Writing the Bible: Origins of the Old Testament

Who wrote Great Expectations? That’s easy: Charles Dickens. Who’s the author of Beloved? Toni Morrison, of course. Now how about the Old Testament?

You’d think for a book as widely known, studied, and distributed as the Bible, the question of authorship would have been sorted out by now. But the question is more complex (and fascinating) than it seems. Why? Because asking it is to challenge everything we might assume about the Bible’s identity as a book, about what “writing” and “authorship” really mean, and about how a written text could become sacred to Jews and Christians, both in the ancient world and today.

In Writing the Bible: Origins of the Old Testament, work through these fascinating questions (and their related assumptions) in the company of biblical expert Martien A. Halvorson-Taylor of the University of Virginia. As you chase down answers, you’ll travel back in time to explore how oral traditions — ancient songs and stories — shaped the identity of an emerging nation, Israel, and how those traditions came to be written down, reinterpreted, and gathered into a collection of books that resonate with us even now.

The Old Testament reflects the profundity and timelessness of human experience. It has the power to shape our sense of our own lives, to frame our fears, and to inspire our ultimate hopes. What could be more interesting than finding out who, exactly, we should thank for that?

©2021 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.

A Must Listen

Five Stars! ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you want context, history, and a “how it was made account” this book is for you!

Well Done and Extraordinarily Insightful!!

In a word - Fascinating! A subject that many of us think we know well. I learned SO much new information from Professor Halverson-Taylor's insights. She explores the topic of, a. who inspired or dictated; b. who actually wrote/edited/copied/scribed; and most eye-opening - c. how we have determined the various sources and view-points of these important works. Just her timeline investigation and how & when we discovered new info that sent us scrambling back to unearth tidbits of the "why", "when", "who" of biblical authors is worth the price of admission.

If you're a bible scholar, a history buff, or even just interested from a research and "whodunnit" perspective, this course is laid out in a way that flows like a great novel, but is packed FULL of facts, dates, names, motivations, etc. Add to this, the layout of the course that has a semi-chronological flow, but with enough re-visits and "we'll discuss more on X-Y-Z in the next chapter" connections that it truly cements the information in a way that any student would dream to have presented to them.

VERY well done. I will be looking for more lectures and courses from Martien Halverson-Taylor.!

Looking behind the screen

Talk about food for thought and light... this book feeds and shines!
I plan to listen a second time.

Cross examine with your own research

Very good overall with basic information that is still mostly conventional wisdom but great information too

Not for fundamentalists, though they need it the most

This is an excellent and succinct series of lectures that I enjoyed in a day while doing things around the house. I was able to easily follow it and understood essentially everything she said. I appreciate her reverence for the scriptures even though she will never be able to satisfy fundamentalists who refuse to listen to critical scholarly perspectives that challenge their preconceived beliefs.
I can tell she went to Yale as her perspectives match the professors there well and it was a relief to hear her share so many different perspectives.
This IS how the Bible was written, and people are allowed to disagree, but their beliefs are not founded in reality- just their own minds.