September 12th, 2025
by Keith Birdsong
by Keith Birdsong
If you’ve ever wondered how the Bible survived through the centuries, the story is nothing short of incredible. Unlike books that come off modern printing presses, every early copy of Scripture was made by hand. That long and careful process shaped the Bible’s journey into our hands today.
The Scribes and Their Work
Before copy machines and laptops, the only way to spread a book was to copy it by hand.
That’s where scribes came in.
These men devoted their lives to reproducing texts, and some of the most frequently copied works were portions of the Bible.
Scribes often worked in places called scriptoriums, sometimes copying word by word, sometimes phrase by phrase, and sometimes even transcribing while someone read aloud.
The work was meticulous.
Some scribes would even pause to replace their pen and ink every time they wrote God’s name. Their devotion helped ensure the Bible was multiplied and preserved across the ancient world.
That’s where scribes came in.
These men devoted their lives to reproducing texts, and some of the most frequently copied works were portions of the Bible.
Scribes often worked in places called scriptoriums, sometimes copying word by word, sometimes phrase by phrase, and sometimes even transcribing while someone read aloud.
The work was meticulous.
Some scribes would even pause to replace their pen and ink every time they wrote God’s name. Their devotion helped ensure the Bible was multiplied and preserved across the ancient world.
Mistakes in the Margins
Of course, hand-copying a text for centuries meant errors crept in.
Some were unintentional—a misspelled word, a skipped line, or a note in the margin that accidentally got copied into the main text by later scribes.
Other changes were intentional, though usually well-meaning. If a scribe thought a manuscript was damaged or unclear, he might “fix” the text to what he thought it should say. Sometimes, out of reverence, a scribe would even expand titles of God like the name of “Jesus” to something more elaborate like, “The Lord Jesus Christ.”
That might sound alarming, but here’s the key: with thousands of manuscripts to compare, scholars can easily identify these differences. In fact, while there are roughly 400,000 textual variants among all existing manuscripts, more than 99% of them are minor (like spelling or punctuation) and don’t change the meaning of the text at all. That, combined with the overwhelming amount of manuscripts we've discovered through the centuries, we are able to compare and contrast to such a degree that there is no doubt that we have the original words of God.
Far from weakening our confidence, this vast manuscript tradition strengthens it—because the Bible we hold today is tested against more evidence than any other ancient document.
That's right! We have more proof for the Bible than we have of Plato, Homer, any of the Empire leaders of the ancient world, and any of the thought leaders of the ancient world.
Some were unintentional—a misspelled word, a skipped line, or a note in the margin that accidentally got copied into the main text by later scribes.
Other changes were intentional, though usually well-meaning. If a scribe thought a manuscript was damaged or unclear, he might “fix” the text to what he thought it should say. Sometimes, out of reverence, a scribe would even expand titles of God like the name of “Jesus” to something more elaborate like, “The Lord Jesus Christ.”
That might sound alarming, but here’s the key: with thousands of manuscripts to compare, scholars can easily identify these differences. In fact, while there are roughly 400,000 textual variants among all existing manuscripts, more than 99% of them are minor (like spelling or punctuation) and don’t change the meaning of the text at all. That, combined with the overwhelming amount of manuscripts we've discovered through the centuries, we are able to compare and contrast to such a degree that there is no doubt that we have the original words of God.
Far from weakening our confidence, this vast manuscript tradition strengthens it—because the Bible we hold today is tested against more evidence than any other ancient document.
That's right! We have more proof for the Bible than we have of Plato, Homer, any of the Empire leaders of the ancient world, and any of the thought leaders of the ancient world.
Rediscovering the Word
As centuries passed, the original copies of the Bible decayed, but thousands of handwritten portions continued circulating across the known world. Over time, Christians began the work of gathering these manuscripts, comparing them, and assembling the Scriptures into complete volumes.
This process didn’t happen neatly in order—it stretched across centuries of church history.
Here are some of the major turning points:
313 A.D. – Constantine and the Rise of Rome’s Church
With Emperor Constantine’s legalization of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church began shaping the Bible’s story in the West. Their translation project led to the Latin Vulgate, Jerome’s 4th-century translation that became the standard Bible of Europe for 1,000 years.
1054 A.D. – The Great Schism
The split between the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East also meant a split in language. The West stayed with Latin, while the East leaned into Greek and other languages. Sadly, this slowed translation into the everyday languages of the West.
1382 A.D. – John Wycliffe’s English Bible
Wycliffe and his followers translated the Bible into English from the Latin Vulgate. It wasn’t perfect (since it wasn’t from the original Greek and Hebrew), but it was revolutionary. The church considered it heresy—so much so that Wycliffe’s bones were dug up and burned decades after his death. Many who followed him were martyred for putting God’s Word in the hands of ordinary people.
1440 A.D. – The Printing Press
Johann Gutenberg’s invention changed everything. The Bible was the first major book printed, ending the church’s monopoly on Scripture and allowing copies to spread faster than ever before.
1516 A.D. – Erasmus and the Greek New Testament
Desiderius Erasmus assembled the first printed Greek New Testament, giving scholars a fresh foundation to work with. His work became the basis for later translations, including the King James Bible.
1525 A.D. – William Tyndale’s English Bible
Using the Greek New Testament compiled by Erasmus, Tyndale was the first to translate the Bible into English from the original languages. His translation shaped English Bibles for centuries to come.
This process didn’t happen neatly in order—it stretched across centuries of church history.
Here are some of the major turning points:
313 A.D. – Constantine and the Rise of Rome’s Church
With Emperor Constantine’s legalization of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church began shaping the Bible’s story in the West. Their translation project led to the Latin Vulgate, Jerome’s 4th-century translation that became the standard Bible of Europe for 1,000 years.
1054 A.D. – The Great Schism
The split between the Roman Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East also meant a split in language. The West stayed with Latin, while the East leaned into Greek and other languages. Sadly, this slowed translation into the everyday languages of the West.
1382 A.D. – John Wycliffe’s English Bible
Wycliffe and his followers translated the Bible into English from the Latin Vulgate. It wasn’t perfect (since it wasn’t from the original Greek and Hebrew), but it was revolutionary. The church considered it heresy—so much so that Wycliffe’s bones were dug up and burned decades after his death. Many who followed him were martyred for putting God’s Word in the hands of ordinary people.
1440 A.D. – The Printing Press
Johann Gutenberg’s invention changed everything. The Bible was the first major book printed, ending the church’s monopoly on Scripture and allowing copies to spread faster than ever before.
1516 A.D. – Erasmus and the Greek New Testament
Desiderius Erasmus assembled the first printed Greek New Testament, giving scholars a fresh foundation to work with. His work became the basis for later translations, including the King James Bible.
1525 A.D. – William Tyndale’s English Bible
Using the Greek New Testament compiled by Erasmus, Tyndale was the first to translate the Bible into English from the original languages. His translation shaped English Bibles for centuries to come.
New Discoveries, More Confidence
Since the 1600s, scholars have discovered many more manuscripts, some much older than what was available to Erasmus or the King James translators. Famous finds include:
Today, we have over 5,600 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament—an astonishing number compared to any other ancient work. With these discoveries, modern translators can produce Bibles that are both faithful to the originals and clear for readers today.
- Codex Alexandrinus (1629)
- Codex Sinaiticus (1844–1859)
- Codex Vaticanus (1889)
- The Dead Sea Scrolls (1947)
Today, we have over 5,600 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament—an astonishing number compared to any other ancient work. With these discoveries, modern translators can produce Bibles that are both faithful to the originals and clear for readers today.
Why This Matters
The story of how the Bible was copied, preserved, and rediscovered reminds us of three things:
God kept His promise.
He said His Word would endure forever (Isaiah 40:8), and it has.
We can trust the Bible.
Despite human error and historical opposition, God’s Word has not been lost. In fact, we have more evidence for the accuracy of Scripture than for any other book in history.
We can trust modern translations.
We'll get to this topic in future posts, but with all the new discoveries of the last two centuries, with all the manuscript evidence, with all the combined scholarship of translators from the past, and with all the resources we have in the modern world, one thing is clear — we can trust the faithful work of modern Bible translators.
Of course, not all Bible translations are faithful to the Lord and there certainly are bad translations of the Bible that should be avoided, but just like the people of Tyndale's day and Erasmus' day, we must be courageous and bold to defend the purity of Scripture and to welcome the Lord's provision of the Word in our vernacular and current language.
The Bible we hold in our hands today is the result of centuries of God’s providence, Christian faithfulness, and the unstoppable power of His Word.
God kept His promise.
He said His Word would endure forever (Isaiah 40:8), and it has.
We can trust the Bible.
Despite human error and historical opposition, God’s Word has not been lost. In fact, we have more evidence for the accuracy of Scripture than for any other book in history.
We can trust modern translations.
We'll get to this topic in future posts, but with all the new discoveries of the last two centuries, with all the manuscript evidence, with all the combined scholarship of translators from the past, and with all the resources we have in the modern world, one thing is clear — we can trust the faithful work of modern Bible translators.
Of course, not all Bible translations are faithful to the Lord and there certainly are bad translations of the Bible that should be avoided, but just like the people of Tyndale's day and Erasmus' day, we must be courageous and bold to defend the purity of Scripture and to welcome the Lord's provision of the Word in our vernacular and current language.
The Bible we hold in our hands today is the result of centuries of God’s providence, Christian faithfulness, and the unstoppable power of His Word.
- Pastor Keith
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