Download - 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Greek language was superseded by Latin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