah ~ + 2,200 years ago
17. Micah ~ + 2,200 years ago

18. Obadiah ~2,600 to ~2,200 years ago
18. Jonah ~2,600 to ~2,200 years ago
18. Song of Solomon ~2,300 to ~2,200 years ago
18. Zephaniah ~2,300 to 2,200 years ago
18. Ecclesiastes ~2,200 years ago
18. Esther ~2,200 years ago

19. Daniel ~2,166 years ago

20. Proverbs ~2,350 to ~2,150 years ago

21. Psalms ~2,600 to ~2,100 years ago

22. James ~ + 1,948 years ago

23. Galatians ~1,947 years ago

24. 1 Thessalonians ~1,950 to ~1,946 years ago
24. 2 Thessalonians ~1,950 to ~1,946 years ago

25. 1 Corinthians ~1,943 years ago
25. 2 Corinthians ~1,943 years ago

26. Philemon ~1,940 to ~1,938 years ago

27. Philippians ~1,937 years ago

28. 1 Timothy ~ + 1,936 years ago
28. 2 Timothy ~ + 1,936 years ago
28. Titus ~ + 1,936 years ago
28. 1 Peter ~ + 1,936 years ago
28. 2 Peter ~ + 1,936 years ago

29. Mark ~ + 1,930 years ago
29. Matthew ~ + 1,930 years ago

30. Luke ~1,930 to ~1,920 years ago
30. Acts ~1,930 to ~1,920 years ago
30. Jude ~1,925 to ~1,920 years ago

31. Hebrews ~1,920 to ~1,910 years ago

32. Revelation ~1,919 to ~1,904 years ago

33. John ~1,910 to ~1,900 years ago
33. 1 John ~1,910 to 1,900 years ago
33. 2 John ~1,910 to 1,900 years ago
33. 3 John ~1,910 to 1,900 years ago

34. Romans ~1,880 years ago

35. Ephesians ~1,860 years ago
35. Colossians ~1,860 years ago

- - -

One comment: Hmmmm, rather odd, god's supposed silence
via the written word from 2,100 years ago to 1,950 years ago,
a 150 year "silent period" in the scriptures, supposedly the
most important time for god on earth.

Add to that the christian god's supposed silence for all of
time until 2,950 years ago, not to mention his supposed
silence for the last 1,860 years and, well, you might ponder
the possibility that the document is merely a cultural pheno-
menon of fallible humans rather than a "holy" revelation
from god . . . or not.

Don't you find it strange that the bible was written over
a period of 850 years and 100 years after the completion
of the Old Testament the son of god appears, and 50 or
so years later, the writing begins again? Wouldn't it have
been reasonable to expect god to have someone around
continuing to write per god's inspiration right up to the
birth and continuing through to the death and resurrection
of the one and only son of god - I mean, this wasn't a trip
down to your local 7-eleven we're talkin' here, we're talking
major league hell and damnation saving stuff --- BUT ---

No, Old Testament - 150 year siesta, and New Testament
takes off 20 years or so after the supposed son of god
has gone bye-bye, and here's a shocker -NO MENTION-
of the life of a Jesus Christ appears, just commentary on
a mystical Christ for a flurry of epistles for at least 20
years until the gospel of Mark is written, at the earliest,
a little over 1,930 years ago, close to *4 decades* after
the supposed Christ would've had to have been around,
per the contents of the gospel itself.

From amongst the 100s of mythmakers of the time, the
Catholic authorities in the 4th century A.D., at the behest
of Constantine, the ruler of the Roman Empire, created
a Roman State Religion - Christianity, putting together
the so-called holy christian bible ... my, the christian
god did have one tough time getting humans to construct
his holy document, didn't he/it/she/they?

Anyone find that odd and suspicious as regards claims
that the bible is god-inspired or holy? I do.

Don't you think god would have found a way to have
"In the beginning" written in the beginning? What's up
with 1st and 2nd Samuel and Amos coming before
Genesis, with the bible's ignorance of other cultures,
with the bible's lack of interest in the way the natural
world works, with the inability of god to write anything,
making it appear that the documents are human-created
myths, free of any real god whatsoever, and with the
common events of the time used to surround the myths,
with active imaginations / superstitions / hate / fear /
desperation / social-cultural conditioning the fertile
ground from which these myths sprang?

-- -- -- --

Sampling of other "holy" books (summaries, with
chronology if available) along with a few more bible
details:

Apocrypha: Old Testament appendix not in final
Hebrew canon but recognized by Roman Catholics;
also, there are disputed New Testament texts known
as Apocrypha.

Book of the Dead: Tibetan Buddhist text.

Bahgavad-Gita: Hindi "Song of the Blessed", dating
from around 2,300 years ago; supreme religious
work of Hinduism.

Book of Changes (or I Ching): Chinese book of
divination based on patterns of 6 lines (hexagrams).

Book of Common Prayer: Service book of the
Church of England and the Episcopal Church.

Book of Hours: Liturgical prayers used in
medieval Europe.

Guru Granth Sahib: Holy book of Sikhism.

Hebrew Bible: Sacred book of Judaism.

Koran (or Quran): Sacred book of Islam, revealed
from 1,390 to 1,368 years ago.

Mahabharata: Sanskrit Hindu epic from 2,300
years ago.

New Testament: Written in Greek, canonized by
Catholics over 1,600 years ago. See above for
dates.

Old Testament: First 5 books referred to as the
Pentateuch (by Christians), as the Torah (by Jews).
Contains 39 books (in Christianity), 24 books (in
Judaism). See above for dates.

Ramayama: Sanskrit epic circa 2,300 years ago.

- - -

(the following info on Hammurabi comes from
First Civilizations - Cultural Atlas for Young People),

Stele of Hammurabi's law code (~3,760 years
ago): Hammurabi became the King of Babylon
~3,790 years ago. The upper part of the basalt
pillar shows the king in prayer before the seated
Shamash, the sun god and god of justice. Shamash
is winged and is also wearing the divine horned
crown. He is holding in his right hand a sun's ray.

The lower part of the stele is inscribed in cuneiform
and Hammurabi's 282 laws carved in 49 vertical
columns. The opening words describe the king's
wish "to cause justice to prevail in the land, to
destroy the wicked and the evil, that the strong may
not oppress the weak."

The idea of punishment found in the Old Testament
of the Bible - "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for
tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Deuteronomy
chapter 19, verse 21) - also occurs in Hammurabi's
code.

- - -

Talmud: Two most important works of post-biblical
Jewish literature.

Tao Te Ching: Most influential Taoist book written
by Lao Zi as he left China for the west (dated to over
2,200 years ago).

Tripitaka: Canonical texts of Theravada Buddhism.

Upanishad: One of a collection of Hindu sacred
treatises, composed from 2,800 to 2,200 years ago.

Veda: Most sacred book of Hindu scriptures, dated
from 3,500 to 4,000 years ago.