Originally the Bible was written in "uncial" writing. This type of writing consists of capital letter with no connection between letters, no spaces between words and sentences, no periods or comas and no chapters or verses, e.g., GODISNOWHERE. Our modern writing would read: God is now here, or God is nowhere. So punctuation, etc., can be very important and translators have to be aware of that. As in the above example, the meaning can change, depending upon where the spaces and punctuation are placed. Uncial writing was popular until the A.D. 800's. Next came "cursive" writing, ordinary handwriting with capital letters at the beginning of sentences, letters joined and spaces between words. This was popular from the A.D. 800's until the invention of printing in 1450. From 405 through 1452, all Bibles were handwritten by monks in the Catholic monasteries. The materials used were:

1. Papyrus (from which we get the name paper) was made from a reed growing on the banks of the Nile River. The reed was cut into strips, glued together and joined into scrolls as long as 35 feet. The pen used was a reed.

2. Skins of animals (a) the skin of sheep or goats, called parchment, and (b) the skin of young calves, called vellum. A metal pen or stylus was used to write, and the ink was a combination of soot mixed with gum.

In each monastery there was usually one large room, called a Scriptorium, or a few smaller rooms, set aside especially for the copying of the Bible. These rooms were built so that they would have all the best possible natural light, thus enabling the monks to work at the task for as many daylight hours as possible. The monks worked in privacy, since copying was such an intense task. Usually, only the monk (scribe) and the superior could enter the scriptorium. Sometimes a group of monks would sit, patiently writing down the text of the Bible as it was read to them by another monk. In this way, several copies would be made at the same time. Lamps, or candles, were seldom used because of the danger of fire. The rooms were not heated so it made the work very difficult in cold weather. When a monk had finished copying one page, he gave it to another monk to check for accuracy. The latter gave it to another monk for decoration, if that were the plan. One of the most beautifully decorated handwritten books done by monks is the Book of Kells. It dates from the 7th or 8th centuries, and can be seen at Trinity College, Dublin. It is a manuscript of the Four Gospels.

Many examples of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, can be seen in museums all over the world. The art work is exquisite with different colors of ink used. These are priceless treasures today. Many covers of the Bibles were made of silver or gold. Precious jewels were also attached to the covers. The Bible was often chained to pulpits so that all people could use them, much like today's telephone books in telephone booths, but at the same time, one could not steal them. Scarcely anyone owned a Bible because it was so expensive and few could read. In the Middle Ages it would take a monk approximately 10 months to copy a Bible in handwriting. The cost would have been about $5000 then, or $150,000 to $200,0000 in today's money.

The division of the Bible into chapters was a result of work done by Stephen Langton (d. 1227), who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury. Father Santes Pagninus, a Dominican priest, divided the Old Testament chapters into verses in 1528, and Robert Estienne, a printer in Paris, did the same for the New Testament in 1551.

Printing was invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1450. Before this, the use of paper was being perfected. This revolutionized the copying of the Bible. Once type was set, accuracy was guaranteed (thus removing the human errors sometimes made by the monks in copying by hand), and the printing was fast. The first book printed was the Bible. It is called "The Mazarin Bible" which was printed at Mayence in 1452, at the request of Cardinal Mazarin. By 1522, the Catholic Church had sponsored the printing of 626 editions of the Bible in different languages. Among them were 14 complete editions in High German, 5 complete editions in Low German, 11 Italian editions, 10 French editions, 2 Bohemian editions, 1 Spanish edition, 1 Flemish edition, and 1 Russian edition. Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1522, the Old Testament in 1534.

Books Of The New Testament

From the year A.D. 50 through A.D. 405, several writings appeared claiming to be written by an Apostle, or someone close to an Apostle. These were often read in Church. See Figure, Writings Which the Catholic Church Decided to be the "Canon" of Scripture of the New Testament. The Catholic Church, the only Christian church in existence at the time, had to decide which writings were authentic and inspired, and which would make up the "canon", or the list of the sacred books of the New Testament. The standard used to declare a book as belonging to the canon of the New Testament, or the Church's official list of sacred writings:

1. Written by an Apostle or one close to an Apostle.
2. Liturgical use - use at Mass was an official approval.
3. Orthodoxy in doctrine - the teaching had to agree with the teaching of the Catholic Church.