This is not a religious question.
It would be nice if nobody gave an answer supplied by Mr. Google and tried to figure it out for themselves…
As usual I have my own theory.
But this time I am going to pick yours apart first,
You can rest assured that if I find problems with your rationale, I will tell you precisely why.
It will of course be a mirracle if we come to any kind of concensus.
The Bible is a canon of texts that have been written by alleged authors and unknown authors, and has been through translations and retranslations many times over.
There is no single author to the Bible.
It would be like asking who wrote an Encyclopedia.
No author wrote it.
It was compiled by many and has been revised several times.
There is no mystery here, as there is no historical accounts to directly compare against.
The same is true for the Quran.
So sure, Bob Jewish and the Jiving Twelve Tappers of Long Ago and Far Away…
Episode IV: A New Hope
True. But we do know that it had to be written by learned scholars, not just anybody. So that narrows it down
There certainly is a mystery here. No other books but the Holy Scriptures of the three great Houses of MAN have influenced the behavior of our entire spcies for so many millenia. So whom-so-ever wrote them had to have deep insight into the human condition and wrote the biblical parables in way that revealed ever deeper Truths to tens of millions of earnest scholars. Some of those scholars have been the brightest minds too have lived. So who could those mysterious people have been.?
I don’t thinks it’s important so much about who wrote the Bible as what people understand from it’s subtleties and the correlations between the Books therein. The treasures that lie within don’t come merely through it’s perusing, but with a devout undertaking using faith, prayer and fellowship studying it.
And if it wouldn’t have been these scriptures, it would have been another.
I don’t know about insight into the human condition.
The Bible is pretty poor at exploring the human condition to me; it seems more inspirational constructs than anything else.
I don’t follow this at all.
I’m having difficulties with ideas like Einstein’s theory of relativity and the prodigal son.
I need some sort of example here.
They weren’t mysterious, but we have no idea.
The authors are not beyond human capacity to explain.
Of course they were transcendental inspirations! .They reveal sacred depths to the human soul that are astoundingly profound, But they had to be coded That is why they are so deeply enigmatic. The auithors knew how debasing it was to cast pearls before swine. If they were just mundane observations about the relationship between man and God they would never have held such an abiding interest to the human race. The Upanishads, for instance, were first penned some six thousand years ago. This was long before mundane philosophers came into existence. In fact we all owe them, big time. If they had not been written we would still all be an iliterates, superstitiously bowed before clannish totem poles.
The Scriptures are coded with several layers of increasingly secretive communications. The literal level is for the ethical guidance of simple believers. Adepts read far more profound messages.
Mass is energy. What is energy?
The prodigal prefers to gamble with mundane values. It is only when he puts down the dice and resturns to God, that he discovers the true value of his Estate.
If they were not mysterious why did they code the Scriptures? What was their motive?
If you break their code, then the minds that wrote them can be explained. Their names may be lost, but who they were can be identified
Let me give you a few very simple clues. For example: Aladdin is an ancient sufi fairy tale, written in code, not deep enough to be part of a Holy Scriptures but deep enough to catch the attention of somebody who is tired of a mundane life.
Who is Aladdin? What is the lamp? Who is the genie? Why are there just three wishes? What are the secret spiritual instructions hidden within that children’s tale?
Here is another sufi riddle. Who is Ali Baba? What is the significance of the forty thieves? What does “Open Sesame!” open? What is the nature of the treasure inside the cave?
Classical Christian fairy tales are also all coded.
Who is Snow White? Who are the seven dwarves? Who was the Witch with the poisoned apple? Who is the mirror on the wall.?
Classical mythology. Deeply coded.
All the Books of Genesis are in code. Adepts mention seven layers.
The simple act of revealing that the scriptures are coded, can have the effect of casting a magic spell.
A certain sector of our ancient ancestors were infinately more wise than most of us realize.
They have passed down secret messages about man and his endless search for the Holy Grail that have lasted through the Ages via the magic of the Scriptures.
I once had a college professor who frequently espoused that “The Great Gatsby” was coded with several layers of increasingly secretive communications too.
The point is - people will believe whatever makes them feel good.
God’s relationship with man is not based on a secret nature. It comes in the form of faith. When we reach certain spiritual stages, then some aspects of God start filtering in. There have been few in recorded Bible history that had real time interaction with God. A lot through dreams and mostly with heartfelt instances.
If God were not secretive, there would be no reason to seek Him. In fact, there would be no dynamic to life other than mundane survival. God is the ultimate Wizard. His greatest trick is invisibility. He never tells His secrets. Our job is to unravel them and find Him in the process. The Bible is full of clues written by earlier seekers. They struggled hard to know what they know. So they, like all apprentice wizards, don’t just cast their pearls before swine, they herd us along the path and leave it up to us to keep our eyes and ears open.
Agreed. Without faith there would be no reason to search.
Each stage requires personal effort and committment. If sincere enough, faith is rewarded.
I don’t feel God in His agenda needs to use arcane affectations either in a deliberate or secretive ways to entreat people to know him. If this helps explain how God works in your life, then I won’t deny you that. I’m sure God’s actions would befuddle us as He perpetrates His Will and Plan. Our minds are too weak to understand the complexities those two attributes entail.