Chapter V Authorship and Dates
Upon the authenticity of the books of the Bible depends in a large measure their value as authorities. These books are filled with strange and marvelous stories. Are these stories true or false? If true, we should accept them; if false, reject them. From whence do these writings come?
If you hear a startling statement on the street your disposition to accept or reject it will depend largely upon the character of its author. If he is a reputable person you will be disposed to accept it; if it does not come from a reputable person, or if you are unable to discover its author, you will be disposed to reject it. Christian priests demand the acceptance of these books as infallible truth. What evidence do they adduce to justify this demand? Where did they obtain these books? When were they written? Who wrote them? What is the reputation of their authors for intelligence and veracity? Were they learned and astute men, or were they weak and credulous men? Were they good men, or were they bad men? If able men wrote them, may they not have been impostors? If good men wrote them, may they not have been mistaken?
These priests claim to have a knowledge of the authorship of all, or nearly all, the books of the Bible. With one or two exceptions, they have assigned authors to all the books of the Old Testament, and to these exceptions they have even assigned “probable” authors. They also claim a great antiquity for them—claim that they were written from four hundred to fifteen hundred years before the Christian era. The books of the New Testament, they affirm, were all written in the first century, and by those whose names they bear.
The following table gives the authorship and date of composition, according to orthodox authorities, of the books composing the Protestant canon. It is not claimed that every book was written in the year assigned for its composition, but that it was written in or prior to the year assigned.
Old Testament.
BOOK
AUTHOR
DATE
Genesis
Moses
B.C. 1451
Exodus
Moses
,,
B.C.
,,
1451
,,
Leviticus
Moses
,,
B.C.
,,
1451
,,
Numbers
Moses
,,
B.C.
,,
1451
,,
Deuteronomy
Moses
,,
B.C.
,,
1451
,,
Joshua
Joshua
B.C.
,,
1426
Judges
Samuel
B.C.
,,
1049
Ruth
Samuel
,,
(?)
B.C.
,,
1049
,,
1 Samuel
Samuel
,,
B.C.
,,
1049
,,
2 Samuel
Gad & Nathan
B.C. 1016
1 Kings
Jeremiah
B.C.
,,
600
2 Kings
Jeremiah
,,
B.C.
,,
600
,,
1 Chronicles
Ezra
B.C.
,,
456
2 Chronicles
Ezra
,,
B.C.
,,
456
,,
Ezra
Ezra
,,
B.C.
,,
456
,,
Nehemiah
Nehemiah
B.C.
,,
433
Esther
Mordecai (?)
B.C.
,,
440
Job
Job
B.C.
,,
1520
Psalms
David
B.C.
,,
1020
Proverbs
Solomon
B.C.
,,
980
Ecclesiastes
Solomon
,,
B.C.
,,
980
,,
S. of Solomon
Solomon
,,
B.C.
,,
1016
Isaiah
Isaiah
B.C.
,,
700
Jeremiah
Jeremiah
B.C.
,,
585
Lamentations
Jeremiah
,,
B.C.
,,
585
,,
Ezekiel
Ezekiel
B.C.
,,
575
Daniel
Daniel
B.C.
,,
534
Hosea
Hosea
B.C.
,,
780
Joel
Joel
B.C.
,,
800
Amos
Amos
B.C.
,,
785
Obadiah
Obadiah
B.C.
,,
588
Jonah
Jonah
B.C.
,,
856
Micah
Micah
B.C.
,,
700
Nahum
Nahum
B.C.
,,
698
Habakkuk
Habakkuk
B.C.
,,
600
Zephaniah
Zephaniah
B.C.
,,
609
Haggai
Haggai
B.C.
,,
583
Zechariah
Zechariah
B.C.
,,
520
Malachi
Malachi
B.C.
,,
420
New Testament.
BOOK
AUTHOR
DATE
Matthew
Matthew
A.D. 40
Mark
Mark
A.D.
,,
63
Luke
Luke
A.D.
,,
63
,,
John
John
A.D. 97
Acts
Luke
A.D.
,,
63
Romans
Paul
A.D.
,,
57
1 Corinthians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
57
,,
2 Corinthians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
57
,,
Galatians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
55
Ephesians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
62
Philippians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
62
,,
Colossians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
61
1 Thessalonians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
52
2 Thessalonians
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
52
,,
1 Timothy
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
64
2 Timothy
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
65
Titus
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
65
,,
Philemon
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
61
Hebrews
Paul
,,
A.D.
,,
62
James
James
A.D.
,,
62
,,
1 Peter
Peter
A.D.
,,
64
2 Peter
Peter
,,
A.D.
,,
64
,,
1 John
John
A.D.
,,
68
2 John
John
,,
A.D.
,,
68
,,
3 John
John
,,
A.D.
,,
69
Jude
Jude
A.D.
,,
64
Revelation
John
A.D.
,,
96
The names and dates given in the foregoing table are, with a few exceptions, paraded as established facts. And yet the greater portion of them are mere assumptions, without even the shadow of proof upon which to base them. Many of them are self-evidently false—are contradicted by the contents of the books themselves. The authorship of at least fifty books of the Bible—thirty in the Old Testament and twenty in the New—is unknown.
These books are not as old as claimed. The books of the Old Testament, instead of having been written from 1520 to 420 B.C., were probably written from 1000 to 100 B.C. The books of the New Testament, instead of having all been written in the first century, were, many of them, not written until the second century.
In regard to this subject, Prof. George T. Ladd of Yale College writes: “The authorship and date of most of the Old Testament writings, and of some of the New Testament, will never be known with certainty” (What Is the Bible? p. 294).
The following six chapters will be devoted to an examination of the question of the authenticity of the books of the Bible. I shall attempt to show that the greater portion of these books, including the most important ones, are not authentic—were not written by the authors claimed, nor at the time claimed; that they are anonymous documents, written or compiled for the most part at a later age than that in which their reputed authors are supposed to have lived.