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THE EARLIEST EVENTS OF CREATION
WERE REVEALED TO MAN THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
( sirens )
( shouting )
SOLUTIONS TO MODERN-DAY PROBLEMS WERE ALSO REVEALED.
( chanting )
( man shouting )
THEY ARE FOUND IN A BOOK UNEQUALED IN SCOPE AND VALUE.
OF THAT BOOK IT HAS BEEN SAID:
"MEN HAVE LIVED BY IT; MEN HAVE DIED FOR IT.
"NO OTHER BOOK APPROACHES ITS INFLUENCE."
THE BIBLE HAS THE WIDEST CIRCULATION
OF ANY BOOK IN HISTORY.
IN WHOLE OR IN PART,
IT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED INTO OVER 2,OOO LANGUAGES.
IT IS NOT A SCIENTIFIC TEXTBOOK,
BUT IT AGREES WITH LATER SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES.
IN THE MIDDLE AGES,
POPULAR WISDOM SAID THAT THE EARTH WAS FLAT.
BUT 7OO YEARS BEFORE CHRIST,
THE BIBLE SPOKE OF "THE CIRCLE OF THE EARTH."
SOME IN ANCIENT TIMES BELIEVED THAT THE EARTH WAS SUPPORTED
BY FOUR ELEPHANTS STANDING ON THE BACK OF A SEA TURTLE.
NEARLY 3,5OO YEARS AGO, THE BIBLE SIMPLY STATED
THAT GOD WAS "HANGING THE EARTH UPON NOTHING."
IN THIS THE BIBLE AGREES WITH MODERN SCIENCE.
ONLY RECENTLY DID SCIENTISTS DISCOVER
THE GENETIC ROLE OF DNA,
WHICH FIXES A PERSON'S HEREDITARY MAKEUP.
IN PRAYER TO GOD, KING DAVID EXPRESSED THIS PRINCIPLE:
( thunder )
THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, THE BIBLE IN SIMPLE TERMS DESCRIBED
THE NATURAL WATER CYCLE THAT INVOLVES CLOUDS, RAIN, AND SNOW.
THE BIBLE EXPLAINED:
HOW DID THE BIBLE WRITERS KNOW THESE FACTS?
THEY WERE INSPIRED BY GOD.
CONSIDER THE AMAZING ACCOUNT OF HOW THE BIBLE WAS RECORDED.
PAPYRUS MAKING IN EGYPT.
THIS ANCIENT WRITING MATERIAL
DATES BACK TO THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE CHRIST.
MOSES PROBABLY USED PAPYRUS
TO WRITE THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE.
SHEETS OF PAPYRUS WERE JOINED TOGETHER TO FORM SCROLLS,
WITH AN AVERAGE LENGTH OF FROM 14 TO 2O FEET.
DOUBTLESS, THE CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES
WROTE THEIR BOOKS AND LETTERS ON PAPYRUS.
TANNERS MAKING LEATHER PARCHMENT FLOURISHED
WHEN EXPORTS OF PAPYRUS WERE BANNED
FOR A TIME IN THE SECOND CENTURY B.C.E.
LONG-LASTING LEATHER WAS BETTER THAN PAPYRUS.
PARCHMENT SCROLLS WERE IN USE IN JESUS' DAY.
EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE COMMANDED TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS.
SCROLLS, HOWEVER, WERE COSTLY AND NOT EASY TO HANDLE.
A MORE PRACTICAL FORM OF WRITTEN TEXT WAS NEEDED.
THE CODEX WAS INVENTED BY THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY.
IT WAS MADE BY FOLDING SHEETS TO FORM LEAVES,
WHICH WERE THEN STITCHED TOGETHER.
A SIMILAR METHOD IS USED TO PRODUCE MODERN BOOKS.
IN WHAT LANGUAGES WAS THE BIBLE WRITTEN?
THE FIRST 39 BOOKS WERE WRITTEN MOSTLY IN HEBREW.
THEY ARE CALLED THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES,
ALSO KNOWN AS THE "OLD TESTAMENT."
SMALL PORTIONS WERE PENNED IN ARAMAIC.
BY THE TIME OF JESUS,
GREEK HAD BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE.
IT WAS THE LANGUAGE USED
TO WRITE THE CONCLUDING 27 BOOKS OF THE BIBLE,
KNOWN AS THE CHRISTIAN GREEK SCRIPTURES,
OR THE "NEW TESTAMENT."
HOW CAN WE BE SURE THAT OUR MODERN BIBLES
ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE ORIGINAL WRITINGS?
JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN COPYISTS TOOK GREAT CARE
IN PRESERVING THE SACRED WRITINGS.
MANY VERY EARLY COPIES HAVE SURVIVED TO OUR DAY.
TWO VALUABLE EXAMPLES ARE
THE CHESTER BEATTY COLLECTION IN IRELAND
AND THE JOHN RYLANDS FRAGMENT IN ENGLAND.
IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM IS AN OUTSTANDING MANUSCRIPT
THAT SERVES TO CONFIRM THE ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE.
THE ALEXANDRINE CODEX, DATING FROM THE FIFTH CENTURY C.E.,
CONTAINS AN ALMOST COMPLETE TEXT OF THE BIBLE IN GREEK.
THE VATICAN IN ROME IS THE HOME OF A CODEX
THAT DATES FROM THE FOURTH CENTURY C.E.
HIDDEN FOR CENTURIES, IT WAS FINALLY MADE AVAILABLE
TO SCHOLARS IN FACSIMILE FORM IN 1889.
THE WILDERNESS REGION OF SINAI.
GERMAN SCHOLAR COUNT TISCHENDORF VISITED THE MONASTERY
OF ST. CATHERINE AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT SINAI IN 1844.
ACCORDING TO HIS ACCOUNT, HE FOUND A LARGE BASKET
OF OLD PARCHMENTS SET ASIDE TO BE BURNED AS RUBBISH.
AMONG THIS SO-CALLED RUBBISH, HE CLAIMS TO HAVE DISCOVERED
129 PAGES OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
TRANSLATED INTO GREEK, THE OLDEST HE HAD EVER SEEN.
HE HAD FOUND WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN
AS THE SINAITIC MANUSCRIPT,
PROBABLY COPIED IN THE FOURTH CENTURY C.E.
THE DEAD SEA REGION IS WHERE
THE MOST FAMOUS BIBLICAL SCROLLS WERE FOUND.
IN 1947 A YOUNG BEDOUIN HERDSMAN DISCOVERED
THE FIRST OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS IN A CAVE
NEAR KHIRBAT QUMRAN, SOUTHEAST OF JERUSALEM.
SOME SCROLLS CAN BE SEEN TODAY
IN THE ISRAEL MUSEUM IN JERUSALEM.
IT IS THE OLDEST COLLECTION OF HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS YET FOUND,
SOME DATING TO THE SECOND CENTURY BEFORE CHRIST.
IT CONTAINS PORTIONS OF ALL THE BOOKS OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
EXCEPT ESTHER.
AN OUTSTANDING FEATURE OF THESE ANCIENT TEXTS
IS THE FREQUENT USE OF THE DIVINE NAME,
THE TETRAGRAMMATON, PRONOUNCED "JEHOVAH" IN ENGLISH.
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, THIS NAME OCCURS NEARLY 7,OOO TIMES.
THE SCROLLS PROVE THAT MODERN BIBLES
FAITHFULLY REFLECT THE ORIGINAL WRITINGS.
BUT HOW DID THE BIBLE SPREAD AROUND THE WORLD?
( sea gulls squawking )
ONE FACTOR WAS THAT IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES,
GREEK WAS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE.
THE REASON?
BEFORE CHRIST, THE GREEK ARMIES HAD CONQUERED THE WORLD
AND SPREAD THEIR LANGUAGE.
( crowd cheering )
LATER, THE ROMANS HAD BUILT AN EMPIRE
TIED TOGETHER BY A NETWORK OF ROADS.
THUS, CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES COULD READILY TRAVEL
AND SPREAD THE BIBLE MESSAGE.
BY THE YEAR 4O5, CATHOLIC SCHOLAR JEROME
HAD TRANSLATED THE BIBLE INTO LATIN, THE LANGUAGE OF HIS TIME.
HIS TRANSLATION CONTINUED TO BE THE OFFICIAL CATHOLIC BIBLE
EVEN WHEN LATIN CEASED TO BE THE LANGUAGE OF THE PEOPLE.
THE BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED LINDISFARNE GOSPELS
AND THE BOOK OF KELLS, OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY,
COULD BE READ ONLY BY THE EDUCATED.
FOR CENTURIES,
MOST PEOPLE WERE LEFT WITHOUT A BIBLE THEY COULD READ.
HOWEVER, SOME COURAGEOUS CATHOLIC SCHOLARS
WERE WILLING TO RISK ALL
TO BRING THE BIBLE TO THE PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE.
IN THE 14th CENTURY, THE ENGLISH REFORMER JOHN WYCLIFFE
REJECTED SOME CHURCH TEACHINGS.
HE HELD THAT THE SCRIPTURES WERE THE SUPREME AUTHORITY.
LITTLE DID HE KNOW THAT HE WAS GOING TO BE
A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON OTHER DISSENTERS.
IN 138O, WYCLIFFE AND HIS COLLABORATORS SET TO WORK
ON THE FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE LATIN BIBLE.
OF COURSE, ONLY HANDMADE COPIES WERE AVAILABLE.
HE DIED OF A STROKE IN HIS CHURCH
IN LUTTERWORTH, ENGLAND, IN 1384.
( church bells ringing )
HIS ENEMIES WERE NOT CONTENT TO LET HIS BONES REST IN PEACE.
OVER 4O YEARS LATER,
THEY DUG UP HIS BONES,
BURNED THEM,
AND THREW THE ASHES INTO THE RIVER SWIFT.
HIS FOLLOWERS WERE THE LOLLARDS,
TRAVELING PREACHERS OF THE BIBLE.
HUNTED DOWN BY THE CHURCH, SOME WERE IMPRISONED
IN WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE LOLLARDS' TOWER.
EFFORTS TO DISTRIBUTE HANDWRITTEN COPIES
OF WYCLIFFE'S BIBLE WERE GREATLY HINDERED
BY THE FIERCE OPPOSITION OF THE CHURCH.
HOWEVER, ABOUT 145O SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT CHANGED HISTORY.
PRINTING FROM MOVABLE TYPE WAS INVENTED BY JOHANNES GUTENBERG.
IN 1455, GUTENBERG PRINTED THE FIRST BIBLE,
IN LATIN, IN THREE VOLUMES.
NOW THOUSANDS OF BIBLES COULD BE TURNED OUT
IN A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME.
SOME 4O GUTENBERG BIBLES STILL EXIST.
SOME CHURCHES HAD LIBRARIES OF CHAINED BOOKS AND BIBLES.
BIBLES WERE STILL RARE, EXPENSIVE, AND IN LATIN.
ANOTHER STEP WAS NEEDED
TO MAKE THE BIBLE AVAILABLE TO THE PEOPLE
--TRANSLATION INTO THE COMMON LANGUAGES.
OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITIES IN ENGLAND PRODUCED
IN THE 16th CENTURY A BIBLE SCHOLAR AND MAN OF INTEGRITY.
WILLIAM TYNDALE BELIEVED THAT EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD
BE ABLE TO READ THE BIBLE IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE.
HE WAS THE FIRST TO TRANSLATE
FROM THE ORIGINAL BIBLE LANGUAGES INTO ENGLISH.
IN 1522, TYNDALE SAID TO A LEARNED CLERGYMAN:
'IF GOD SPARE MY LIFE, BEFORE MANY YEARS HAVE PASSED
'I WILL CAUSE A BOY THAT DRIVES THE PLOW
'TO KNOW MORE OF THE SCRIPTURE THAN YOU DO.'
THIS WENT AGAINST OFFICIAL POLICY.
ONE CHURCH SPOKESMAN SAID:
"THE NEW TESTAMENT TRANSLATED INTO THE VULGAR TONGUE
"IS IN TRUTH THE FOOD OF DEATH, THE FUEL OF SIN, . . .
"THE ENEMY OF UNITY, THE MURDERER OF TRUTH!"
PERSECUTED BY THE CHURCH, TYNDALE FLED TO GERMANY,
WHERE HE COMPLETED HIS TRANSLATION
OF THE CHRISTIAN GREEK SCRIPTURES.
SOME OF THE FIRST BIBLES
THAT WERE SMUGGLED INTO ENGLAND WERE CONSIGNED TO THE FLAMES.
TYNDALE, MEANWHILE,
TURNED TO TRANSLATING THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES.
BEFORE HE COULD FINISH,
HE WAS BETRAYED AND CAPTURED AT ANTWERP, BELGIUM.
HE WAS STRANGLED
AND THEN BURNED AT THE STAKE AS A HERETIC IN 1536.
HIS CHIEF ACCUSER SAID:
"IT IS NO GREAT MATTER WHETHER THEY THAT DIE
"ON ACCOUNT OF RELIGION BE GUILTY OR INNOCENT,
"PROVIDED WE TERRIFY THE PEOPLE BY SUCH EXAMPLES."
IN 1555, MARY, CATHOLIC QUEEN OF ENGLAND,
HAD BISHOPS LATIMER AND RIDLEY BURNED ALIVE.
THEIR READING OF THE BIBLE HAD LED THEM
TO CONTRADICT CHURCH TEACHING.
ON THIS SPOT IN OXFORD,
AS THESE MARTYRS STOOD AT THE STAKE, LATIMER SAID:
"BE OF GOOD COMFORT, BROTHER 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."
IN THOSE DAYS IT WAS A BRAVE SOUL INDEED
WHO DARED TO DEFY THE CHURCH BY READING THE BIBLE.
IN OTHER COUNTRIES ACROSS EUROPE, LOVERS OF THE BIBLE
WERE PERSECUTED FOR DARING TO PROMOTE GOD'S WORD.
JAN HUS, A CATHOLIC PRIEST, WAS ONE EXAMPLE.
INFLUENCED BY THE TEACHINGS OF WYCLIFFE,
HUS BECAME THE MOST IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS REFORMER
OF THE 15th CENTURY IN BOHEMIA.
HE WAS LURED INTO CAPTURE BY CHURCH AUTHORITIES.
WHEN ACCUSED,
HE ASKED ONLY TO BE PROVED WRONG FROM SCRIPTURE.
HE WAS DECLARED A HERETIC, DEFROCKED,
AND BURNED AT THE STAKE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CONSTANCE.
MARTIN LUTHER LIVED IN 16th-CENTURY GERMANY.
GERMAN PRINCES PROTECTED HIM FROM HIS ENEMIES.
HIS TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE INTO GERMAN IN 1534
HAS BEEN CALLED "A LITERARY MASTERPIECE."
IT BECAME THE BASIS FOR BIBLES IN OTHER LANGUAGES,
SUCH AS SWEDISH, ICELANDIC, DANISH, AND DUTCH.
EXCOMMUNICATED, LUTHER REFUSED TO RECANT, SAYING:
"UNLESS I AM CONVINCED BY THE TESTIMONY OF THE SCRIPTURES
"OR BY CLEAR REASON . . . , I AM BOUND BY THE SCRIPTURES
"I HAVE QUOTED AND MY CONSCIENCE IS CAPTIVE TO THE WORD OF GOD."
ANOTHER PERSECUTED BIBLE TRANSLATOR
WAS THE SPANIARD CASIODORO DE REINA.
HIS TRANSLATION WAS PUBLISHED IN 1569
AND WAS SMUGGLED INTO SPAIN IN WINE CASKS.
THE BIBLE ALSO APPEARED IN ITALIAN,
CZECH, SLOVENIAN, AND BELORUSSIAN.
PEOPLE WERE THIRSTING
FOR FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE OF THIS REMARKABLE BOOK.
THE FLOODGATES HAD OPENED, NEVER TO BE CLOSED AGAIN.
IN THE 19th CENTURY, ANOTHER STEP WAS TAKEN
TO MAKE THE BIBLE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE.
THE COUNTRYSIDE OF WALES
WAS HOME TO A LITTLE GIRL WHO LOVED THE BIBLE.
MARY JONES HAD SAVED HER PENNIES FOR YEARS AND THEN IN 18OO
WALKED 25 MILES TO BUY A WELSH BIBLE FROM A CLERGYMAN IN BALA.
HER PERSEVERANCE INSPIRED SOME CLERGYMEN TO FOUND
THE LONDON-BASED BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.
ONE OF ITS EARLY REPRESENTATIVES
WAS THE ENGLISH WRITER AND LINGUIST GEORGE BORROW.
HE HAD BIBLES PRINTED IN RUSSIA, PORTUGAL, AND SPAIN
AND WAS PERSECUTED FOR HIS EFFORTS.