One Leaf Might Pierce the Darkness Like a Star
06 Oct '09 13:261 editToday, translations of the Holy Scriptures are almost universally available. However, the battle over the Bible has often been a matter of life and death.
In the book Fifteenth Century Bibles, Wendell Prime writes: “Thirty years after the invention of printing, the Inquisition was in completely successful operation in Spain. Of 342,000 persons punished by it in that country 32,000 were burned alive. It was the Bible which brought them to the flames of martyrdom.
Equally terrible was this engine of destruction in Italy, both at the north and south. Archbishops, aided by the Inquisition, were consuming fires for both Bibles and their readers. Nero made some Christians shine as lights in the world by setting them on fire, sewed up in sacks, covered with pitch, using them as candles to illuminate the scene of his debaucheries. But the streets of European cities blazed with Bible bonfires. Bibles were not like readers who could be impoverished, stripped, tortured, mutilated and cast out. Even a leaf surviving might pierce the blackness of this darkness like a star.”
What author Prime describes actually took place in the case of Bonifacio Ferrers Catalan translation
Regarding this book, The Cambridge History of the Bible states: “Bonifacio Ferrer’s Catalan translation of the Bible was printed in Valencia, 1478; all available copies were destroyed by the Inquisition before 1500, but a single leaf survives in the Hispanic Society of Americas library.”
Wendell Prime also noted: “To terrified ecclesiastics there were no good Bibles but burnt Bibles. These holy fires had been far more frequent and brilliant but for the lack of fuel. In many places there were no Bible bonfires merely because authority was so vigilant that there were no Bibles to burn.” Despite such intense efforts to eradicate Bibles intended for the common people, many copies escaped destruction. Prime added: “Bibles were preserved by being carried away by exiles, or by being concealed like precious stones and metals in times of distress and danger.”
God’s prophet Isaiah wrote: “All flesh is green grass . . . The green grass has dried up, the blossom has withered; but as for the word of our God, it will last to time indefinite.” (Isaiah 40:6, 8)
Over the centuries, multitudes of Bible lovers and many courageous translators have risked much and suffered greatly for the sake of Gods Word. Yet, human efforts alone could never have ensured its preservation. For this preservation, we thank the Bibles author, Jehovah.
In the book Fifteenth Century Bibles, Wendell Prime writes: “Thirty years after the invention of printing, the Inquisition was in completely successful operation in Spain. Of 342,000 persons punished by it in that country 32,000 were burned alive. It was the Bible which brought them to the flames of martyrdom.
Equally terrible was this engine of destruction in Italy, both at the north and south. Archbishops, aided by the Inquisition, were consuming fires for both Bibles and their readers. Nero made some Christians shine as lights in the world by setting them on fire, sewed up in sacks, covered with pitch, using them as candles to illuminate the scene of his debaucheries. But the streets of European cities blazed with Bible bonfires. Bibles were not like readers who could be impoverished, stripped, tortured, mutilated and cast out. Even a leaf surviving might pierce the blackness of this darkness like a star.”
What author Prime describes actually took place in the case of Bonifacio Ferrers Catalan translation
Regarding this book, The Cambridge History of the Bible states: “Bonifacio Ferrer’s Catalan translation of the Bible was printed in Valencia, 1478; all available copies were destroyed by the Inquisition before 1500, but a single leaf survives in the Hispanic Society of Americas library.”
Wendell Prime also noted: “To terrified ecclesiastics there were no good Bibles but burnt Bibles. These holy fires had been far more frequent and brilliant but for the lack of fuel. In many places there were no Bible bonfires merely because authority was so vigilant that there were no Bibles to burn.” Despite such intense efforts to eradicate Bibles intended for the common people, many copies escaped destruction. Prime added: “Bibles were preserved by being carried away by exiles, or by being concealed like precious stones and metals in times of distress and danger.”
God’s prophet Isaiah wrote: “All flesh is green grass . . . The green grass has dried up, the blossom has withered; but as for the word of our God, it will last to time indefinite.” (Isaiah 40:6, 8)
Over the centuries, multitudes of Bible lovers and many courageous translators have risked much and suffered greatly for the sake of Gods Word. Yet, human efforts alone could never have ensured its preservation. For this preservation, we thank the Bibles author, Jehovah.
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