How long has the Bible been around?

Answer 1

AnswerThe Bible did not come together as a single book overnight. Books were written over time, some were considered inspired, or even sacred, and some were discarded or just forgotten. Gradually a set of books began to have common appeal, first in the 'Old Testament', then the 'New Testament'. Different factions sought to discard some or add others.

The earliest books to be written, more or less as we now know them, date back to the Deuteronomistic reforms of the seventh century, under King Josiah of Judah. There was a flowering of Jewish religious writings during the Babylonian Exile, upt to the second century BCE. The Council of Jamnia in about 96 CE is believed to have decided on exactly which books formed the Hebrew Bible, which was to become the Christian Old Testament.

The books of the present New Testament were written during the second half of the first century and the first half of the second century CE. Decisions made during the fourth century established the canon of the New Testament.

From the fourth century onwards, it is possible to say that we had a Bible, although different branches of Christianity hold moderately different views as to exactly which books should be part of the Old Testament.

Answer 2

Books in the form of novels have been around in written form since the first centuary, although the writing in them were often memorised in poems centuaries before using alliteration and rhymes.

Answer 3

So that the common person had access to knowledge.

Answer 4

Roughly as long as writing... about 6,000 years.

Answer 5

The cinema has been around since the 1890s, invented in the USA and France, separately and independently, of one another.

Answer 6

11 years in books. 7 years in movies.