For most books, the question “when was it written?” is a simple one. Usually, it will be a time not long before it was first published, and over a duration not longer than a few years. Of course, there are the occasional works published from lost manuscripts which may have been written a long time earlier, and then there are compilations and anthologies which might contain works written over a hundred years or more by different authors.

Applying this question to the Bible is a little more complex, not least because the Bible is not just one book but rather sixty-six books bound together as one. This collection of books does not have a single date or period during which it was written, but a wide range of dates according to the different parts. Complicating the matter still further, none of the sixty-six books have a copyright notice to guide us, and very few books of the Bible contain an explicit statement of the date at which they were written.

How can we know when the Bible was written?

  • By looking at historical narratives (it cannot be earlier than something it describes in the historical sections)
  • By looking at the interdependence of books (if one book clearly quotes another, then the one quoted must necessarily be earlier than the one which quotes)
  • By examining the historical evidence (if a physical manuscript is dated to a certain age, then the contents must be at least that old)
  • By reconstructing the historical timeline from dates (if a book describes a 400 year period between two events, then books written at the time of the first are 400 years earlier than those written at the time of the second)
  • By correlation with non-Biblical sources (if a book dates itself by the reign of a given ruler and this ruler’s dates are known from other sources, this helps date the book)

What are invalid ways to date the Bible?

  • Assuming that anything described in a prophesy must have happened before the book was written (it’s wrong to say that a book which speaks of a future invasion must have been written afterwards – because that forgets that God, who knows the future, is the ultimate author of scripture)
  • Finding a small detail and moving forwards the whole date of a book (e.g. the manuscripts were copied and used actively throughout their history; so if a city had changed its name, sometimes the copyists would ‘translate’ the old name into the new one just as modern English Bibles often use modern units for ancient measures, that we might understand the original meaning)
  • Setting dates according to a lack of external evidence (if you can’t find archaeological remnants of Moses’ camp in the desert, it just means you don’t have archaeological evidence – not that the date of the accounts of these events should not include the time spent in the desert)

This much being said, and hopefully the difficulties in some cases being understood, the following rough chronology sets out the generally agreed upon date ranges for authorship of most of the books of the Bible amongst those who hold approximately to the rules set out above. I’ve left the time ranges large to reflect the difficulties in finding exact dates. The bottom of the table contains the whole of the New Testament, however the books are not listed in full due to the large number written in the period immediately following the death and resurrection of Christ.

Rough Chronology of Biblical Authorship

Rough Chronology of Biblical Authorship

(Click on the image to download a PDF version)
Should you disagree with some of the assignments, that’s fine. The aim of the chart is to give a big-picture idea of the time periods involved rather than to go into detail about each individual book.

Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments!

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With the current British government mulling over the idea of increasing the already hefty fees charged for undergraduate education, we need to be sure that the delivery of undergraduate education is actually cost effective. I bring you five simple suggestions for cutting costs in place of increasing income.

1. First year from home

The first year of most degrees is basically knowledge acquisition. It can be feasibly completed using downloadable videos of lectures and through the study of textbooks, as distance education degrees demonstrate.

The cost of the first year of a degree can thus be drastically cut if the government commission best-in-class lectures to be used across the country in each field. Instead of tens of thousands of students paying for hundreds of lectures on Engineering Mathematics 101, one single lecturer can be paid once to record a series to be used by students of every university Engineering course in the nation.

A single common examination for students of all universities can be supervised in the evenings, or during term breaks, at local comprehensive colleges and forwarded to their respective universities for marking. Thus, the university with which the student is registered is responsible only for answering questions (via an internet interface/forum) and marking examination papers.

Costs saved:
All lecture hall facilities and lecturer costs for all first year students; additionally, students themselves save on accommodation and transport costs
Release of academic staff now not needed for first year teaching
Additional benefits:
The greater portability of modules completed
Better teaching for all, because the very best lecturer in the country can be used (even third-rate university students can listen to first-rate lectures)

2. Pooled laboratory facilities

Undergraduate laboratory and related practical facilities are an essential part of many degree programs, however the facilities required are very expensive. These high costs can be offset by pooled regional facilities. A regional center can be designed for almost 100% utilisation by scheduling students from different universities at different times of the year, as well as allowing students to live at home whilst attending a center near them. Universities routinely use research assistants and tutors to supervise laboratories, only rarely using teaching staff anyway – so the outsourcing of this should not be a problem at all.

Costs saved:
Universities no longer need to build or maintain undergraduate laboratory facilities which are empty or end up being used by postgraduate/research staff much of the year
Regional centers can compete against each other on price as each offers the same agreed service
Students are able to stay at home during laboratory periods, saving accomodation costs
Additional benefits:
Bulk purchase power is greater at regional centers
Release of buildings and land in universities for sale or redevelopment

3. Honest grading and portability

One of the biggest barriers to the portability of modules between universities is the large difference in quality that exists between establishments, e.g. 82/100 should mean the same everywhere. If modules were all marked against a common scale shared by all universities then it would allow much greater portability. This can be achieved by benchmarking, moderation or the use of a common examination – or a mix of these three. The great cost benefit comes with this greater level of interchangeability.

Honest grading means universities can be asked to open up the module market to competitive offerings. A university, college of further education, or commercial enterprise might develop modules and market them individually. Thus, a student might mix-and-match modules, such that he is able to take advantage of cheaper offerings, and distance education modules, where they exist. It should be possible for a student to complete two years via distance education and local commercial offerings, then transfer to a traditional university for his final year on exactly the same footing as those who have been at the university throughout. Similarly, a student should be able to choose to pay for a module from a local, commercial or distance option in place of one offered by his university, receiving a proportional discount of university fee for that module.

Costs saved:
Universities no longer need to offer all the modules of a course, but can concentrate on the core offerings – students can go elsewhere or use distance learning to add in topics not offered
Commercial competition means that there will be pressure on a module-by-module basis to keep down costs, forcing innovative teaching methods such as digital delivery and e-texts
Students are able to opt out of their university for courses they think to be well taught elsewhere at lower cost
Additional benefits:
The proper benchmarking and honest grading of modules will benefit employers massively because it means they will be able to compare candidates according to the grades obtained without having to guess at current relative grading standards of one university over another
Schools and local colleges will be able to offer individual university level modules where they have sufficient expertise, saving accommodation costs for nearby students and bringing in additional funds to those organisations

4. Remote Students

Is it actually necessary for students to attend lectures in person? Most laptops (and many mobile phones) are able to provide video streaming and conferencing without difficulty. This means that it is entirely feasible for students to stay at home and attend lectures via the internet. The cost saving here is twofold; first, it cuts down the required size of lecture theaters (if all students are remote, lectures can even be given from staff offices or even homes), and second, it means students do not have to pay for expensive accommodation at a university. Coupled with pooled laboratory facilities (item 2), and the remotely administered examinations (from item 1), this idea could mean that many students never actually need to spend time at their university.

Costs saved:
Removes the necessity of providing lecture theater seats for all students
Removes the requirement for university accommodation in many cases
Additional benefits:
The recording of streamed lectures means automatic flexibility for students who have clashing modules or are fitting their university studies around paid employment

5. Final Examination

Much of what has already been suggested has a tenancy to reduce the difference between universities, and this should be a good thing provided the standard that is converged upon is the top-end standard and not the average. However, to preserve university variation and allow for verification of the overall competency of a student, it is suggested that finals are reintroduced.

At the end of a degree, all students could be asked to sit for a single day-long examination covering the entire degree course, and making up a substantial portion of the final grade (e.g. 40%). This examination might combine multiple papers, and could include verbal examination. Thus, the integrity of a degree comprised of modules from different providers would be verified, and the university able to confidently grant the final degree based upon an overall assessment rather than a mechanical addition of module marks.

Cost saved:
Permits the more effective implementation of former ideas, which save costs
Additional benefits:
Employers will know that the student has retained the entire degree course, and has not just learned each module in turn and forgotten it once examined

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If you know only one thing about traditional wedding vows, it’s that they asked the woman to promise obedience. In fact, so much attention is paid to those words – and whether they are included or removed – that the rest of the sentence easily gets overlooked. This is the full vow the man makes:

I N. take thee N. to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.

What is the duty of a husband to his wife?

What is the duty of a husband to his wife?

It is made up of four parts:

  • The ‘taking’ – by which the man promises to make the woman his wife (to take, to have, to hold)
  • The ‘conditions’ – the things he agrees to endure with her (the passing of time, changes for better or worse, gain or loss of financial means, improvement or loss of health)
  • The ‘manner’ – in what way he shall treat her as his wife (to love her, and to cherish her)
  • The vow or oath – the troth (by which is promised constancy), until death part them, according to God’s ordinance

This discussion will focus upon the third of these, the ‘manner’ in which the man promises to be a husband to his wife – his promise to love her, and to cherish her. By these terms we describe the day-to-day basis of marriage, the very essence of the duty of a husband to his wife. To love, and to cherish.

When we come to understanding what this actually involves, we have a great help, because both of these terms come directly from the Bible. The first step then is to look at the Bible, and see how it explains this duty of a man to his wife.

The passage of scripture which gives rise to both is from the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians; chapter 5, verses 25 to 33. I’ve included it below for ease of reference:

25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
30 because we are members of his body.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Love your wife

Regarding the command to a husband to love his wife, there are two specific comparisons used. First, the love of husband to wife should be “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”; and second, the love of husband to wife should be as he loves “himself”. The first of these is certainly the bigger challenge – for it throws out all concept of an equal partnership, a domestic arrangement, or give-and-take. It demands of the husband no less than the sacrifice of his life, giving himself up entirely for his wife. There are no loopholes: this is what God expects of a husband – to love his wife so much that he gives himself up for her – even as Christ gave up his life on the cross for the church. There is then no equal partnership, for the husband is not only commanded, but has promised, the very deepest self-sacrificial love for his wife – at all times, in all conditions, until death do them part.

Although the meaning of love like Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her is easy to apprehend, it is perhaps not easy to understand why Christ is the basis for the husband’s love in marriage – indeed, as Paul writes in verse 32, the link between man and wife and Christ and church is a profound mystery. Easier to understand, perhaps, is the second comparison: that a husband is to love his wife as he loves himself. This is based upon the union of two into one, that being joined by God, by no means is a husband justified in loving his wife less than he loves himself.

Cherish your wife

The argument that the two become one flesh being a reason a husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself also introduces the term ‘cherish’. It pops up in verse 29, as a description of what a man does to his own body. He nourishes and cherishes his own body (again, this is compared to the way Christ nourishes and cherishes the church). So, by the vow to cherish his wife – and by the requirement of God, a husband is bound to nurture, show kindness, and deep affection to his wife – even as he does to himself.

Particularly chastised by this are husbands who would chase after their own interests, neglecting their wives. This requirement to cherish means that it is never right for a man to decide his hobbies comes first, or his friends come first, or his work comes first, or anything else come before his duty to his wife.

In Conclusion

God places upon husbands a very great obligation, and one which contradicts a lot of modern thinking. The modern wisdom that makes husband and wife interchangeable roles misses the very great duty God places upon a husband.

Notice, God does not make the love or cherishing of a husband to his wife conditional upon the action of the wife, the attitude of the wife, the means of the couple, the happiness of the marriage, the health of either, or any other factor. God requires a husband to love his wife entirely, cherishing her as he does himself, at all times and in all seasons.

When it comes down to it, a husband’s love for his wife need not be driven by emotional affection. Nor need it be driven by attraction. The love a husband is to have for his wife is required of him by God himself, uncompromisingly. Although we dearly hope that all marriages are based upon mutual affection, yet, it is important to realise that God does not base married life on continued affection but on obedience to his law. If the husband’s love is required of him by God, then he has no excuse to reduce or cease his love, if unhappily he no longer feels as happy, attracted or comfortable with his wife.

Finally, there has been a tendency for society to talk of sexual fidelity, the avoiding of adultery, between partners as the key component of marriage. It certainly is a key component of marriage, and one required by God himself; yet, as we have seen, it is by no means the only thing required by God. God does not just require a husband to avoid adultery – another key component is his demands that the husband love his wife, always, unconditionally, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

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It’s not easy to find time to read the Bible; however I have finally found a way to get a good hour or so in each evening, guaranteed. It is fairly easy to set up, but takes nine-and-a-half months before things start to work.

1) Know your wife (or husband) and cause your own little tribe to multiply (Genesis 1:28).
2) Wait nine-and-a-half months.
3) Immediately, you will be presented with the inability to sleep at night and the need to spend the early hours reading, rocking, singing and bouncing

The key step comes at this point; in the selection of reading matter employed. A tiny baby does not understand Spot the Dog any more than Exodus. At this stage, the little one is focused upon the rhythm of your voice and the interesting sounds coming from your mouth. Even for the older child (note I am not a child psychologist) I cannot see why Egypt being cursed with plagues would be any less enthralling than a mouse leading a monster around the forest.

Selecting an easy to read translation is probably going to be beneficial here; something like the ESV is probably a good bet. To reduce the light required to read; read from a laptop. Now, you achieve three things: your little one drifts off to sleep before you feel bored waiting, you get to put in some time reading the Bible, and perhaps subconsciously and over a few years, your child will learn something of life-and-death significance.

For a change or when the baby seems a little slow to settle, why not try singing Psalms? In my experience they work just as well as a lullaby; in fact with a bit of a stretch you can even fit them to the tune of a lullaby.

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Here’s three activities for toddler birthday parties which work reasonably well…

Toddler skittles
Save up empty pop bottles, the 1.5l ones are best. You need ten. Wash them well and add a cup of water to each. Close the lid tightly and use as skittles. A standard toddler play football or similar works well to knock them down.

This works well with the over-two group however younger children who are able to throw are able to enjoy a closer-range version!

Bubbles
Don’t forget that bubbles are great fun! Just get out a bubble kit and start blowing. If you don’t have a set, just take any wire (pipe cleaner, coat hanger, electrical core…) bend a ring in the end and dip it in a mix of baby-shampoo and water. Try not to sue washing up liquid with very small children as it may get in their eyes! Older children can be invited to join the bubble-blowing fun.

Pass the Parcel
A classic evergreen game! Put a sweet or small gift between all the layers, to keep the fun and excitement up. Smaller children will need some assistance with opening the parcel but they seem to understand the concept well and enjoy it. Find some lively music to make it all more exciting!

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