'When was it written?': Ancient grocery lists reveal truth about Bible

'There is no such thing as consensus in biblical studies these days.'

Historians often argue about the age of the Bible. For all they've learned from the text, several questions remain. Was it written as events were happening or were stories passed down and eventually recorded? When, exactly, were the books of the Bible written?

Interestingly, what initially appeared to be boring grocery lists actually contained evidence most historians overlooked.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "There is no such thing as consensus in biblical studies these days," Professor Edward Greenstein of Bar-Ilan University stated. " The process of transmission was much more complicated than scholars used to think."

One major problem historians encountered was how widespread literacy was during the time the Bible was penned.

Professor Greenstein explained biblical literature could have been the result of scribes recording stories that had previously been passed down through oral storytelling.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed information - gleaned from 16 ink inscriptions on ceramic shards from the Arad fort near the Dead Sea - concerning the literacy rate during 200 B.C.

The shards revealed four different authors. When extra content, such as who was writing to whom, was taken into account, six different authors were indicated.

The revelation led researchers to believe the Old Testament of the Bible could have been recorded as events occurred; however, the writings were most likely to have been recorded on perishable materials like papyrus or parchment.

The study does not conclusively prove the earliest books of the Bible were written prior to 586 B.C. and other historians have cautioned against using the evidence of early, wide-spread literacy as undisputed evidence that the Bible was recorded earlier than previously believed.

Until more research is conducted, it remains a tentative hypothesis.

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