The Bible was written by men
"The Bible was written by men." That is what my daughter Daniela told me during an interesting conversation. In any case, it is what agnostics, skeptics, and opponents of this book say.
Those of us who believe in God are tempted to quickly formulate an apology to reject that statement, mainly by saying that God is its author. In the interest of truth, I must admit that her assertion is absolutely correct.
Often, disbelief arises from having heard some fantasy or unbelievable statement attributed to the Bible, from seeking to satisfy the natural human curiosity; which is not the purpose of the Bible, from knowing about some text without knowing its context, etc. Hence the importance of relating personally to this book ideally and initially, through guided study.
Men and women
Returning to Daniela's statement, I will say that it is true in at least two aspects: on one hand, the authors are human beings; not angels, nor gods. On the other hand, among its known writers, there are no women.
I say this because it is accepted that among the writers of this book, there are some of unknown identity, among whom there could eventually be women, but although there are two books named after women, the recognized writers are all men.
Inspiration
The rejection I alluded to at the beginning is reasonable, as accepting that premise suggests that the Bible is a human invention and therefore, the God of Judeo-Christians is as well. However, I believe this cannot be asserted without a serious study on the authenticity of the Bible.
An analysis from the externality and internality of this book raises at least a reasonable doubt regarding some supernatural intervention, not arriving at such a categorical conclusion as the title which assumes to exclude the participation of divinity.
What Jewish and Christian scholars say is that while it was written by men, those men were inspired by God. Such an assertion requires some foundation that goes beyond the mere statement:
All Scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)
External evidence
In order to argue about its supra-human origin, we can point out what are considered external and internal evidence of its inspiration. Among the external evidence is the congruence, concordance, and theological, scientific, historical, and doctrinal correspondence of this book.
Considering that it was written by approximately forty writers among whom there is no contradiction of any kind, over a period of approximately fifteen hundred years, should lead us to think about the intervention of an intelligence with supreme purposes.
History
From a historical perspective, we could consider, among others, the writings of Flavius Josephus, a well-known Jewish historian of the first century AD. Who records some events that coincide with the Scriptures.
Science
When the scientific world seems to be the most reluctant to accept the inspiration of the Scriptures, it is worth remembering that in the Bible we find precision about various areas of science, long before discoveries were made.
The shape of the earth (Isaiah 40:22), the valleys in the seas (2 Samuel 22:16) and the hydrological cycle (Job 26:8), to mention a few that express realities that were not discovered until much later after being mentioned in the Scriptures.
Archaeology
One of the sciences that may have contributed the most to giving confidence regarding the truthfulness of the Bible is archaeology. Through multiple discoveries, it has progressively, over time, certified that places and events mentioned in the Scriptures, which were thought to be non-existent, actually existed.
But also, validating the literary, textual fidelity, for example, through the discovery of the scrolls of the books of the Old Testament found in 1947 in the caves of Qumran. That finding allowed us to know that the oldest books of the Bible, those of the Old Testament, have remained unchanged over time, as we know them today.
Internal evidence
Among the internal evidence, we could cite from Paul's letter to Timothy, the previously highlighted text where he expresses that all scripture is inspired by God.
In this regard, the prophecies are significant, whose fulfillment is confirmed by history, such as those in the book of Daniel, which anticipate the succession of past empires with their characteristics and the order in which they succeeded. The accuracy of prophetic periods, the fulfillment of messianic prophecies (Isaiah 7:14, 40:3, Micah 5:2), among others.
Spirituality
I could delve extensively into the evidence that we have referred to very briefly, but I do not do so because these, no matter how notable they may be, are historical, scientific, intellectual issues; which cannot lead anyone to the conviction that the Bible is the Word of God. First, because it assumes reaching this conclusion through a study without prejudices, devoid of a hypothesis; which is inherently difficult, but for something more important: the attitude with which we approach His Word.
But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
It is not by accepting the evidence regarding the veracity of the Scriptures that we will come to believe that it is the Word of God, it is not merely through intellectual conviction. It is through the result of a spiritual search, which seeks to satisfy the concerns of this realm, that leads us to be better. That allows us to find intelligent, wise, transcendent answers and not just immanent ones, that contribute to the peace in our lives.