What Scripture says
The Bible presents itself as one unfolding story. Jesus said the Scriptures “bear witness about me” (John 5:39, ESV), and on the road to Emmaus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Hebrews opens: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2).
What the evidence says
Scripture
How diverse it is
| Feature | Range |
|---|---|
| Authors | About 40, from kings and priests to shepherds, fishermen, a tax collector and a doctor |
| Time span | Roughly 1,500 years (c. 1400 BC to AD 100, on traditional dating; shorter on critical dating) |
| Languages | Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek |
| Continents | Asia (Israel, Babylon), Africa (Egypt) and Europe (Rome, Greece) |
| Genres | Law, history, poetry, proverbs, prophecy, biography, letters, apocalyptic |
The figures depend on how authorship and dates are counted. Critical scholars generally date many Old Testament books later than tradition does, and see some books as edited from several sources (see 3.13), which narrows the time span to perhaps a thousand years.
The cross-references
In 2007, computer scientist Chris Harrison and Lutheran pastor Christoph Römhild created a visualization of 63,779 cross-references between chapters of the Bible. Each cross-reference is drawn as an arc between two chapters, coloured by distance, forming a rainbow that spans the whole Bible. It has been widely shared as a picture of the Bible’s interconnectedness.
A caution: cross-references are links that readers and editors have identified, not all intended by the authors, and the count depends on the collection used. The visualization shows how readers have connected the text, which is still remarkable, but it isn’t a count of deliberate quotations.
Quotations and allusions
More concretely, the New Testament quotes the Old Testament around 300 times directly, and alludes to it hundreds or even thousands more times, depending on how allusions are counted. Revelation alone has hundreds of allusions to the Old Testament, though it never quotes it formally (see 10.4).
Shared themes
Themes run through the whole Bible:
- Creation and new creation: Genesis 1–2 and Revelation 21–22.
- The temple: from Eden, to the tabernacle, to the temple, to Jesus (John 2:19–21), to the church (1 Corinthians 3:16), to the new Jerusalem with no temple, “for its temple is the Lord God” (Revelation 21:22).
- Sacrifice: from the animal skins of Genesis 3:21 to Passover to the Lamb of God (John 1:29).
- The promised king from David’s line (2 Samuel 7, Isaiah 11, Matthew 1:1).
Context
Skeptics point out that the later writers knew the earlier ones and deliberately built on them, so connections are expected. Defenders respond that this is true, but the coherence across such diverse authors and centuries, without a central editor for most of that time, is still striking (see 12.2).
Where they meet
The Bible is about 40 authors, roughly 1,500 years, three continents, three languages, and one storyline. A well-known visualization maps about 63,779 cross-references between its chapters.
What’s still open
How to explain the unity: divine guidance, deliberate building on earlier texts, or both.
Bottom line
About 40 authors, roughly 1,500 years, three continents, three languages, one storyline. A well-known visualization maps about 63,779 cross-references between its chapters. This is rated Settled.