My Favourite Bible

I finally have access to all my Bibles. They were being stored for me in Tasmania, Australia, and had to make the trek up here to Canada. It is quite astonishing that they made the trip relatively easily. I can now blog about them!

I thought I'd kick-start this off by introducing my favourite Bible. No, not my favourite translation, but my favourite physical book. It is a small new testament that has nothing visually spectacular on the cover:

It may be hard to read, but it says "New Testament, Revised Version". My goal in this quick post is not to go into the details of the revised version ( note: this is not the Revised Standard Version ), but I have to say something quick about it in order to communicate my attraction to this particular book.

After the King James Version was translated in 1611, it took several decades for it to become the most popular version in England. There were other translations floating around, and the King James Version was slow in superseding them. Specifically, for Bibles in the home, which was only for the financially privileged, the Geneva Bible was used. However, eventually the KJV became the Bible for English-speaking peoples. This version stood relatively unchanged for over 250 years, when a group of scholars decided to finally update it.

The need for revision had been buzzing around academic circles for quite some time before it was actually undertaken. A group of scholars in 1870 at Canterbury, England were finally chosen for the task. They produced the Revised New Testament in 1881, followed by the Old Testament in 1884. This was a monumental undertaking and allowed the academics of the day to put their stamp of then-current scholastics to the holy scriptures. The complete Bible was produced after 1884, and, in some ways is still with us today, albeit under different names. The ESV, RSV, NASB, ASV all find their roots in the revision of 1881.

Now, why is it my favourite? It is because of the front inside cover and what I discovered there:

 

Looking near the bottom of the page in the center, we discover that this particular book was printed in 1881! The very year it was made available to the public. I do not know if this was one of the first printings, but it is a candidate. When this book was printed, the world had no clue as to what was going to happen to the Scriptures over the next 130 years.

I found this book at a thrift store here in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. How it got here, I have no idea. I do know that a lady (perhaps quite young) whose name I cannot quite make out had the opportunity to read it. Along the side is written in pencil over 100 years later "5.00".

Finding a printing of the Revised Version from the very year it was available for only five dollars was one of the highlights of my book-collecting career. I needed not even to think for a second whether I ought to or not. I saw it, and I had to buy it. Thankfully I had five dollars.

It reminds me of the parable Jesus told about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.  A man who seeks for precious pearls, and when he found one so beautiful, he went and sold all he had in order to buy it. Here is how the Revisers of the King James Version put it in 1881:

 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it."

Let us remember how precious the Kingdom of Heaven is, and those of us who are its citizens how much it cost us. Today, we talk about the free gift of salvation. I disagree. Yes, on one hand it's free, but on the other, it's the most costly thing in the universe and demands your very life. It is only when we lose our lives, will we find them.

Joey