Some people believe that the Bible is 100% literally true, 100% the "word of God". But is this belief true? All one has to do is examine the Bible directly to see that not every word in it is the word of God. The Bible is as much (if not more so) the words of men as it is the word of God, expressing what ancient people believed, how they felt about God and how they responded to God:

A question of content and intent:

• Evidence: 1 Corinthians 7:25 - Paul writes: "…I have no command of the Lord,…" (i.e., God did not say anything about this issue) "but I give an opinion" (a human being [the writer Paul] gives a human opinion).
• Evidence: In the Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament"), when God spoke it was through prophets who made it clear that it was God’s words they spoke: "And the Lord God said…," "Then the Lord said to Moses…" (Deut. 31:14), "Then the Lord said to me…" (Ish. 8.1), with Gods’ words following in quotes (depending on edition)
• Evidence: Much of God’s direct words are mingled with narrative about what happened amongst the people - a history told by men through the eyes of the faith of men (i.e., sacred history)
• Evidence: Books like Psalms and Proverbs are liturgical texts (used in worship). They express human emotion and devotion toward God (i.e., affective language, often indirect and metaphorical) rather than God’s instruction to men. Many Psalms (hymns) begin and end "Praise the Lord!" People say this as an expression of gratefulness to God. Example: Psalm 146: "I will praise the Lord…" "I will sing praises to my God." Clearly, God is not the speaker here - a man is speaking to or in response to God.
• Evidence: The creation story is a narrative about what happened and talks of God in the third person ("In the beginning God…" did such and such) with the exception of when the narrative tells us what God said (e.g.: "God said ‘Let there be light’ and there was light" - only "Let there be light" is the word of God. The rest of the sentence is narrative told by people).

The issue of history of the Bible: Canonization:

• The Bible is actually a collection of books, not just one book (biblia = little books, library)
• The Bible as we know it today took shape over many centuries and is as much the work of man as of God.
• For centuries scripture was transmitted orally, composed/revealed long before it was written down. The first Gospel (Mark) was not written until at about 40 years after Jesus died. Is oral transmission accurate? (remember that child's game of "telephone line"?)
• Each book was hand written as a separate scroll (continuous sheet of parchment [animal skin]) rather than pages in a book.
• Many books were written which we do not find in our Bibles (e.g., some books in the Dead Sea Scrolls, some books in the Catholic Bible [Apocrypha]).
• By 1st cent. BCE Hebrew authorities had determined which texts were authoritative. The Hebrew Bible found it’s final version by 1st cent. CE
• The New Testament did not arrive in its final form until the 4th century CE. Again, many books did not make the cut (e.g., Nag Hammadi) because they were considered "heresy" (i.e., contained different beliefs from what those in power believed: the orthodox view).

• The words might be the word of God but, as a book, it is the product of man. God does not pick up a pen and write on paper. We might even question just how God "speaks" since God is not physical and therefore does not have lungs, tongue, mouth, vocal chords needed for speech as we know it.
• Did God reveal His word in English? No, the original language of the Old Testament was Hebrew. Of the New Testament: Greek, later translated into Latin long before it was then translated into English (in any number of versions). Each translation is an interpretation ("it loses something in the translation"). So be wary of the books you place your faith in: are you really reading the word of God or the translation of men?.
• Jesus did not speak Greek, but in the ancient, dead language of Aramaic (in Mark 5:40-41 the writer has to explain to his readers the meaning of Jesus’ Aramaic words "Talitha Kum…"). The writers of the Gospels translated Jesus’ words into Greek so their Greek speaking readers would understand. The words of the Apostles/evangelists (letters of Paul, etc.) were originally written in Greek.
• By the 1st cent. BCE even the Hebrew Bible had been translated into Greek: The Septuagint. This was the version of the Bible used and understood in Jesus’ day. Translation often leads to misrepresentation: Isaiah 7:14 is a case in point. In the Hebrew Bible translated into English by Jewish scholars it was a "young woman" who would conceive. But Christian versions of the same passage tell us it was "a virgin" who would conceive. Which is the more accurate translation of the original Hebrew? (This problem originates because the Greek word for "young woman" also happens to mean "virgin" but in Hebrew they are two distinct words.)
• Countless versions of the Bible exist, keeping the language up-to-date and meaningful to us. But each translation or each new version based on an older translation may lose (or gain) something, may add or change a nuance of meaning not intended in the original (so beware). The Bible you use may have some words in brackets or italic which indicates they are not in the oldest manuscripts. In Mark 15:2, for example, Pilate asks Jesus "Are you the King of the Jews?" in one version Jesus' response reads "It is as you say" (the "it is as" is in italic). The King James version merely reads "Thou sayest it" ("it" is in italic). A third version reads: "You say so". A VERY different implication! According to a note in my Bible, the oldest manuscripts of the Gospel of Mark do not contain the closing passages from 16:9-19. Mark originally ended with the empty tomb with no reference to the risen Christ. Apparently those references were added in the later Gospels (Matthew, Luke and John) and, at some point, added to Mark’s Gospel as an afterthought.

    Many people who believe the Bible is the Word of God do so because that is what they were taught by others (parents, ministers, Sunday school teachers) to believe and they have never questioned it for themselves, have only accepted it as an assumption. If scripture is the "Word of God" it is the word of men who tell us this. Better to judge the Bible (or any book) by its content, for yourself, rather than taking someone else’s word for it. If you say "the Bible says it is the word of God," beware: ask yourself: who wrote those words you are reading? God or men? And what arguments can you offer to support your belief that it is the word of God? Just answer one simple question: why do you believe the Bible is the word of God?

                                                                                                                    - LES 1999