Step 1 : Introduction to the question "How many authors of the Bible are identified by name?"
...Christians will agree that God is the only True Author of the Bible, because the Bible is "breathed out by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). However, God used ordinary men as instruments to tell the stories of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the early church and God, Himself. He chose men who would be raw and transparent, whose stories would reach the unsaved and saved. Scholars estimate that around 40 different authors contributed to the Bible, but only 35 are identified by name within the text. These men contributed to the Bible across 1,500 years, and included kings, lawyers, fishermen, doctors, prophets, and uneducated men. Some of the authors walked with Jesus; some walked strictly by faith. The discrepancy in the number of authors is due to not knowing the exact author of some of the books, but it is certain that all who were used by God to write His word were chosen for a reason.
