According to the arrangement of today’s Bible are Paul’s 13 epistles (letters). They are Romans (58 A.D.), 1st and 2nd Corinthians (56-57), Galatians (49 or 56), Ephesians (61), Philippians (62), Colossians (62), 1st and 2nd Thessalonians (51), 1st and 2nd Timothy (63, 66), Titus (65), and Philemon (61). It is unclear who wrote Hebrews.

Following Paul’s epistles are the General Epistles and Revelation. James, the elder of Jerusalem and brother of Jesus, wrote an epistle around 45 A.D. and is probably the earliest writing of the New Testament. Peter wrote 2 epistles around 63 and 66. John wrote 3 epistles between 85 and 90. In 75 A.D. Jude, the brother of James and of Jesus, wrote a letter warning against false prophets. John wrote the last book, Revelation, between 90 - 95 A.D..

As these various books were written they began to circulate among the early believers. Christians collected certain of these into single volumes. In the first century, each of the four books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were treated as an individual book known as the Four Gospels. As early as 85 - 90 the Epistles of Paul were collected into a single volume.

In the second and third centuries other Christians began to combine the book of Acts with the General Epistles into one volume. About the middle of the fourth century, after much research and debate, all the present books of the Bible were accepted as being divinely inspired and worthy of inclusion in the New Testament.

Christians had begun to make copies of these writings before the end of the first century. These early Christians also began using a form of a book called a codex, instead of a scroll. The codex was more like our modern books by folding sheets of papyrus or vellum (treated animal hide) in the middle and then sewing them together at the center.

Since not one of the original writings of any New Testament book still exists today, we depend upon copies for reconstructing the original text. Most scholars agree the oldest copy to an autograph (the original) is a papyrus manuscript designated P52, dated around 110 - 125 which contains some of the verses of John chapter 18. This fragment was only 20 to 30 years removed from the original and was part of one of the earliest copies of john’s Gospel. Some scholars believe there is even an earlier manuscript, designated P46, known as the Chester Beatty Papyrus II, which contains all of Paul’s epistles except the Patorals.

We have many other early copies of various parts of the New Testament. Some of the more important New Testament papyrus manuscripts are:

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri.

In 1898, Grenfell and Hunt discovered thousands of papyrus fragments in ancient rubbish heaps of Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. Volumes of papyrus fragments were found which contained legal documents, letters, business contracts, and literature. These texts assisted greatly in understanding more precisely how specific words were used at the time the same New Testament manuscripts were written. Also found were over 35 manuscripts with portions of the New Testament; such as P1 (Matthew chapter 1), P5 (John 1:16), P13 portions of Hebrews, and P22 (John 15-16).

The Chester Beatty Papyri.

In 1930 Chester Beatty, and the University of Michigan, purchased 3 manuscripts from an Egyptian dealer. These were very early manuscripts and contain a large portion of the New Testament; P35 (3rd century) with all four Gospels and Acts, P46 (late 1st century) which has almost all of Paul’s epistles and Hebrews, and P47 (3rd century) Revelation 9-17.

The Bodmer Papyri.

During the 1950's and 1960's, a collection of manuscripts were purchased from a dealer in Egypt which contained papyri P66 almost all of John, P72 with all of 1st and 2nd Peter and Jude, and P75 with large parts of Luke chapter 3 and John chapter 15.

Nearly a hundred manuscripts were discovered in the 1900's with portions of the New Testament. In the 1800's, other manuscripts were found, some of the more important ones described below.

Codex Sinaiticus.

This was discovered by Constantin von Tischendorf in St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Dating around 350 A.D., and contains the entire New Testament.

Codex Vaticanus.

This manuscript had been in the Vatacan’s library since about 1481, but had never been made available to scholars until the middle of the 18th century. The entire Old and New Testaments are include except from Hebrews 9:15 through to the end of Revelation, and the Pastoral Epistles. Most scholars consider the Codex Vaticanus as being some of the most trustworthy of the New Testament text.

Codex Alexandrinus.

Fifth century manuscripts containing nearly all the New Testament and considered to be very reliable witness to the General Epistles and Revelation.

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus.

Another fifth century document containing a large portion of the New Testament but partially erased and written upon with the sermons of St. Ephraem. It was later deciphered by the painstaking efforts of Tischendorf.

Codex Bezae.

More fifth century manuscripts containing the Gospels and Acts with a text quite different from the other manuscripts of that era.

Codex Washingtonianus (also called The Freer Gospels).

Fifth century manuscript with all four Gospels - housed in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C..

Before the 15th century and Guttenberg’s press, all copies of any work were by hand and thus called manuscripts. We now have over 6000 manuscript copies of the Greek New Testamant.

Although there are certain differences in text between some of the manuscripts, there are no significant fundamental doctrine differences. We can have faith in today’s Bible to truly be the very Word of God.

As the Gospel spread in these early times, Christians in other countries wanted to read it in their own languages; Coptic for Egyptians, Syriac for those whose language was Aramaic, Gothic for the Germanic people (the Goths), and Latin for the Romans and Carthagenians. A well known Latin translation was made by Jerome around 400 A.D., known as the Latin Vulgate (vulgate means common) and widely used by Roman Catholics for many centuries.

In the 6th century, the Gospels were brought to England by missionaries from Rome. They used the Latin Vulgate. The English Christians at the time depended on monks for instruction in the Latin language. These Christians wanted their own English translation and it is believed the first English translation was made by a 7th century monk - Caedmon who translated parts of the Old and New Testament. An English churchman named Bede is believed to have translated the Gospels into English. It is said that he was translating the Gospel of John on his deathbed in 735 A.D.. Alfred the Great (871-899) also made an English translation and included parts of the Ten Commandments in his laws.

All English translations prior to 1525 A.D. and the English translation of Tyndale, were made from the Latin texts rather than from the original languages of the manuscripts. Some Latin versions of the Gospels, with word-for-word English translations written between the lines, are called “interlinear translations”. Some have survived from the 10th century. The most well known is the Lindisfarne Gospels (950 A.D.).

John Wycliffe (1329-1384), and his associates, were the first to translate the entire from Latin into English. It should be noted that several decades after his death, the Roman Catholic church dug up his body from the grave and burned it for heresy and threw his ashes in the Swift River. The Romans did this because Wicliffe had been outspoken in his conclusion that the papal authority was not scriptural, criticized the sale of indulgences (which the Romans said released a person from punishment in purgatory), denied the reality of transubstantiation (the Roman doctrine which stated the wine and bread of Communion actually changed into the body and blood of Jesus), and spoke out against the Roman church’s hierarchies.

Wycliffe organized a group of poor parishioners, know as Lollards, to go through England preaching Christian truths and reading the Scriptures in their English tongue. The Roman pope renounced these heretical teachings and tried unsuccessfully to have Wycliffe dismissed from Oxford University. Wycliffe was the most eminent Oxford theologian of his day.

All the English Bibles up to this time were translations of translations - that is, from Greek and Hebrew into Latin, and then into English. As anyone knowing more than one language will quickly tell you, you may loose much of the original meaning when you try translating through a third language. When possible it is always best to translate directly from one language to the other.

In 1525 William Tyndale completed his English translation of the New Testament, from the original language. Tyndale had to leave England and go to Germany to publish his works because at the time the English church was still under the papal authority of Rome, which strongly opposed putting the Bible into the hands of the laity. It is not know if Tyndale actually knew or met Martin Luther. In any case, both Tyndale and Luther used the Greek text of Erasmus made in 1516 for their Greek translation. The Latin that Erasmus translated from the Greek revealed enormous corruptions in the Vulgate's integrity. Tyndale into English and Luther into German.

Tyndale had 15,000 copies of his English translation smuggled into England between 1525 and 1530. The church, under papal authority, tried to confiscate the English copies and burn them, but they couldn’t stop the flow of Bibles from Germany into England. Tyndale continued to work abroad, correcting, revising and reissuing his translation until his final revision in 1535. In May of 1535, Tyndale was arrested and taken to a castle near Brussels. After being imprisoned for over a year, he was tried and condemned to death. He was strangled and burnt at the stake on October 6, 1536. His final words were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

While Tyndale was in prison, his associate Miles Covedale (1488-1569) translated the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and thus the completion of the entire Bible in English. A work which Tyndale was unable to complete. Coverdale finished what Tyndale had begun.

In 1537, because the King of England had broken all ties with the pope, gave his royal approval of Coverdale’s Bible. The King was unaware that this translation was the continued work of a man he had comdemned - that of Tyndale.

Also in 1537, another Bible was published in England by Thomas Matthew, a pseudonym for John Rogers, a friend of Tyndale. Matthew’s Bible was revised in 1538 and was printed for distribution in the churches throughout England. This Bible was called “The Great Bible” because of it’s size (14 inches tall) and cost. It also became the first English Bible authorized for public use.

In 1543, King Henry’s attitude about the new translation changed and he passed a law forbidding the use of any English translation. Many copies of Tyndale’s New Testament and Coverdale’s Bible were burned.

In 1553, Queen Mary (Bloody Mary), who was Roman Catholic, caused the persecution and execution of many Protestants, including John Rogers and Thomas Cranmer, the Bible translators. Coverdale was arrested but released. He fled to Geneva which became a sanctuary for English Protestants.

John Foxe, one of those who fled to Switzerland, published his famous Foxe's Book of Martyrs. This is the only exhaustive work on the persecution and martyrdom of early Christians and Protestant from the first century up to the mid 16th century. These works are still widely read today.

The English exiles in Geneva chose William Whittingham to make an English translation of the New Testament for them. Theodore Beza’s Latin translation, with consultation of the Greek text was used.

Because of a passage in Genesis describing the clothing that God fashioned for Adam and Eve upon expulsion from the Garden of Eden as "Breeches" (an antiquated form of "Britches"), some people referred to the Geneva Bible as the Breeches Bible.

The Geneva Bible was the first Bible to add verses to the chapters, so that referencing specific passages would be easier. Every chapter was also had extensive marginal notes and references so thorough and complete that the Geneva Bible is also considered the first English "Study Bible".

The Geneva Bible became the Bible of choice for over 100 years of English speaking Christians. Between 1560 and 1644 at least 144 editions of this Bible were published. It is quite clear that the 1611 King James Bible was influenced much more by the Geneva Bible, than by any other source.

The Geneva Bible itself retains over 90% of William Tyndale's original English translation.

The Geneva in fact, remained more popular than the King James Version until decades after its original release in 1611! The Geneva holds the honor of being the first Bible taken to America, and the Bible of the Puritans and Pilgrims.

Although the Geneva Bible was popular because of its small size and reduced cost, it was unacceptable by many of the leaders of the Church of England because it contained notes by Calvin which clearly instructed against the institutional Church of the day, were a sore spot with the rulers.

Although these leaders did recognize that their Great Bible was inferior to the Geneva Bible in style and scholarship, so they revised the Great Bible in 1568, which became known as the Bishop’s Bible. The Bishop’s Bible continued in use until the King James in 1611.

By the 1580's, primarily because of the Geneva bible, the Roman Catholic Church saw that it could no longer suppress the Word of God .

In 1582, the Church of Rome gave up their fight for "Latin only" and decided that if the Bible was to be available in English, they would at least have an official Roman Catholic English translation.

Using the Latin Vulgate as a source text, they went on to publish an English Bible with all the distortions and corruptions that Erasmus had revealed and warned of 75 years earlier.

The New Testament was know as the Rheims (Rhemes) and the Old Testament was the Doway (also Douay or Douai). The two were combined into what is know as the "Doway/Rheims".

The Doway/Rheims then is the Catholic English Bible.

In 1589, Dr. Fulke of Cambridge published the "Fulke's Refutation". Fulke printed parallel columns of the Bishops Version along side the Rheims Version. He clearly demonstrated the error and distortion of the Roman Church's corrupt compromise of an English version of the Bible.

King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England and wanted a new English translation. After some early attempts, it was John Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi College, who asked the king to authorize a new translation - to be more accurate than any in the past. Because the king knew the Bishop’s Bible had not been a success, and that he considered the Geneva to be seditious with the Calvin notes. The King approved a new translation.

King James initiated the new translation, instructing that there be no marginal notes except which pertained to literal renderings from the Hebrew and Greek. More than 50 scholars, trained in Hebrew and Greek began work in 1607. They were instructed to follow the Bishop’s Bible as the basic version and to consult the translations of Tyndale, Matthew, and Coverdale, as well as the Great Bible and the Geneva Bible when they appeared to contain more accurate renderings of the original languages.

In the original King James, 16 inches tall, published in 1611, they also included a preface explaining much of their work. Today’s King James no longer includes this preface, but it is certainly beneficial to the Bible reader to take note of their efforts.

The entire King James preface is available here.

However a typographical error in Ruth 3:15 rendered the pronoun "He" instead of the correct "She" in that verse. This caused some of the 1611 First Editions to be known by collectors as "He" Bibles, and others as "She" Bibles.

It took about a century before the King James became as popular as the Geneva, but eventually the King James Version became the English Bible of choice.

The King James Bible became the most printed book in the history of the world. For about 250 years, until the appearance of the Revised Version of 1881...the King James Version reigned without a rival.

Other articles about the King James can also be found on the web site: here.

In 1663, the first English language Bible was printed in America - a King James Version.

Many new discoveries were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Earlier manuscripts were found, and there was an increased knowledge of the original languages.

The deficiencies in the King James Bible were well known to the scholars. Although the Masoretic text was adequate, their knowledge of Hebrew in the seventeenth century was not.

Also, for the translation of the New Testament, the King James translators used a Greek text known as the "Texus Receptus (received text), which was the work of Erasmus. Erasmus compiled the first Greek text to be produced on a printing press. Erasmus used only 5 or 6 of late manuscripts dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century. These manuscripts were inferior to the earlier ones.

In 1791, the text and quality and size of the typesetting was vastly improved upon.

In 1841, the English Hexapla New Testament was printed. This textual comparison tool shows in parallel columns: The 1380 Wycliff, 1534 Tyndale, 1539 Great, 1557 Geneva, 1582 Rheims, and 1611 King James versions of the entire New Testament, with the original Greek at the top of the page.

By the latter part of the 19th century there were available three very good Greek New Testament texts: Tregelles', Tischendorf's, and Wescott and Hort's. These texts were improved greatly from the Textus Receptus used in earlier English translations. By then, much had been learned about the meaning of varioius Hebrew words and Greek words.

In 1871, John Nelson Darby, leader of the Plymouth movement, produced the "New Translation", largely based on Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus.

J.B. Rotherham published a translation of Tregelles' text in 1872 which attempts to reflect the emphasis inherent in the Greek text. The translation is still being published as "The Enphasized Bible".

In 1870, the Convocation of Canterbury sponsored a major revision of the King James. The Bible was completed in 1885 after thousands of corrections to the original King James. It also was based upon the texts of Tregelles, Tischendorf, and Westcott and Hort, rather than the Textus Receptus. This became the King James Revised Version.

In 1901, the American Standard Version was published by several surviving members of the original American committee. This version is generally considered superior over the English Revised Version and is an accurate, literal rendering of the very trustworthy texts of the Old Testament and the New.

Thousands of papyri were discovered in Eygpt around the turn of the century which displayed a form of Greek called "koine" Greek. Koine meaning common. New Testament scholars began to discover that most of the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the language of the people, rather than the kind of Greek used by the Greek poets and tragedians.

NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE (1970)

From the original by interdenominational committee. Patterned after American Standard Version of 1901. Excellent precision in handling of verb-tenses but sometimes pedantic, awkward and lacking in style - "wooden" say many. Literalness, careful work and good notes make it one of the best study Bibles.

THE MODERN LANGUAGE BIBLE (1969)

Revision of the Berkeley Version (1945). Good balance of accuracy of meaning with plain contemporary English. Helpful notes.

JERUSALEM BIBLE

Translated with reference to both the original and an earlier French translation by Roman Catholic committee. Forceful but not stylistically consistent or fully idiomatic English. OT text not the best. Notes are a substantial part of the work and are generally non-sectarian but should be checked.

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE

From the original Greek (NT); revision of confraternity version (based on Latin Vulgate) in the OT. Catholic Committee consulted with Protestants in final stages. More conservative than JB but introductions to sections and to individual books "moderately liberal in tone" (Kubo and Specht, p. 164). Format differs with the publisher.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

From the original, by a large interdenominational but conservative committee. Well balanced - good for study, faster reading, or public reading. Based on reliable Greek text. Somewhat inconsistent in modernizing terminology. Pleasing, very readable format (few footnotes). Many feel it will become the most used Bible of the future, especially for evangelicals.

TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION (Good News Bible)

From the original. NT by one man, approved by committee. Aimed particularly at English - as - second - language audience and those with little formal education. Achieves its goal well - very readable, good format. Translates dynamics well but not dependable for deeper study if used by itself.

NEW ENGLISH BIBLE

From the original by interdenominational British committee. Exciting literary style, very readable but with distinct British flavor and idiom. Excellent for non-churched. Departures from the original text and too much liberty in certain renderings make it undependable as a study Bible.

REVISED STANDARD VERSION (1946)

Debatable whether more a revision of KJV or a fresh translation from the original (by committee). Probably more the latter in NT. Preserves some of KJV sound of "Bible English", but is somewhat modernized. Accused by ultra-conservatives of deliberate "liberal" bias (along with TEV and others) but has weathered the storm and is considered by some church leaders as the best all-purpose translation. Adequate, though not the best for deeper study in author's opinion.

J.B. PHILLIPS' TRANSLATION

From the original but definitely a paraphrase by J.B. Phillips, a competent Greek scholar. More than any other, makes the Bible "live" for educated or literary people, although in British expression. Does not read like a translation. Provokes new insight and understanding which should, however, be checked with more literal translations and by deeper study. Excellent for the educated, unchurched person as well as the thinking Christian.

LIVING BIBLE

Paraphrased essentially from the 1901 ASV by Ken Taylor but checked by Greek, Hebrew scholars. Serves similar purpose as Phillips' but reaches also to the less educated. Encourages Bible reading and helps older Christians express their faith in contemporary terms. Definitely not to be relied on for interpretations or study. Changes, sometimes significant, made between editions.

AMPLIFIED BIBLE

Amplified Bible done from the originals. Neither a true translation nor a paraphrase. This type version offers readers possible renderings or interpretations and can be helpful for study or deepening understanding. However, users must realize the original author had one meaning in mind, determined by context and usage in that language, not our personal preference or whim. These versions must not be substituted for responsible deeper study.