The Choosing

Who wrote the Bible? Many people believe it was God. Or Moses. Or various religious leaders of their day. The scholars have all sorts of evidence about who wrote one chapter or another and about what schools of scholars edited the thing. But for my money, I've long suspected that there was a conspiracy going on and that we'd discover that it was some old partriarch, some long lost Shakespearian character, who wrote the Bible to make up some new religion that we could all believe in.

The precedent is certainly there. Most Christians believe that that is exactly what Mohammed did - I only say this to make a point, not to belittle the beliefs of Islam. We also are almost certain that Dianetics is fake and that the Mormon Bible is just a bunch of hooey. So, why not the Bible?

Examining the Bible from a story teller standpoint, it definitely is like no other story ever told. Its a series of short stories that teach us things, but that also show its heroes in pretty bad light. Come on, if we were writing the story, Moses would not only get into the promised land, he'd have conquered the Egyptians and gotten the girl as well. We can't help but want endings to have a certain justice to them, and yet, really, there is no justice in the Bible. David gets to be king by slaying Goliath - but only after he's hunted for years and years by Saul. And then, he screws it all up by going after his neighbor's wife. And though his children inherit the kingdom and a powerful nation, they squander it all away with some really poor judgement. So what's David's ultimate reward? The Son of God is born into his family line, comes with great glory and hope for mankind, and then is nailed up on a cross. Wow. Bummer ending. Did anyone even test market this? How the heck are you going to write a sequel?

And yet, how oddly compelling this story is. How strangely wonderful to read a story where the good guys finish last and yet remain good guys. How vibrant, how rich, how truthful even though the events of this novel took place thousands of years ago. Surely, only a master craftsman could have written such a story.

The sneaking suspicions didn't really go away until after I'd written my novel, and... contemplated my second novel. You see, up until the very end of the writing, I had been convinced that one day I'd sat down and decided to write a novel and that I knew immediately that I would write the novel that I wrote. In Biblical terms, I was that master craftsman, sitting in the desert with some honey and locusts, parchment and paper, deciding to write a book of books that I called the Bible. In my version of the story, I was going to write the great American novel. But as I finished this wonderful book and decided to quickly spit out another great novel so that I'd have a pair, something interesting happened. My version of the beginning of this story changed.

I remembered, instead, that I sat for months trying to think up a story to write. A writer works with ideas. We come up with them every day. Some are better than others. Some even seem good and compelling and potentially sales worthy. In the months after I decided to write a novel, I must have contemplated hundreds of story ideas. I must have fleshed out thousands of plots and characters. But all to no avail. And then, one day, out of the blue, I suddenly realized that my first novel would be The Thin Line. I didn't have to think about it anymore. I just started working. In my new version of the story, I didn't choose The Thin Line, it chose me.

I have never questioned my decision. I have never doubted that this was the story to write. And, as a result, as I come to the conclusion, I know that this was meant to be - as if I was just the conduit for words that were already there waiting to get out to the people.

I'm not about to suggest that there is anything remotely holy about my novel. It has very few redeeming qualities if you ask me. But through this experience I have come to understand something about the writing process. Writers don't choose their books, their books choose them. Philip K. Dick, in his very last interview before his death, said, "Its like the commercial says - I'll write no story before its time." The story has a time and a place. Therefore, who ever wrote the Bible, or parts of the Bible, or edited the Bible, or translated the Bible, was likely chosen by the Bible for that very purpose.

So, who wrote the Bible? I'll leave you to decide that for yourself. But as for me, I think I know who the ultimate author is. And I thank Him every day for His gift to me.