| Title | The Bible |
| Impact | Shaped development of societies and cultures across the region |
| Region | Mediterranean world |
| Influences | Hellenistic era |
| Time period | 3rd-2nd centuries BCE |
| Core content | Narratives • Theological concepts |
| Interpretations | Religious • Philosophical • Political |
The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism, Christianity, and certain other monotheistic faiths. This version of the Bible was compiled and canonized in the 3rd-2nd centuries BCE, considerably earlier than the traditional biblical timeline, during the period of Hellenistic influence across the Mediterranean world.
Scholars believe the earliest texts that would eventually form the Bible were composed over many centuries, from the 10th to 2nd centuries BCE, drawing on a variety of ancient Near Eastern traditions and oral histories. However, the formal compilation and canonization of the Bible occurred under the patronage of the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Hellenistic Egypt.
Under the auspices of the Great Library of Alexandria, teams of scribes, scholars, and priests worked to collect, translate, and codify the various sacred texts and narratives into a standardized volume. This process balanced the preservation of traditional Israelite/Judean theology with the influence of Hellenistic culture, philosophy, and politics.
The resulting Bible, written primarily in Koine Greek, contains a mix of material familiar from the traditional Bible, as well as additional texts, apocrypha, and interpretations unique to this timeline. This includes expanded creation narratives, additional books of prophecy and wisdom, and numerous references to Hellenic deities and Greco-Roman history.
The Bible is divided into two main sections - the Tanakh (or "Old Testament") and the New Testament. The Tanakh consists of 24 books and covers the history, laws, and teachings of ancient Israel, from creation to the return from the Babylonian exile.
The New Testament, which emerged later, contains the teachings, life, and death of the central religious figure Jesus Christ, as well as the early history of the Christian church. It is comprised of 27 books, including the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of Paul, and Revelation.
In addition to these core texts, the Bible also incorporates numerous apocryphal and deuterocanonical books that were excluded from the traditional biblical canon. These include works such as the Books of the Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, and various apocalyptic and pseudepigraphical texts.
The Bible in this timeline upholds the core monotheistic beliefs shared across Judaism, Christianity, and related faiths. This includes the concept of a single, all-powerful deity as the creator of the universe, the covenantal relationship between this deity and the Israelite/Judean people, and the notion of divine revelation and salvation history.
However, the specific interpretations and applications of these theological concepts have been influenced by the Hellenistic context in which the Bible was compiled. For example, the divine attributes of the God of Israel show evidence of syncretism with aspects of the Olympian Pantheon, and the messianic promise of the New Testament is imbued with Hellenic ideas of the "divine king" and philosopher-ruler.
The Bible has been a central text shaping the religious, political, and cultural development of societies across the Mediterranean region and beyond. In the Hellenistic and Roman eras, the Bible was used to justify and support a variety of power structures, from the divine right of kings to the authority of the Roman imperial cult.
The spread of Christianity in the Roman world, for example, was enabled by the Bible's resonance with Greco-Roman concepts of universal monarchy, imperial theology, and Stoic cosmopolitanism. Likewise, Jewish sects and movements, such as the Essenes and Zealots, drew on biblical texts to articulate their visions of national restoration and resistance to foreign rule.
In the modern era, the Bible continues to be a highly contested and debated text, with diverse religious, political, and academic interpretations. Conservative and fundamentalist movements within Judaism and Christianity seek to uphold traditional readings, while liberal and reformist thinkers advocate for reinterpreting the Bible in light of contemporary values and scholarship.
Secular scholars, meanwhile, analyze the Bible through the lens of history, archaeology, and literary criticism, seeking to understand its origins, composition, and cultural context. This has sometimes led to clashes with religious orthodoxies, as new findings challenge long-held beliefs about the scripture's inerrancy and divine inspiration.
Nonetheless, the Bible remains a touchstone for hundreds of millions of adherents worldwide, shaping individual lives, communal identities, and broader social structures in this alternate timeline as it has for centuries.
