So where did this Word of God come from anyway?

That beautifully bound book that sits by our bedsides and in our bookshelves did not drop from the sky one beautiful afternoon as a completed entity. It is not even a “Book”, even if it is held between two covers. It is more of an anthology, a collection of writings, comprising stories, songs, poems, narrative, prophecy, letters, rules and wisdom. It tells the story, in its many forms, of the ways in which human kind has discovered, uncovered, been inspired by and gained insight into the nature and person of the Divine.

So where did this Word of God come from anyway?

The Bible, as we (mostly) have it now comprises an Old and New Testament.

If you are a Protestant Christian your Old Testament will have 39 “books”, if you are a Roman Catholic Christian it will have 46 “books”, if you belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church it will have 51 and, if you are of the Jewish faith it will have 24, referred to as the Tanakh.

The oldest of these books seems to have been written about 1,100 BC and may have been the book of Job or the books of the Pentateuch (the first 5 books). The most recent book of the Old Testament  is Malachi, written about 400 BC. The generally agreed group of books (Canon) which make up the Old Testament were categorised around 300 BC.

The three parts of the Old Testament are:
1. The Law, Torah in Hebrew and Pentateuch by Christians. It is sometimes called the Five Books of Moses, it consists of first five books of the Old Testament (5 books).
2. The Prophets, Neviim in Hebrew (21 books in Christianity, 8 in Judaism).
3. The Writings, Ketuvim in Hebrew, and Hagiographa by Christians (13 books in Christianity, 11 in Judaism). 

All Christian denominations accept that the New Testament has 27 “books.”

1.       The Gospels (4 books).
2, The Acts of the Apostles (1 book).
3. The Epistles or letters (21 books).
4. The Revelation of St. John the Divine (1 book).

The oldest is probably the letter from James, written as early as 45 A.D. The Book of Revelation is the youngest book of the New Testament, probably written about 95 A.D.

The Third Council of Carthage in 397 and 419 ratified what had become by then the most widely accepted list of writings for inclusion. However, while there was general acceptance of these writings, the Letter of James and the Book of Revelation continued to create considerable discussion and controversy. Even as late as the 16^th century Martin Luther questioned whether the Letter of James and Jude, the Letter to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation belonged in the canon of scripture.

Now let’s try some perspective. We seem to treat the scriptures as if they were the words of indescribable ages and had been in existence for all time. No they aren’t. We are young in the eyes of God and all our learnings of Him are only at their beginnings.

The oldest living, non-clonal tree – verified by dendrochronology – is "Methuselah", a nearly 4,800-year-old Great Basin Bristlecone Pine still growing in a secret location somewhere in the White Mountains of California. The oldest piece of scripture we have was written around 1,100BC, roughly 3,100 years ago. 


The entire history of our faith and experience with God is spanned by the lifetime of one tree. In God’s eye how do you think that God sees the lifespan of one tree – the blink of an eye perhaps? It is just as well that God is infinitely patient. I think that, if I were He, I would become a little annoyed at humankind’s presumption, pushiness and impatience.