Reform School

Yesterday, the last Sunday in October, was Reformation
Sunday.


The Protestant “Reformation” began over 500 years ago, in Western Europe, and was the product of not just one person, but many who believed that the dominant Roman Catholic Church had strayed from Scriptural truth in many of its practices.  One of the cool things that resulted from this period (which produced Presbyterians, among other denominations) was a Bible written in the language of the common parishioner.


The texts that make up our present Bible had originally been written in Greek or in Hebrew, and were later translated into Latin by the early Church, as the church spread to the European continent.  These were used in worship by clergy only - they were not available to the general public -and even if they had been, Latin could not have been read or understood by people whose native language was German, French, or English, etc.


In 1382, John Wycliffe - a very early Reformer - translated the Bible into English; Martin Luther - a German monk, priest and professor of theology in Wittenberg [Germany] translated it into German around 1521. These efforts were a huge step forward in making God’s word available to the general public rather than trained clergy only.

In 1455, Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press, allowing Bibles and other texts to be reproduced quickly, without  painstaking hand copying.

There are 6800+ languages in the world today; 2000 or more have no Bible translation. * The Wycliffe organization is working toward the goal of translating the Bible into every language.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

*The Wycliffe Organization   www.wycliffe.org