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-44-
God Hath Spoken
The Work of Bede
In England there was an English monk by the name of Bede. Because of his godliness, he became known as "the Venerable Bede." Bede translated the Gospel of John from the Latin Vulgate into Anglo Saxon, i.e. Old English, in A.D. 735, and he did it on his deathbed. B.F. Westcott gives a brief account of the scene in his introduction to The History of The English Bible.
"As early as the eighth century, the Psalms were rendered into Anglo Saxon, and about the same time, Bede, during his last illness, translated the Gospel of Saint John. The narrative of the completion of this work is given by an eye witness, Cuthbert, a scholar of Bede's.
"Bede had been ill some weeks. About Easter A.D. 735 he felt that his end was approaching and looked forward to it with ceaseless gratitude, rejoicing that he was counted worthy thus to suffer. He quoted much from Holy Scripture. He was chiefly busy with the English translation of the Gospel of Saint John.
"Ascension Day drew near. His illness increased, but he only labored the more diligently. On Wednesday his scribe told him that one chapter alone remained, but he feared that it might be painful for him to dictate, and Bede said, `It is easy. Take your pen and write quickly.' His boy scribe at last found an opportunity to remind him with pious importunity of his unfinished task. `One sentence, dear master, still remains unwritten.' `Write quickly,' he answered. The boy soon said, `It is completed now.' `Well,' Bede answered, `Thou hast said the truth. All is ended,' and his soul passed away while the name of the Holy Spirit was on his lips." One account says, "He sank back into his bed dead." His job was done.
Early Obstacles
European versions of God's Word followed, but there were problems. First, they were usually individual books of the Bible such as the book of Psalms, or the Gospel of John, and not the entire New Testament, or the complete Old Testament. Second, they were handwritten, and therefore the making of copies was time consuming. One method of solving the problem was to obtain the use of a room of scribes. While one man translated orally, the others wrote verbatim from his mouth. Fifteen copyists writing what was orally translated would furnish 15 copies. A third problem resulted from the lack of development of printing. Paper was thick and coarse, making books bulky.
A fourth problem lay with the scribes themselves: there were those who, after they had done such diligent work, studded their Bibles with jewels, and thus effectively removed the Scriptures from the hands of common men. These had lost sight of the reason they had undertaken the work. Again, common men could not seek out the book of the Lord and read.
Still another problem appeared. The Roman Catholic Pope declared that if common men handled the Bible, they would profane its teachings. Therefore, the Pope forbade people to read the Bible upon pain of death. Bibles had to be smuggled. The Word of God was precious in those days, and Bibles were often mutilated by friendly hands so that instead of one person having the entire Gospel of John, many could have a portion. But if they were discovered, they were burned at the stake with their Bibles tied about their neck.