Issue 1385 – Illuminated – March 2, 2024

I’ve always been fascinated by old books. I recently looked at some images of “illuminated manuscript” Bible pages. They were done in the style of medieval monks, each page hand drawn and illustrated, with the first letter in each sentence enlarged.

Countless hours went into the illustration of a single page. Every letter and every page was checked, double-checked and triple-checked for accuracy. No errors were permitted.

Each page was printed on vellum paper made from animal skin (generally sheep). An entire flock of sheep might be needed to do a single Bible.

From the meticulous care in creating an illuminated manuscript, it is evident that these artists revered the Word of God. The disadvantage of these books was that they were only available in small quantities and could be afforded by the wealthy.

They are even more expensive today. I recently saw a small-sized 14-page manuscript in very poor condition offered for sale for $255,000 US. I’m afraid that’s a little out of my price range. If it was $25 US, I might be able to scrape it up in a good month. They are so valuable that most of the surviving manuscripts are in the hands of museums, church collections or very wealthy collectors.

The invention of the printing press made the Bible available to the ordinary person. Now, at least in North America and Europe, Bibles are readily available and low cost.

Bibles are so readily available to most of us that most “Christian” homes have several. The tragedy is that they are seldom, if ever, read.

We’ve lost our reverence for the Word. We’ve forgotten the tremendous human and material cost it took to keep the Bible in existence and to translate it into a language we could understand.

A greater tragedy is that many churches have drifted from the truth, and while they profess to be Christian, they teach the Bible is simply a collection of quaint stories, myths, and suggestions. Nothing could be further from the truth.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 

Jesus claimed to be the truth.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 

Jesus recognized the Scriptures. He made frequent references to the teachings and stories of the Old Testament. The Lord treated them as authoritative. If the Old Testament wasn’t truthful and authoritative, Jesus was either a liar or a fool and couldn’t be the truth, in which case He wasn’t the Son of God, and we have no hope.

The Bible is truth. It is God’s revealed word to us. If it isn’t true, there is no point in maintaining a Christian faith. After all, who wants to depend on a character from a collection of quaint stories for their eternal salvation? We might as well worship one of the characters from Aesop’s Fables or Mother Goose.

Each of us must make a decision. Is Jesus who He claimed to be? If we answer yes, we must get interested in reading His Word. It was preserved for us to understand God more and to be drawn closer to Him. It is a guidebook to daily living.

If He wasn’t who He claimed to be, we don’t need to be bothered. We can drop all pretence of being Christian (after all, who wants to follow a liar or a lunatic) and throw out our Bibles.

Until next time, spend time in His Word and draw closer to Him. May the study of the Bible become a priority in your everyday life?

Be blessed

Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word

Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)

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All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2024 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin Gleanings From The Word.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV). 

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