Bible
The Bible is a collection of 66 books, that were written
over a period of about 1500 years. Christians believe that the writers of the
Bible were inspired by God to write what they did. "The structure of the
Bible that we have today was finalised around 400 AD."
The
66 books of the Bible were written by more than 40 authors and present a God’s plan
for humanity. The last book of the Old Testament, was finished about 330 years
before the birth of Jesus Christ. The second part of the Bible – the New
Testament – focuses on Jesus’ life and the early Christian Church. It was
finished around 90AD.
For
centuries the Bibles were handwritten in Latin, but the invention of printing
in the 15th century, and the drive to translate the Bible into other languages,
changed everything. The first man to produce a printed New Testament in English,
William Tyndale, was executed for his work. Many people have risked jail for
smuggling Bibles into countries where it is banned by the authorities. Even
today, possessing a Bible is illegal in some parts of the world.
The
first five books of the Old Testament are the foundations of the Jewish faith
and central to Christianity. It’s thought that the main author was Moses, a
significant leader of the Jewish people who brought them out of slavery in
Egypt. He wrote down the laws given to the Jewish people by God – including the
Ten Commandments. A later book of the Old Testament, Joshua, refers to ‘the
Book of the Law of Moses’. Other writings gathered together the oral stories
passed down for centuries, which make up the first few chapters of the Bible.
Some
of the books of the Old Testament took many years to come together because they
documented events over centuries. The Old Testament not only includes
historical accounts but poetry, songs, wise sayings and the writings of
prophets. The authors wrote in ink on specially-prepared animal skins which
were rolled up into scrolls.
It’s
thought that the Jewish leader Ezra collected the various writings together
after the Jewish people returned from exile in Babylon. The content of the Old
Testament was agreed in 290 BC about 40 years after the last book was written,
although there is evidence that the order of the books has changed a little.
For
centuries the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament still in existence were
copies dating from the 9th century AD. Then in 1947 hundreds of ancient leather
manuscripts were discovered in jars in a cave at Qumran north of the Dead Sea.
These were far older – dating back to the 1st century BC. The collection
included complete copies of Old Testament books.
The
last 27 books of the Bible, the New Testament, were written over a much shorter
period by fewer people. The first was begun around 50AD; the last finished in
90AD. By the 2nd century, the Gospels, the book of Acts and Paul’s 13 letters
were being circulated around Christian churches. Gradually other writings were
considered for inclusion in the list of scriptures.
By
around 200AD there was consensus about the list and it was finalized at church
conferences around 400 AD. By now, scrolls had been replaced by books. Thousands
of New Testament manuscripts still exist. The oldest fragments date back to
130AD; the oldest complete scripts are from 350AD.
Missionaries
brought Christianity to UK long before the Norman invasion of 1066. But their
Bibles were handwritten in Latin and accessible only to the educated. Bede, a
monk and historian from Northumberland, first translated the Gospel of John
into Old English in the 7th century. The first complete Bible in English was
produced in the 14th century by John Wycliffe, a master at Oxford University.
This upset the authorities. In 1408 a new law banned anyone from translating or
owning any part of the Bible in English without permission.
The
invention of printing was a crucial turning point. William Tyndale was
determined to produce a Bible in English but the restrictions in England forced
him abroad. His New Testaments were printed in Germany and smuggled into
England in bales of cloth. But he was arrested by the authorities and executed.
When
the Church of England was created under Henry VIII, he agreed to the printing
of Bibles in English. Then, in 1538, he commanded that every parish church have
a whole Bible in English.
Another
significant step came after James I became king in 1603. It was decided that a
new translation should be produced, building on the efforts of Tyndale. Fifty
scholars worked on it. The result was the Authorized Version – or the King
James Version. It is still available and widely held to be a great piece of
literature.
Many
versions of the Bible exist now. Scholars have gone back to old manuscripts to
produce more exact translations. New versions have been produced with more
contemporary styles of language. The Bible has now been translated into more
than 2,500 languages so that billions of people around the world can read it in
their mother tongue. There are multiple versions online and downloadable audio
versions. There is even an Emoji Bible. But whatever the format, the Bible
remains the most popular book ever produced.
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