British Library Introduction

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2 British Library Introduction Museum Description: Isaac Newton Room: Front Piazza Scripture: Romans 1:25 In the courtyard to The British Library is a sculpture based on a painting by William Blake. Can you tell who it is, and what he is doing? It is easier to see in the painting, it represents Sir Isaac Newton sitting on the bottom of the sea, measuring it. This represents the new understanding that, through science, man can understand the world for himself. During a period of history called The Enlightenment, this belief lead to a higher criticism of the Bible, and a rejection of the need for religion and a belief in God.

3 01 Oxyrhynchus Papyrus Museum Description: Oxyrhynchus Papyrus Scripture: John 16:14 Papyrus can easily rot if it comes into contact with water, so it is only preserved in very hot, dry climates like Egypt. Large 'rubbish dumps' of papyrus have been discovered. Being buried together in large heaps greatly helped them to survive down to our day. One of these rubbish dumps is in Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, and has produced several famous and important Biblical papyri. This town was a centre for Egyptian Christianity in the 4th and 5th centuries. It was only when archaeologists gave up excavating the town and turned their attention to the rubbish dump that they found more than two tonnes of papyrus! These two examples are from a 3rd century codex of the book of John, from chapters 1, 16 and 20. Just think, this could be written just a few decades after the original!

4 02 Codex Sinaiticus Museum Description: Codex Sinaiticus Scripture: 1 John 5:7 German biblical scholar Tischendorf had been on a trip to find old Bible manuscripts when he visited St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in He was about to leave without success when he found 43 sheets in a wastepaper basket about to be burned. It was a manuscript from the fourth century C.E. with all the Christian Greek Scriptures and part of the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is one of three most important Greek manuscripts. Another, the Vatican 1209, was actually discovered earlier, but was only released for study by the Vatican after the Sinaiticus was discovered. Now, spurious texts such as "the Father, the Word and the holy spirit; and these three are one" in 1 John 5:7 could be removed as being a later edition, as they were not in these ancient manuscripts

5 03 Codex Alexandrinus Museum Description: Codex Alexandrinus Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:16 One of the three most important Greek manuscripts of the Bible, along with the Codex Sinaiticus and the Vatican It dates from the first half of the fifth century C.E. The value of these ancient manuscripts can be illustrated with the translation of 1 Timothy 3:16. The King James Version says: God was manifest in the flesh in reference to Christ Jesus. The Greek abbreviation for "God" used in this verse was the two letters "OC" with a small line inside the O. In this manuscript there is no line in the letter O, so this would read just "OC", the Greek word for "who". Hence modern Bibles read "Who was manifest in the flesh" in this verse, so this no longer can be used to support the unscriptural Trinity doctrine.

6 04 Tyndale s New Testament Museum Description: Tyndale s New Testament Scripture: Exodus 6:3 William Tyndale famously said in a discussion with a clergyman If God spare my life for many years, I will cause a boy that drives the plough to know more of the Scripture than you do. He was the first to restore Jehovah's name to the English Bible, where he included it once in Exodus 6:3. His was the first translation in English from the original languages of the Bible, whereas Wycliffe's earlier translation had been from the Latin Vulgate. Bible burnings destroyed most copies of his Bible, and Tyndale himself was burned at the stake. The British Library bought this New Testament for 1 million in 1994 and it is one of only two complete copies surviving from the 3,000 or more printed in 1526

7 05 The Gutenberg Bible Museum Description: The Gutenberg Bible Scripture: 1 Peter 1:24 Johannes Gutenberg had invented his method of printing with moveable type by Having observed that hundreds of identical coins and bullets were produced by being cast in metal, he thought books could be produced using a similar method. The first book he printed was the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible in two volumes. 180 were produced. There are three reasons why the Gutenberg Bible is so unique. It was the first book ever to be printed in the West with movable type. It was also the first Bible ever to be printed, which is significant considering the billions of copies that have been printed since. It is also a work of art in its own right, and has been called Gothic writing at its absolute zenith. Seeing one of these rare original printed Bibles is truly a privilege as there are only 16 complete copies left. The British Library has two of them, one of which you can see here.