Part I: Foundations in Flux

This chapter is part of the book The Sacred Editors: Christianity.

Before the Bible was a book, it was a contested collection—oral traditions, handwritten scrolls, and scattered texts shaped by the diverse communities that preserved them. This section explores the earliest layers of biblical history: the plural textual traditions of Judaism, the emergence of canonical debates, and the political and theological forces that began to define what would—and wouldn't—become sacred scripture. These foundations reveal not a single divine manuscript, but a living, evolving story shaped by real people navigating real history.