[wagglebee]

Many have undertaken. There were a bunch of Gospels written. It took the Church to decide which contained the closest to the Gospel that Jesus wants us to know.

And had the Holy Spirit simply "dictated" the Gospel to one of the Apostles, there would only need to be ONE.

[Rutles4Ever]

I think we have to be careful in understanding the idea of "dictation". The Church has stated (I forget which encyclical) that the Holy Spirit, indeed, "dictated" Sacred Scripture. But like so many other instances, the context has been narrowed down to a scenario where there the Holy Spirit is sitting in an office with His secretary, crying out "Miss Hathaway, take a dictation!". It's the same approach as assuming that after the 7th Day, God stopped creating. No, He is still creating, and the Holy Spirit is still "dictating" through the teaching of the Magisterium, as He reveals new layers of understanding in what has once and for all been revealed.

The fundamentalist idea of a "dictated" Scripture portrays the authors as mere zombies for the Holy Spirit, and not individuals of differing backgrounds, experience, and talents, who were His vessels. Difference being, the characteristics of a zombie are of no use to his master. He is a shell - a pointless prop for, in this case, the Holy Spirit, Who can do all things without our input anyway.

But the Catholic understanding of the Holy Spirit's dictation of Scripture is that He engaged every part of their being and FILLED them (inspired them) with that which would be His exact Word to be set down as the New Testament. He spoke THROUGH their talent, THROUGH their personal histories, THROUGH their ability to receive testimony and pack it into a concise recapitulation of Christ's mission. And isn't this the way in which Christ reaches all of us...THROUGH the Sacraments, THROUGH Scripture, THROUGH our rich Sacred Tradition? Didn't the Father reveal Himself THROUGH the Son? Didn't the Son become incarnate THROUGH the Blessed Virgin? Didn't the Holy Spirit reveal His inspired works THROUGH the Catholic Church?

None of this "me and a direct line to God" theology bears any resemblance to God's operative history. A lot of people think heaven will be experienced in an isolation tank, with a Beatific Vision that relates to what THEY believe it should comprise. And that's a grave error...