What a treasure

Today I held something in my hands that was…remarkable. It’s something I’ve wanted to see in person for a very long time and it’s something I have thought of what a treasure it would be to simply see.

Today I held a pre-civil war Bible in my hands. I ran my hand over the cover. I turned the pages. I looked at the family records within it. I took note of the Scriptures inside, of the way they were presented. And as I held that treasure in my hands I noticed the condition of the Bible. I noticed how the Scripture references were placed in the margins and I noticed that this treasure that I had so long wanted to hold was…

Just a Bible.

Now, there is never a case where the Scriptures are just anything. But the wonder I expected to experience if I ever had the privilege of examining an old Bible was both there and very much absent. I marveled at this very old Bible both because it was very old and because of something that was extremely sad.

You see this Bible was in near perfect condition. The pages were discolored with age, they had a few marks on them but were otherwise in perfect condition. I’m sure I might have discovered some scratches on the covers if I had looked hard enough but I saw no obvious damage. Instead…I noticed that this Bible was probably as close to perfect as you can get in an old Bible. The pages were all intact, all still tightly bound to the spine. There were no creases in the pages, no notes in the margins. The only writing anywhere in it was the few notes written in the family record section. And for a 162 year old Bible there were precious few of those.

For years I’ve wanted to simply see a Bible that pre-dates the 1900’s. Today I not only saw one but held one in my hands with near complete freedom to examine it. I even had the option of buying it. And as I looked through a Bible that had survived the Civil War, it wasn’t the age or use that I noticed but the lack of use.

I told the woman looking at it with me, the woman that would have sold it to me if I had said the word, that this was a Bible that had spent its life sitting on a shelf. She nodded in agreement with me and we both wondered at how the owner could part with it. This woman simply worked in the store that was selling it. She was the cashier for a store with all those little booths that sell antique things. I went in because I wanted to simply walk the aisles and look. In fact I picked up only five things while in that store. A very old rag doll and the teddy bear it sat with, a book I had no interest in but knew others would be interested in it and so I looked at it simply to be able to tell them about it, to look at that book I had to move a zip top bag of small booklets, and I picked up the Bible.

I went in that store not to buy anything, not to look for treasures, but for the peace of walking among the many things with stories to tell if we could but hear their experiences. It was a place to just…be…for a little while.

And when I had slowly walked my way through the store and was almost back to the front doors I spotted an old book that drew my attention. It was in a book box and laying on a table at toddler height. The cover was intricate and old. I went closer just to look and discovered the writing on the front spoke of commandments. I saw nowhere on the cover that said Bible but I suspected it was one. I carefully opened the cover of the book to look inside and discovered that it was a Bible and it was old. The date inside said it was from the 1950’s. I was surprised to discover it was as new as it was, considering the look of the cover, although it, too, was in excellent condition.

That Bible quickly lost my attention, though, when I spotted the one that lay beside it. Wrapped in plastic wrap, with an index card attached to the plastic, was the Bible that I had so long awaited the day that I would find it.

My breath caught and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. There before me was something I had so long wished to see. I carefully, oh, so carefully, picked it up and could make out little of the cover through the plastic wrap but discovered that I could clearly see the spine through the plastic. And the spine was a pleasure to look at. There was no doubt that the Bible I held in my hand was old simply from the look of the spine.

And I was holding it in my hand.

This Bible, that was at that moment resting in my hands, had survived the Civil War. It ‘lived’ through battles on our own soil. It passed through countless generations of people…okay, we could probably count them up and get a good idea of how many generations it saw. This bible had a history.

Who held it in their hands?

Who learned of Christ within its pages?

Who treasured it?

But as I, with permission, examined it uncovered, I discovered that the answers to the last two questions was most likely…no one. And the treasure I had longed to see for so long became sad.

There within my hands was a Bible that had been in print since 1854. It survived wars. It survived births, marriages, and deaths. It survived passing from the ownership of one person to the ownership of another, and it somehow survived 162 years, technically it won’t be 162 years for two days but I’m not worried about the technicalities, only to find itself sitting in an antiques shop in a place where every toddler that comes along will have an easier time getting to it than most adults will. In fact it was situated in such a way that, although, out in very plain sight, wasn’t all that noticeable. It was displayed in an obvious way, in a way that most people would never even notice it. I wouldn’t have noticed it had it not been for the other Bible that drew my attention.

And I suspect this very old Bible, the one I came so close to not seeing, has spent much of its ‘life’ in just such a way. The lack of wear and damage to this Bible, while a Bible collectors dream, shows a very real lack of use. In 162 years no one put this Bible to enough use to even crease its pages. No one underlined a verse in it. No one wrote their thoughts in the margins.

This Bible had to have spent its life sitting on a shelf or tucked in a drawer or chest.

I really don’t suppose I have much room to speak. I own more Bibles than I can read. I have favorite Bibles and the rest sit on shelves. When I wish to read the Scriptures I go to the same Bibles and rarely pick up other Bibles.

And still I find it sad to see a Bible that has survived for 162 years with not so much as a note within its covers…aside for the few records in the family history section. There is literally nothing of the faith of the people whose hands that Bible has passed through. Did the people that have held that Bible have faith in the Lord? Was this Bible the show Bible while another served as the much loved and read personal Bible? Or has this Bible never been in the hands of anyone that held deep faith before?

I don’t know.

All I know is that today I held the Bible I’ve long wished I could just see. I would have been more than happy to stand before a glass case and gaze upon this Bible. But the Lord allowed me much, much more than that. He allowed me the opportunity to hold and examine it.

And what a treasure He allowed me to experience today.

Did Adam have a scar?

I received a booklet in the mail today about marriage. It listed statistics on marriage and divorce and gave various bits of information but something in it caught my attention and has stayed with me.

Did Adam have a scar?

In Genesis we are told how God made the first man and woman. We are told how through the man’s body, the first woman…and the first marriage…was created. But we’re never told if Adam had a scar after his rib was removed to make that first woman.

Adam, upon being presented with his wife, said this is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, but nothing is ever said about what became of the place on his body where the Lord removed his rib.

Did he have a scar?

I’ve heard of women…usually divorced…that chose to have their wedding ‘ring’ tattooed on their finger as opposed to wearing an actual ring. The reason is that they are saying, with that tattoe, that ‘this’ marriage is forever. Because they can’t remove the ‘ring’. Since the ‘ring’ can’t be removed, the marriage can’t be ended.

I’m not going to touch that belief…or idea…with my own thoughts but wish instead to use it as an example. Those women…once the ‘ring’ is tattooed onto their finger, wear forever the ‘proof’ of their marriage. It’s there for all time and cannot be removed.

Did Adam have a scar?

If he did…he wore the ‘proof’ of his marriage to Eve for all time. Can you imagine having a scar that was the lasting physical proof that your spouse literally came from you? It would be a reminder of ‘the two are one.’

If Adam had a scar, everytime he looked at his chest, or side, he would see the reminder that Eve was literally a part of him. Everytime Eve saw Adam unclothed she would be reminded of the oneness she shared with him and that if not for him she would not exist.

We tend to see scars as blemishes to be removed or covered up…or else as battle scars to be proud of and paraded before others…but can you imagine the importance of a scar that was constant proof that you and your spouse were one? That the wife came from the husband?

How powerful a statement that single scar would make.

We have no way of knowing if Adam had a scar but whether it was there or not, Eve was very literally taken from Adam’s body and formed from him. She was walking proof of the oneness between them.

And even as I write this my mind muses on the question…

Did Adam have a scar?

Did God close the wound so well that there was never any physical reminder of the ‘surgery’ he underwent to receive his wife? Or did God give him a scar as a reminder?

We can never know the answer to that question because Scripture doesn’t tell us. It’s one of those details that has no bearing on the reason the Bible was written but it is one of those little details that sometimes leaves us wondering. And today, I wonder…

Did Adam have a scar?

Christmas Day in prison

This is an article I came across online while doing research for a blog post. I don't know how accurate it is...and I do know that every prison is different...but I thought it might help anyone that reads it to keep in mind Hebrews 13:3...to remember the prisoners...if only in thought. At a time of year when people rush around thinking of all that can be bought and decorated...there are over two million American's that can't even chose to spend the day with family or friends.

CHRISTMAS DAY IN PRISON

By
Joe R. Garman

      In prison, Christmas Day is the second happiest day of the year.  New Year’s Day is the happiest because New Year’s signals another year gone and one nearer release and the outside world.  It doesn’t really matter which month you were “sent up,” another calendar year has passed.  It’s gone forever.

      There is an air of expectancy throughout the prison as prisoners anticipate a Christmas visit from their families.  Some lay silent on their bunk beds, trying to recall memories of childhood Christmases.  Past and distant images are awakened of family and friends gathered around the table laughing and eating, then later relaxing and exchanging gifts.

      The prisoner tries hard to keep his mind off the length of his sentence and the crime he committed.  This is a time to receive word from home...though some messages will prove painful.  A solemn air hovers over the prison.  Try as he may to keep them away, dark clouds of failures, mistakes, regret and remorse over crimes committed that have separated him from freedom, bring salty raindrops in the form of tears.

      Actually, the Christmas season began weeks ago with the Angel Tree program.  Prisoners were asked to submit the names and addresses of their children, and what they would like to give their children for Christmas.  The Angel Trees were set up in shopping malls all across America.  On the branches hung little angels with the name, age, and clothing size of the prisoner’s children.

      Shoppers chose an angel, purchased the requested gifts or an alternative gift, and presented it to the volunteer sitting beside the tree.  Although it is suggested that the gift not exceed $15, some shoppers spent twice as much in the spirit of Christmas.  A few days before Christmas, the gift is delivered to the prisoner’s child in the name of the parent.

      Excitement abounds as prisoners ask each other what they are requesting for their children.  Beautiful Christmas cards in multi-colored envelopes begin arriving, resulting in an atmosphere not felt during any other season of the year.  Prisoners tape their Christmas cards on the walls of their cells for others to see, and each day re-read the hand written messages inside. 

      A few days earlier, the chaplain has gone throughout the institution making sure that everyone who wanted one was given a card to send home.  The chaplain then dipped into his always limited “love fund” to make sure that the hardship cases had postage for their card.  Chaplain’s assistants decorated the chapel with evergreen boughs, bright banners and a live Christmas tree.

      Volunteer groups begin coming in, extending best wishes and bringing refreshments and gifts consisting of fresh fruit, homemade fudge, socks and toiletry items...sometimes with a Christmas tract strategically placed.

      On Christmas Eve, the prison factory closes early and visiting hours are extended.  Family and friends who come to visit are the highlight of the day, but the annual Christmas Eve play, whose actors are the prisoners themselves, runs a close second.  Much preparation and excitement, and “much ado about nothing” goes into the play, from the screening of the cast to the full dress rehearsal.

      Some have been locked away so long they are unable to sense joy or happiness, except in a warped fashion, that usually results in pain for someone else.  So they try to get all pumped up, to act happy without really knowing how or even why they should.

      This results in a lot of shallow talking and forced laughter.  Some will ask the chaplain to show them the proper way to cross themselves, some will ask for a cross to wear around their neck, while others will want the chaplain to tell them where to find the Christmas story in the Bible.

      Christmas seems foreign in a prison setting...like an improper balance.  No one wants to be where he is...especially today.  Everyone is trying to feel significant.  The Muslims and the American Indian Movement will busy themselves so as not to cause a fuss with the attempted celebration.

       Then the holiday arrives at last. Within reason, the guards will turn their heads on some rules and regulations normally enforced, such as dress codes, shakedowns and group gatherings. Prisoners try, with some difficulty, to be nice to the guards, and guards, with the same difficulty, try being nice to the prisoners. Both prisoners and guards will breathe a sigh of relief when Christmas is over, knowing both sides have come through without any trouble or injuries.

      The prison buzzer will be delayed so the prisoners can sleep late, then all will gather in the mess hall for the highlight of the day…Christmas dinner. The kitchen crew goes all out to prepare what the prisoners have requested, including a mouth-watering dessert.

      This is the one day of the year when family members (not friends) are allowed to enter the cafeteria to eat with their loved ones. It is a time of introducing their families to their friends. Those who do not have family visitors are usually invited to sit with those who do and sort of “adopt a family” for the day. In maximum security prisons, families would never be allowed access into the cafeteria, while in some minimum security units, prisoners are encouraged to earn “points” during the year which will allow them to spend Christmas Day at home.

      This is a great time of healing and bonding between prisoners. Some will, of course, pretend to be too preoccupied for such frivolity. Others, sadly, will fake a headache or stomachache and need to return to their cells.

      Recreational privileges will be extended, providing it’s a nice day for gathering in the yard. Most are on good behavior because no one wants to be placed in solitary over Christmas. Friends and family fill their loved one’s prison bank account, which usually has a mandatory ceiling of $20.

      Prisoners who smoke exchange cigarettes for gifts. Those who don’t smoke exchange candy bars, stamps or toiletries. These items are normally used for bartering and illegal gambling inside prison.

      Prisoners present craft shop leather goods to their families and used toys that have been donated by various civic groups. The prisoners have labored over these toys, repairing, sanding, polishing, and painting them until they look like new. Some of the “like new” toys are sent back to the civic groups to be distributed among the poor in the community.

      Prisoners are more spiritually sensitive during Christmas than at any other time of the year. Some “make deals” with God, hoping to manipulate a miraculous pardon on Christmas Day, or an early release next year. Sneering at other inmates or at the festivities is frowned upon. Peer pressure controls this. Even non-Christian inmates are silent so as not to disturb the holiday for the others.

      This is a day when the prisoner can feel contact with the outside world. Families around the world are celebrating – he will celebrate too. Even in this confined and confused setting, he feels at one with society. He does not feel like such an outcast…like such a “loser.”

      But some have no Christmas memories except those spent in orphanages, foster homes, reformatories, and other prisons. For them, depression sets in. They will purchase some of the drugs or liquor that an unscrupulous guard has smuggled in. Others will celebrate by getting a new tattoo, or by smoking the one cigar they have kept hidden away in order to have something special on Christmas Day.

      Some prisons have boxing rings in their gymnasium while in others boxing is strictly forbidden.  Conjugal visits are allowed in some, while others allow only one short embrace at the beginning of the visit and another at the close...all monitored by prison guards.

 Another chapter has been written in the prisoner’s life.  Let it read:

       Today I behaved and enjoyed as best I could...as Christmas dictates.  No guards got on my case.  I was not sent for counseling or to lock-up.  I did not fight or curse a guard.  I was not written up...did not receive any tickets or was told I need to attend an attitude adjustment class.

      For one day I did not plot the demise of my enemies or relive my trial.  I conducted myself according to what I once was, and what I someday hope to be...not what I am.

      I cleaned my cell and shined my shoes.  I sorted through my locker to find my best prison clothes, making sure there were no tears or patches on the shirt and that my trousers were ironed.  While showering, I felt a strange expectation, and wished myself a happy Christmas.  Shaving took on a new excitement and upon returning to my cell I said a prayer.

      I spoke to other prisoners I have never spoken to before.  I wished both guards and prisoners ‘Season’s Greetings’.  I could tell some of them were eagerly anticipating a greeting from me...a break in the routine...and they wished me the same.

      I don’t understand Christianity, but I went to chapel anyway.  There I saw real women, genuine smiles, wholesome love, and heard great singing.  I saw beautifully colored dresses, smelled perfumed candles and touched a member of the opposite sex...if only in a handshake.  People even asked me my name...not my number.

      Blind devotion...tradition...call it what you will, I made peace with my inner man...if only for a day. “Merry Christmas” - what a great holiday...no, what a great Holy Day.

    On the day after Christmas, when the morning buzzer sounds, the prisoner may react exactly the opposite.  He might spit on a guard or curse fellow prisoners.

     But not today...because today is Christmas Day in prison.

    So it’s difficult to describe Christmas Day in prison.  It’s my prayer, though, that the flavor of this magical and majestic “Greatest Day of the Year” and the effect it has on prisoners, has been partially conveyed in this article about this mysterious, forgotten world, and how they celebrate “Christmas Day in Prison.”

Proverbs 2:1-5

I recently read a section of Scripture in the midst of an article written by someone else. As much as I enjoyed the article, I loved the Scripture I found contained in it. I’ve read this particular section of Scripture before but as I read it this time I found myself truly amazed at it. I simply enjoyed reading it for the pleasure it gave and the truth it contained. Of course all of Scripture is truth. But this section just stuck out to me.

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 2: 1-5

As I read that set of verses I think of how our society seeks after knowledge of the world to the point that preschoolers are asked what they want to be and school aged children are expected to be thinking of college. Our society has gotten to the point where we value worldly knowledge over the innocence and simplicity of childhood. Our society expects children to know what most adults still haven’t figured out. How many career people change careers? How many of them go from one career to another? And yet they expect preschoolers to know what they want to be and older children to have their colleges picked out.

And for what?

They say there are large numbers of college educated people that are unemployed. And our society pushes college as if it’s the cure all answer to the world’s problems.

But oh, the joy and simplicity in Proverbs 2:1-5.

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom,

This isn’t worldly wisdom but wisdom of the Lord. We can see that by the fact that just prior to speaking of wisdom this verse speaks of ‘my commandments.’ It is the Lord’s commandments that are to be hidden and His wisdom the ear it to be inclined to.

…and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge…

Oh the knowledge we are told to seek. How much greater value does the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord have than that of the world? Scripture tells us…

The world and its desires pass away… 1 John 2:17 NIV

Worldly knowledge will pass away. It is only that of an eternal nature that will last. Worldly wisdom and knowledge may gain us status in this world but it does nothing to gain us that which is most important…salvation.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36 ESV

And Scripture even tells us just what worldly wisdom is…

Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. Ecclesiastes 1:2 NIV

But as with so many other things our society tries to teach us exactly the opposite of what Scripture teaches. Scripture tells us to seek after Christ and the wisdom and understanding of Him. Paul sets the perfect example when he says…I have decided to know nothing but Christ.

Oh the amazing wonders in knowing nothing but Christ. If we could only cast off everything else we have ever learned and know nothing but Christ. What if all our education had come only from Scripture? If we truly, honestly, earnestly, search the Scriptures we can see so much of what is and has happened in the world and gain true understanding. We can see the world through the eyes of knowing only Christ and, crazy as the world is, confusing as it is, it makes so much more sense.

and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

Treasure seekers have abounded through much of time. They long for maps that will lead them to long lost treasure. They gave up homes, jobs, even wives and children to search for gold. They, even now, look to ways to gain money in quick and easy ways. Desiring treasure and doing whatever it takes to get that treasure.

How hard a treasure seeker is willing to work to find a hidden treasure. They will go to great lengths, work long hours, expend great time, energy and resources to gain the treasure they seek. They will give up all they have for the longed for treasure.

But the treasure…the best treasure…is Christ. And the closest we can come to attaining Christ is to strive to know Him better through the Scriptures.

My husband recently told me that he enjoys the ‘simplicity of Christ’…speaking of the Bible…over the most well written commentary. He prefers the knowledge of Christ, the wisdom of the Bible, the understanding of the Scriptures to any man’s understandings of those Scriptures.

…then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

It is in the Simplicity of Christ. In His Word that we find the understanding, the fear, the knowledge of God. And that knowledge, that wisdom, that understanding is the only ‘education’ that has any value. All other is ‘meaningless’ and of an earthly nature that will pass away and gain us nothing but the loss of our souls. Oh, but the treasure that lies within the Word of God, the knowledge and understanding that leads to eternity and Christ.

 

Pressing into the kingdom of God

 

A number of years ago I came across something that said that Mennonites weigh everything in their lives against one goal…getting to heaven. It said they often weigh the merit of anything they encounter by asking themselves ‘will this get me closer to heaven’, if the answer is yes, they allow that thing into their lives. If the answer is no, they remove that thing from their lives.

On the surface that doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. It is a way of weighing the good and the bad in our lives. A way of measuring what we allow into our lives and what we don’t. It gives a standard to measure all things with.

I can even imagine a picture of a long road, in my mind I see a dirt road, lined with trees, as far down that road as I can see, there is nothing but road and trees. The road curves upward, on a hill, and just disappears. There is no more road. But where there was road now there is clouds, sky. It’s one of those roads that when you top the hill you see the rest of the road but for a time all you see is a road that runs straight into the sky. I love to see those roads because they give the illusion of driving into heaven.

It’s an illusion, of course, we can never drive to heaven and those clouds and sky that we see aren’t heaven anyway, but it is a peaceful sort of simple enjoyment. For a time, there is a highway to heaven. Or so it seems.

When I think of the Mennonites supposedly measuring everything against ‘will this get me closer to heaven’, I think of that ‘highway to heaven’. I imagine a one way road with heaven as the destination and a lone person walking the road. Trees line either side, so thick, maybe filled with thorn bushes, that there is no way to walk among them.

Each step down that road is made through an encounter with something or someone. If it is profitable for reaching heaven, take one step forward, if, on the other hand, it is something bad, take one step back. One by one, encounter by encounter, the lone person either makes their way closer to heaven or further away. They travel that road based on the things they allow into their lives.

The trouble with that idea, and the picture it creates, is that it is a way of working your way to heaven. And Scripture tells us that we can never work our way to heaven. The other problem with that idea is that if we disregard something…especially someone…because they can’t ‘get us closer to heaven’, we disregard something…someone…that was brought into our lives for a reason.

A friend of my husband’s recently told me that my husband needs do nothing to point people to Christ but be himself. This man said that my husband is the ultimate witness for Christ by simply living his life…because my husband lives for Christ. And this man was right. He said that no one who spends any time around my husband can walk away unaffected.

If my husband weighed those he allows into his life by whether or not they would ‘get’ him closer to heaven…how many people might miss out on the testimony for Christ that my husband may well be to them?

I have recently been studying the book of Matthew. I have read this book many times but this time I have worked through it slowly, so slowly in fact that I have already been studying it for two weeks and haven’t yet worked my way to the end of it. By taking Matthew so slowly I have picked up on many things that I never took the time to notice before. Little details. Big details. They stand out so much more when we crawl through the text instead of run through it. And even when we read it slowly, we are moving at a jog. How much more does the snail, at his fastest pace, notice about his environment than the cheetah, at his fastest pace, notice about his?

When I was in school I took so many reading classes, because they were my favorite classes, that I was taught much about reading. One of the things I learned well was the ability to read through a book at a quick pace. That is a good thing…most of the time. I have read 300-400 page books in a single day. When reading fiction that is fine, when reading Scripture…it’s a bad thing. I have to make myself slow down as I read and all too soon find myself reading quickly again.

I run through Scripture like a cheetah at full pace, when I need to go through it like a snail at his slowest pace.

So I made myself slow down, really slow down, and work through Scripture. Sentence by sentence. Sometimes word by word. Slowly.

And I’ve noticed much that I never saw before.

The book of Matthew opens with the genealogy of Jesus. Let me just go ahead and say…I’m not a person that appreciates genealogy in Scripture. It has a place, serves a purpose, but I don’t properly appreciate it. For me, those places where genealogy comes up…are difficult and I find myself skimming through them to get to what comes next. Not this time. This time I took them word by word, literally. I took note of each name, noticed the spellings.

I worked through those names when my inclination was to hurry through them and get to something more interesting. But I pressed through them. Pressed into them. I never once allowed myself the indulgence of skimming or skipping them.

Did I learn anything? I don’t know. Perseverance maybe. But I stuck with it until I had worked through the family history of Christ. I even looked up family trees of Christ and thought of how it might be interesting to take the Scripture of Jesus’ genealogy and a blank family chart and fill it in, just to connect the names with Christ a bit easier. I have not yet done that. I may never do it. But I do think it would be an interesting thing to do.

After the genealogy the book of Matthew takes us to the birth of Christ. Crawling through the Scriptures instead of running through them gave me time to think of what it was like for Mary. How she may have felt at the task assigned to her.

It gave me time to think of other things too, so many things. But it isn’t my intention to work through Matthew in this writing, in fact the book of Matthew really has little to do with what I want to say. Beyond the fact that it holds a few Scripture verses I wish to share Matthew and my study of it are only examples that have come to me as I write this.

And so I will skip ahead in the book of Matthew…skip to the part that my thoughts have snagged onto today. It is to chapter 3 that I wish to look. Chapter three starts with John the Baptist. At that point he is preaching. The first thing we see him saying is…Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Can you imagine what that must have meant in that day? What people must have thought and felt at being told the kingdom of heaven is at hand…is now.

I grew up in ‘church’ buildings. I had a ‘Christian’ upbringing. I went to ‘church’. I said my prayers. I knew who Jesus was and that He died on the cross. And yet…I clearly remember the day when I understood that there was so much more to Christ than what I had been taught. Until that day I had seen the Old Testament as disconnected ‘stories’. I didn’t know why we had them, had even been told and taught that those in the Old Testament had no chance of going to heaven because Jesus equaled salvation and Jesus hadn’t lived yet in the Old Testament.

How wrong that teaching was. Revelation tells us that Christ was slain from creation. Those in the Old Testament gained salvation through their faith in the Messiah that was to come, by the Lord’s will. Just as those since the New Testament gain salvation through their faith in Christ by the Lord’s will.

But here…in Matthew…almost at the very beginning of the book we see John the Baptist preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is here. It has come. He is preparing the way. Softening the people up, you might say, for Christ.

John was paving the road, laying a foundation, planting seeds. He was the one that came before Christ to prepare the way for Christ. And how does he do it? He tells people to ‘repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’. He doesn’t put on great shows, doesn’t tell people to spend two minutes saying a prayer that is brought on by emotion and circumstances around them. He tells them…repent.

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

That was the same thing that Christ said.

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17

And it was what the disciples were told to preach.

And, as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 10:7

Christ brought the kingdom of heaven but John the Baptist had the job of preparing the way. Christ was the road that disappeared into the clouds and sky. He was also the clouds and the sky. He is the way and He is the destination…or the purpose for the destination. But John the Baptist was to prepare the way. He was to expose it. He had the job of moving all the rocks that blocked the road.

John the Baptist softened them up, introducing them to the road. Christ showed them the way down that road.

I think often of the relative I have that says I make being a Christian harder than it has to be. How this relative sees the way I live my life, not that I chose to live a certain way, I simply can’t live any other way, but this relative sees my life as choices I make that turns my life and therefore ‘being a Christian’ into something much ‘harder than it has to be’.

I have never discussed this with this relative. I only know this person feels this way because of what others have told me. But for anyone that sees any form of Christianity as hard I would ask one question…do you think it was easy for Christ?

And still…I don’t make being a Christian harder than it has to be, I only do what makes it where I can live in this world. This relative thinks that my dislike of movies and music and many other things of this world make ‘being a Christian harder than it has to be’ but for me, it is the only way I can live.

It isn’t hard for me to live this way. It’s easier. Because so much of what’s in the world literally hurts me when I encounter it. It is a spiritual hurt that goes deep and makes me shy away from it in much the same way we, as people, tend to yank our hand away from fire. We feel the heat long before we touch the flame and yank away. I feel the hurt with each contact of the sin filled things of this world and my soul cringes, yanks back, to avoid that which causes me spiritual hurt.

If I had a mental image of what that would look like…maybe I would see it as that road…the one with the sky, clouds, heaven, at the end. When I get to close to the thorn wrapped trees it hurts and so I jump back onto the road. The road to me is safety, it is security, it is peace. But the trees hurt. The road is Christ. The trees and the thorns are the world.

I don’t literally see my life that way but if I was looking for an image…maybe that would be it. Or maybe instead of trees, I would line the road with flames. So the heat would be felt long before I stepped into the flames. That is the image…one I don’t really hold…of what I imagine it might look like…this making being a Christian harder than it has to be. Those that see ‘Christianity’ as easy, that see nothing wrong with watching evil movies and listening to sin filled music are playing in the flames.

That is a place where I can’t play.

My soul won’t let me play there. And I have no desire to play there. I find joy, peace, happiness, contentment, on the road, far from the flames.

A few months ago someone told my husband that he should take me somewhere for a good time, a time spent together. It was a good idea. I would love to go somewhere with my husband, just he and I, to spend time together. But, at that time, when the suggestion was made, my husband and I ran through idea after idea of what we wanted to do…and we came up with…

Nothing.

We were both perfectly happy with being home together.

I am perfectly happy with staying on the road and far from the flames that make my spirit hurt. But it’s on this road…even if it is only a mental image that comes to mind at this moment and isn’t something I generally think of…that I picture. And it’s that road that has caused to me take this rather long route of explanation to get to as I write this.

Again, I think of the Mennonites that supposedly weigh everything against whether or not it will get them closer to heaven. I have met several Mennonites. During those meetings I was able to draw a conclusion that would seem to support that idea. When I met Mennonites while I was wearing a skirt, they were very friendly, standing and talking with me, telling me of things they liked and disliked, interacting with my entire family. But on the meetings where I was in shorts or pants they were very distant, speaking to me only when they had to and then keeping their conversation to only what absolutely had to be said.

It was enlightening to see the difference in the way they interacted with me based off what I was wearing.

I have no idea if it had anything to do with the belief that they supposedly hold about keeping that which will get them closer to heaven and avoiding that which won’t. But if they do indeed hold that belief then…in shorts or pants I threatened their entrance to heaven but in a skirt I didn’t.

That, whether or not the Mennonites believe that way, is a form or working for salvation, one that does no one any good. Scripture tells…

…Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. Matthew 21:31 ESV

I highly doubt prostitutes were dressed in the most modest clothes of their time, no matter what time they lived in.

But I see something else in their thought process. It is working their way to heaven, yes, and it does them no good. The Lord will either save them or He won’t. But…in a very earthly sort of human way I can see something in that concept. If heaven is the goal…and it is…then weighing all against whether or not it is profitable for heaven has some merit…just not merit of salvation.

 Scripture tells us…

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2 NIV

In a way…weighing things for their profit of heaven is keeping that verse. Not that I’m in any way suggesting that anyone do that. Someone once told me that living out our faith means showing our faith to others in what we do. That we must work to show that faith. I don’t believe that. I believe that our faith, if genuine, will show simply because it is who we are.

Scripture tells us to look to the things ‘of above’. We are also told to take up our cross and follow Christ (Matthew 16:24).  Elsewhere we are told to deny self. We are even told that to be first we must be last.

We must persevere till the end. I recently wrote a post on Matthew 3:11. In it I wrote of the baptism by fire that Christ gives to those that are His. This fire baptism…or spirit baptism…places Christ in us. He is the light…the fire…that burns within us. Without him overtaking us…taking us captive to Him…overruling our flesh and filling us with His Spirit…we could never persevere till the end…till heaven.

We would fail so many times, would turn away and stay turned away. But because Christ lives in those that are His they persevere until the very end. They press on. They keep going. They stay the course.

They press into the kingdom of heaven.

They desire Christ above all else. They want the peace and joy found on the dirt road. They want the glory of heaven that awaits at the end of that road. And they want it not because they have decided to desire it above all else but because they have been taken captive and held captive by Christ. They have no choice but to desire Christ so much that they forsake all for His sake.

They press into the kingdom not because they chose to do so but because they were dragged onto the road (John 6:44) and once there, once they tasted the joy and peace found there, they have no desire to play in the fire. Their desire becomes the peace and joy of Christ and they strive for that, not because they wanted it when they were dragged into that peace but because they have tasted it and now have no choice but to want that peace and joy so much that it is an ache within them.

I literally ache to know more of Scripture. It is a desire deep within me and the more I know…the more I need to know.

I have been told that the Bible is boring. It is so far beyond boring for me that there is no comparison. It is, for lack of a better word, a very magical thing. It holds such amazing things that there truly is no way to describe what lives within the pages of the Bible.

I did not choose to have this fascination with Scripture, and in fact could not have chosen it because it is a direct contrast to all that is human nature. But I am beyond fascinated. And so, I press into Scripture, not because I chose to but because I can’t not do it.

And I walk the dirt road not because I chose to but because I was dragged onto it and now know the joy and peace found there and I feel the flames of the fire that line the road. I don’t have to stray very far to either side of the road before I feel the heat and run back to the safety, to the joy and peace, of the middle of the road.

I desire to be there, in the peace of Christ. I desire the kingdom of God. Not because I went looking for it, not because I chose it, but because I was dragged into it. And once there I have no choice but to stay there. I can’t leave the road. I am held captive here, on the road, by the flames that burn long before I step into them. And yet…though I am a captive…I desire…I long…I ache…to be here.

I recently received a Christian magazine in the mail. It had an article on giving to God and told how God desires a cheerful giver and that we should give not out of abundance but should give to the degree that it costs us something. That same article went on to suggest that ‘you’ should give to the magazine. But that isn’t what I want to focus on here. It’s the part where it said we should give until it costs us something.

They were speaking of finances. Of giving until you feel the loss of the money you give. But I think too of how my life was ‘given’ to Christ. I didn’t choose to give it. And in reality I lost it…my life was taken by Christ. I didn’t make things harder because I chose to. My life was overtaken by the Lord and I can’t do anything but what I’m doing.

I was recently told that I am obsessed with the Bible. That isn’t true. It’s not possible to be obsessed with the Bible. If we spent every hour of every day reading and studying the Bible it would never be enough. But those that haven’t been dragged into Christ don’t realize that. They can’t understand that it isn’t a choice made. I can’t just stop hurting when I encounter those evil movies. I can’t sit before a television screen and watch evil played out as if it’s good. I can’t applaud sin. When I get that close to the evil and sin, I feel the sting of the fire and I jump back to safety.

And so whether I want to or not…I press on…I press into the kingdom of God because the things of the earth cause me to lose that peace and joy that I never asked for but got anyway.

A couple of years ago I heard a preacher say that we should ‘count the cost’. I don’t remember anything else about that sermon but I remember him saying we should ‘count the cost’. Luke 14:28 speaks of counting the cost but I don’t know if that was a part of that particular sermon or not.  I think to of something I heard a long time ago…I don’t even know where I heard it…’it will cost you everything.’

Christ cost me everything. He took all that I was and made me into what He wanted me to be. In return He gave me more than I could have ever imagined. But still…it cost me everything.

It is that everything…the cost and the gaining…that I think of as I think of pressing into the kingdom of God.

When the Titanic sank, it was completely unexpected. It shocked the world. Everyone had been told that the Titanic was unsinkable and they had believed it. Then…it sank. The sinking of an ‘unsinkable’ ship would have been shocking enough but the death toll was tragic. It shook the world and is still very much spoken of today. Children are fascinated by it when they hear of it. Scientists try and figure out exactly what happened and why. They know it was an ice berg but they continue to ask why? Why did it happen? What exactly happened? How could it have happened? They visit the wreckage. Make models of the ship and recreate the accident. They study every tiny detail.

No one that got onto that ship counted the cost that would be paid. They all believed the ship could not sink and therefore they boarded it believing that nothing bad could happen. And it cost them everything. For some…it cost their very lives. Yes, it was their time to go and through Scripture we know that that ship was the method the Lord used to end their days on earth, but still, in the earthly sense, that ship cost their lives. For those that survive…they were never the same again. They may have boarded that ship as John Doe but they became…a Titanic survivor. The experience of that ship, being on it, surviving it’s sinking, would have stayed with them forever. It would have become a part of who they were.

They did not choose to become part of a shipwreck that will probably live in history forever. They were a victim of it. They pressed on through the sinking of the ship. The Lord used the sinking of that ship for His purposes. It was a part of the plan He had for mankind.

But for those that survived…they were never the same. Human nature tells us that some of them would have relived that night in their minds over and over. Others would have suffered from nightmares. Some may have even developed post-traumatic stress disorder because of their experiences that night. Many of the women that survived became widows. Children were lost. Parents died. It was tragedy of huge proportions.

And it left those that survived changed forever.

They say the bombing of the twin towers changed our nation. And it did. People still talk of where they were when they found out. Those who lost loved ones still mourn. Laws were changed as a result. And a holiday was declared.

Our country changed because of one event.

Paul was changed because of a single event. An event so profound that he went from the hunter to the hunted. He jumped the fence and joined the ‘enemy.’

I was recently told someone’s testimony of their conversion. And it was a conversation. This person went to bed disdainful of God and woke up seeking Him. Much like Paul. This person with no desire to do so was dragged across the fence into what they hadn’t even believed in the day before.

This person was changed forever. Now they seek Christ. Seek salvation. Long for it. Desire it.

Press into the kingdom of God.

Because they had no choice but to walk the dirt road.

This isn’t the testimony one hears in ‘church’ buildings. There was nothing in that story of how that person ‘chose’ to believe, or how they ‘invited Jesus into their hearts’. This person didn’t need to choose and they didn’t need to invite Christ anywhere. They were taken captive and as a result all those that knew this person witnessed the change in them.

This was not the emotion based ‘conversion’ of an emotional moment nor is it a reaction based ‘decision’ for Christ. It was a dragging away from what this person believed and a changing to Christ. Not because they wanted it, not because they chose it, but because Christ wanted it.

And now this person strives for the kingdom. They press into the kingdom. Their heart aches and hurts for past mistakes and for the peace and salvation of Christ.

This is Christianity.

Not because this person makes it harder, but because they have no choice. Not because they wanted it and therefore chose it, but because they had no choice.

A new year often brings ‘New years resolutions.’ Some actually write out lists of what they hope to accomplish during the new year. Most of those lists are forgotten or discarded not long after they’re made.

‘Christians’ often make lists of what they intend to do. They decide they’re going to read their Bible more, or go to ‘church’ every week, or serve on some team, or pray more, or…whatever. They choose what they want to do more of and they resolve to do it. And all too often they fail to do them.

Some even make resolutions of living a certain way so that they can attain salvation. A sort of ‘if I do this, God will do that’ situation. Or worse, an ‘if I do this, God will owe me that.’ And they live their lives in such a way that they are working toward whatever it is that God owes them. Much the way the Mennonites supposedly weigh everything in their lives against their ability to ‘get’ to heaven.

When a person is working their way to salvation…no matter how they are doing it…they are fulfilling man’s ideas of what will get them there, a situation that Scripture tells us will never gain them salvation. Despite the clear teachings of Scripture many still try and work their way into Salvation…or into ‘God’s graces’…or into being ‘right with God.’ Many times in that working they make ‘resolutions’ whether in lists, intentions, or just in thought. And all too often those ‘resolutions’ fall by the wayside. They are unable to keep any ‘resolution’ because they are choices made in the mind, no matter how much the heart might want to do what the mind decides, anything that originates in the mind often fails.

Minds make decisions and hearts might like the idea so they get on board for a while. But the problem is that the heart rarely stays involved for long. We cannot force our hearts to truly love and desire something and the sad thing is, where Christ is concerned, all too often it is the mind that wants it and not the heart.

When true conversion takes place, though, it is an entirely different matter. It is not a decision of the mind but a changing of the heart. It isn’t human will that causes it but Christ that replaces the heart of stone within and fills that place with a heart of flesh. This new heart then yearns for Christ and the ways of Christ in a way that our human minds and hearts could never do.

We then press into the kingdom of God much the way a child that is cold presses as close as they can get to a source of heat. They seek that heat because they must have it. It fills them and warms them and they desire to get as close to it as they can.

A true Christian presses into Christ as if they were freezing and Christ is the only heat source available. Life may draw us away for a time but always we come back to Him, not because we chose to come back to Him but because He draws us back. Just as a child that is cold may, after warming themselves, go back out to play in the snow, only to come back to the warmth when they get too cold.

A truly converted person presses into the kingdom of God not because we choose to do so but because we are drawn to it in such a way that we cannot do anything but press into it. Our hearts, our very souls, have been taken captive by Christ and it is the Spirit of Him, living in us, that fills us to the point that we are drawn ever closer to His kingdom. We press into it because we are being pressed into it.

In fact we are pressed into it to the point that we desire nothing more than we do to be in the Lord’s kingdom. The fire that burns within us gives those that are truly converted such a perseverance that they can do nothing but stay the course and press ever closer to Christ. In our flesh we do not have the ability to stay the course. On our own we would stray away like the ‘Christian’ that makes resolutions to do ‘this’ or ‘that’ only to find themselves doing nothing of the sort just a short time later. The ‘Christian’ that makes those resolutions makes them from the mind, assuming the heart will stay the course but hearts are fickle and often turn to something else. That is the human heart.

But once Christ takes us captive we have no choice but to stay the course. He fills us with His Spirit so that we are drawn ever closer to Him. We no longer need resolutions because once converted our walk with Christ is no longer about what we want…it becomes what we need.

If a truly converted Christian never picked up a Bible their minds and hearts would spend much time in the things of Christ even without His Word. We simply can do nothing else.

The ‘Christian’ that hasn’t been truly converted may desire to keep the resolutions they made, they may earnestly want to do so, may work hard to do what they said they would, but sooner or later their hearts will be drawn to the things that they truly love and they will leave behind all the ‘I will do this’ resolutions they fully intended to keep. They will leave them behind not because they want to but because they will simply look up one day and realize that they have strayed from all their well-intended resolutions. Their hearts will have led them to what they truly love.

But the truly converted Christian has a different experience. They tend to look around and see themselves growing ever closer to Christ through no intention on their own. They are drawn ever closer to Christ, like a moth to a flame. We simply can’t not look toward Him.

We are His captives and He presses us ever closer to Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where is Christ in Christmas?

There seems to be something of an unspoken war raging over Christmas. There are those now that insist no one give the greeting of ‘Merry Christmas’ because it might offend anti-Christians. There are ‘Christians’ that insist that Jesus is the reason for the season.

Scripture shows only the celebration of the birth of Christ. It never mentions any other birthdays that our Lord celebrated. There are no verses that tell us to celebrate Christ’s birthday and there are certainly no verses that instruct us on the celebration of Christmas. I’ve even seen it said that the very joining of the word ‘mas’ or ‘mass’ with Christ’s name is blasphemy.

Several years ago I went into a small privately owned store during the Christmas season. I was there to buy a special sized lightbulb but wound up having an experience I remember to this day. The owner of the store, an older man, was talking with another customer. Somehow the owner of the store drew me into the conversation. He told us how big boxed stores are now refusing to allow their employees to wish their customers a Merry Christmas, that they have to say Season’s greetings or Happy Holidays instead. This man went on to tell us that the reason they are doing that is because there are those that are offended by the very mention of Christmas because of its connection to Christ. This man then said that he was angry about that and so he’s wishing all of his customers a ‘Happy Jesus’ birthday.’

I grew up celebrating Christmas as Jesus’ birthday. As an adult I continued to celebrate Christmas as Jesus’ birthday. Only…there was a whole lot more of snowmen, Santa, and reindeer each Christmas than there was of Christ.

My husband recently told me that he doesn’t mind anything being used to celebrate Christmas but that he minds that the focus of Christmas is taken off of Christ. In a lot of ways it would seem that, during a holiday that is supposedly the celebration of the birth of Christ, that the very idea that anything might take the focus from Christ would be impossible. But it’s not. Even the ‘celebration of Christ’s birth’ often takes the focus off Christ. Because all too often the Christ being celebrated isn’t the Christ of the Bible.

It’s fairly easy to celebrate the birth of a baby, especially when that baby supposedly came to save the world, but it’s not so easy to keep the holy side of that baby. In other words, it’s all too easy to enjoy the happy, feel good side, even to speak of the harder side, his crucifixion, but it isn’t so easy to focus on His requirements for mankind.

During a time when people supposedly ‘celebrate Christ’ they usually break the commandment about coveting. Most of them lie, many steal. Almost all of them fall into idolatry. Christmas itself has become an idol. So has Santa Claus. So has gifts. So has holiday shopping. So much of Christmas has become idolatry. And yet we label it as the celebration of Christ’s birth.

How much more of Scripture is broken under the guise of celebrating Christ?

I know we live in a fallen world. I know the majority of people in this world, even those claiming to be ‘Christians’ are lost, I know most of them are reprobates who will never experience eternity in heaven. And I know because that is their eternity, that their enjoyment of life is now. It’s here in this world because they will never have the salvation that will give them eternity with Christ. And so…Christmas may as well be the holiday that it has become.

But where is the real Christ in all of that?

Where is the Christ that said he came not to bring peace but a sword…in the holiday that says ‘Peace on earth’.

Where is Christ in the rush of shopping and holiday decorating? Where is Christ…in Christmas?

For years we went to a big holiday lights display. It was a drive through experience with lots of large bright light scenes. There are reindeers, snowmen, Santa, his toy shop, villages, palaces, Christmas trees... you name it this holiday light display had it. Except for one thing.

A nativity scene.

Year after year we drove through those lights and saw no sign of Christ in them at all. Then one year, after many requests from people, they put a nativity light scene in with all the others. And of all the lights…it was probably the worst scene there was. The quality of that scene was poor and almost made you wish it wasn’t there. Almost.

This holiday light display is in an area where Christmas is generally regarded to be the celebration of the birth of Christ…but where was Christ in the big light display?

In that same town the news station ‘tracks’ Santa’s progress around the world for all the local children to follow. They use radar, gps, and who knows what all modern tracking devices to ‘track Santa’ so all the kids know where in the world he is.

Where is Christ in that?

Last year we went to a play at a ‘church’ building that was a ‘Christian’ production of Scrooge. Instead of ghosts there were angels. It was very good and very well done. If it wasn’t professional quality it was very close to it. But there were so many costumes, realistic backgrounds, story lines, and what have you’s that today, nearly a year later, as I remember that play…I don’t remember Christ in the play.

Where was Christ in that?

Where is Christ in Christmas when Christmas is more about feeding the senses and the desires of the flesh than it is about Christ?

I have sat in ‘church’ buildings and watched as Santa handed out gifts to the children.

Where is Christ in that Christmas?

The other morning as I was driving through a residential area I passed a house that had a big cross, all lit up, in their yard. As I got closer to it I could see that Santa was kneeling beside the cross.

Where was Christ in Christmas?

When I was growing up I was taught never to call Christmas x-mas because doing so removes Christ from Christmas. But leaving Christ in Christmas isn’t about a name in the word. It’s about…

Christ.

And for Christ to be in Christmas…He has to be in Christmas. It’s easy for people to say ‘leave Christ in Christmas’ but when we look at even the ‘Christian’ celebrations, so many times we can’t see Christ in Christmas.

Where is Christ in Christmas when ‘Christian’ Christmas programs sing Rudolph or Santa clause is coming to town?

Where is Christ in Christmas when Santa comes to ‘church’?

Where is Christ in Christmas when children are taught that Santa was in the manager the night Christ was born?

Where is Christ in Christmas when Christmas is said to be the celebration of Christ’s birth but during all the Christmas celebrations Christ has no mention?

 

History of the Bible in Colonial America

English Bible History

The Bibles of Colonial America

While the printing of Bibles had begun in Europe by the mid 1400’s, and English language Bibles were being likewise produced in Europe by the early 1500’s; there were no books printed in America during these centuries. The “New World” of America was still a rugged wilderness of very few European settlers, who were much more concerned with surviving, finding food, and protecting themselves from the natives, than the lofty goal of establishing printing presses in their new home. In fact, it was not until 1640 that the first book was printed in America: The Massachusetts Bay Psalm Book.

America’s Earliest Bibles

In the early 1600’s, the Geneva Bible became the first Bible to be taken across the Atlantic to America. It was, however, never printed in America. The first Bible printed in America was John Eliot’s Algonquin Indian language Bible, which came off the press in 1663, and again in 1685. The Eliot Bible was in fact, the first Bible printed in the Western Hemisphere. American presses saw no other Bibles printed until well into the next century, when German emigrant Christopher Saur began production of the first European language Bibles printed in America: the German language Saur Bibles. The first edition of Saur’s German Bible came off an American press in 1743. In 1763, Saur produced the first Bible printed on paper manufactured in America, and in 1776, Saur produced the first Bible printed from type manufactured in America… all of which were in the German language.
It was quite late in Colonial American history when the first English language Bible was printed in America, 1782 to be exact. Prior to this, English language Bibles were often available in the colonies, but they had to be imported from England. Not only was it financially more feasible to import English language Bibles rather than produce them, but there was also the legal issue of the fact that the “King James Version” of the Bible was still arguably the “copyright” of the English Crown, since “public domain” laws were not yet commonplace. Still, demand for Bibles was exceeding supply, particularly since England was keeping an import-export embargo against the rebellious colonists due to the Revolutionary War. American pride and independence was also on the line.

The Mysterious Three Bibles of Boston

Isaiah Thomas claims in his 1810 book “The History of Printing in America”, that Gamaliel Rogers and Daniel Fowle (associates of the man under whom Thomas had done his printing apprenticeship) actually printed about 2,000 copies of an English language New Testament in Boston, Massachusetts as early as around 1750. He says that the title page falsely claims it was printed in London, rather than Boston, to avoid being fined by the English Crown. Scholars today, however, believe that Thomas was mistaken in his claim, because not a single copy of this alleged printing has ever been discovered.
Next, Thomas also tells of a New Testament, and subsequently a whole Bible, supposedly printed by the press of Kneeland and Green in Boston, in a press run that “did not exceed seven or eight hundred copies”, around the year 1752, with a second edition in 1761. Once again, however, there is no evidence that these alleged printings ever actually happened. One copy was recorded as being auctioned in 1902, but after being examined in 1919 by Dr. Charles Nichols of the American Antiquarian Society, it was determined to be a fraud… actually printed in London, and with its date altered.
Finally, on December 7, 1770, an advertisement ran in the “Massachusetts Gazette” by John Fleeming of Boston. It offered “The First Bible ever printed in America in two folio volumes, with annotations by the Rev. Samuel Clark.” Printing was to commence as soon as the first 300 copies could be pre-sold to provide funding. For reasons that are still a mystery, he was not able to obtain the required advance orders, and the work was never begun.

Robert Aitken

Robert Aitken had immigrated from Dalkeith in Scotland in 1769 to settle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, he opened a bookshop and also began publication of “The Pennsylvania Magazine” to which Thomas Paine often contributed. By 1776, Robert Aitken was the official printer of the Journals of Congress for the United States Congress. Aitken was a bold patriot, and it disturbed him greatly to see his country without copies of the scripture. In 1771, he produced the first English language New Testament printed in America. It was eagerly received, and went through a second edition printing in 1778, a third in 1779, a fourth in 1780, and a fifth in 1781.
On January 21, 1781, Robert Aitken petitioned the Unites States Congress to authorize, and if possible even fund, the printing of a complete Bible in the English language of the King James Version. On September 10, 1782, Aitken received authorization from the United States Congress to commence his American printing of the Bible in English. This is the only instance in history of the U.S. Congress authorizing the printing of a Bible. In subsequent years, that session was often mockingly referred to as “The Bible Congress.” Thus, in 1782, Robert Aitken produced the first English language Bible printed in America. In 1783, George Washington wrote a letter commending Robert Aitken for his Bible. The Robert Aitken Bible is known as the “Bible of the American Revolution” and it remains the most rare and valuable of early American English Bibles.

Matthew Carey & William Young

Matthew Carey was a journalist in Ireland who attacked the English government for persecution of Irish Catholics. After being apprehended and serving a one month jail sentence, he fled England and arrived in America in 1784. Five years later, he announced plans to publish a Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims Version English Bible, if he could secure 400 pre-paid subscribers. He secured 471, and on December 1, 1790 delivered it to his subscribers. As there was very little demand for Roman Catholic scriptures in colonial America, it is unlikely that more than about 500 copies of the Matthew Carey Bible were ever printed, making it quite rare today. It is the first non-King James version English Bible printed in America.
Also in 1790, Philadelphia printer William Young produced a press-run of likely not more than a few hundred copies of a very small coat-pocket sized King James Version Bible. This was the first American Bible to be printed together with a Psalter. It was marketed as a “school edition” for students. William Young’s Bible is also unspeakably rare today.

Isaac Collins

Isaac Collins was a Quaker and a native of Delaware. He later moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where he was a printer for the State of New Jersey. In 1779, Isaac Collins printed an English language (KJV) New Testament in Trenton. In 1789, Collins announced his proposal to publish the entire Bible (KJV) if he could obtain a 25% deposit from at least 3,000 subscribers. By 1791, he had produced 5,000 copies of the first Bible printed in New Jersey. Due to its fairly large size and clear type, unlike all the small coat-pocket American Bibles and New Testaments that had come before it, the 1791 Isaac Collins Bible became known as the first “Family Bible” printed in America.
Collins boldly omitted the dedication to King James, stating in the preface that, “the Dedication of the English translation of the Bible to King James the First of England seems to be wholly unnecessary for the purposes of edification, and perhaps on some accounts improper to be continued in an American edition.” The Isaac Collins Bible was also famous for its amazing level of textual accuracy. Collins claimed to have had his children proof-read the entire text through eleven times. After printing, the only errors found in the entire Bible were a broken letter and a punctuation mark! The 1791 Isaac Collins Bible served as the standard of excellence and the prototype for many American Bibles for the next 110 years. Though 5,000 copies were originally printed, fewer than 100 are known to exist today.

Isaiah Thomas

Isaiah Thomas was one of the most successful printers in Colonial America. He published a newspaper called “The Massachusetts Spy” in which he supported the cause of the colonists. During the Revolutionary War, Thomas moved his presses to Worcester, Massachusetts. There, in 1791, Isaiah Thomas published the first illustrated Bibles printed in America. (Many historians believe that his production was completed just days after Isaac Collins completed his Bibles that same year). Thomas produced his 1791 Bibles (KJV) in two forms: a large folio of two volumes, and a smaller but still quite large, royal quarto of one volume.
One very curious thing about the Bibles of Isaiah Thomas, is that although they are technically the first illustrated Bibles printed in America, with 50 large copperplate engravings, it is very rare to find a copy that has any engravings (illustrations) at all! This is most likely because the “optional” engravings doubled the cost of the Bible, and most people could only afford the version without illustrations. In addition to offering the Bible without the engravings, Thomas further attempted to assist his customers by offering to accept up to half the price in the form of “wheat, rye, corn, butter, or pork.” While any printing of the 1791 Isaiah Thomas Bible is quite rare and valuable; those with engravings are extraordinarily rare and expensive today.

Jacob Berriman & John Thompson

In 1796, Jacob Berriman of Philadelphia published what may be called the first “single volume illustrated tall folio” (KJV) Bible printed in America. Long prized by collectors of Colonial American Bibles, this printing features excellent examples of the work done by several American engravers of the 1700’s. It is a work of exceptional beauty.
In November of 1798, John Thompson, also of Philadelphia, produced the first Bible ever to be “hot-pressed” in America (KJV). This printing technique helped to sear the ink clearly into the paper with heat. It was a huge pulpit folio, printed in two volumes… the largest Bible printed in America up until that time. The Thompson Hot-Press Bible remains an extremely rare collectors’ item.

Charles Thomson & Jane Aitken

Charles Thomson was the Secretary to the United States Congress from 1774 to 1789, when he resigned to pursue his scholarly interests. Thomson was fascinated with the early Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the “Septuagint”. He produced the first translation of the Septuagint into English, and the first new modern-English translation of the New Testament in the western hemisphere. Charles Thomson spent twenty years perfecting his translation, and then he sought a publisher
The publisher he found was the daughter of the famous Robert Aitken, who had produced the first English Bible printed in America in 1782. Her name was Jane Aitken. On September 12, 1808, in Philadelphia, Jane Aitken published Charles Thomson’s translation of the Bible into modern English in four volumes, making her the first woman to ever print a Bible, and the first publisher of a modern-English Bible since the King James version of two centuries earlier.

Other American Bible Firsts

As America entered the 1800’s, there were many more Biblical printing milestones, including:

• 1800 – First Greek New Testament printed in America
• 1814 – First Hebrew Bible printed in America
• 1815 – First French Bible printed in America
• 1824 – First Spanish Bible printed in America
• 1833 – Noah Webster’s Modern English Bible
• 1842 – First Bible printed for the blind in America
• 1843-46 – Most Lavishly Illustrated American Bible

http://greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/colonial-bibles.html

Pre-reformation history of the Bible

Here is more of the history of the Bible. I found this article very interesting and informative, especially in light of the fact that I was recently asked where the reformers were during the 1400 years before the reformation.

English Bible History

The Pre-Reformation History of the Bible
From 1,400 BC to 1,400 AD

The story of how we got the English language Bible is, for the most part, the story of the Protestant Reformation which began in the late 14th Century AD with John Wycliffe. Indeed, if we go back more than just one thousand years, there is no language recognizable as “English” that even existed anywhere. The story of the Bible is much older than that, however.

The first recorded instance of God’s Word being written down, was when the Lord Himself wrote it down in the form of ten commandments on the stone tablets delivered to Moses at the top of Mount Sinai. Biblical scholars believe this occurred between 1,400 BC and 1,500 BC… almost 3,500 years ago. The language used was almost certainly an ancient form of Hebrew, the language of Old Covenant believers.
The earliest scripture is generally considered to be the “Pentateuch”, the first five books of the Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy… though there is some scholarly evidence to indicate that the Old Testament Book of Job may actually be the oldest book in the Bible. The Old Testament scriptures were written in ancient Hebrew, a language substantially different than the Hebrew of today. These writings were passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years on scrolls made of animal skin, usually sheep, but sometimes deer or cow. Animals considered “unclean” by the Jews, such as pigs, were of course, never used to make scrolls.
When the entire Pentateuch is present on a scroll, it is called a “Torah”. An entire Torah Scroll, if completely unraveled, is over 150 feet long! As most sheep are only about two to three feet long, it took an entire flock of sheep to make just one Torah scroll. The Jewish scribes who painstakingly produced each scroll were perfectionists. If they made even the slightest mistake in copying, such as allowing two letters of a word to touch, they destroyed that entire panel (the last three or four columns of text), and the panel before it, because it had touched the panel with a mistake! While most Christians today would consider this behavior fanatical and even idolatrous (worshiping the scripture, rather than the One who gave it to us), it nevertheless demonstrates the level of faithfulness to accuracy applied to the preservation of God’s Word throughout the first couple of thousand years of Biblical transmission.
Hebrew has one thing in common with English: they are both “picture languages”. Their words form a clear picture in your mind. As evidence of this; the first man to ever print the scriptures in English, William Tyndale, once commented that Hebrew was ten times easier to translate into English than any other language. Tyndale would certainly be qualified to make such a statement, as he was so fluent in eight languages, that it was said you would have thought any one of them to be his native tongue.
By approximately 500 BC, the 39 Books that make up the Old Testament were completed, and continued to be preserved in Hebrew on scrolls. As we approach the last few centuries before Christ, the Jewish historical books known as the “Apocrypha” were completed, yet they were recorded in Greek rather than Hebrew. By the end of the First Century AD, the New Testament had been completed. It was preserved in Greek on Papyrus, a thin paper-like material made from crushed and flattened stalks of a reed-like plant. The word “Bible” comes from the same Greek root word as “papyrus”. The papyrus sheets were bound, or tied together in a configuration much more similar to modern books than to an elongated scroll.
These groupings of papyrus were called a “codex” (plural: “codices”). The oldest copies of the New Testament known to exist today are: The Codex Alexandrius and the Codex Sinaiticus in the British Museum Library in London, and the Codex Vaticanus in the Vatican. They date back to approximately the 300’s AD. In 315 AD, Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identified the 27 Books which we recognize today as the canon of New Testament scripture.
In 382 AD, the early church father Jerome translated the New Testament from its original Greek into Latin. This translation became known as the “Latin Vulgate”, (“Vulgate” meaning “vulgar” or “common”). He put a note next to the Apocrypha Books, stating that he did not know whether or not they were inspired scripture, or just Jewish historical writings which accompanied the Old Testament.
The Apocrypha was kept as part of virtually every Bible scribed or printed from these early days until just 120 years ago, in the mid-1880’s, when it was removed from Protestant Bibles. Up until the 1880’s, however, every Christian… Protestant or otherwise… embraced the Apocrypha as part of the Bible, though debate continued as to whether or not the Apocrypha was inspired. There is no truth to the popular myth that there is something “Roman Catholic” about the Apocrypha, which stemmed from the fact that the Roman Catholics kept 12 of the 14 Apocrypha Books in their Bible, as the Protestants removed all of them. No real justification was ever given for the removal of these ancient Jewish writings from before the time of Christ, which had remained untouched and part of every Bible for nearly two thousand years.
By 500 AD the Bible had been translated into over 500 languages. Just one century later, by 600 AD, it has been restricted to only one language: the Latin Vulgate! The only organized and recognized church at that time in history was the Catholic Church of Rome, and they refused to allow the scripture to be available in any language other than Latin. Those in possession of non-Latin scriptures would be executed! This was because only the priests were educated to understand Latin, and this gave the church ultimate power… a power to rule without question… a power to deceive… a power to extort money from the masses. Nobody could question their “Biblical” teachings, because few people other than priests could read Latin. The church capitalized on this forced-ignorance through the 1,000 year period from 400 AD to 1,400 AD knows as the “Dark and Middle Ages”.
Pope Leo the Tenth established a practice called the “selling of indulgences” as a way to extort money from the people. He offered forgiveness of sins for a fairly small amount of money. For a little bit more money, you would be allowed to indulge in a continuous lifestyle of sin, such as keeping a mistress. Also, through the invention of “Purgatory”, you could purchase the salvation of your loved-one’s souls. The church taught the ignorant masses, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the troubled soul from Purgatory springs!” Pope Leo the Tenth showed his true feelings when he said, “The fable of Christ has been quite profitable to us!”

Editorial Note: Let us state at this point, that it is not our intent to offend or “bash” Roman Catholics. It is unavoidable that every historical account has its “good guys” and its “bad guys”. Just as it is impossible to accurately tell the story of World War Two without offending the Germans and the Italians who were undeniably the enemies of world peace at that time… it is equally impossible to accurately tell the story of the English Bible without unintentionally offending those who continue to revere the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches.

Where was the true church of God during these Dark Ages?
On the Scottish Island of Iona, in 563 AD, a man named Columba started a Bible College. For the next 700 years, this was the source of much of the non-Catholic, evangelical Bible teaching through those centuries of the Dark and Middle Ages. The students of this college were called “Culdees”, which means “certain stranger”. The Culdees were a secret society, and the remnant of the true Christian faith was kept alive by these men during the many centuries that led up to the Protestant Reformation.
In fact, the first man to be called a “Culdee” was Joseph of Aremethia. The Bible tells us that Joseph of Aremethia gave up his tomb for Jesus. Tradition tells us that he was actually the Uncle of the Virgin Mary, and therefore the Great-Uncle (or “half-Uncle” at least) of Jesus. It is also believed that Joseph of Aremethia traveled to the British Isles shortly after the resurrection of Christ, and built the first Christian Church above ground there. Tradition also tells us that Jesus may have spent much of his young adult life (between 13 and 30) traveling the world with his Great Uncle Joseph… though the Bible is silent on these years in the life of Jesus.
In the late 1300’s, the secret society of Culdees chose John Wycliffe to lead the world out of the Dark Ages. Wycliffe has been called the “Morning Star of the Reformation”. That Protestant Reformation was about one thing: getting the Word of God back into the hands of the masses in their own native language, so that the corrupt church would be exposed and the message of salvation in Christ alone, by scripture alone, through faith alone would be proclaimed again.
This concludes our overview of the Pre-Reformation history of the Bible. You should now click here to return to the main English Bible History Page, to pick up this story with John Wycliffe in the 14th Century, and continue on to the 21st Century.


http://greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/pre-reformation.html