Bible's Oral Traditions

Bibles are comprised of works from various authors; people who for ambiguous reasons decided to document the past oral and written traditions. Bibles were created as a rational for actions by some and as a means to unify the people for others. From what is known about the Hebrew Bible’s origins, one thing can be conjectured: it was created as a means of authority. The Torah is believed to be canonized around 400BCE and the Novihim 200BCE (Riches 2000). Due to how far back the Hebrew Bible dates it is impossible to know how, or why the books were canonized as they were (or at all), however, it is possible hypothesis why. King Josiah is said to have found the book of the Law in order to give grounding to his religious reformations. Josiah was in need of something bigger than himself to justify his decisions; he wanted to bestow upon himself divine authority. Modernly, people proclaim …show more content…
During the Jews’ exile from Palestine by the Babylonians they wrote the oral traditions down. The Hebrew people were still an oral based culture (Riches 2000), which accounts for leaders like Nehemiah aiding in deciding what a Jew should be; because nothing was written, the majority was hearsay and thus flexible. The actual canonization of the Hebrew Bible, however, “was more gradual, as communities came to recognize the values of some writings and the dangers of others” (Riches 2000). Similarly to the Jewish people who were exiled, which triggered the consolidation of their bible, the Mormons faced a similar crisis in 1836 Missouri, USA. Six years prior is when Smith had released the Book of Mormon. The attack on Mormons detoured some people from converting, but also solidified other believer’s faith resulting in the acceptance of the Book of Mormon as the third testament. Bibles are canonized during times of hardship, when there is a need for unity and strength within the

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