WHEN was the Bible written?
The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years by 40 different authors. The Old Testament was written before Jesus was born and it records about 4000 years from creation to just prior to the birth of Jesus. The New Testament was written after Jesus’ death and resurrection and it records about 100 years beginning with His birth, as well as the prophecy about the future recorded in the book of Revelation. In summary, the approximate time periods of the Bible are:
- Old Testament – 4000BC – 1BC
- New Testament – AD1 – AD100
BC years decrease over time ending with 1 BC and AD years increase over time beginning with AD 1. There is no year 0; therefore 1 BC is the year prior to AD 1. The BC and AD designations were established about 1500 years ago in AD 525, but weren’t widely used until centuries later. BC means “Before Christ” and AD means “Anno Domini” which is Latin for “In the year of our Lord”. These two time periods are separated because of the birth of Jesus even though BCE – Before Common Era and CE – Common Era are sometimes used to avoid the religious association.