Scribes and Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible by John D. Meade and Peter J. Gurry.
In our first book review of the summer, Tom Lane, reviews Scribes and Scripture for us.
As you read the words of Jesus in the gospels or the wisdom of King Solomon, does it cross your mind how the Bible you have in your hand was formed?
For me, this question has popped up more, particularly as sceptics try and disprove the Bible's historicity and reliability. Some view about it being formed at the Council of Nicaea? No thank you. This book carefully bats away such misguided views.
The book has three main sections:
The text - How the Bible was written and then copied.
Canonising the Old and New Testament.
How it was translated into new languages up to the present day.
It answers questions such as: Why are there so many Bible translations?; Why are some books included and other left out?, Who copied these books, and did they copy them well? All legitimate questions I think you will find.
Should this be your summer read? Maybe. I wouldn't be so keen on taking this book to a beach and reading about Origen's Hexapla, while your fingers are covered in sun tan lotion and sand. But in a world full of scepticism for anything religious, having a defence on why we can trust the bestselling book in the world is important.
Scribes and Scripture is a book I enjoyed and would highly recommend to all. Scholars Peter and Gavin provide the history, writing, copying, canonisation, and translation of the Bible in a way that uneducated folk like myself can understand. From reading this book, I have a newfound appreciation for the army of unknown scribes who have preserved, copied, and translated The Book.
This book isn’t available via the Good Book Company website so isn’t on our online bookstall - but you can find it on the Crossway Website via the link below:
