Who Actually Wrote the Bible (Spoiler: Not Who They Told You)

They lied to us. Here are the receipts.

I grew up Pentecostal. Not the polite church-on-Sunday kind. The real deal. Speaking in tongues, slain in the spirit, prophecies, the whole performance. My family lived and breathed this shit. The Bible wasn’t just a book in my house—it was the weapon they used to control every single decision I made.

“God’s watching you.”

“You’re not right with God.”

“That’s a sin.”

“You need to have more faith.”

“God has a plan.”

I heard it all. I believed it all. I knew the Bible inside and out because I had to. Because if I didn’t, I was going to hell. If I questioned anything, I was being deceived by Satan. If I had doubts, I lacked faith. The manipulation was constant, the shame was overwhelming, and the control was absolute.

Then I started actually reading. Not with faith. With questions. And everything fell apart.

This isn’t about attacking your faith. If you’re happy in your religion, good for you. But if you’re here because something feels wrong, because you’ve been told to silence your doubts, because you’re tired of being gaslit—this is for you.

Because the questions you have? They’re valid. The contradictions you see? They’re real. The harm you’ve experienced? It’s not your fault.

Some of the worst abusers in the world hide behind religion. They use “God’s will” to justify harm. They use “faith” to prevent questioning. They use “love” to describe control.

And I’m done pretending otherwise.

“You’re not losing your faith. You’re finding your integrity.”

Here’s what they told me: The Bible is the inspired word of God. Moses wrote the first five books. The gospels were written by eyewitnesses. Every word is divinely inspired, perfect, inerrant.

Here’s what the evidence actually says: The Bible is a collection of anonymous writings by politically motivated humans. Moses didn’t write anything—Hebrew writing didn’t exist when he supposedly lived. The gospels were written 40-70 years after Jesus died by people who never met him.

Let me show you the receipts.

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THE TORAH: Moses Didn’t Write Shit

What They Claim

Moses received the first five books directly from God around 1400 BCE and wrote them himself. Every word is divinely inspired. Perfect. Inerrant. The foundation of Judaism and Christianity.

What Actually Happened

The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) was written by at least four different groups of authors between 950-500 BCE. That’s 400-900 years AFTER Moses supposedly lived.

We know this because scholars have identified:

• Distinct writing styles (as different as Shakespeare vs. Hemingway)

• Contradictory accounts of the same events

• Different names for God used consistently in different sections

• Historical anachronisms proving these texts were written centuries later

The Documentary Hypothesis (accepted by mainstream biblical scholarship since the 1700s) breaks it down:

Scholars identified four distinct sources that were later combined into what we now call the Torah. They gave them letter names based on their characteristics:

The J Source (Yahwist) - Written around 950 BCE Called “J” because this author uses “Jahweh” (the German spelling of Yahweh/YHWH) for God. Written from a Southern kingdom (Judah) perspective. Their God is anthropomorphic—meaning he acts human: he walks, talks, regrets decisions, gets angry like a person.

The E Source (Elohist) - Written around 850 BCE This author uses “Elohim” for God and represents the Northern kingdom (Israel) perspective. Their God is more formal and distant, with different theological concerns.

The D Source (Deuteronomist) - Written around 620 BCE These authors wrote Deuteronomy and promoted centralized worship in Jerusalem. And here’s where it gets interesting: this text was conveniently “discovered” during King Josiah’s reforms.

How fucking convenient that a text supporting exactly what the king wanted to do just happened to turn up at exactly the right time. The political agenda is transparent.

The P Source (Priestly) - Written around 500 BCE These authors wrote Leviticus and all the ritual laws during the Babylonian exile. Another clear political agenda: maintain priestly power and income.

These four sources were combined around 400 BCE by unknown editors (called “redactors”—basically ancient copy-editors who stitched different texts together) who tried to make them look like one coherent text. They failed spectacularly.

The Evidence Is Undeniable

Different names for God: Yahweh versus Elohim—used consistently in different sections.

Contradictory accounts: Two creation stories. Two flood stories. Different genealogies.

Want proof? Here’s the smoking gun:

Genesis 1:25-27 says:

“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness’... So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Order: Animals created first, THEN humans (male and female created simultaneously).

Genesis 2:7, 18-22 says:

“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being... The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them... So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs... Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib.”

Order: Man created first, THEN animals (brought to Adam to name), THEN woman (created from rib).

Same book. Consecutive chapters. Completely different sequences.

Notice something else? Genesis 1 uses “God” (Elohim). Genesis 2 uses “LORD God” (YHWH). Different authors. Different names for God. Different creation myths. Stitched together by later editors.

You can verify this yourself in 30 seconds. Open any Bible. Read Genesis 1, then Genesis 2. The order is just different.

That’s not interpretation. That’s not context. That’s two different writers telling two different stories.

More evidence:

Writing styles: As different as comparing Shakespeare to Hemingway.

Anachronisms everywhere: References to places, items, or customs that didn’t exist in Moses’ time.

Hebrew writing didn’t exist: Moses supposedly lived in the 13th century BCE. Hebrew writing didn’t exist yet.

Moses describes his own death: The text refers to Moses in third person and describes his death. Pretty impressive for an autobiography.

Direct Scholarly Consensus

“Modern scholarship recognizes that biblical texts typically emerged through complex processes involving multiple unknown authors, editors, and redactors working across centuries, rather than single-author composition.” - Wikipedia: Authorship of the Bible

“The documentary hypothesis... was almost universally accepted for most of the 20th century.” - Wikipedia: Documentary Hypothesis

Let that sink in. The first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy—the entire foundation of the Torah, the texts my Pentecostal family said were God’s perfect word?

Written by four different groups of people over 450 years. None of them Moses. All of them with political agendas.

“The Bible wasn’t written by God. It was written by humans with agendas. We have the receipts.”

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THE GOSPELS: Anonymous Fan Fiction Written Decades Later

What They Claim

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—four of Jesus’s disciples—wrote eyewitness accounts shortly after his death. First-hand testimony. Reliable. Divinely inspired.

What Actually Happened

Mark was written first, around 65-70 CE, by an anonymous author. The text is in Greek, not Aramaic (the language Jesus and his disciples actually spoke). The author never met Jesus. This is the earliest gospel we have.

Matthew came next, around 80-85 CE, also by an anonymous author. Here’s the kicker: this author copies 90% of Mark word-for-word. Not inspired by the same events—literally copying another text. This was a Greek author, not an Aramaic-speaking disciple.

Luke was written around 80-90 CE by—you guessed it—another anonymous author. Luke also copies Mark, and the author even admits in Luke 1:1-4 that he’s compiling secondhand reports. He wasn’t there. He’s writing based on what others told him.

John came last, around 90-110 CE. This gospel is completely different from the other three. Written 60-80 years after Jesus died by someone who definitely never met him.

The names “Matthew, Mark, Luke, John” were added in the 2nd century CE to give them authority. The texts themselves are anonymous.

Timeline Reality Check

Jesus died around 30 CE (Common Era—what used to be called AD). The earliest gospel (Mark) was written 35-40 years later. By the time John was written, it had been 60-80 years.

For perspective: If someone today (2025) wrote an “eyewitness account” of something that happened in 1945, would you trust it? No. You’d ask why they waited 80 years and why they weren’t actually there.

That’s the gospels.

None of the Gospel Writers:

• Met Jesus

• Were eyewitnesses

• Agree on basic facts (see: every resurrection account)

• Wrote in Aramaic (Jesus’s language)

• Wrote during Jesus’s lifetime

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PAUL: The Guy Who Invented Christianity Never Met Jesus

The only New Testament writings that might be by their claimed author. Might.

But here’s the thing about Paul:

He never met Jesus except in a “vision”—also known as a hallucination.

He wrote 20-30 years after Jesus died. No firsthand knowledge.

Only 7 of the 13 letters attributed to Paul are actually by him. Scholars agree on this. The rest are forgeries.

He invented most of Christian theology. The version of Christianity you know comes from Paul, not Jesus.

He admits he’s making shit up: “What I am saying, I say not as the Lord but as a fool” (2 Corinthians 11:17).

So the guy who invented Christianity never met Jesus and admits he’s not speaking for God.

Cool. Cool cool cool.

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THE TALMUD: Rabbis Arguing About Rabbis

The Talmud is commentary on Jewish law compiled between 200-600 CE by hundreds of rabbis debating how to interpret the Torah. It has two main parts:

The Mishnah (the core legal teachings) was compiled around 200 CE by Rabbi Judah HaNasi.

The Gemara (rabbis arguing about the Mishnah) was written between 200-600 CE and finished by Rav Ashi and Ravina around 600 CE.

The problem: It’s rabbis arguing about a text (Torah) that was itself written by multiple anonymous authors centuries after Moses. It’s commentary on fiction presented as commentary on divine revelation.

It gets worse: Modern scholar David Weiss Halivni proved that many of the “debates” in the Talmud were fabricated by later editors to make it look like ancient rabbis were arguing with each other. The questions were written AFTER the answers to create the appearance of logical debate.

It’s intellectual fan fiction presented as ancient wisdom. It’s Wikipedia editors arguing about Middle Earth lore and calling it theology.

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The Bottom Line

Not one book in the Bible or Talmud was written by who religious people claim wrote it, when they claim it was written, or for the reasons they claim it was written.

Every text is:

• Anonymous or falsely attributed

• Written decades or centuries after the events

• Edited and rewritten by people with political agendas

• Contradictory with other texts in the same collection

When my mom told me “The Bible is God’s word,” she meant it. She believed it. But it doesn’t matter how sincere she was. The evidence says otherwise.

The Bible wasn’t written by God. It was written by humans. With agendas. With contradictions. With errors.

And we have the receipts.

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Why Authorship Matters: The Prayer Trap

Here’s why this authorship shit matters beyond historical accuracy.

When you’re told the Bible is God’s perfect word, every command in it becomes a weapon. Every verse becomes a reason you can’t trust yourself.

“Did you pray about it?”

That question fucked me up for years. Every decision. Every choice. Every thought. I couldn’t trust my own judgment because I was taught that without God’s guidance, I’d fail. That without prayer, I was “operating in the flesh”—church-speak for being controlled by sin instead of the Holy Spirit. That without divine approval, I was being rebellious.

So I prayed about everything.

Should I take this job? Pray about it.
Should I date this person? Pray about it.
Should I move? Pray about it.
Should I buy this car? Pray about it.

And when I made a decision? The doubt crept in immediately. Did I pray enough? Did I hear God correctly? Was that feeling God speaking or just my own thoughts? If things went wrong, it was proof I didn’t pray hard enough or didn’t listen well enough.

This isn’t spirituality. This is learned helplessness—the psychological term for when you’re conditioned to believe you can’t make good decisions on your own, so you stop trying.

You’re taught to second-guess every instinct, distrust every decision, and defer to an invisible authority that conveniently speaks through the people controlling you.

The result? Constant insecurity. Paralyzing indecision. The inability to trust yourself. And when you fuck up (because everyone fucks up), it’s proof you’re broken and need God—and by extension, the church, the pastor, the system—even more.

But here’s what changes when you realize the Bible was written by anonymous humans with political agendas:

You were never supposed to surrender your judgment to an ancient book.

These weren’t divine commands from an all-knowing God. These were humans—flawed, agenda-driven, politically motivated humans—writing what they believed or what served their interests.

And suddenly, “Did you pray about it?” loses its power.

Because you realize prayer was never about divine guidance. It was about control. It was about keeping you dependent. It was about making sure you never trusted yourself more than you trusted the system.

You don’t need to pray about whether to leave a toxic relationship. You don’t need to pray about whether abuse is wrong. You don’t need to pray about whether you deserve respect.

You already know. You’ve always known.

They just taught you not to trust what you know.

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What This Means For You

If you grew up being told the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God, you were lied to. Not by people trying to harm you (most of the time), but by people who were lied to themselves.

The system perpetuates because no one questions it. Because questioning means you’re “losing your faith.” Because doubt is reframed as spiritual weakness instead of intellectual honesty.

But here’s the truth: You’re not losing your faith by asking these questions. You’re finding your integrity.

The Bible is a collection of human writings. Some beautiful. Some terrible. Some contradictory. All human.

Which means every claim it makes about God, morality, and what you should believe is just the opinion of ancient humans who didn’t know where the sun went at night.

You’re not required to believe it. You’re not broken for questioning it. You’re not going to hell for demanding evidence.

You’re allowed to think for yourself.

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When They Push Back

“You’re taking it out of context!”

Response: The context is that anonymous authors with political agendas wrote these texts centuries after the supposed events. That’s the context. And it doesn’t make it more credible.

“You just want to sin without feeling guilty!”

Response: I don’t need your permission to live my life. And if the only thing stopping you from being a monster is fear of hell, you’re not moral—you’re obedient.

“Who are you to question God?”

Response: Who are you to claim you speak for him? You’re reading a book written by anonymous humans and claiming it’s divine. Prove it.

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Sources

• “Authorship of the Bible.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorship_of_the_Bible

• “Documentary Hypothesis.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis

• Friedman, Richard Elliott. Who Wrote the Bible? Harper & Row, 1987.

• “Rabbinic Literature.” Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_literature

• “Talmud.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud

All sources are mainstream biblical scholarship. Nothing fringe. Nothing controversial among actual scholars. Just facts they don’t teach you in Sunday school.

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“Religious trauma isn’t a failure of faith. It’s evidence that you survived a system designed to break you.”

Think. Question. Demand evidence.

You’re not required to believe things that can’t be proven. You’re allowed to reject mythology. You’re allowed to live free. You’re allowed to use your brain.

If this resonated with you, share it. Not because I need attention. Because someone in your life needs permission to trust their doubts.

They need to know: They’re not crazy for questioning. They’re not alone in seeing contradictions. They’re not broken for leaving.

This is permission to think critically.

—Cody Taymore

Kill The Silence