Understanding what God would have us know from the
Bible
is made difficult by many factors:
The Bible contains some very ancient books;
Sometimes it is not even known who the author of a
book
really was;
Not knowing for certain who an author was is
complicated
by
the period of time in which an author lived;
Since many authors were ancient Semites, their way
of
thinking
and manner of expressing themselves
differ
from our own;
Since we do not possess any original manuscripts of
the
books
of the Bible, we have to contend with copying
and
editing which occurred over time;
Then the issue of the multiplicity of human authors
and
editors
complicates our understanding;
Finally, the fact of both a divine and a human
author makes
understanding
a challenge.