The Bible #1 – An Amazing Book!
The Bible is a different kind of book. A book that stands apart from other books. It’s unique, living, active. It’s amazing!
The Bible was the first great book printed on a printing press. China invented woodblock printed books during the Tang Dynasty. Metal movable type was later developed in Korea. Then in 1454, Johannes Gutenberg printed his Gutenberg Bible – the first great book printed in Western Europe on a mechanical printing press. This marked a turning point in the art of bookmaking and a transition from the Middle Ages to the modern world.
The Bible is by far the world’s best-selling, most-published book of all time. No other book, fact or fiction, even comes close. Most estimates place the number of Bibles printed each year at over 100 million. 20 million Bibles are sold each year in the United States alone. Consider all the various translations and study Bibles available today in English.
People have translated the Bible into more languages than any other book. More than 700 languages have the whole Bible in their language. At least 1,600 more languages have the New Testament. Contrast that with Shakespeare whose works have been translated into more than 100 languages.
The Bible has inspired many of the world’s scientific achievements. The Bible has served as the inspiration to many great scientists: Blaise Pascal, Charles Babbage, Galileo, Michael Faraday, Robert Boyle, Lord Kelvin, Johannes Kepler, Joseph Lister, Samuel Morse, Matthew Maury, Isaac Newton, Carl Von Linnaeus. The list is almost endless.
The Bible has inspired many social movements. Establishing higher education, increasing literacy, abolishing slavery, gaining civil rights, providing care for the poor and oppressed – can all be traced historically to an understanding of the Bible.
The Bible has been the foundation of our moral, ethical, and legal code. The 10 Commandments, the Golden Rule, the Sermon on the Mount, the Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13) all give us a simple yet profound basis for moral behavior that has never been improved upon.
Millions have had their lives dramatically changed by the Bible. The Bible describes God’s plan for people to come to know him through faith in Jesus. Do you know a single person whose life has been ruined by truly following the Bible? I don’t.
As someone said about the Bible: “Read it to be wise. Believe it to be safe. Live it to be holy.” Let our prayer be, “God, give me a fresh hunger and thirst for your Word.”
~ Pastor Dave
