I've heard it said, "In a preacher's life, learning and teaching history, is equal to learning and teaching the Bible." While I don't believe History is EQUAL to the Word of God, it most certainly is important! Sadly, many are like those described in the Word of God in 1 Timothy 1:7, "Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm."

I have found that there are countless people who teach things they have not looked into, nor have they studied to truly understand it. This is widely done concerning the Bible and its History. I am not speaking of teaching the Bible itself, but rather teaching things about the Bible, without checking into those things being taught. Such examples are teachings about people who have written the Bible, printed the Bible, translated the Bible, and even how the Bible came to be with us today. A precise example is that many are taught, or believe, that the King James Bible, was the first (maybe second) Bible printed in English. Some know that to be untrue, while many do not know.

This is the reason we are looking into the History of the Bible. It was my first intent to pretty much cover the entirety of Bible History, to help you understand and know completely. However, as I began, I realized that it would take many-books worth of information, to cover the entirety. The History of the Bible, is very extensive. Many people honestly spend nearly their whole lives learning more in studying the History of the Bible. Therefore, I will not put on these pages that extensive of an amount of information. Rather, I will put some important parts, and very important issues regarding the Bible throughout History.

I do insist though, that you try to find time to research the History of the Bible. Though always remember that many people lie, and many others teach things they do not properly understand, or have not properly researched. So take care in researching anything, especially History, and even more important, the History of the Bible. It is a well-known fact that as time goes by, many people have worked hard and continue to work hard to change certain things about history. And it is fairly easy to do so because it only takes a couple of generations to make something in history disappear. As those who remember (having lived during it), pass away, it becomes easier and easier from then on. So dig deep in research, I don't believe the Truth can be completely lost, but it can become buried under a mountain of lies and can take some digging to get to. Pray that God helps you!

Back to the Top

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The Books

Let's look at some of the books and manuscripts which are of importance as we study the History of the Bible.

Before we begin looking at the books though, let's take a look at
The Terminology.

Manuscripts:

The Textus Receptus
The Septuagint
Sinaiticus
Vaticanus

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The People Involved

Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536)
Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1903)
Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892)