Issue 742 – Illuminated – May 12, 2022
I’ve always been fascinated by old books. On my office wall is a framed facsimile of Psalm 21 from the 1611 KJV Bible, a beautiful piece of work. Today’s image is also Psalm 21 from an older illuminated manuscript and far more elaborate than the one on my wall.
I recently looked at some fancy “illuminated manuscript” Bible pages online. Medieval monks prepared them, 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 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 obvious 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 very wealthy.
They are even more expensive today. I recently saw a small-sized 14-page manuscript in poor condition offered for sale for $155,000 US. I’m afraid that’s a little out of my price range. If it was $155 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 Bible available to the common 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, in most cases, 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 translate it into a language we could understand. Many men and women were martyred to protect and preserve God’s Word, and many more to ensure it was translated into the language of the ordinary people.
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 God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Jesus claimed to be the truth.
Jesus answered, “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 and used them authoritatively. He made frequent references to the teachings and stories of the Old Testament and treated them as truth.
If the Old Testament wasn’t factual, that means 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 true. It is God’s revealed Word to us.
Our salvation is in Jesus alone, but the Holy Spirit-inspired Scriptures lead us to Him.
If the Bible isn’t true, there is no point in maintaining the 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 decide the answer is yes, we need to get interested in reading His Word. It was preserved for us to understand God more and 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 some time in His Word and draw closer to Him. May the study of the Bible become a priority in your everyday life.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed.
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 are © 2001, 2022 K. F. “Kevin” Corbin and Gleanings From The Word.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV). Spelling modified to Canadian English as required.
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