"Q" is for the Questioning of Christian Philosophers in Whom the Holy Spirit Has Planted Its Most Excellent Epistemology

     For most of the history of Western Civilization (until relatively recent times) the concept of "natural law" was inextricably intertwined with practical worldview, ethics, and common law.  The penalty for violation of the natural law was not just the condemnation of society, but even more significant, the natural penalty of unhappiness.  Unhappiness was understood to be the inevitable result of living a life that was not disciplined, not habituated to the principles of natural law.  People strove, therefore, to understand and practice what was favorable to achieving true happiness.  This they referred to as "virtue".  The primary question asked by both secular and Christian philosophers dealt with identifying and  understanding the natural law.  This fact was taken for granted by practical theologians, preachers and teachers in the American Colonies and later in Early America.
     The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle (384-322 BC) had a particularly important impact upon the Christian Church during the Middle Ages.  it therefore indirectly became important in the development of all modern philosophy, as well as European and Early American law and theology.  The Nicomachean Ethics examine in detail the relationship between virtue and true happiiness.  A systhesis between Aristotelian ethics and Christian theology became widespread during the Middle Ages in Europe.  The most important version of this synthesis was that of Thomas Aquinas.  The practical nature of this synthesis has influenced western civilization ever since (until, perhaps, relatively recent times when common sense has been thrown to the wind).  In many respects, Aristotelian Ethics and Christianity became, and deserve to be regarded as, complementary and inextricably intertwined--just as the "general" and the "special" revelations themselves are complementary and inextricably intertwined.  Below, facing pages from H. Rackham's traslation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (click for larger view).

     Below, the OCHF Library's copy of Thomas Aquinas' Works of Aristotle Translated into Latin, published by Apud Scotum in 1551 (click for larger image).

 

 

     Below one further example of a most significant work by a Christian Philosopher, a page from Sententiarum Quatuor Libri (the Four Books of Sentences) by Peter Lombard.  Click image for larger view.

 



     "The Four Books of Opinions" or "The Four Books of Judgments" were compiled by Peter Lombard, a scholastic theologian (c. 1100--July 20, 1160).  This work, also known as "The Book of Sentences", sets forth biblical texts, together with relevant passages from the Church Fathers and many medieval thinkers, on virtually the entire field of Christian theology.  Lombard left many questions open, giving later scholars an opportunity to provide their own answers.  From the 1200s until the 16th century, no work of Christian literature, except for the Bible itself, was commented upon more frequently.  All the major medieval thinkers, from Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas to William of Ockham and Gabriel Biel, were influenced by it.  Even the young Martin Luther till wrote "glosses" on Lombard's Sentences, and, John Calvin quoted from it over 100 times in his Institutes. 
     Peter Lombard's most famous and controversial opinion was his indentification of charity with the Holy Spirit.  When the Christian loves God and neighbor, Lombard felt that this love literally is God, and, the one who so loves becomes one with the divine and is taken up into the life of the Trinity.  This idea was never declared unorthodox, but few theologians have been prepared to follow Peter Lomgard in this particular teaching.  Compare Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, 2006.

"P" is for Preacher Peter Cartwright

     The United Methodist Church and the many other offshoots of the Methodist movement comprise one of the largest groupinigs of Protestant Denominations in the world today.  The Methodist movement was started in the 18th Century by John and Charles Wesley, in large part to minister to the needs of the poorer classes of England and in reaction to the apathy shown them by the upper socio-economic classes who controlled the Church of England.  The movement quickly spread to the American colonies.  Though John Wesley intended the Methodists to remain a reform movement within the Chruch of England, the American Revolution decisively separated the Methodists in America from the life and sacraments of the Church of England.
     In 1784, after unsuccessful attempts to have the Church of England send a bishop to start a new church in the colonies, Wesley appointed fellow priest Thomas Coke to organize an independent Methodist group in America.  This new American church was destined to make a distinctive contribution to our American Christian heritage, largely because of its willingness and desire to serve those whom others ignored. This philosophy led to the ministry of the circuit rider, many of whom were laymen who traveled the backwoods of what was then a mostly rural nation by horseback to preach the Gospel and to establish churches in settlements in which the larger established churches had little interest.  Hundreds of such preachers worked tirelessly until there was scarcely any village in the new nation without a Methodist presence.
     Methodist preachers made a point of taking the message to anyone left outside organized religion at that time.  This included laborers and even criminals as well as those people living in the backwoods frontier.  In the United States, Methodism became the religion of many slaves who later formed "black churches" in the Methodist tradition.
     Because of the Circuit Riders religion changed in America.  But it was not only religion that was affected, the culture as a whole was shaped by the efforts of these circuit riding preachers.  Because these traveling preachers visited people whom others discounted, a new understanding of religion developed in the hearts and minds of the common classes in America.  As a result, this new religion in which laity had an equal voice helped shape the ideals of democracy in America.
     Peter Cartwright was among the greatest of these early Circuit Riders.  In his autobiography, Cartwright writes, "Many nights, in early times, the itinerant had to camp out, without fire or food for man or beast.  Our pocket Bible, Hymn Book, and Discipline constituted our library.  It is true we could not, many of us, conjugate a verb or parse a sentence, and murdered the King's English almost every lick.  But there was a Divine unction that attended the word preached, and thousands fell under the mighty power of God, and thus the Methodist Episcopal Church was planted firmly in the Western Wilderness, and many glorious signs have followed, and will follow, to the end of time....  From the time I had joined the traveling ranks in 1804 to 1820-21, a period of sixteen years, from thirty-two traveling preachers, we had increased to two hundered and eighty... and there was not a single literary man among the preachers."

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     While it may not have been an intentiaonal result, people living on the American frontier soon learned from observation that they didn't particularly need the educated elite, either in politics or religion.  They learned to hold their heads high and to think of themselves as entitled to the same protection of law the wealthy enjoyed.  Methodists offered the common people, especially the poor, a compelling vision of individual self-worth and collective self-confidence.  Methodism in America gave voice to passions that the common person had previously been unable to express.  This amounted to a social revolution which is as important to our nation's history as the political revolution that won our independence.

     The Methodist camp meeting and tent revivals were a natural bi-product of this American social revolution.  During the early years of the Republic, camp meetings and traveling tent revivals reached out to an involved the lower socio-economic classes of America contributing immeasurably to the democratization of our nation.  Here, in these tent meetings, everyone was equal.  Those who got there first were able to sit up front, unlike the many churches controlled by the upper classes whose front pew was reserved for those individuals who had financed the construction of the church.

     It is safe to say that the revivalism movement mightily contributed to by the Methodists during these early years of our American Republic not only helped shape the democratic ideals we cherish, but rescued the infant nation from the brink of moral disaster.  At a time of moral chaos on the frontier due to the lack of church influence amont the people living on the frontier, Methodism helped to set the standard for the return of morals to the frontier, and more importantly, took the religious power from the few and gave it to the many.

     The Methodist movement in America rediscovered revival and forged it into a heroic weapon.... revivalism swept in at the right time to bring the nation back from that brink.  It is the hope of Our Christian Heritage Foundation that concerned Christians will do the same today.  Join us in mounting a new offensive in the Methodist tradition.  And perhaps someday history will record that this offensive to restore Christian America began here, at this time, with your help.

(Historic comments above from Wikepedia Free Content Online Encyclopedia.  All photos are of books held by the OCHF Library.)

 

Below, a typical Circuit Rider's Bible with Wesley's Commentary Notes

 

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Below, a typical Hymnbook used by many frontier Methodists

 

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Circuit Riders might also carry with them a copy of Wesley's Primitive Physic, a book of herbal medicine for the poor who could not afford or did not have access to a physician--see below.

 

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     Post Script:  John Wesley Hill, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, writes in his book Abraham Lincoln - Man of God,, p. 77:  "In August 1837, Mr. Lincoln, with six other lawyers and two doctors, went in a wagon from Springfield to Salem to attend a camp-meeting.  On the way Lincoln cracked jokes about the horses, the wagon, the lawyers, the doctors--indeed about nearly everything.  At the camp-meeting, Dr. Peter Akers, like Peter Cartwright, a great Bible preacher of his day, then in the fullness of his powers, preached a sermon on 'The Dominion of Jesus Christ.'  The object of the sermon was to show that the dominion of Christ could not come in America until American slavery was wiped out, and that the institution of slavery would at last be destroyed by civil war.  For three hours the preacher enrolled his argument and even gave graphic pictures of the war that was to come.  'I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet,' said he, 'but a student of the prophets.  As I read propehcy, American slavery will come to an end in some near decade, I think in the sixties."  Like Lincoln, Cartwright had moved westward to illinois after a childhood in Kentucky.  In addition to his preaching activities, Cartwright served two terms in the Illinois State Legislature, having defeated Lincoln who had also stood for the office.  Cartwright stood in opposition to Lincoln for the office of U. S. Congress in 1846.  This time Lincoln prevailed, and the rest is history.  

 







"O" is for Orthodox Christianity

     The Eastern Orthodox Church, mainly concentrated in Russia, Eastern Europe and Greece, is the second largest Christian communion in the world (after Roman Catholicism).  Among the holdings of the OCHF Library is a unique hand-painted scholar's rendition of an important Orthodox manuscript, (click for larger image).

     The Tetraevangelia of Ivan Alexander, or "The Four Gospels of Ivan Alexander", is a 14th century illuminated manuscript in Middle Bulgarian, prepared and illustrated during the rule of Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-71) in the Second Bulgarian Empire.  the manuscript is regarded as one of the most important literary treasures of the medieval Bulgarian culture and agreeably the one with the greatest artistic value.
     The original manuscript, currently housed in the British Library (Add. MS 396270), contains the text of the Four Gospels illustrated with 366 (or 252, depending on the grouping) miniatures (hand-painted illustrations) and consists of 286 parchment folios, 33 by 24.3 cm in size, later paginated with pencil.  Folio 74, most likely the one where the miniature illustrating the Judgment Day scene was, has been cut out and stolen in modern times (no, we don't have it!).
     The page displayed above has been identified by Milan Graba, Lead Curator of Southeast European Studies at the British Libray, and by his colleagues at the Bulgarian Academy, as a scholar's manuscript copy of unknown age of one of the hand-painted illustrations (f.84) from the Gospels of Tsar Alexander, with text in a different Gospel redaction from Matthew 27:33-38.  No one has yet identified that redaction (if you know, please let us know).

     Also of interest, among the OCHF Library holdings is this leaf from an old liturical chant book.  Notice that the musical notes are written without lines, as were the notes in music in the Roman Catholic Church at ab early time.  The technical name is Znamenny Notation with Shaidurov Symbols, late 17th Century Russian.  Znamenny chant was the principal music of the Russian Orthodox Church from the time Christianity was imported from Byzantium to the late 17th century.  In the mid-17th century the Novgorod master Ivan Shaidurov invented a system of auxiliary red letters to be placed alongside the znamenny notation above the text of the chant.  Each of these letters corresponded to a particular note in the church scale, increasing accuracy of the musical score.  By the late 18th century znamenny chant had retreated into obscurity, the only keepers of it being the "Old Believers" sect.  (For larger image, click the photo.)

 

 

     The OCHF Library also has a fine copy of a Russian Orthodox New Testament, printed in Moscow, dated 1767, image below (click for larger image).

 

 

     The dedicatory page of this Bible, as translated by Inna Pikulenko, reads as follows:  "In honor of the single and inseparable Trinity--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--with the permission of the Imperial Empress Catherine of all Russia in the presence of her heir, the faithful prince and great count Paul Petrovitch with the blessing of the ancient ruling synod.  This holy book of the New Testament is being printed in the great city of Moscow in the year of cration of the world by the Word of God (1767)...."

     Notice that the order of the books in this New Testament is not the same as in the Bibles of the western tradition:

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

Acts

James

I Peter

II Peter

I John

II John

III John

Jude

Romans

I Corinthians

II Corinthians

Galatians

Ephesians

Philippians

Colossians

I Thessalonians

II Thessalonians

I Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

Philemon

Hebrews

Calendar of Saints (Sept.-Aug.)

Lectionary Readings

Saturday and Sunday liturgies

Special prayers to saints

Prayer for the dead (and readings for funeral services)

Prayers for the needy

Prayer for the Empress

The Apocalypse

 

     There is a hand-written notation inside the back cover that states "from Smolensk".  There are many churches and monasteries in Smolensk.





"N" is for New England Primer and New England Psalter

     The New England Primer was the first reading primer designed for the American Colonies.  It became the most successful educational textbook published in 18th century America and it became the foundation of most schooling before the 1790's.  While the selections in the New England Primer varied somewhat across time, there was standard content for beginning reading instruction, including the alphabet, catechisms and moral lessons.

 

Below, the ABC's as taught in the New England Primer. 

(OCHF Library copy, click photo for larger image)

 

 

 

     The New England Psalter was an early reading textbook for children first published in the late 17th century.  It was thought not only appropriate but advantageous to teach reading with this Psalm book which also included stories of the Old and New Testament, rules for reading, lessons in spelling, instructions for printing letters, reading verse and the use of capitals.  Below, photos of OCHF Library's copy of The New England Psalter printed in 1770 in Boston by William M'Alpine.



 

 

Your support for the OCHF Library project strengthening the restoration of Christian America would be greatly appreciated.  Donations may be left at "Go Fund Me" accessed through our home page at www.OurChristianHeritageFoundation.org  Open the link titled "Help Us Build.." located at the upper right hand corner of the home page.  Thanking you in advance, we remain very sincerely yours, OCHF.

"M" is for Missions, Moody, and Money

    
     America has had many great evangelists, Christian educators, and missionaries.  The most successful of these, from John Eliot on, have been great organizers and fund-raisers as well as spirit-filled Christians.  Typical among them is D. L. Moody (1837-1899), one of America's great evangelistic preachers and Christian educators.  His great enterprises were funded through tireless and skilled solicitation of donations (or, "subscriptions", as referred to in his letter shown below). Click image for larger view.

Document from the archieves of OCHF Library

 

     We would like to see Our Christian Heritage Foundation grow so that this wonderful organization might more effectively achieve success in its mission to restore Christian America.  The response of each reader and friend of Christ is the key to success.  You are the key to success.  Please consider making a donation to OCHF today.   We are, as D. L. Moody writes, awaiting your reply.  To donate, plase return to the OCHF home page www.OurChristianHeritageFoundation.org and click "Help Us Build the Permanent Display" at the upper right corner of the home page.  Thanking you in advance, Dr. Byron Perrine, Executive Director, OCHF.



   

"L" is for Luther

     For Luther, getting the Reformation on solid footing was a necessity, and probably influenced his handling of scripture.  He departs from the "received text" in his translation of Romans 3:28 where he doesn't hesitate to add "alone" to the phrase "justified by faith", perhaps in the belief that if the Apostle Paul had been writing during Luther's day that is the way Paul would have written it.  Certainly Luther understood the Apostle Paul as few if any others did at this time.  Below, Romans 3:27-28 excerpted from one of the OCHF Library's Luther Bibles:  (Click image for larger view.)

     In addition, Luther does not hesitate to allow his Reformation agenda to influence his estimation of the merit of the Epistle of James which he "demotes" from 20th position in the order of the New Testament books to 25th position.  Of the Epistle of James, Luther writes, "I cannot put it among the chief books, though I would not thereby prevent anyone from putting it where he pleases and estimating it as he pleases...."  Compare the order below, excerpted from a Luther Bible, with that of any other version of the New Testament:  (Click image for larger view.)

     Also, whle in his first Preface (1522) to The Revelation of St. John Luther writes, "... let everyone think of it (The Revelation of St. John) as his own spirit gives him to think...", it wasn't long before he offers an interpretation of this book that is pro-Reformation in nature (see his preface of 1534).

The 1534 Luther Bible

     From the OCHF Library collection, below are several beautiful woodcut prints extracted from the first complete Luther Bible published in 1534.  Sadly, in centuries past collectors were inclined to cut illustrations and illuminated letters from priceless Bibles.  Happily, some of these cuttings have survived including these from Luther's first complete Bible.  These woodcut illustrations were done by Melchoir Schwarzenberg in 1532, and, appeared as part of the 1534 Luther Bible printed in Wittenberg.  They were hand-colored after printing.  (Click images for larger view.)

 

    

"K" is for Knox

     Elizabeth I and her successor James I settled on a "middle way" in religion that preserved certain aspects of Catholicism yet at the same time rejected Papal authority in England.  This "middle way" was probably motivated by political interests; i.e., a desire to put an end to religious conflict in England.  John Knox, c. 1514-1572, however, was not inclined to settle for a "middle way", and as a result was instrumental in bringing a religious reformation to Scotland which was of a very different nature.  Knox was greatly influenced by time spent among the "radical" Protestants of Geneva where he resided in exile during the reign of Mary Tudor, Catholic Queen of England. 
     Wikipedia writes:  In the summer of 1558, Knox published his best known pamphlet, The first blast of the trumpet against the monstrous regiment of women.   In calling the "regiment" or rule of women "monstrous", he meant that it was "unnatural".  Knox states that his purpose was to demonstrate "how abominable before God is the Empire or Rule of a wicked woman.  The women rulers that Knox had in mind were Queen Mary I of England and Mary of Guise, the Dowager Queen of Scotland and regent on behalf of her daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots.  Although Know had not targeted Elizabeth Tudor, he deeply offended her because of this pamphlet, and she never forgave him.
     Knox also distanced himself from the Church of England by challenging the English Book of Common Prayer on the grounds that it preserved a number of worship practices that were, in his estimation, Roman Catholic in nature.  Wikipedia writes:  On August 1, 1560, the Scottish Parliament met to settle religious issues in Scotland.  Knox and five other ministers were called upon to draw up a new confession of faith.  Within four days the Scots Confessions was presented to Parliament, voted upon, and approved.  A week later, the Parliament passed three acts in one day:  the first abolished the jurisdiction of the Pope in Scotland, the second condemned all doctrine and practice contrary to the reformed faith, and the third forbade the clebration of the Mass in Scotland.  Knox and the oither ministers were given the task of organizing the newly reformed church in Scotland. 
     Wikipedia continues:  Knox was a ruthless and successful revolutionary and it was this revolutionary philosophy that had a great impact on the English Puritans.  Despite his strictness and dogmatism, Knox has also been described as contributing to the struggle for genuine human freedom, by teaching a duty to oppose unjust government in order to bring about moral and spiritual change.  Knox was notable not so much for the overthrow of Roman Catholicism in Scotland, but for assuring the replacement of Roman Catholicism with Presyterianism rather than Anglicanism.  It was thanks to Knox that the Presbyterian polity was established.  In that regard, Know is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination whose members number millions worldwide.
     Below, images from the OCHF Library's copy of writings by Knox in The History of the Reformation of the Church of Scotland, David Buchanan, editor printed in London by John Raworth, 1644.  (Click for larger image).

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"J" is for James, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, and the Bible of the "Middle Way"

     By the time King James I ascended to the throne of England, earlier attempts by the Bishops of England during the reign of Elizabeth I to ensconce a "Middle Way" Bible neither Roman Catholic nor radically protestant in nature had lost ground and been undermined by the English-language protestant Geneva Bible.  The KJV was an attempt to find a competitive alternative to the Geneva Bible.  Forty-seven learned men gathered at the king's request, meeting at Westminster, Oxford, and Cambridge to produce what would be published in 1611 and commonly known to later ages as the "Authorized, or King James, Version."
     In the way of thinking of the Bishops of England, the chief problem with both the English Douay-Rheims bible, and the English-language Geneva Bible were the notoriously biased interpretive notes included in the margins of those Bibles, especially the Geneva Bible.  While the poetry and clarity of the language utilized in the KJV is regarded by many to be inspired, the true miracle of the KJV was the removal if interpretive margin notes, in so doing leaving the interpretation of the text up to the reader (guided by the illumination of the Holy Spririt rather than the theology of man).  
    The following illustrative comment is excerpted from "The Translators to the Reader" section of the KJV bible first published in 1611:
Some per adventure would have no varieties of senses to be set in the margin, lest the authoritie of the Scriptures for deciding of controversies by that shew of uncertaintie, should somewhat be shaken.  But we hold their judgement not to be so found in this point.  For though, whatsoever things are necessarie, are manifest, as S. Chrysostome saith; and, as S. Augustine, in those things that are plainly set down in the Scriptures, all such matters are found that concern faith, hope, and charitie:  yet for all that it cannot be dissembled, that partly to exercise and whet our wits, partly to wean the curious from lothing of them for their everwhere plainnesse, partly also to stirre up our devotion to crave the assistance of Gods Spirit by prayer, and lastly, that we might be forward to seek aid of our brethren by conference, and never scorn those that be not in all respects so complete as they should be, being to seek in many things ourselves, it hath pleased God in his divine providence, here and there to scatter words and sentences of that difficultie and boubtfulnesse, not in doctrinal points that concern salvation (for in such it hath been vouched that the Scriptures are plain) but in matters of lesse moment, that fearfulness would better beseem us then confidence, and if we will resolve, to resolve upon modestie with S. Augustine, (though not in this same case altogether, yet upon the same ground....It is better to make doubt of those things which are secret, then to strive about those things that are uncertain.

Below, examples of the notes from the Geneva Bible (click for larger image):



 





Below, a page from the 1613 folio KJV showing lack of interpretive margin notes (click for larger image):

Below, images from a 1660 octavo KJV Bible printed in London by Henry Hills and John Field.  Note especially the image of Mary bound with this Bible, something inconceivable with the Geneva Bible (click for larger image):

 





"I" is for Illuminated Manuscript Style

     Illuminated manuscript style influenced the style of later printed Bibles in Europe.  During the medieval and late medieval period, Bibles were copied by hand and often richly decorated.  The two-column style also became standard.  After the development of printing, wealthy patrons who purchased printed bibles wanted the printed Bible to resemble the style of earlier hand-illuminated bibles, that style having become inseparably associated with the Bible because of centuries of producing Bibles in that style, namely, two-column pages with hand-painted initials beginning chapters and hand-painted decorations to finish the printed page.  Below, detail from a page from Exodus showing typical hand-painted decoration.  This leaf, held by the OCHF Library, dates from the 14th Century.  As in the case of most bibles of this period, the writing is done on fine animal skin (vellum) rather than paper.  (Click image for larger view.)

 

     Below is a typical hand-written Bible leaf from the 13th Century.  This leaf is from a small portable Bible.  (Click image for larger view.)

 

     The first printed Bible was produced by Johann Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, probably completed between March and November 1455.  It is a print of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible.  Intended for wealthy clients, these large and expensive Bibles sold at a cost equivalent of three years' pay for the average clerk.  The Gutenberg Bibles were not ready for use when they came off the press.  Large capital letters and decoration were still to be added by hand.  The style and extent depended on how much money the buyer wanted to spend, and differed from one copy to the next, some pages being as highly decorated as the beautiful illuminated 14th Century leaf above.  Below, reproductions of two versions of Genesis I, the printed pages finished by hand to the individual taste of the patron who purchased the Bible.  (Click image for larger view.)

 

 

     The OCHF Library has many illuminated manuscripts including this Century leaf from a 16th Century "Antiphonary".  (Click image for larger view.)

 

 

     The OCHF Library has a number of original pages from an early printed Bible, the Jenson Bible of 1479, with fine hand-painted initials.  Note the exceptionally fine hand decoration added to the printed pages, below.  (Click image for larger view.)

 

 



"H" is for Hus

     The Czech literature of the Middle Ages is very rich in translations of Biblical books made from the Vulgate.  During the 14th Century all parts of the Bible seem to have been translated into the Bohemian language at different times and by different hands.  The oldest translations are those of the Psalter.  The New Testament must also have existed in the Bohemian language at that time, for according to a statement of Wycliffe, Anne, daughter of Charles IV, received in 1381 upon her marrying Richard II of England a Bohemian New Testament.
     It is certain that John Hus (1372-1415) had the Bible in Bohemian before him as a whole when he and his successors undertook a revision of the text according to the Vulgate.  The work of Hus on the Bible antedated 1412.  During the 15th Century the revision was continued.  The first complete printed Bible in the Bohemian language was published in Prague in 1488.  Other editions were issed at Kutna Hora, 1489, and Venice, 1506.
     Below are photos of OCHF Library's framed copy of a leaf from a hand-rubricated Bohemian Bible printed in Venice, Italy, by Peter Lichtenstein in 1506.  This Bible was prepared by John Hus and his followers, and edited by Jan Jindrissky of Zatec (Saaz) and Tomas Molek of Hradec Kralove.  The cost of printing this edition was financed entirely by three wealthy merchants of Prague for the use of the Ultraquist sect, then the strongest religious denomination among the Czechs.  This Bible is extensively rubricated with hand-painted initial letters and text emphases in red and blue inks.  Reference D&M 2180.

 

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"G" is for the German Bible before Luther

Leaf from the Koberger German Language Bible  ("click" photo for larger view).

     The Koberger Bible is the ninth of the eighteen editions of bibles printed in German baefore Luther (14 High-German and 4 Low-German), and is considered one of the most beautiful bibles ever printed.  The beautiful Bastarda typeface is reminiscent of manuscripts.  The hand-colored woodcuts of the Koberger Bible are impressive because of their rich colors and diverse shades.  It is assumed that many copies of the Bible were colored in Koberger's own workshop before they were sold, which was quite unusual at the time.  They exerted a decisive influence on later Bible illustrations, becoming the prototype for German bible illustrations in particular, fixing 109 as the standard number of woodcuts used.  Koberger left blank spaces for initials in the text, which were then painted with red and blue Lombard initials after the printing, probably also directly in Koberger's workshop.  The text is a translation of the Latin Vulgate taken from the fourth German b ible published by Zainer in Augsburg in 1475.  In addition to the Nuremberg Chronicle, the Koberger Bible is one of Koberger's most important prints.  It is estimated that the print run was between 1000 to 1500 copies, of which only about 150 extent copies still exist in public collections.  The printing office of Koberger was equipped with 25 manual presses, and employed about 100 assistants.  For its time, it was a large firm with international contacts and clients. 

Below, a page from the Zwingli Bible printed in Zurich by Christoph Froschauer ("click" for larger view)

     The Zurich Bible (also known as the Zwingli or Froschauer Bible) grew out of the "Prophezey", an exegetical worshop of Zurich clerics taking place every weekday working at a German redition of Bible texts.  The translation of Martin Luther was used as far as it was already completed.  Since the Prophets were still lacking in Luther's translation, the Zurich preachers issued this part of the Old Testament based on the translation of Ludwig Haetzer and Hans Denck, which had been published in Worms in 1527, and which the Zurich preachers considered a faithful translation from the Hebrew.  This helped Zwingli to complete the entire translation five years before Luther.  The first printing of the complete German Bible translated from other than Vulgate sources, was accomplished in 1531 at the printing shop of Christoph Froschauer, with an introduction by Zwingli and summaries of each chapter.  The Froschauer Bible was very popular at the time because of the clear type, pictorial decoration, and popular language.  Here displayed is a page, Genesis 2 and 3, from a printing c. 1560.  The woodcut is by Hans Springinklee, a German artist from Nuremberg and a pupil of Albrecht Durer.  Among the people, especially the Anabaptists, the first editions of the Froschauer Bibles and Testaments were greatly loved.  Thus the remarkable thing happened that in the course of the centuries those old editions were several times reprinted word for word.  All of these reprints were forbidden in Bernese territory as "Anabaptist Testaments", and wherever found they were confiscated.  In 1787 the Froschauer New Testament was reprinted at Ephrata, PA, by the Cloister Press, for the Pennsylvania Mennonites.

Below, photo of OCHF Library's copy of the Froschauer German Old Testament, published 1638 ("click" for larger image)

     The Wuerttembergische Landesbibliotheck Stuttgart has an extensive collection of Bibles and has issued a detailed bibliography of their collection.  Included in that bibliography is an illustrated Bible printed in Zurich in 1638.  They attribute the printing of the Bible to the Bodmer printing establishment that can be traced back through several other owners to what had been Froschauer's business.  Johann Jakob Bodmer bought it in 1626 but died several years later.  His widow and sons continued the business and it would have been his widow who was running the business in 1638 when our copy was printed.  Woodcuts are essentially the same as the first appearance of the woodcuts of Holbein's illustrations for the Bible 100 years earlier.  The image of God, however, has been removed from these woodcuts--as for example when Moses is depicted praying to God.  The 1638 edition incorporates various textual variants from 1531, 1548, 1597 and 1629, and the illustrations used also come from several different sources including some done after Holbein.  Although this edition is owned by a good number of Swiss libraries, and several other German, Dutch, and British collections, there is no other known copy in a library in North America other than this unique copy held by the OCHF Library.

    

"F" is for Formularies of Henry VIII

     The door to "Protestantism" in England was opened a bit when Henry VIII broke with Rome over the question of annulment of his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon.  When the Pope, Clement VII, refused, Henry claimed jurisdiction over the English church for himself through the Act of Supremacy of 1534.  This in itself did not introduce Protestant doctrine into the Church of England, apart from rejecting papal supremacy.  Between 1536 and 1540 Henry took possession of the church's monasteries and land.  In 1536, ten articles of faith were produced as a "formulary" of theological positions for Henry's church.  These articles flirted with Protestant ideas but neither condemned the Mass nor the Catholic call for good works.  The "Institution of a Christian a Christian Man" of 1537 further clarified Henry's "semi-reformed" doctrines.  His Act of Six Articles in 1539 returned the church to Catholic orthodoxy apart from papal supremacy.

 

     During Henry VIII's reign, the greatest of all English Bible translators, William Tyndale, was executed on account of his "radical" Protestant ideas (e.g. his substitution of "congregation" for "church" in his translation of the New Testament).  His reported last words, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."  Below, woodcut depicting the execution of William Tyndale from OCHF Library's copy of The Second Volume of the Ecclesiasticall Historie.  London:  John Foxe, 1631.

 



"E" is for the Eliot Mission

     Perhaps few disciples are as truly dedicated to the Lord and the building of His kingdom as was John Eliot (1604-1690), Apostle to the American indigenous peoples of Massachusetts.  The entirety of the beautiful yet tragic story of the "Praying Indians" of Massachusetts cannot be set forth in this brief entry.  Suffice it to say that there are saints in heaven as a result of the work of John Eliot.  His career epitomized the ideals of New England Puritanism, and, many of his converts were sanctified through the fires of martyrdom. 

Below, a leaf from Bishop Lewis Bayly's "Practice of Piety" translated by John Eliot

 

 

     This page is from Bishop Lewis Bayly's "Practice of Piety", considerably abridged and translated into the Algonquian language by Rev. John Eliot.  This page is from the lst edition printed in 1665 by Samuel Green, Cambridge, Massachusetts, the 95th book to be published in America.  Only three or possibly four complete copies of this book are known to have survived.  Obtained by the OCHF Library from the collection of Mrs. Adam P. Carroll, Natick, Massachusetts. 

Below, leaves from "Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God

     These leaves are from the second edition of the Eliot Bible, revised with the assistance of John Cotton, printed in Cambridge by Samuel Green, 1685.  The Eliot Indian Bible was first printed in 1663.  It was the first Bible printed in America, and, the first Bible to be printed in a new language as a means of evangelism.

     John Eliot performed the Herculean task of learning the difficult Algonguin tongue, of translating, unaided, the entire Bible in this unknown and unwritten language, of overcoming many technical difficulties, and of then teaching the Native Americans of Massachusetts to read their own tongue.  Samuel Green, the printer, was aided greatly by James Printer, and Indian compositor and corrector of the press.
     By 1675, copies of Eliot's first edition of the Bible, were becoming increasingly scarce.  The Reverend Eliot petitioned the Corporation in England for the Propagation of the Gospel for funds to print a second edition.  He was successful in his request, and printing commenced in 1678, with the New Testament being completed in 1680 and the entire Bible in 1685.  Costs for the production of this Bible amounted to 500 GBP, a vast sum for the time.  The quantity of the paper used in the production of the two editions of the Bible was greater than all the paper used in all other printing in the American Colonies in the seventeenth century.
     This edition was carefully revised by Eliot with the assistance of the Reverend John Cotton, Minister of Plymouth.  The new edition was needed because of the general attrition rate of the first edition through usage by the "Praying Indians" and, sadly by the destruction of many copies during King Philip's War.
     Printing on the New Testament began in 1680 and was completed in late 1681.  The Metrical Psalter was completed in 1682.  The Old Testament was begun in 1682 and completed in 1685, at which time the full work was published.  This second edition is notable for its opening summation paragraphs in English for each chapter.
     The importance of the John Eliot Indian Bible is impossible to overstate.  It is unrivalled in the history of American printing, in the history of books for Native Americans, and in the history of Christian evangelical movements--a work of singular importance and recognized as such even upon its publication.  These original pages of the OCHF Library here displayed were a part of a collection compiled by Otto F. Ege, of the Cleveland School of Art, and, Western Reserve University, 1938.

Below, a leaf from one of the famed "Eliot's Tracts"

     This leaf is from a 1652 publication (one of a series of pamphlets known as "Eliot's Tracts") put forth to encourage financial support for missionary activities in New England.  This particular leaf is from the first of Eliot's Tracts to be published by the Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel Among the Indians in New England, and it covers John Eliot's labors during 1651.  This particular leaf contains a letter by John Endecott.  The full title of the tract is "Strength Out of Weakness:  Or a Glorious Manifestation of the Further Progresse of the Gospel Amongst the Indians in New England:  Held forth in Sundry Letters from Divers Ministers and Others to the Corporation Established by Parliament for Promoting the Gospel Among the Heathen in New England; and to particular members thereof since the last treatise to that effect, formerly set forth by Mr. Henry Whitefield, late Pastor of Gilford in New England".  London:  Printed by M. Simmons for John Blaque and Samuel Howes, 1652. 

 

 

 

 

"D" is for the Douay-Rheims Bible (First Catholic English Language Bible)

Shown above, the OCHF Library's copy of the Rheims New Testament

Below, page from the first edition Douay-Rheims Old Testament printed in 1609, followed by a page from the Rheims New Testament of 1600 showing the Lord's Prayer:

 

 

 

     The Douay-Rheims Bible derives from the Louvain Bible of 1547, which in turn was derived from the work of Jerome, c. 347-420 A. D., who translated much of the Septuagint and Hebrew texts into what was then a "modern" Latin version of the Bible intended to be a standardized version to replace the many variants of an older archaic form of Latin that existed at that time, the new translation also being needed because Latin had begun to replace Greek as the dominant language in some provinces of the Roman Empire.  The Louvain edition was in turn intended to be a new standardized version to replace the many variants of Jerome's work that had arisen over the course of over a thousand years since the original Vulgate Latin edition.  The Rheims New Testament was the first English Catholic translation to be completed--in 1562--followed by the Douay-Rheims Old Testament in two volumes in 1609 and 1610.  This translation is the product of the English College at Douai, France, a seminary founded by Roman Catholic alumni of the University of Oxford who migrated to Douai from England following the death of Catholic Queen Mary Tudor and the growing intolerance toward Catholicism.  The purpose of the seminary was to train priests to return to England in the hope of converting the English again to Catholicism.  The Douay-Rheims Bible was principally the work of Gregory Martin.  The Old Testament is said to have been ready at the same time as the New Testament, 1582, but was not printed until later because of insufficient funds.  The Douay-Rheims Bible preserves in its margin notes the flavor of the beautiful allegories of Augustine.  In the example above from the Douay Old Testament, the flowering rod of Aaron, Numbers 27:8, is interpreted as "a figure that our Blessed Lady should bear a son, and remain a Virgin" and, in the example from the New Testament, the bread spoken of in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:11, is referred to as "supersubstantial bread", is interpreted to mean "that we ask not only all necessary sustenance for the body, but much more all spiritual food, namely the blessed sacrament itself, which is Christ the true bread that came from heaven, and the bread of life to us that eat his body."  The Douay-Rheims version of the Bible remained the standard English Catholic Bible until its revision by Richard Challoner in 1749 and 1750.  As an historical side-note:  Of the more than 300 priests sent by the English College of Douai to Anglican England, about half were hanged until nearly dead, then drawn and cut into quarters.  The other half were imprisoned, and/or deported back to the continent.

 

"C" is for Coverdale

       The first complete English Bibles were completed by Myles Coverdale in 1535, and, by John Rogers under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew" in 1537.  The first English Bible actually printed in England was Coverdale's in 1537.  Coverdale translated primarily from German and Latin sources.  Rogers' edition was based upon the translation of William Tyndale.  Tyndale translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.  Rogers' edition, known as the "Matthew Bible" or "Matthew's Version", combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as Tyndale had been able to translated before being captured, condemned for "heresy" (he translated Ecclesia as "congregation"--not acceptable to the Church of England), stripped of his priesthood, publicly strangled, and his body burned at the stake.  The translations of Myles Coverdale from German and Latin sources completed the Old Testament and the Apocrypha of Rogers' edition.  Both the Coverdale and Matthews versions were "licensed" but not totally accepted--the Coverdale was not totally accepted because it was not translated from the original languages, and, the Matthews was not totally accepted because it preserved some objectionable aspects of Tyndale's translation (e.g. the translation of Ecclesia as "congregation" rather than "church", and, Tyndale's marginal notes of a "radical" flavor).  As a result, Thomas Cromwell, the King's principal advisor, commissioned Coverdale to create a new version based upon the original languages and "devoid of personal interpretation".  The result was the "Great Bible" of 1539, the first "authorized" version of the English Bible.  The text of the Great Bible adheres closely to the Matthew Baible but with the objectionable elements modified.  In addition, various phrases and sentences found only in the Vulgate were interpolated into the text, apparently to make the Great Bible more palatable to conservative English churchmen, many of whom still at that time considered the Vulgate to be the only legitimate Bible. 

The following, from the OCHF library collection, is the dedicatory page from the first edition of the first English-language Bible to be printed in England, the 1537 edition of the Coverdale Bible printed by James Nycolson in Southwark (the 1535 edition having been printed on the continent).

 

The following, from the OCHF Library Collection, is an original hand-engraved copper plate from William Henry Mountague's History of England, printed 1885, depicting Thomas Cromwell presenting King Henry VIII with a copy of the first authorized edition of the Bible, the "Great Bible" of 1539.

 

Finally, from the OCHF Library Collection, the title page to Romans from a 1541 printing of the Great Bible of 1539 prepared by Myles Coverdale, working under commission of Sir Thomas Cromwell, Secretary to Henry VIII and Vicar General.