Dear Pali Pres,
Exactly 569 years ago today, February 23, 1455, something happened that would change the world forever. That is the date that Johannes Gutenberg printed the first Bible using his invention, the printing press. Up until then, every copy of the Bible had to be painstakingly copied out by hand. Artisans in China had been printing books for hundreds of years by that point, but that was not the case in Europe. The Gutenberg Bible (as it came to be known) was nearly 1,300 pages long and was printed on calfskin parchment.
There are many obvious advantages to having books printed instead of copied by hand. The simple fact that the Bible could be mass produced and shared among the larger population was itself a world changing development. However, many scholars and historians agree that without the printing press there likely may not have been the Protestant Reformation (at least not as we know it). In just a few decades after the first Bible was printed, Martin Luther would use the printing press to spread his “95 Theses” throughout numerous parts of Europe. Luther also translated the New Testament into German and sold an astounding (at the time) 5,000 copies in just two weeks. Luther really was the world’s first best-selling author!
Although Luther was not the first theologian to question the Catholic Church, he was the first one who was able to widely publish his message because of Gutenberg’s press. Others who questioned the principles and practices of the Church had their movements easily quashed by authorities because so few copies of their writings were in circulation. But the timing of Luther’s “reformation” was perfectly aligned with the new technology available to him. As Luther once famously said, “Printing is the ultimate gift of God and the greatest one.”
Just a little something to think about the next time you pick up a book, especially the Bible!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Matt
