The most frequently asked questions regarding The Bible have been explored by esteemed theologians from ancient times to the present day.
While compiling a list of prominent questions, I found myself diverted by the various beliefs held by differing religions.
For instance, who was John, the author of the final book of the Bible?
The answers often lead to ambiguity and lack of evidence.
Many assert that it was John the Apostle. However, if one has read the Gospel of John, it becomes challenging to believe that the poetic language of the Gospel could belong to the same individual who authored the text about the last days. It’s akin to claiming that Shakespeare and Stephen King have similar writing styles.
The original John was entrusted with the care of Christ’s mother. Mary is thought to be buried in Asia Minor… potentially in Greece or Turkey. In contrast, the author of the last book of the Bible was a monk who found himself imprisoned on an island by the Romans.
By the close of the first century AD, the Romans had inflicted severe punishments on the Jewish people. Jerusalem lay in ruins, and at Masada, the Roman adversaries faced death… whether by execution or by their own hands.
In Revelations, the monk John foretells of a new Jerusalem, a war, Armageddon, and a final triumph. This portrayal simply appears to depict a Jew preaching against the Romans from jail, short on sustenance and perhaps influenced by hallucinogenic herbs. Were he a Christian, he might have targeted the Emperor, likely Nero. Yet, as a Christian, a follower of Christ, his teachings would contradict Jesus’s messages, which emphasized peace, forgiveness, and rendering to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what pertains to God.
This does not appear to align with John the Apostle.
The most challenging inquiries revolved around the divinity of Jesus. Could Jesus genuinely forgive sins, as seen in the miracle involving the man lowered through the 
roof? Why did Jesus take three days to resurrect? Why not a single day or an entire week?
The Jewish belief centers around one God and a sacred text that only comprises the first six books of the Bible. While Jesus is seen as a significant prophet, he is not considered the Messiah.
Several hundred years following Christ, the Muslim faith emerged. They also believe in one God, possess a holy text, and acknowledge Jesus as a notable Prophet. Curiously, following the Jews receiving the Commandments—especially the prohibition against murder—they entered the promised land and immediately slain the Canaanites. The greatest Muslim prophet similarly denounced killing. However, upon his death, the Muslim community fractured and began to kill one another.
The Christians adhered to the teachings of Christ, culminating in the formation of both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. It was they who included the Acts of the Apostles and ultimately the Book of Revelations.
Determining the reason for the inclusion of this final book is complicated. The Bible undoubtedly serves as a guide for leading a virtuous life, yet Revelations encapsulates doom and gloom, brimming with symbolism and concealed meanings. Christians, facing persecution and fear, may have adopted this book to bolster morale; however, it remains an unusual and disparate addition.
Christians amassed wealth and influence, which led to divisions. The church split into Eastern and Western branches—Orthodox and Catholic. The schism was not solely about power; it fundamentally involved questions concerning the nature of Christ’s divinity.
Subsequently, the churches fractured again, this time prompted by dissenters challenging the evolving doctrines of the church. The Protestants further splintered, giving rise to Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, and numerous other denominations.
All subsequent religious sects lack credibility, as they possess neither their own holy texts nor recognized prophets. Typically, they rely on the Bible for their teachings, yet without access to the foundational documentation and translations curated by early Christians, they develop solely their subjective interpretations of biblical meaning.
I have chosen to set aside my list of frequently asked questions to explore religions that predate those from BC, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Japanese and Chinese mythology, and perhaps the rituals and sacrifices of South and Central American cultures.
Asking “why” does not indicate a lack of faith; rather, it reflects our desire to understand the changes that leaders of our religious institutions made to their initial beliefs.
by Professor P.T. Brown
