James More

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THE AGE OF PRINTING

With Purvey's revision in 1388 we come to the end of the history of the manuscript Bible. For long centuries men had laboriously copied out letter by letter the pages of the sacred Scriptures; now the dawn of a new era in Europe was beginning. Two events of great international importance occurred at almost the same time which transformed the whole histories of nations as well as the history of the Bible. First, the revival of learning (the Renaissance) came, mainly owing to the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, in 1454, which drove large numbers of Greek scholars to Western Europe. It set in motion a great movement for the study of the classics and an awakening of the need for fuller knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. In the second place there came the invention of printing from movable type, in the same year. We do not know who was the first man in Europe to think of making each letter in relief on a separate piece of metal. Several countries claim this honour for their sons. Without doubt, however, a German, Johann Gutenberg, in the city of Mainz, has the best claims to this distinction. The time was ripe for such a great discovery and few inventions in the history of mankind have brought so many treasures to the human race; for printing became allied to the great revival of learning.

The first types they cut were probably from hard wood, just as wood is still used to-day for very large type. Afterwards moulds were made which could be filled in with melted lead. When this had hardened and cooled into the form of a letter it became the finished piece of movable type.

Living in such an age, it was, naturally, Gutenberg's great ambition to print the Bible. With such primitive type it was a tremendous undertaking, and a task that involved great patience; but even so the process was speed itself in comparison with the laborious efforts of the manuscript copyist. Just as we have marvelled at some of the inventions of our own time, so this work of printing must have appeared to the people of Gutenberg's day, for the printers did not disclose how the work was done, and tried to make every letter and illustration appear as if it had actually been done by hand.

The first book issued from the Mainz press is known as the Mazarin Bible. It first appeared in 1456, and as only a few copies re in existence, they are among the most precious things in the world to-day. From Mainz the new art quickly spread throughout Europe and it was brought to England by William Caxton, in 1476. But in these early clays it would have been dangerous for any man to print the Bible in England, so Caxton, our first printer; saved himself from censure by translating from the Latin the popular Golden Legend, and printing this volume with the addition of many Bible stories. It was in the year, 1483, that this, the first printing in English of any portion of the Bible, was issued.

In 1484, a century after Wycliffe's death, William Tyndale was born, in a quiet little village in Gloucestershire. He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge and it is likely that he came under the influence of the renowned scholar Erasmus, who had, produced his famous Greek New Testament in 1516. There is no. doubt that this book was a great inspiration to Tyndale and gave him the idea of making an English translation from the original tongues. In his own words to a learned divine: "If God spares me I will one day make the boy that drives the plough in England to know more of the Scriptures than thou doest."

But he lived in troubled times in the history of the Church. A decree had been issued forbidding any person to undertake the translation of the Bible without authority, and Tyndale knew that without the sanction of the Church no one would dare to print his translations of the new Testament.With cheerful heart therefore, he became an exile, and in poverty and distress, and often in danger, he worked at his translation in Hamburg. In the year 1525 we find him in the city of Cologne engaged in the printing of his New Testament. But persecution followed, and he had hurriedly to make his. escape to Worms where the following year the work was completed. With great secrecy his Testaments were smuggled into England and in a few years scattered throughout whole country. Vigorous measures were taken by the leaders of the Church to suppress the books. Every port was watched and thousands of copies were seized and burned. But as time went on it was found that the tide of public opinion was running too strongly in favour of this book to keep it from the people. Yet it was not until after Tyndale had suffered the death of a martyr that the door was opened. In 1536, he was burned at the stake in Germany, with a last prayer on his lips, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." A year after his death a Bible was published containing the translations of all the Books from Genesis to Second Chronicles. We owe a great debt to Tyndale for the spirit of his translation; the simple, sublime and pure language of our beloved Authorised Bible is in a large measure due to it. In all the story of the Reformation in England there is no name that bears more honours than William Tyndale's.

We shall see how soon his prayer was answered. As the Reformation advanced, the demand for a Bible in English became increasingly more urgent. The questions at issue between the Church and the Protestants must, it was felt, be finally decided by God's Word as revealed in the Bible itself. The Church, in its teaching, its authority and government, must be judged by the Scriptures on which it was founded. Besides Tyndale, other men were engaged on the work of translation and chief among these was Miles Coverdale (born 1488). He, at an early age, supported the Reformation and was forced to leave the country in peril of his life. In 1535, he published our earliest complete Bible in English. Although it is not known where the Bible was printed it is believed that either Zurich or Antwerp was the place of its origin. Unlike Tyndale's version, which had been translated from the original tongues, Coverdale's translation was principally from the Vulgate and Luther's Bible, while it also owed a great debt to Tyndale's own version. By this time, Coverdale had won favour with Sir Thomas Cromwell, who was then Chief Minister to Henry VIII., and with Sir Thomas More. Times had changed and the King, having quarrelled with the Church of Rome; permitted the Bible to be issued towards the end of 1535, with a dedication to His Majesty.

Following swiftly, there appeared, in 1537, Matthew's Bible, the real author being John Rogers, one of the early Reformers, afterwards the first martyr in Mary Tudor's reign. This was not an independent version but was largely drawn from Tyndale's translation. It was published by the Authority of King Henry VIII., and, in 1539, a revision was made by Coverdale, which became known as the "Great Bible," so called because of its size, fifteen inches long by nine inches wide. The Great Bible was, therefore, the first "Authorised Version," in English, and in furtherance of this an injunction was issued to the clergy requiring that a copy be set up in every parish church. Thus, within thirteen years of the burning of Tyndale's New Testament, the battle of the English Bible was finally won. In the Book of Common Prayer that is in use to-day, the Psalter and the sentences in the Communion Service are taken unchanged from this Bible.

In 1539, there also appeared a folio edition called "Travener's Bible." Richard Travener was a barrister; later he became a clergyman. His Bible never had any great influence on later versions although his wide knowledge of Greek enabled him to make many minor improvements on previous translations.

The English Reformation was now to receive a severe check; for during the last years of Henry VIII.'s reign we find the Roman Catholic influence gaining ground by the sudden downfall of Richard Cromwell, the King's Vice-Regent. In 1543, all the Tyndale and Coverdale Bibles were prohibited, and the use of the Great Bible was forbidden to the mass of the people.

In terror at the change in the King's attitude, many of the Reformers were forced to flee to the Continent, until the death of the King brought the brief interval of suspense to an end. Under the reign of Edward VI they were welcomed back again to England, but the short reign of six years and a half was only a breathing space before the terrors of Mary Tudor's period.

Once again, the open reading of the Scriptures was prohibited, and the copies which had been set up in the churches were burned. Still; the popular feeling for the Bible in the English tongue could not be entirely suppressed and there must have been thousands of copies hidden away in the homes of the people.

Many of the English exiles settled in Geneva, and among the illustrious names of those who were responsible for a new version called the Geneva Bible, issued in the year 1560, we find those of John Knox the Scottish Reformer, Miles Coverdale, and William Whittingham, Calvin's brother-in-law. These ardent men worked night and day on this Bible for more than ten years. Before it was completed Mary Tudor died and Queen Elizabeth came to the throne. The Geneva Bible (it has been nicknamed the "Breeches Bible" because in Genesis III. 7 it reads "breeches" where other versions read "aprons") was dedicated to Elizabeth and it is of particular interest to note that it was the first Bible to be divided into verses as we have it in our Bibles to-day. Besides being the first to print in italics all the words not in the original, it was also the first Bible to be set in the Roman type with which we are so familiar to-day.

This new version was so great a success that it has been recorded that during Queen Elizabeth's reign no fewer than sixty editions ware printed. In Scotland, particularly, under the great influence of John Knox, it soon became the household Bible, while in England for many years after the publication of our Authorised Version in 1611, it continued to hold almost equal popularity with the newer books.

The success of the Geneva Bible was, however, somewhat disquieting to the two Churches of England and Rome. The Churchmen of England were uneasy about the hold which an unauthorised version had obtained in the hearts of the people against their own Bible, and to the faithful of both Churches there were many annotations which held prelacy and papacy to scorn. Soon after Elizabeth's Accession to the Throne, therefore, the leaders of the' Church of England fell it was essential that the work of a new translation should be undertaken which would be free from any trace of partisanship and which would be issued under the authority of Church and State.

In 1568, the version known as the Bishops' Bible was published. Its chief promoter was Archbishop Parker, who, with eight bishops and many deans and professors, set himself to produce "one other special Bible for the Churches." It was clearly based on the Great Bible and every effort was made to attain the best possible renderings. It continued to be the standard version of Church and State until the publication of the Authorised Version in 1611, although the Geneva Bible was still the people's choice.

In the town of Rheims, in France, where many Roman Catholic refugee scholars were located, there appeared, in 1582,. a new translation of the New Testament. It was probably issued as part of an attempt to win back the people of England from the Protestant faith to the 'Church of Rome. It has been said that it was on this Testament that Mary, Queen of Scots, swore her last oath of innocence on the evening before her execution, despite attempts to turn her from it 'on the plea that that the book was false. By the same translators an English rendering of the Old Testament was published at Douai, in 1610, and this version with a revised edition of the Rheims New Testament constitute the Douai-Bible, the complete book having been fully translated from the Latin Vulgate.

THE AUTHORISED VERSION.

When, at the death of Queen Elizabeth, in 1603, James I came from Scotland to the throne, there was great religious dissension throughout the country, not only between Roman Catholics and Protestants but even among the various groups of Protestants themselves. A few years before, the Church of England had its own internal troubles which finally led to the non-conforming Puritans leaving the Church. At the same time the Roman Catholics hoped for some support from the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. who had been a devout adherent of their faith.

Coming from Presbyterian Scotland, James was faced with a very difficult problem. It was clearly seen that only the issue or a new version would smooth out the religious trouble. Foolish and short-sighted as James was in many of his dealings with the groups, it is to his undying credit that he, more than any other at the Conference which was held at Hampton Court, in 1604, favoured the scheme of revision. Perhaps he was vain enough to realise that a new translation under his Royal Authority would enhance the glory of his reign, but it should be remembered that he was a man of considerable learning and the work would be after his own heart. He did not hide his genuine dislike of the Geneva Bible and particularly of its marginal notes, and when he issued his instructions to the translators he ordered that no notes should be added to the new version. The work was speedily undertaken by fifty-four of the leading scholars of the day, including the Professors of Hebrew and Greek at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. They were divided into six groups, meeting at Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster. Each group had its own portion and after each member of the group had translated it by himself, the groups then met, conferred on what each had done and decided on a translation to be submitted for final review. Every available aid was given to the groups, with the help of the best translations in other languages, to discover the correct meaning of each passage. Although the basis laid down for the new Bible was the Bishops', every previous version influenced the translation of the "authorised." The spirit of Tyndale is especially evident, whilst Wycliffe's, the Geneva, and the Rheims have also left their imprint on it.

But it is to the revisers themselves that we owe a debt of gratitude for the great beauty, grace and dignity of language "that lives, on the ears like music that can never be forgotten." It has had a wonderful influence on our literature and language; and it is inherent in the soul of the English speaking peoples. When first published in 1611, it was slow to secure complete favour, but before fifty years had passed it had completely won its way to the heart of the nation. It was produced at a period without parallel in our history; when the names of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, and Bacon had already ennobled our language by the beauty of their poetry and prose - a glorious age in the history of our race. But the greatest treasure it has left to us is our beloved "Authorised Version." To-day, after more than three centuries it is still "the most valuable thing that this world affords."

So amply has this Bible satisfied the needs of succeeding generations that a long period of years elapsed before another version appeared. Towards the end of the nineteenth century a revision was considered advisable because of the steady increase in the knowledge of the original Hebrew and Greek Texts, and the new information obtained from the study of manuscripts that were scarcely known to the scholars who had made the King James (Authorised) Version. Since 1611, too, there were many English words which had completely changed their meaning.

As a result of the Convocation of Canterbury, in 1870, a committee was formed, which, in co-operation with a similar body in the United States of America, undertook the work of revision, thus making the first international effort to bring the "Authorised Version" into accord with the present standard of Biblical knowledge.

The Revised New Testament was issued in 1881, and the Old Testament in 1885. After a period of fifty years it must be said that this version has not had the success that was anticipated for it. To many Bible students it has proved invaluable because it is more accurate in the translation from the original than its predecessor but it' lacks the great literary charm that has made the "Authorised Version" the well-beloved Bible of our people.

Since the beginning of the present century a number of modern versions have been issued, which are the work of individuals, or of small groups of scholars, and which have as their purpose the presentation of the Bible in the ordinary speech of to-day. Of these versions two of the most important and most widely used are:
"The New Testament in Modern Speech," an idiomatic translation into everyday English by Richard F. Weymouth, M.A., Litt.D. "A New Translation of the Bible, " by James Moffatt, D.D., D. Litt.

Let us close our story of how we got our Bible with the hope that we will always remember how God, through all the ages, has wonderfully inspired men to preserve and interpret His message. Also that, as we remember with gratitude all those men and women who, in the years of persecution, gladly gave their lives that this precious gift might be given to us in our tongue, we will value our Bible more than we have ever done.