The Holy Bible and Its History
The 66 books which make up the Holy Bible were originally written in ancient languages; Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek by men who were inspired by God. The Bible itself tells us that all scripture is by inspiration of God.
Old Testament
The Pentateuch (the Law)
Geneses, Exodus, Leviticus, Nurabers, Deuteronomy
Historical Writings
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
Wisdom Literature (Poetry)
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
The Major Prophets
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Lamentations, Daniel.
The Minor Prophets
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew)
Written in the third century B.C. by Jewish scribes versed in Hebrew and Greek. Most Jews then did not understand Hebrew. Many of the Jews in the time of Jesus used the Septuagint as their Bible. Many of the New Testament Apostles quoted it when they wrote the Gospels and Epistles in Greek.
Not one of the original writings, called "the Autographs" exist today. However, the Jewish scribes made very accurate copies of the originals over the many centuries.
Certain European Jewish scribes called the Masoretes carefully transmitted it from copy to copy preserving and handing down their writings. Several of those "Masoretes" manuscripts still exist. Some of the more important ones are listed below:
The Cairo Codex of the Prophets (AD 895)
Containing the Prophets
The British Museum Codex Oriental 4445
(ninth or tenth century), containing a large portion of the Pentateuch.
The Leningrad Codex of the Prophets (AD 916)
Containing the Major Prophets.
The Leningrad Codex (AD 1008-1009)
The complete Old Testament text.
The Aleppo Codex (AD 900-925)
Originally containing the entire Old Testament text but now with a quarter of its text missing.
Until 1947 and 1948, at the time when Israel once again became a nation, the Masoretic manuscripts were the oldest known to exist.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Then the discovery of the "Dead Sea Scrolls". These scrolls date back to from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.
Even though the Dead Sea Scrolls are nearly a thousand years older than the Masoretic manuscripts, there are no essential differences. This clearly demonstrates the extreme fidelity of the Jewish scribes for over a thousand years.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include:
At least a portion of every book except Esther. The largest portions come from the Pentateuch (especially Deuteronomy - 25 manuscripts), the major Prophets (especially Isaiah - 18 manuscripts), and Psalms (27 manuscripts). The Dead Sea Scrolls also have portions of the Septuagint, the Targums (an Aramaic translation of the Old Testament), some apocryphal fragments, and a commentary on Habakkuk. The scribes who made these scrolls were merabers of a community of ascetic Jews who lived in Qumran from the third century B.C to the first century A.D..
The New Testament
Though the Old Testament took hundreRAB of years to write, the New Testament was written in about 50 years, between 50 A.D. to 100 A.D..
The Gospel of Mark is thought to be the first of the four Gospels about 50-55 A.D.. Matthew around 70 A.D., Luke around 60 A.D., Luke also wrote the book of Acts. John's Gospel was written around 85-90 A.D..
After the four Gospels and Acts, are Paul's 13 epistles: Romans 58 A.D., 1 and 2 Corinthians 56-57 A.D., Galatians 49 or 56 A.D., Ephesians 61 A.D., Philippians 62 A.D., Colossians 62 A.D., 1 and 2 Thessalonians 51 A.D., 1 and 2 Timothy 63-66 A.D., Titus 65 A.D., and Philemon 61 A.D..
Epistles to specific churches prior to Paul's Imprisonment in Rome are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
Epistles written during Paul's imprisonment in Rome are called Prison Epistles; Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
Epistles written to individuals giving advice concerning the care of particular local churches are called the Pastoral Epistles; 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus.
A few scholars think Paul wrote Hebrews, but it is unlikely because of a completely different writing style. It may have been Apollos, Barnabas or Priscilla, or even some other of Paul's co-workers.
Following Paul's epistles are the General Epistles and Revelation.
James, the older brother of Jesus, wrote an epistle to the Christian Jews who had fled from Jerusalem due to persecution. His letter was written around 45 A.D. making it the earliest writing in the New Testament. Jude, the brother of James and Jesus wrote a brief letter 75 A.D., and John penned the last book, Revelation 90-95 A.D.. (note- it is Revelation, not Revelations)
During most of the first century, the Christians still had apostles present who passed along the teachings of Jesus. As the apostles began to die, the early Christians began to depend more and more on the writings and began to collect them in groups such as the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Also Acts and Paul's epistles, 1 Peter, and 1 John.
During the second century there was much debate on which were divinely inspired. Before the death of the apostles the Old Testament was considered as Scripture. Once the issues were resolved about the middle of the fourth century, all the books were accepted by the church as being divinely inspired and worthy of inclusion in the New Testament cannon.
Even before the end of the first century, the early Christians began to make copies of what was to be known as the New Testament. They were among the first to use a form of a book called a codex instead of a scroll. A codex was much more like our present books where it had folded pages or sheets of papyrus or vellum (treated animal hide). Obviously there were many advantages to a codex over a scroll.
Not one of the original writing (autograph) of any New Testament book still exists. According to most scholars, the closest copy to an autograph is a papyrus manuscript designated P52, which contains a few verses of John 18, from around 110 to 125.
A few scholars believe there is even an older manuscript (P46) known as the Chester Beatty Papyrus II which contains all of Paul's epistles except the Pastorals. These writings have been recently dated in the late first century. If this dating is accurate, we have an entire collection of Paul's epistles that would have been made only 20 to 30 years after Paul wrote them.
Some of the important early New Testament papyrus manuscripts are:
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri;
Matthew 1, John 1; 16, Hebrews 2-5; 10-12, and John 15-16.
The Chester Beatty Papyri;
Portions of all four Gospels and Acts, almost all Paul's epistles and Hebrews, and Revelation 9-17.
The Bodmer Papyri;
Almost all of John, all of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude, large parts of Luke 3 and John 15.
During the twentieth century, nearly a hundred papyrus manuscripts containing portions of the New Testament were discovered, several of which date in the fourth and fifth centuries.
The most noteworthy of these are:
Codex Sinaiticus;
Discovered in St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai and dates to around 350 A.D. and contains the entire New Testament.
Codex Vaticanus;
This manuscript had been in the Vatican's library since at least 1481, but had not been made available to scholars until the middle of the nineteenth century. This codex is dated slightly earlier than Sinaiticus and has both the Old and New Testament in Greek, excluding the last part of the New Testament from Hebrews 9:15 to the end of Revelation, and the Pastoral Epistles. For the most part, scholars accept Codex Vaticanus for being one of the most trustworthy witnesses to the New Testament text.
Codex Alexandrinus:
From around the fifth century, having nearly all the New Testament, this Codex is known to be a very reliable witness to the General Epistles and Revelation.
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus:
Fifth century containing much of the New Testament which was partially erased and written upon with the sermons of St. Ephraem and later deciphered again.
Codex Bazae:
Another fifth century manuscript containing the Gospels and Acts, but with a much different text.
Codex Washingtonianus, or - "The Freer Gospels".
Fifth century manuscript containing all four Gospels. This document is now located in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C..
Before the fifteenth century when Gutenberg invented the printing press, all copies of literature were made by hand, thus called manuscript.
We now have over 6,000 manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament or portions.
Today, our New Testament textual scholars have a great advantage over the classical textual scholars. These New Testament scholars have the resources to construct the original text of the New Testament with great accuracy.
Although there are minor differences in many of the New Testament manuscripts, there is not one fundamental doctrinal difference. The Christian of today can take the Bible in his/her hand with great confidence that he/she is reading the very Word of God, as handed down from generation to generation, without any significant loss.
The English Bible
As the Word spread and new churches ushered in to Christian Era, people began wanting to read the Bible in their own language. Other language translations began as early as the second century.
There were Coptic for the Egyptians, Syriac for those who spoke Aramaic, Gothic for the Germanic people - the Goths, and in Latin for the Romans and Carthagenians.
The most well known is the is the Latin Vulgate (meaning "common") translated by Jerome around 400 A.D..
Around the sixth century the Vulgate began showing up in England, brought in by missionaries from Rome. In those early years people would have to depend on monks in order to get instruction from the Bible. The monks read and taught in Latin.
After a few centuries, a need for an English translation of the Bible began to be realized. The first one is thought to have been translated by a seventh century monk named Caedmon who translated parts of the Old and New Testament.
An English churchman named Bede is thought to have translated much of the Bible into English and was still working on the Gospel of John at the time of his death in 735.
Alfred the Great (871 - 899) translated parts of the Ten Commandments which he included in his laws. He also translated Psalms.
Prior to Tyndale, all English Bibles were translated from the Latin text. Some Latin versions of the Gospels with word-for-word English translations written between the lines are called Interlinear translations. Some survive from the tenth century. The most well known from that era is the Lindisfarne Gospels - 950 A.D..
Around 955 to 1020, Aelfric, an abbot of Eynsham, made idiomatic translations of various parts of the Bible. Idiomatic simply means an attempt to translate thought for thought rather than word for word. It is difficult, if not impossible, to translate word for word from one language to another without loosing much of the "meaning" of the text. Two of these translations still exist today.
John Wycliffe, 1329 - 1384
The first hand-written English language manuscripts of the Bible were written in the 1380's by John Wycliff or Wycliffe. Wycliff spent much time demonstrating the Roman Catholic's were teaching contrary to the
It was directly because of Wycliff's efforts that the English Speaking people were finally able to read the Word of God in their own language.
John Purvey
After Wycliff's death, his close associate John Purvey, continued Wycliff's work by writing a revision of his translation in 1388. Within a century, Purvey's translation had replaced Wycliff's Bible.
It should be pointed out that both translations were actually translations from the Latin and not from the original languages.
William Tyndale
Tyndale who had studied the scriptures in Greek and Hebrew translated the New Testament in 1522. Both he and Martin Luther used the same Greek text, one compiled by Erasmus in 1516. Luther, of course, translated the text into German.
The Latin that Erasmus translated from the Greek revealed enormous corruptions in the Vulgate's integrity.
Tyndale spent his life dedicated to translating a Bible so that the common people could be as correctly interpret the Scriptures as well as any clergyman.
In 1536, Tyndale was strangled and then burned at the stake for his efforts. His last worRAB were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."
Although Tyndale had begun work on the Old Testament, he did not have time to complete his work, but he had finished the Pentateuch, Jonah, and some historical books.
Miles Coverdale, 1488 - 1569
Coverdale, an associate of Tyndale, completed and entire English Bible, based largely on Tyndale's work. Simply, Coverdale finished Tyndale's work.
The Coverdale Bible was the very first complete English Bible, printed on October 4, 1535.
Thomas Matthew, a pseudonym for John Rogers, 1500 - 1555
In 1537, the same year that Coverdale's Bible was endorsed by the King, Thomas Matthew , a friend of Tyndale, published The Thomas Matthew Bible. Rogers apparently used the unpublished work on the Old Testament and parts of Coverdale's work. This Bible also received the King's approval.
In 1538 the Thomas Matthew Bible revised and printed for distribution to the English churches.
Matthew was also burnt at the stake.
In 1539, Thomas Cranmer, the Arcrabroadishop of Canterbury, hired Myles Coverdale at the bequest of King Henry VIII to publish the "Great Bible" . The "Great Bible" The first English Bible authorized for public use, was called the Great Bible because of its size - over 14 inches tall.
Cranmer was also burnt at the stake.
William Tyndale's last wish had been granted. Just three years after his martyrdom, Cranmer's Bible, published by Coverdale, known as the Great Bible became the first "authorized" Bible. Seven editions of this version were printed between 1539 and 1541.
England experienced religious freedom through the 1540's into the 1550's. The reign of Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) wanted England to return to the Roman Catholic Church. Mary went on to burn reformers at the stake by the hundreRAB for the "crime" of being a Protestant. This era was known as the Marian Exile, and the refugees fled from England with little hope of ever seeing their home or frienRAB again.
In the 1550's, the Church at Geneva, Switzerland, was sympathetic to the reformer refugees from England and was one of only a few safe havens for these desperate Englishmen.
John Foxe, one of those who fled to Switzerland, published his famous Foxe's Book of Martyrs. This is the only exhaustive work on the persecution and martyrdom of early Christians and Protestant from the first century up to the mid 16th century. These works are still widely read today.
Of those who fled to Geneva, such as Myles Coverdale and others, under the protection of John Calvin and John Knox, the Church of Geneva was determined to produce a Bible that would educate their families while they continued in exile.
The New Testament was completed in 1557, and the complete Bible was first published in 1560. It became known as the Geneva Bible.
Because of a passage in Genesis describing the clothing that God fashioned for Adam and Eve upon expulsion from the Garden of Eden as "Breeches" (an antiquated form of "Britches"), some people referred to the Geneva Bible as the Breeches Bible.
The Geneva Bible was the first Bible to add verses to the chapters, so that referencing specific passages would be easier. Every chapter was also had extensive marginal notes and references so thorough and complete that the Geneva Bible is also considered the first English "Study Bible".
The Geneva Bible became the Bible of choice for over 100 years of English speaking Christians. Between 1560 and 1644 at least 144 editions of this Bible were published. It is quite clear that the 1611 King James Bible was influenced much more by the Geneva Bible, than by any other source.
The Geneva Bible itself retains over 90% of William Tyndale's original English translation.
The Geneva in fact, remained more popular than the King James Version until decades after its original release in 1611! The Geneva holRAB the honor of being the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims.
With the end of Queen Mary's bloody rein, and under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I, there was reluctant toleration for printing and distributing the Geneva Bibles in England. The marginal notes, which clearly instructed against the institutional Church of the day, were a sore spot with the rulers.
Another version with a less inflammatory tone, was requested. In 1568, the Bishop's Bible was introduced. The Bishop's Bible (1568 and 1606) never gained much popularity among the people. The Geneva Bible was simply too much to compete with.
The Bishop's Bible continued in use until it was superseded by the King James in 1611. (see King James below).
By the 1580's, primarily because of the Geneva bible, the Roman Catholic Church saw that it could no longer to suppress the Word of God .
In 1582, the Church of Rome gave up their fight for "Latin only" and decided that if the Bible was to be available in English, they would at least have an official Roman Catholic English translation.
Using the Latin Vulgate as a source text, they went on to publish an English Bible with all the distortions and corruptions that Erasmus had revealed and warned of 75 years earlier.
The New Testament was know as the Rheims (Rhemes) and the Old Testament was the Doway (also Douay or Douai). The two were corabined into what is know as the "Doway/Rheims".
The Doway/Rheims then is the Catholic English Bible.
In 1589, Dr. Fulke of Carabridge published the "Fulke's Refutation". Fulke printed parallel columns of the Bishops Version along side the Rheims Version. He clearly demonstrated the error and distortion of the Roman Church's corrupt compromise of an English version of the Bible.
When Queen Elizabeth I died, Prince James VI of Scotland became King James I of England.
The King James Bible, 1611, became the next "Authorized Version".
The King James is often called the Authorized Version or "AV" even today. It simply means that King James had authorized it. It has no deeper meaning, as some well-meaning Christians might presume. The true meaning of "authorized" as used here is that the King "authorized" the work to be undertaken, after being requested to do so, to tranlate a new English Bible. It does not mean God authorized it.
The Protestant clergy approached the new King in 1604 and announced their desire for a new translation to replace the Bishop's Bible first printed in 1568. They knew that the Geneva Version had won the hearts of the people because of its excellent scholarship, accuracy, and exhaustive commentary.
However, they did not want the controversial marginal . Essentially, the church leaders wanted a Bible for the people, with scriptural references only for word clarification when multiple meanings were possible.
The great revision of the Bishop's Bible had begun in 1607 when about 50 scholars were instructed to follow the Bishop's Bible as the basic version, as long as they adhered to the original text, and to consult; The Tyndale New Testament, The Coverdale Bible, The Matthews Bible, The Great Bible, The Geneva Bible, and even the Rheims New Testament.
By 1610 their work went to press and in 1611 the first King James was printed. It was 16 inches tall.
However a typographical error in Ruth 3:15 rendered the pronoun "He" instead of the correct "She" in that verse. This caused some of the 1611 First Editions to be known by collectors as "He" Bibles, and others as "She" Bibles.
It took about a century before the King James became as popular as the Geneva, but eventually the King James Version became the English Bible of choice.
The King James Bible became the most printed book in the history of the world. For about 250 years, until the appearance of the Revised Version of 1881...the King James Version reigned without a rival.
In 1663, the first English language Bible was printed in America - a King James Version.
In 1791, the text and quality and size of the typesetting was vastly improved upon.
In 1841, the English Hexapla New Testament was printed. This textual comparison tool shows in parallel columns: The 1380 Wycliff, 1534 Tyndale, 1539 Great, 1557 Geneva, 1582 Rheims, and 1611 King James versions of the entire New Testament, with the original Greek at the top of the page.
Many new discoveries were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Earlier manuscripts were found, and there was an increased knowledge of the original languages.
The deficiencies in the King James Bible were well known to the scholars. Although the Masoretic text was adequate, their knowledge of Hebrew in the seventeenth century was not.
Also, for the translation of the New Testament, the King James translators used a Greek text known as the "Texus Receptus (received text), which was the work of Erasmus. Erasmus compiled the first Greek text to be produced on a printing press. Erasmus used only 5 or 6 of late manuscripts dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century. These manuscripts were inferior to the earlier ones.
COMMENTARY
Today we have many good English translations of the Bible. There are some Christians who worry about the different translations - which one is the true Word of God.
To put it simply, they are "all" the true Word of God!
It is absolutely amazing that after the thousanRAB of years between the first written scripture, then after long perioRAB of time between different discoveries of scripture, after having gone through many language translations, there is still no significant difference in any translation!
The important factor for Christians in not which Bible you read, but that you "DO" read the Bible, and that you ask God to give you "understanding" as you read.
Although it is certainly a complicated topic to understand all that has taken place over the past several centuries in obtaining an English Bible, there is a one great simple fact which remains: That Jesus Christ is the Son of God - God the Son, 100 percent God and 100 percent man, and the only hope of our Salvation.
That we are saved by Him, through Grace alone, and that we are to obey His commandments. If we are to be called by His name; "Christians" we are to be "like Him" to the best of our ability and with the resources God provides us with.
We can find out about God's Word from any of the English translations, although some may be "easier" to read and understand. But, we should remeraber too, that "all" understanding comes from God's Spirit, and not by just reading alone. God's Spirit is to be verified by scripture, but scripture is not the only means God has of communicating with His people.
Remeraber too, that His people 'sheep' know their Master's Voice.
Again, there are those Christians who worry a great deal over which Bible is God's Word. They have made it a secondary religion in some cases. This especially holRAB true for those proclaiming the KJV is the"only" Bible. They are often called the KJV Only Club or Cult.
They are not bad people. They are just concerned that others may be reading something which takes away the deity of Christ, or which explains something incorrectly. They can often be quite firm in their convictions, to the point of calling other Bible translations as satanic, and even those who read other Bible translations may be satanic or new age.
Remeraber please, as Christians, they are our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and we are to love them in spite of what they may say. They are not bad, just simply mistaken. Their faith in the King James Bible harms no one. It is a very good Bible, which the reading of has lead millions of people straight to God and out of the hanRAB of Satan. Use kindness and truth when talking to, or about, a KJV Only Christian. There is nothing wrong with their Bible. There is nothing wrong with the others either!
I should not close without mentioning another Bible, the Living Bible. Although this is a very nice, easy to read, Bible, it is a paraphrased version. You young person or a new Christian reading this Bible should move on to a better version as soon as they can. The Living Bible has improved with its new versions, but still lacts the ability to reflect God's true and full meaning.
Another book being claimed as a companion to the Bible is the "Book of Mormon". This book is not a Bible, and should be considered by the Christian as no more than a fiction novel.
Sources
Eerdmans' Handbook to the History of Christianity.
The Complete Guide to Bible Versions.
Many reports gathered from around the Internet.
Personal research.
The King James Bible (KJV)
The New International Version (NIV)
The Holy Ghost and others...
This text is "NOT" copyrighted!
Greg Moore
[email protected]
The 66 books which make up the Holy Bible were originally written in ancient languages; Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek by men who were inspired by God. The Bible itself tells us that all scripture is by inspiration of God.
Old Testament
The Pentateuch (the Law)
Geneses, Exodus, Leviticus, Nurabers, Deuteronomy
Historical Writings
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
Wisdom Literature (Poetry)
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
The Major Prophets
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Lamentations, Daniel.
The Minor Prophets
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew)
Written in the third century B.C. by Jewish scribes versed in Hebrew and Greek. Most Jews then did not understand Hebrew. Many of the Jews in the time of Jesus used the Septuagint as their Bible. Many of the New Testament Apostles quoted it when they wrote the Gospels and Epistles in Greek.
Not one of the original writings, called "the Autographs" exist today. However, the Jewish scribes made very accurate copies of the originals over the many centuries.
Certain European Jewish scribes called the Masoretes carefully transmitted it from copy to copy preserving and handing down their writings. Several of those "Masoretes" manuscripts still exist. Some of the more important ones are listed below:
The Cairo Codex of the Prophets (AD 895)
Containing the Prophets
The British Museum Codex Oriental 4445
(ninth or tenth century), containing a large portion of the Pentateuch.
The Leningrad Codex of the Prophets (AD 916)
Containing the Major Prophets.
The Leningrad Codex (AD 1008-1009)
The complete Old Testament text.
The Aleppo Codex (AD 900-925)
Originally containing the entire Old Testament text but now with a quarter of its text missing.
Until 1947 and 1948, at the time when Israel once again became a nation, the Masoretic manuscripts were the oldest known to exist.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Then the discovery of the "Dead Sea Scrolls". These scrolls date back to from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.
Even though the Dead Sea Scrolls are nearly a thousand years older than the Masoretic manuscripts, there are no essential differences. This clearly demonstrates the extreme fidelity of the Jewish scribes for over a thousand years.
The Dead Sea Scrolls include:
At least a portion of every book except Esther. The largest portions come from the Pentateuch (especially Deuteronomy - 25 manuscripts), the major Prophets (especially Isaiah - 18 manuscripts), and Psalms (27 manuscripts). The Dead Sea Scrolls also have portions of the Septuagint, the Targums (an Aramaic translation of the Old Testament), some apocryphal fragments, and a commentary on Habakkuk. The scribes who made these scrolls were merabers of a community of ascetic Jews who lived in Qumran from the third century B.C to the first century A.D..
The New Testament
Though the Old Testament took hundreRAB of years to write, the New Testament was written in about 50 years, between 50 A.D. to 100 A.D..
The Gospel of Mark is thought to be the first of the four Gospels about 50-55 A.D.. Matthew around 70 A.D., Luke around 60 A.D., Luke also wrote the book of Acts. John's Gospel was written around 85-90 A.D..
After the four Gospels and Acts, are Paul's 13 epistles: Romans 58 A.D., 1 and 2 Corinthians 56-57 A.D., Galatians 49 or 56 A.D., Ephesians 61 A.D., Philippians 62 A.D., Colossians 62 A.D., 1 and 2 Thessalonians 51 A.D., 1 and 2 Timothy 63-66 A.D., Titus 65 A.D., and Philemon 61 A.D..
Epistles to specific churches prior to Paul's Imprisonment in Rome are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
Epistles written during Paul's imprisonment in Rome are called Prison Epistles; Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
Epistles written to individuals giving advice concerning the care of particular local churches are called the Pastoral Epistles; 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus.
A few scholars think Paul wrote Hebrews, but it is unlikely because of a completely different writing style. It may have been Apollos, Barnabas or Priscilla, or even some other of Paul's co-workers.
Following Paul's epistles are the General Epistles and Revelation.
James, the older brother of Jesus, wrote an epistle to the Christian Jews who had fled from Jerusalem due to persecution. His letter was written around 45 A.D. making it the earliest writing in the New Testament. Jude, the brother of James and Jesus wrote a brief letter 75 A.D., and John penned the last book, Revelation 90-95 A.D.. (note- it is Revelation, not Revelations)
During most of the first century, the Christians still had apostles present who passed along the teachings of Jesus. As the apostles began to die, the early Christians began to depend more and more on the writings and began to collect them in groups such as the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Also Acts and Paul's epistles, 1 Peter, and 1 John.
During the second century there was much debate on which were divinely inspired. Before the death of the apostles the Old Testament was considered as Scripture. Once the issues were resolved about the middle of the fourth century, all the books were accepted by the church as being divinely inspired and worthy of inclusion in the New Testament cannon.
Even before the end of the first century, the early Christians began to make copies of what was to be known as the New Testament. They were among the first to use a form of a book called a codex instead of a scroll. A codex was much more like our present books where it had folded pages or sheets of papyrus or vellum (treated animal hide). Obviously there were many advantages to a codex over a scroll.
Not one of the original writing (autograph) of any New Testament book still exists. According to most scholars, the closest copy to an autograph is a papyrus manuscript designated P52, which contains a few verses of John 18, from around 110 to 125.
A few scholars believe there is even an older manuscript (P46) known as the Chester Beatty Papyrus II which contains all of Paul's epistles except the Pastorals. These writings have been recently dated in the late first century. If this dating is accurate, we have an entire collection of Paul's epistles that would have been made only 20 to 30 years after Paul wrote them.
Some of the important early New Testament papyrus manuscripts are:
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri;
Matthew 1, John 1; 16, Hebrews 2-5; 10-12, and John 15-16.
The Chester Beatty Papyri;
Portions of all four Gospels and Acts, almost all Paul's epistles and Hebrews, and Revelation 9-17.
The Bodmer Papyri;
Almost all of John, all of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude, large parts of Luke 3 and John 15.
During the twentieth century, nearly a hundred papyrus manuscripts containing portions of the New Testament were discovered, several of which date in the fourth and fifth centuries.
The most noteworthy of these are:
Codex Sinaiticus;
Discovered in St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai and dates to around 350 A.D. and contains the entire New Testament.
Codex Vaticanus;
This manuscript had been in the Vatican's library since at least 1481, but had not been made available to scholars until the middle of the nineteenth century. This codex is dated slightly earlier than Sinaiticus and has both the Old and New Testament in Greek, excluding the last part of the New Testament from Hebrews 9:15 to the end of Revelation, and the Pastoral Epistles. For the most part, scholars accept Codex Vaticanus for being one of the most trustworthy witnesses to the New Testament text.
Codex Alexandrinus:
From around the fifth century, having nearly all the New Testament, this Codex is known to be a very reliable witness to the General Epistles and Revelation.
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus:
Fifth century containing much of the New Testament which was partially erased and written upon with the sermons of St. Ephraem and later deciphered again.
Codex Bazae:
Another fifth century manuscript containing the Gospels and Acts, but with a much different text.
Codex Washingtonianus, or - "The Freer Gospels".
Fifth century manuscript containing all four Gospels. This document is now located in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C..
Before the fifteenth century when Gutenberg invented the printing press, all copies of literature were made by hand, thus called manuscript.
We now have over 6,000 manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament or portions.
Today, our New Testament textual scholars have a great advantage over the classical textual scholars. These New Testament scholars have the resources to construct the original text of the New Testament with great accuracy.
Although there are minor differences in many of the New Testament manuscripts, there is not one fundamental doctrinal difference. The Christian of today can take the Bible in his/her hand with great confidence that he/she is reading the very Word of God, as handed down from generation to generation, without any significant loss.
The English Bible
As the Word spread and new churches ushered in to Christian Era, people began wanting to read the Bible in their own language. Other language translations began as early as the second century.
There were Coptic for the Egyptians, Syriac for those who spoke Aramaic, Gothic for the Germanic people - the Goths, and in Latin for the Romans and Carthagenians.
The most well known is the is the Latin Vulgate (meaning "common") translated by Jerome around 400 A.D..
Around the sixth century the Vulgate began showing up in England, brought in by missionaries from Rome. In those early years people would have to depend on monks in order to get instruction from the Bible. The monks read and taught in Latin.
After a few centuries, a need for an English translation of the Bible began to be realized. The first one is thought to have been translated by a seventh century monk named Caedmon who translated parts of the Old and New Testament.
An English churchman named Bede is thought to have translated much of the Bible into English and was still working on the Gospel of John at the time of his death in 735.
Alfred the Great (871 - 899) translated parts of the Ten Commandments which he included in his laws. He also translated Psalms.
Prior to Tyndale, all English Bibles were translated from the Latin text. Some Latin versions of the Gospels with word-for-word English translations written between the lines are called Interlinear translations. Some survive from the tenth century. The most well known from that era is the Lindisfarne Gospels - 950 A.D..
Around 955 to 1020, Aelfric, an abbot of Eynsham, made idiomatic translations of various parts of the Bible. Idiomatic simply means an attempt to translate thought for thought rather than word for word. It is difficult, if not impossible, to translate word for word from one language to another without loosing much of the "meaning" of the text. Two of these translations still exist today.
John Wycliffe, 1329 - 1384
The first hand-written English language manuscripts of the Bible were written in the 1380's by John Wycliff or Wycliffe. Wycliff spent much time demonstrating the Roman Catholic's were teaching contrary to the
It was directly because of Wycliff's efforts that the English Speaking people were finally able to read the Word of God in their own language.
John Purvey
After Wycliff's death, his close associate John Purvey, continued Wycliff's work by writing a revision of his translation in 1388. Within a century, Purvey's translation had replaced Wycliff's Bible.
It should be pointed out that both translations were actually translations from the Latin and not from the original languages.
William Tyndale
Tyndale who had studied the scriptures in Greek and Hebrew translated the New Testament in 1522. Both he and Martin Luther used the same Greek text, one compiled by Erasmus in 1516. Luther, of course, translated the text into German.
The Latin that Erasmus translated from the Greek revealed enormous corruptions in the Vulgate's integrity.
Tyndale spent his life dedicated to translating a Bible so that the common people could be as correctly interpret the Scriptures as well as any clergyman.
In 1536, Tyndale was strangled and then burned at the stake for his efforts. His last worRAB were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."
Although Tyndale had begun work on the Old Testament, he did not have time to complete his work, but he had finished the Pentateuch, Jonah, and some historical books.
Miles Coverdale, 1488 - 1569
Coverdale, an associate of Tyndale, completed and entire English Bible, based largely on Tyndale's work. Simply, Coverdale finished Tyndale's work.
The Coverdale Bible was the very first complete English Bible, printed on October 4, 1535.
Thomas Matthew, a pseudonym for John Rogers, 1500 - 1555
In 1537, the same year that Coverdale's Bible was endorsed by the King, Thomas Matthew , a friend of Tyndale, published The Thomas Matthew Bible. Rogers apparently used the unpublished work on the Old Testament and parts of Coverdale's work. This Bible also received the King's approval.
In 1538 the Thomas Matthew Bible revised and printed for distribution to the English churches.
Matthew was also burnt at the stake.
In 1539, Thomas Cranmer, the Arcrabroadishop of Canterbury, hired Myles Coverdale at the bequest of King Henry VIII to publish the "Great Bible" . The "Great Bible" The first English Bible authorized for public use, was called the Great Bible because of its size - over 14 inches tall.
Cranmer was also burnt at the stake.
William Tyndale's last wish had been granted. Just three years after his martyrdom, Cranmer's Bible, published by Coverdale, known as the Great Bible became the first "authorized" Bible. Seven editions of this version were printed between 1539 and 1541.
England experienced religious freedom through the 1540's into the 1550's. The reign of Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) wanted England to return to the Roman Catholic Church. Mary went on to burn reformers at the stake by the hundreRAB for the "crime" of being a Protestant. This era was known as the Marian Exile, and the refugees fled from England with little hope of ever seeing their home or frienRAB again.
In the 1550's, the Church at Geneva, Switzerland, was sympathetic to the reformer refugees from England and was one of only a few safe havens for these desperate Englishmen.
John Foxe, one of those who fled to Switzerland, published his famous Foxe's Book of Martyrs. This is the only exhaustive work on the persecution and martyrdom of early Christians and Protestant from the first century up to the mid 16th century. These works are still widely read today.
Of those who fled to Geneva, such as Myles Coverdale and others, under the protection of John Calvin and John Knox, the Church of Geneva was determined to produce a Bible that would educate their families while they continued in exile.
The New Testament was completed in 1557, and the complete Bible was first published in 1560. It became known as the Geneva Bible.
Because of a passage in Genesis describing the clothing that God fashioned for Adam and Eve upon expulsion from the Garden of Eden as "Breeches" (an antiquated form of "Britches"), some people referred to the Geneva Bible as the Breeches Bible.
The Geneva Bible was the first Bible to add verses to the chapters, so that referencing specific passages would be easier. Every chapter was also had extensive marginal notes and references so thorough and complete that the Geneva Bible is also considered the first English "Study Bible".
The Geneva Bible became the Bible of choice for over 100 years of English speaking Christians. Between 1560 and 1644 at least 144 editions of this Bible were published. It is quite clear that the 1611 King James Bible was influenced much more by the Geneva Bible, than by any other source.
The Geneva Bible itself retains over 90% of William Tyndale's original English translation.
The Geneva in fact, remained more popular than the King James Version until decades after its original release in 1611! The Geneva holRAB the honor of being the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims.
With the end of Queen Mary's bloody rein, and under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I, there was reluctant toleration for printing and distributing the Geneva Bibles in England. The marginal notes, which clearly instructed against the institutional Church of the day, were a sore spot with the rulers.
Another version with a less inflammatory tone, was requested. In 1568, the Bishop's Bible was introduced. The Bishop's Bible (1568 and 1606) never gained much popularity among the people. The Geneva Bible was simply too much to compete with.
The Bishop's Bible continued in use until it was superseded by the King James in 1611. (see King James below).
By the 1580's, primarily because of the Geneva bible, the Roman Catholic Church saw that it could no longer to suppress the Word of God .
In 1582, the Church of Rome gave up their fight for "Latin only" and decided that if the Bible was to be available in English, they would at least have an official Roman Catholic English translation.
Using the Latin Vulgate as a source text, they went on to publish an English Bible with all the distortions and corruptions that Erasmus had revealed and warned of 75 years earlier.
The New Testament was know as the Rheims (Rhemes) and the Old Testament was the Doway (also Douay or Douai). The two were corabined into what is know as the "Doway/Rheims".
The Doway/Rheims then is the Catholic English Bible.
In 1589, Dr. Fulke of Carabridge published the "Fulke's Refutation". Fulke printed parallel columns of the Bishops Version along side the Rheims Version. He clearly demonstrated the error and distortion of the Roman Church's corrupt compromise of an English version of the Bible.
When Queen Elizabeth I died, Prince James VI of Scotland became King James I of England.
The King James Bible, 1611, became the next "Authorized Version".
The King James is often called the Authorized Version or "AV" even today. It simply means that King James had authorized it. It has no deeper meaning, as some well-meaning Christians might presume. The true meaning of "authorized" as used here is that the King "authorized" the work to be undertaken, after being requested to do so, to tranlate a new English Bible. It does not mean God authorized it.
The Protestant clergy approached the new King in 1604 and announced their desire for a new translation to replace the Bishop's Bible first printed in 1568. They knew that the Geneva Version had won the hearts of the people because of its excellent scholarship, accuracy, and exhaustive commentary.
However, they did not want the controversial marginal . Essentially, the church leaders wanted a Bible for the people, with scriptural references only for word clarification when multiple meanings were possible.
The great revision of the Bishop's Bible had begun in 1607 when about 50 scholars were instructed to follow the Bishop's Bible as the basic version, as long as they adhered to the original text, and to consult; The Tyndale New Testament, The Coverdale Bible, The Matthews Bible, The Great Bible, The Geneva Bible, and even the Rheims New Testament.
By 1610 their work went to press and in 1611 the first King James was printed. It was 16 inches tall.
However a typographical error in Ruth 3:15 rendered the pronoun "He" instead of the correct "She" in that verse. This caused some of the 1611 First Editions to be known by collectors as "He" Bibles, and others as "She" Bibles.
It took about a century before the King James became as popular as the Geneva, but eventually the King James Version became the English Bible of choice.
The King James Bible became the most printed book in the history of the world. For about 250 years, until the appearance of the Revised Version of 1881...the King James Version reigned without a rival.
In 1663, the first English language Bible was printed in America - a King James Version.
In 1791, the text and quality and size of the typesetting was vastly improved upon.
In 1841, the English Hexapla New Testament was printed. This textual comparison tool shows in parallel columns: The 1380 Wycliff, 1534 Tyndale, 1539 Great, 1557 Geneva, 1582 Rheims, and 1611 King James versions of the entire New Testament, with the original Greek at the top of the page.
Many new discoveries were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Earlier manuscripts were found, and there was an increased knowledge of the original languages.
The deficiencies in the King James Bible were well known to the scholars. Although the Masoretic text was adequate, their knowledge of Hebrew in the seventeenth century was not.
Also, for the translation of the New Testament, the King James translators used a Greek text known as the "Texus Receptus (received text), which was the work of Erasmus. Erasmus compiled the first Greek text to be produced on a printing press. Erasmus used only 5 or 6 of late manuscripts dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century. These manuscripts were inferior to the earlier ones.
COMMENTARY
Today we have many good English translations of the Bible. There are some Christians who worry about the different translations - which one is the true Word of God.
To put it simply, they are "all" the true Word of God!
It is absolutely amazing that after the thousanRAB of years between the first written scripture, then after long perioRAB of time between different discoveries of scripture, after having gone through many language translations, there is still no significant difference in any translation!
The important factor for Christians in not which Bible you read, but that you "DO" read the Bible, and that you ask God to give you "understanding" as you read.
Although it is certainly a complicated topic to understand all that has taken place over the past several centuries in obtaining an English Bible, there is a one great simple fact which remains: That Jesus Christ is the Son of God - God the Son, 100 percent God and 100 percent man, and the only hope of our Salvation.
That we are saved by Him, through Grace alone, and that we are to obey His commandments. If we are to be called by His name; "Christians" we are to be "like Him" to the best of our ability and with the resources God provides us with.
We can find out about God's Word from any of the English translations, although some may be "easier" to read and understand. But, we should remeraber too, that "all" understanding comes from God's Spirit, and not by just reading alone. God's Spirit is to be verified by scripture, but scripture is not the only means God has of communicating with His people.
Remeraber too, that His people 'sheep' know their Master's Voice.
Again, there are those Christians who worry a great deal over which Bible is God's Word. They have made it a secondary religion in some cases. This especially holRAB true for those proclaiming the KJV is the"only" Bible. They are often called the KJV Only Club or Cult.
They are not bad people. They are just concerned that others may be reading something which takes away the deity of Christ, or which explains something incorrectly. They can often be quite firm in their convictions, to the point of calling other Bible translations as satanic, and even those who read other Bible translations may be satanic or new age.
Remeraber please, as Christians, they are our Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and we are to love them in spite of what they may say. They are not bad, just simply mistaken. Their faith in the King James Bible harms no one. It is a very good Bible, which the reading of has lead millions of people straight to God and out of the hanRAB of Satan. Use kindness and truth when talking to, or about, a KJV Only Christian. There is nothing wrong with their Bible. There is nothing wrong with the others either!
I should not close without mentioning another Bible, the Living Bible. Although this is a very nice, easy to read, Bible, it is a paraphrased version. You young person or a new Christian reading this Bible should move on to a better version as soon as they can. The Living Bible has improved with its new versions, but still lacts the ability to reflect God's true and full meaning.
Another book being claimed as a companion to the Bible is the "Book of Mormon". This book is not a Bible, and should be considered by the Christian as no more than a fiction novel.
Sources
Eerdmans' Handbook to the History of Christianity.
The Complete Guide to Bible Versions.
Many reports gathered from around the Internet.
Personal research.
The King James Bible (KJV)
The New International Version (NIV)
The Holy Ghost and others...
This text is "NOT" copyrighted!
Greg Moore
[email protected]