Building the Bible

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> >Hi all!  I am looking for books that tell how the bible was built--who

> >wrote what when, how it was decided what books went in and

> >which did not, all those different translations and their pros and

> >cons.

> >Also books on the history of the church, especially major church policy

> >decisions and when/how they were made.

> >

> >TIA

> >Julie Fisher

> >

> As far as the first part of your question, "who wrote the bible," a good [I

> thought] introduction to the writing of the NT is, appropriately enough,

> "Who Wrote the New Testament," by Burton Mack. There are probably much

> better and more comprehensive books out on the subject, but Mack's is one of

> the most readable.

> 

> Patrick


As for the old testament, a great book is "who Wrote the Bible?", by 
someone, er, I guess I don't know.  It's relatively new, and you should 
be able to find it in the religion section of any B Dalton or Barnes, 
etc.  It's all about the Documentary Hypothesis, and the author proposes 
that Ezra was the final editor/redactor of the old testament, sometime 
around the building of the second temple.  It's actually quite good, and 
was my first introduction to the DH and non-fundamentalist bible study.

As for Church history, and the councils, why not read "The History of the 
Church" by Eusebius?  The first history done of Christianity, during the 
time of Constantine.  You won't read too much "non-orthodox" history in 
this book however, since the whole purpose was to CREATE "orthodox 
history". I'm about half-way through.  

Scott

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