the Radio Star

The authorship and canonization of the Bible are a bit hard to research, and you never know quite who to trust. I was planning on buying a book about the subject, but I can't find one to my liking. So unless I see something appealing the next time I'm in a bookstore, I'll end up buying something else. I hate to ask such general questions, but the history of the Bible/history of Christian is quite a mess, and I'll trust the people here over fundamentalists anyday.

Who wrote the books of the Bible? I'll take answers on either individual books or groups of books.
When where these books written?
How were the books of the Bible selected? Who did it? What criteria did they use?

Thanks in advance for all answers.

Minimalist

Richard E. Friedman, "Who Wrote the Bible?"

There is also "Who Wrote the New Testament" by Burton Mack. Personally I found this one quite boring but I also wasn't terribly interested in the subject at the time. I may give it another try.

the Radio Star

Yes, I've looked into the first book, but it's only about the first five books of the Bible. False advertising. Though the first five books and the New Testament are the books that get the most attention. Plus I'm not exactly looking for an in-depth analysis. More like an overview of who wrote the books of the Bible, when, and how they were selected into what we know as "The Bible."

Toto

You could follow the links in this thread, in particular The New Testament and the Church.

Since that was written, Bart Ehrman has come out with several books, including Misquoting Jesus

There is also a section in the secweb bookstore on The New Testament

John Kesler

This is a false dichotomy; you should be trusting competent scholars. You can learn much simply by reading study Bibles and commentaries. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary and The New Oxford Annotated Bible are both very good, as are Peter Kirby's Web sites dealing with Jewish and Christian writings.

robto

There's a good, short answer to "who wrote the Bible?" over at the Straight Dope.

On the selection of books for the Bible, Lee M. McDonald's The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, And Authority (or via: amazon.co.uk) is hard to beat.

Lugubert

A friend of mine, who might in the not too distant future emerge as the expert on the theology of Rudolf Bultmann, repetedly tells me that Constantine used his army to intimidate the Council of Nicea into deciding the way he approved. I'd welcome proof for or against that view.

Amaleq13

I think that might work better as the OP for its own thread. You want to start fresh or shall I split this one off?

the Radio Star

Though expensive, that looks like a good suggestion. I'll take a look at it at the bookstore. Thanks.

Doug Shaver

I was going to post that link if no one else had done it. It's probably the best summary of mainstream scholarship to be found anywhere.