Truth Seekers Ministries Presents…
The History of the English Bible
‘Go ye into all the world and preach this good news to the whole creation’
This command has compelled an untold amount of people to suffer and die for a cause. Our English version of bible is not exempt We live now in a day and age that the Fulfillment of that command is certain. It is so very close to becoming a reality. We often take for granted what we have. With the Internet and an almost unlimited sources for research we need to strive for the fulfillment of that command. When you pick up your bible do you even fathom what it took to make it become a reality. To preserve God’s Word throughout the ages and to be able compare ours with some very ancient manuscripts and find out that there are virtually no errors in the many translations. Man would have screwed that job all up if it weren’t for divine intervention and Gods leading of men’s hearts. Not that all bibles being published today are accurate, many have fallen away and perverted Gods Word. But if you go to the earlier translations of the English bible you will find accuracy, especially if you have an interlinear and concordances so you can compare the English words with the Greek and Hebrew and their meanings, you will then get a fuller understanding of what God really meant to say.
How many of you think your Bible is the complete, and unadulterated Word of God? We’ll I am sorry to say… That God did not give the good ole’ King James version to Moses on Mt. Sinai… Am I right, you students of Dr. Scott? How many of Doc’s students still have the leaves that he gave to us? I have four.. My mothers, my fathers, my wife’s and my own. In 1996, for his birthday, on August 14, Dr. Scott gave to each of his supporters one leaf from a First Edition of the King James bible of 1611. These leaves date earlier than 1650. Now these leaves are not from a complete bible, any complete bibles he would keep complete. Doc had the single greatest bible collection in private hands. His collection included some of the earliest and the rarest manuscripts in the world. I am guessing that Melissa still has them but I don’t know for sure.
What you need to know though, is that the 66 books in your current bible, is not complete. There were 53 books, including the Apocrypha, that were in the Septuagint, Old Testament, Greek version that Jesus himself read from. This was the version of Jesus’ day, from about 200 B.C. Then there were 27 N.T. Greek books added from 40-100 A.D. Then Jerome’s Vulgate, in Latin, included 80 books, with the Apocrypha, and it became the official western version by by 900 A.D. Then came the came the versions by Wycliffe in 1384 A.D., also 80 books including the Apocrypha. Then you have the N.T. versions by Erasmus in the Greek and Latin in 1516; Then came Luther’s N.T. version in German in 1522; and Tyndale’s N.T. in English, the first printed English version, came to us in 1525. These N.T. versions had 27 books. Then 10 years later, in 1535, Coverdale’s English version had the 80 books with Apocrypha; Matthew’s English version came with 80 books in 1537; the “Great” Bible in 1539, in English, also 80 books; the Geneva English version in 1560 also with the 80 books; the Bishops’ English version came in 1568, also 80 books; all these English old and new testament versions had the Apocrypha still in them. Then we get to the King James version of 1611, also with 80 books including the Apocrypha. This remained the complete English version until in 1885, and through the influence and pressure from the Puritans, the Apocrypha books were removed, leaving you with the 66 books that you currently have today.
The man responsible for translating the bible into English was William Tyndale. He was so fluent in eight languages you couldn’t tell which one was his real one. This helped him elude his enemies for eleven years while he worked on the project of translating the scriptures into English. William Tyndale’s English bible was crucial to the beginnings of the Reformation and the Protestant movement. He was eventually burned at the stake, but his efforts weren’t in vain because it led to the publication of the King James version in 1611, seventy-five years after Tyndale was martyred. The first versions of the KJV bible incorporated the Apocrypha scripture. A total of eighty books including fourteen Apocryphal books were in the KJV bible for 274 years. The Septuagint Greek version had the Apocrypha books at 200 B.C. Quoted by the New Testament writers and Jesus himself. Early churches considered them inspired for 360 years. They remained a part of scripture until 1885. It has been 2000 years since Jesus and we’ve only excluded these important books of Scripture for the last 115 years. Sounds like someone has put on some major blinders, doesn’t it.
The Apocryphal writings are readily available today as well as the books of Jasher, Jubilees, and Enoch. They play a very important role in history and in the totality of God’s word. I always thought that if I were God I wouldn’t have sixty-six books, those are mans numbers. I’d probably use 77, 88, or 120 for a more appropriate number. Enoch, is said in his writings, to have written a total of 366 books, one for each of the years of his life. We need to earnestly seek all scripture and truth. Don’t be afraid of letting the Holy Spirit discern what is from God and what isn’t from him. I’m not saying that we should let the reigns go and delve into all kinds of ancient writings either. If we keep our mind on Christ and his purposes instead of our own selfish wants, we will find that all our desires are fulfilled in Christ, and we can walk strongly and boldly resisting the wiles of the devil.
I’ve included a couple of the scanned images from the leaves that Dr. Gene Scott had sent to his supporters. Much of the information here, while not plagiarized is directly connected to him and his teaching. Now be very careful when handling these leaves they are over 350 years old and are very fragile. Ha-Ha. They give you a glimpse of Bible history older than the United States has existed.
In Christ,
Patrick Robinson 1997