| Is the Bible God's Word? | Page 57 |
THE REMAINING GOSPEL
Who is the author of "The Gospel of St. John?" Neither God nor St. John! See what "he" (?) says about it "himself" (?) on page 58 - John 19:35 and 21:24-25. Who is his "HE" and "HIS" and "THIS?" A-N-D, his "WE KNOW" and "I SUPPOSE." Could it be the fickle one who left him in the lurch in the garden, when he was most in need, or the fourteenth man at the table, at the "Last Supper," the one that "Jesus loved?" Both were Johns. It was a popular name among the Jews in the times of Jesus, and among Christians even now. Neither of these two was the author of this Gospel. That it was the product of an anonymous hand, is crystal clear.
AUTHORS IN A NUTSHELL
Let me conclude this "authorship" search with the verdict of those 32 scholars, backed by their 50 co-operating denominations. God had been eliminated from this authorship race long ago. In the RSV by "Collins," invaluable notes* on "The Books of the Bible" are to be found at the back of their production. I am reproducing only a bit of that information on page 59. We start with "GENESIS" - the first book of the Bible. The scholars say about its "AUTHOR": "One of the 'five books of Moses'." Note the words "five books of Moses" are written in inverted commas - "." This is a subtle way of admitting that this is what people say - that it is the book of Moses, that Moses was its author, but we (the 32 scholars) who are better informed, do not subscribe to that tittle-tattel.
The next four books, "EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS and DEUTERONOMY": AUTHOR? "Generally credited to Moses." This is the same category as the book of Genesis.
Who is the author of the book of "JOSHUA?" Answer: "Major part credited to Joshua."
Who is the author of the book of "JUDGES?" Answer: "Possibly Samuel."
Who is the author of "RUTH" Answer: "Not definitely known" AND
Who is the author of:
1ST SAMUEL?...................................... Answer: Author "Unknown"
2ND SAMUEL....................................... Answer: Author "Unknown"
1ST KING?.......................................... Answer: Author "Unknown"
2ND KING?......................................... Answer: Author "Unknown"
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