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How We Got the Bible (1500 BC-AD 1881)
Author - Rose Publishing Torrance CA
1530 BC:
God tells Moses to write down the Law for the people. The first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are called the "Law of Moses." Written in Hebrew. 1500 - 400 BC: Books of history, prophecy, and poetry are written by Samuel, King David, King Solomon, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Amos, and others, in Hebrew (portions in Aramaic). 1500 - 400 BC: Scribes copy books as originals wear out. 450? BC: Ezra collects and arranges the books, according to Jewish tradition. These books make up the Hebrew Scriptures are also called the "Old Testament." 250 - 100 BC: Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek by Jewish scholars. This Greek translation is called Septuagint, meaning "seventy," for the tradition that 70-or 72- men translated it. 100 BC - AD 100?: Dead Sea Scrolls: copies of portions of Old Testament books and other writings are sealed in city jars and hidden in caves. 6? BC - AD 30?: Life of Jesus AD 45? - 100: Jesus' followers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, Jude, and James, write letters and historical accounts to churches and friends throughout the Roman Empire. They quote from all but eight of the Old Testament books. AD 100 - 500: The writings of Jesus' followers are copied and translated from Greek into other languages and spread across the world as far as India and China. AD 200 - 300: Christianity reaches Britain. AD 250 - 350: Church fathers accept the writings of the Gospels and Paul's letters as canonical (from a Greek word referring to the rule of faith and truth). The Council of Carthage lists 27 books as authentic. These 27 books make up the New Testament today. |
AD 325:
Codex Vaticanus: A fine, early handmade copy of nearly all of the Bible. It has resided in the Vatican Library from 1481 and was released to scholars in the late 1800s. AD 350: Codex Sinaiticus: A fine, early handmade copy of all of the New Testament and part of the Old Testament. It was discovered in 1844 in St. Catherine's Monastery at Mt. Sinai by Constantin VonTischendorf, and acquired in 1859. AD 410: Jerome is commissioned by Pope Damasus to translate the Bible into Latin. This translation is called the Latin Vulgate and took 22 years to complete. It is the Bible used for the next 1000 years. AD 430: Patricius (St. Patrick) evangelizes Ireland. AD 450-600: Roman Empire falls. Angles and Saxons overrun Britain. Pope Gregory sends missionaries. AD 500-900: Jewish scribes, the Masoretes, develop a meticulous system of counting words to insure the accuracy of each copy of the Hebrew Scriptures. AD 676?: Caedmon, a monk, paraphrases portions of scripture into Old English (Anglo-Saxon). AD 735?: Bede, a monk and scholar, makes a common English translation of portions of scripture for uneducated monks who cannot read Latin. AD 1382: First whole Bible in English is translated from Latin and named the Wycliffe Bible, after John Wycliffe, Oxford scholar and priest. AD 1408: It becomes illegal to translate the Bible into common English without permission. AD 1455: First printed book! Gutenberg prints Latin Bible. AD 1516: Erasmus, priest and Greek scholar, publishes a new Greek edition of the New Testament. |
AD 1525:
William Tyndale, a Oxford scholar, translates New Testament from Greek. The Bible is printed in Germany and smuggled into England. Tyndale is strangled and burned at the stake for heresy in 1536. AD 1535: The Coverdale Bible, the first printing of the complete English Bible. AD 1537: The Matthew's Bible is the first Bible to receive the king's permission. The New Testament is almost an exact copy of Tyndale's. Printed by his friend John Rogers (pen name "Thomas Matthew"). AD 1539: The Great Bible. Also called the "chained Bible" because copies were chained to church pillars to avoid theft. AD 1555: Queen Mary Tudor outlaws English Bible versions by Protestants. Persecutes Protestant leaders. AD 1560: Geneva Bible. Hundreds of people flee to Switzerland to avoid persecution. A new English translation is printed in Geneva, and contains theological notes by Protestant scholars. AD 1568: The Bishops Bible is translated in answer to the Geneva Bible, but with "no bitter notes." AD 1582/1609: The Rheims-Douai Version becomes the official English translation of the Catholic church. AD 1611: King James Version. James I commissions 54 scholars to translate a Bible without theological notes. The scholars used the Bishops Bible and Greek and Hebrew texts. AD 1881: Revised Version, a revision of the King James, reflecting linguistic and manuscript discoveries. AD 1850 - present: Many new English translations. Dead Sea Scrolls discovered (earliest copies of portions of the Old Testament), prove remarkable reliability of the transmission of the Old Testament. |
How We Got The Bible
Ten Key Points
1.) The Bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
2.) The Bible is made up of 66 books that were written over 1600 years (from approximately 1500 BC to AD 100) by more than 40 kings, prophets, leaders, and followers of Jesus. The Old Testament has 39 books (written approximately 1500-400 BC). The New Testament has 27 books (written approximately AD 45-100). The standard Hebrew Bible today has the same text as the English Bible's Old Testament, but the Hebrew Bible divides and arranges the text differently.
3.) The Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew, with some Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek.
4.) The books of the Bible were collected and arranged and recognized as inspired sacred authority by councils of rabbis and councils of church leaders based on careful guidelines.
5.) Before the printing press was invented, the Bible was copied by hand. The Bible was copied very accurately, in many cases by special scribes who developed intricate methods of counting words and letters to insure that no errors had been made.
6.) The Bible was the first book ever printed on the printing press with moveable type (Gutenberg Press, 1455, Latin Bible).
7.) There is much evidence that the Bible we have today is remarkably true to the original writings. Of the thousands of copies made by hand before AD 1500, more than 5,300 Greek manuscripts from the New Testament alone still exist today. The text of the Bible is better preserved than the writings of Caesar, Plato, or Aristotle.
8.) The discovery of the Dea Sea Scrolls confirmed the astonishing reliability of some of the copies of the Old Testament made over the years. Although some variations exist (mostly spelling variations), no variation affects basic Bible doctrines.
9.) As the Bible was carried to other countries, it was translated into the common language of the people by scholars who wanted others to know God's Word. Today there are still 2,000 groups with no Bible in their own language.
10.) By AD 200, the Bible was translated into 7 languages; by AD 500, 13 languages; by AD 900, 17 languages; by AD 1400, 28 languages; by 1800, 57 languages; by 1900, 537 languages; by 1980, more than 1,100 languages.
Source: The World Christian Encyclopedia.
2.) The Bible is made up of 66 books that were written over 1600 years (from approximately 1500 BC to AD 100) by more than 40 kings, prophets, leaders, and followers of Jesus. The Old Testament has 39 books (written approximately 1500-400 BC). The New Testament has 27 books (written approximately AD 45-100). The standard Hebrew Bible today has the same text as the English Bible's Old Testament, but the Hebrew Bible divides and arranges the text differently.
3.) The Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew, with some Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek.
4.) The books of the Bible were collected and arranged and recognized as inspired sacred authority by councils of rabbis and councils of church leaders based on careful guidelines.
5.) Before the printing press was invented, the Bible was copied by hand. The Bible was copied very accurately, in many cases by special scribes who developed intricate methods of counting words and letters to insure that no errors had been made.
6.) The Bible was the first book ever printed on the printing press with moveable type (Gutenberg Press, 1455, Latin Bible).
7.) There is much evidence that the Bible we have today is remarkably true to the original writings. Of the thousands of copies made by hand before AD 1500, more than 5,300 Greek manuscripts from the New Testament alone still exist today. The text of the Bible is better preserved than the writings of Caesar, Plato, or Aristotle.
8.) The discovery of the Dea Sea Scrolls confirmed the astonishing reliability of some of the copies of the Old Testament made over the years. Although some variations exist (mostly spelling variations), no variation affects basic Bible doctrines.
9.) As the Bible was carried to other countries, it was translated into the common language of the people by scholars who wanted others to know God's Word. Today there are still 2,000 groups with no Bible in their own language.
10.) By AD 200, the Bible was translated into 7 languages; by AD 500, 13 languages; by AD 900, 17 languages; by AD 1400, 28 languages; by 1800, 57 languages; by 1900, 537 languages; by 1980, more than 1,100 languages.
Source: The World Christian Encyclopedia.
The Origin And Growth Of The English Bible
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To contact me for any reason please email me at:
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