|
Where Did Our Bible Come From?
By Adam Bartlett
Almost any Christian that has been around has faced the question, “where did the Bible come from? There are many out there that seek every opportunity to discredit the Bible causing doubt in the foundation of our faith. God left His written Word for us to be our guide in all areas of life, physical and spiritual. I doubt that there is any other book that has taken on as much scrutiny as the Holy Bible. Many false teachings strive on their assertion that our version of the Bible is inaccurate and they have the only copy that is untainted.
Of course there is also the catholic church that claims they are the ones that have the true Bible and they have all the legitimate manuscripts. They base their supremacy on the Latin Vulgate in which they still have to this day. It was the first Latin translation and was revised by Jerome about 382 – 400 A.D. It was from this Latin Vulgate that John Wyclif translated it into English around 1382 and was circulated in manuscripts before the time of printing press.
The first printed version of the English Bible New Testament was made by William Tyndale around 1525 when he was inspired by Martin Luther. I encourage every Christian to read Foxxe’s Book of Martyrs and see the courage of men like Luther and Tyndale. They stood in direct opposition against a tyrannical religious system that was killing any that spoke against them. Over nine tenths of his translation still exists in the King James Version we posses today. Tyndale also learned Hebrew and began work on the Old Testament and finished the Pentateuch which is the first five books of the Old Testament and finished it in 1530 and the book of Jonah in 1531.
In 1535 Miles Coverdale completed the first complete English Bible using Tyndale’s New Testament and Pentateuch and Jonah and translating the rest from the best Latin and German versions he could find.
Tyndale was put to death in 1536 by the catholic church for proclaiming the errors of their teachings as were many, many more during this time. In 1537 the last friend of Tyndale, John Rogers published the second English Bible using Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament and what he had in the Old Testament and the rest revising what Coverdale had written. This was the first “licensed” English Bible and could be marketed.
In 1539 two more English Bibles appeared, one being Richard Taverner’s revision of the Roger’s Bible, and the other Miles Coverdale’s revision. It was known as the Great Bible and was used in most churches of that day and known as the first English Authorized Bible. You can see that with four versions being printed in four years there was much hunger in England for Bibles that were in their own language. They had been kept from the people by the catholic church and now through the Reformation the Word of God was now being made available to all people as HE intended all along. The catholic church was no longer able to conceal the errors they were teaching because the Word was now available to anyone that could read. No wonder they were killing those that opposed their teachings, if the truth were made available they could not conceal their errors against the truth of the Word.
In 1560 there were a group of devout Christians that had fled Geneva and they produced their own revision of the Bible. This Bible is known by two most common names, The Puritan Bible and The Geneva Bible. It is also referred to as the Breeches Bible because of their rendering of Genesis 3:7 rendering it that Adam and Eve “sewed fig leaves together and made themselves breeches.” It was also the first Bible to be broken down into numbered paragraphs and verses which was done by Robert Estienne in 1551. Between 1560 and 1644 it would encounter over 144 editions.
In 1568 the archbishop Matthew Parker revised the Great Bible into what is known as The Bishops Bible. It became the second Authorized English Version and soon replaced the Great Bible.
In 1582 Gregory Martin who was a member of the catholic college in Rheims presented his translation of the Latin Vulgate into English of the New Testament which is known as the Rheim’s New Testament. This was the beginning of the catholic Bible which was completed in 1610 when the college was moved to Douai and he finished the Old Testament which is known as the Douay Bible.
In 1611 after 7 years of previous work and plans which were authorized by King James, Greek and Hebrew scholars in English universities completed what is known as the Authorized King James Version Bible. It soon replaced the Bishop’s Bible and even the Geneva Bible in popularity and choice.
There were many versions, translations and revisions through the remaining years of these Bibles to bring us what we have today like the American Standard Version of 1901, and the Revised Standard Version of 1946, and in 1973 the New International Version. There were many more and I will not mention them all but the object is to show how these versions all derived from several major starting points.
There was an interesting and earth shaking discovery in 1947 by a poor shepherd boy in a place in Israel called Qumran. What was found was hundreds of clay jars containing fragments of parchments with Hebrew and Greek writing. It was discovered that it was fragments of various books of the Bible and some other writings of the time. Of these fragments was virtually the complete book of Isaiah. When these writings were examined by Greek and Hebrew scholars it was determined that they were authentic and not fraudulent. They also compared this particular writing of Isaiah and compared it against what we have today in the King James Version and it was identical.
Now we have proof from writings that date back well into the early first century that confirm the accuracy of the Bible we use today. It is not as though we need to have proof, but in the face of all the opposition today regarding the Christian faith is it nice to have some solid historical validation.
I have always liked to use this point of view when discussing the validity of the Bible and its writers. We have a God that created everything we know, everything that has life was created. We can never understand that nor will we, yet regardless it shows the power of our Mighty God. To me it is extremely hypocritical to say that this same God could not protect the writings of a book to say what He wants for as lone as He wants. To say that He cannot inspire men to write what He tells them is hypocritical and to say that He cannot protect this book from perversion is also hypocrisy. I will place my faith in the fact that God chose men that He knew would take the critical care necessary to protect and translate His Word just as He wanted it to be.
Bible Headquarters
|
|
|
|