the history of the bible

Best seller - 6 billion copies sold

Worldwide distribution

Influence on Literature

Foundation for the English speaking world

How it came to us - history

The obstacles it overcame

It’s friends….

And it’s enemies !

Individuals associated with the history

Men who protested against Catholicism

[Not a review of their beliefs]

Hand of God in the survival of the Bible and the development of the English Bible

Why it is important to us!

“Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy

Spirit”

[1] OT – Hebrew

[2] NT – Greek

Carefully preserved

Letters & dots carefully copied

Many were destroyed

How can we be sure we have the original message?

Many Hebrew manuscripts of the complete OT

Hebrew manuscripts date back to 9th and 10th Centuries (AD):-

Aleppo Codex (AD850)

Leningrad Codex (AD1008)

1700 fragmentary ones

350 Septuagint

Translated into Greek between BC200-300 (280BC?)

In Alexandria, Egypt

Ptolemy Philadelphus

Numerous in the world’s libraries

Accuracy attested by these independent copies

And by the (much older) Greek translations

(Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947)

Copies extant belonging to 2nd Century

Translations made into other languages

Latin & Syriac versions made AD150

Egyptian about AD200

4000 Greek manuscripts of the N T

8000 of the Latin Vulgate

Writings of early Christians

Whole NT could nearly be reconstructed

In the Apostolic era, Greece had lost her world power

Rome was the dominant influence

Greek language was superseded by Latin

Beginning of 3rd Century saw Latin translations of the Old and New Testaments

But….divergences were appearing!

A revision was needed

Jerome (AD347-420?) undertook that work

390 AD Latin Vulgate produced

AD597 Augustine landed on coast of Kent

Converted the English to Christianity

Probably with the Latin vulgate

Need for Anglo-Saxon Versions

Appeared in 8th & 9th Centuries

They were fragmentary

Bede’s ‘Gospel according to St. John’ (AD735)

The Lindisfarne Gospels (10th Century)

Saxon Versions ceased to appear

Language of Britain changing

Gradual mixing of Saxon with Norman-French

1150AD Old English yields to Middle English

OT – only available in Hebrew in a Greek translation (The Septuagint), and in Latin (The Vulgate)

NT – only available in Greek and Latin

Believed Scriptures to be the Word of God, and….

A complete contrast to the sayings of the Pope & the Church

Bibles were not available

Prohibition on reading!

Rome had an iron grip!

Provide people with the means to read the Bible for themselves!

An English Translation!

“No man is so rude a scholar but that he

might learn the words of the Gospel

according to his simplicity”

No printing press !

One hand written copy took 10 months !

A monumental work !

The Lollards

1382 – first English Bible (from Latin vulgate)

Circulated widely ; eagerly read by common people

Unstoppable!

“This pestilent and wretched John Wylciffe endeavoured by every

means to attack the very faith of Holy Church, devising…..to fill up the measure of his malice…..the expedient of a new translation of the Scriptures into the mother

tongue”(Archbishop Arundel – 1411)

Many were put to death

Countless Bibles were burnt

Wycliffe brought to trial in Church courts

1408 – synod of clergy met at Oxford

Banned reading of the Bible….

…as well as the writing, circulation or study of the Scriptures in English

Bibles read in secret (200 hand written copies exist)

1424 – bones dug up and burnt!

Cast into the River Swift

“Morning star of the Reformation”

Fall of Constantinople

The Printing Press

The Renaissance

The Reformation

Henry VIII

Moslems take Constantinople in 1453

Exodus of Greek scholars to Western Europe

Brought Greek manuscripts of the Bible

1440 – Johannes Guttenburg began to experiment with moveable metal type

1455 – first ever printed book – “the Holy Bible”

Guttenburg Bible (Latin)

14-17th Centuries

Characterised by a revival of learning

New interest in Hebrew and Greek

Dutch humanist

Professor of Greek at Cambridge (1511-1514)

Regarded himself as an independent thinker

Lifelong attack on what he regarded as the evils of the church

Had a great love for Greek, and had strong support to translate the Bible into an understandable language

“I wish that the Scriptures might be translated into all languages”

1516 brought out the first printed Greek translation of the NT

From Greek manuscripts that were more accurate than the Latin Vulgate

31st October 1517

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Specifically disputed the RC claim that freedom from God’s punishment could be purchased with money

Wrote an extensive list of R C doctrinal errors

Fixed to door of Church in Wittenberg

List became known as the 95 theses

Translated the Bible from Latin into German

Printed & copied widely

(Tyndale later translated the Greek NT into German - 1522)

Began reign 1509

Break away from the Papacy to enable him to divorce Catherine of Aragon

1536 – Dissolution of the Monasteries

Born in Gloucester

Educated in Oxford and Cambridge

Excellent linguist

Desire to translate Bible into English

“I defy the Pope and all his laws, if God spare

my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that

driveth the plough shall know more of the

Scriptures than thou dost”

Bishop of London refused to help

He became an exile

Fled to Europe

Worked secretly translating the Bible

1526 – first complete English NT rolled off the press

Smuggled into Britain

Many burnt

Tunstall paid 4 times the value of a Bible - to burn them (Packington)

1536 Burnt at stake

“Lord open the King of England’s eyes”

Many had a like fate!

1535 Coverdale Bible

1537 Matthews Bible

1539 Great Bible

1560 Geneva Bible

1568 Bishop’s Bible

Persecution of Queen Mary I

Hundreds fled

Published a new English

Bible in Geneva,

Principally a revision of Tyndale’s earlier work of 1534

First English Bible to have verse chapter divisions

Extensive marginal notes

Bible the Pilgrims used when they sailed to the New World 1620

Shaped American life

Impacted Colonial culture

300 Protestants burnt as heretics

1553 John Rodgers burnt at the stake

1555 Thomas Cranmer (publisher of the Great Bible) burnt at Smithfield

1555 Latimer (Protestant Bishop) burnt at the stake

It was “the Counter Reformation”

“Be of good comfort Master Ridley, and play the man; we

shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall

never be put out”

Separation from Rome

Freedom to publish Bible

Intense Persecution

Plots – Spanish Armada (1588)

Gunpowder Plot 1605

Henry VIII (1509-1547)

Edward VI (1547-1553)

Queen Mary (1553-1558)

Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

King James I (1603-1625)

1534 – Act of Supremacy

1536 – Dissolution of the Monasteries

1549 – Act of Uniformity

King, not the Pope, was Supreme Head of the Church of England

Monasteries were suppressed

Authorised use of English Prayer Book -

Mary passed an Act to restore Papal authority

1559 – Elizabeth I repealed the Act, and passed Act of Uniformity

End of R C Church in EnglandDiplomatic relations severed with the RomeDefeat of Spanish Armada

Extract from a document found in the “Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris”

It was addressed to the future Pope Jules III (1550)

“The Bible is the book which, more than any

other, can stir up against us, revolts and storms……It is vital to keep the Bible away from the attention of the people but with

much caution so as to avoid uproar”

1603 King James journeys to London for his accession

Met by a deputation pleading to modify the Church in favour of puritan principles

The Millenary Petition

1603 James called for a Conference at Hampton Court

Discuss differences between Puritans and the Bishops

Dr John Reynolds suggested a new Translation of the Bible

The ‘King James Bible’ came into existence!

47 scholars took part

Result - largely reflected the work of William Tyndale

“But among all our joys, there was no one that more filled our

hearts, than the blessed continuance of the preaching of God’s sacred Word among us;

which is that inestimable treasure, which excelleth all the

riches of the earth”

Inestimable treasure

Excels all the riches of the earth

A joy that fills the heart

But more than that…………

“…the holy scriptures are able to make thee wise unto

salvation through faith which is in

Christ Jesus”

(2 Timothy 3:15)

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto

ye do well that ye take heed”

(2 Peter 1:19)

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter

than honey to my mouth”

(Psalm 119:103)

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”

(Psalm 119:105)

“The entrance of thy words giveth light ”

(Psalm 119:130)

“Thy word is true from the beginning”

(Psalm 119:160)

Brief History

Jews came to Britain in 1066

1190 Richard the Lion-heart gave them protection

Expelled by Edward I –(1290?)

Development of the British Empire

[1] 1601 - English East-Indian Company was formed

[2] The Reformation (16th Century)

The ReformationBible in EnglishCommon man had access to it

Great age of Prophetic commentaryHighest authority of British life was the BibleEngland were custodians of the Word of God – never happened before!

Government in the hands of Bible Believing Christians

1656 Oliver Cromwell opened the way for Jewish people to return to Britain

Powerful Christian revival preaching–The Restoration of the Jewish peopleThe Return of the Messiah

Ultimately led to Britain providing a homeland for the Jews

THE BIBLE STILL HAS ENEMIES…

• UNBELIEF

• SCEPTICISM

• INDIFFERENCE