Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln Counties :
Good News
Area News of Churches and Related Christian Events
VOL. 1 NO. 10
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1992
‘REPUBLIC NEWSPAPERS 7
Biblical specialist compares ancient
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texts to modern day translations
By DEBRA HELTON
Dr. Jewell Smith, owner
and curator of the Biblical
Heritage collection archives
headquartered in Orlando,
‘Fla., has amassed an in-
credible selection of Biblical
texts Pe from 2,000
B.C. to the present.
The collection includes
ancient manuscripts writ-
ten entirely by hand or
printed via the earliest of
printing machines in an im-
mense array of languages
(Greek, Latin, Hebrew,
Armenian, Coptic, German,
Syrian as well as English)
on an incredible assortment
of materials: vellom, parch--
ment, animal skins and pa-
pyrus.
After spending 30 years
as a Baptist minister,
Smith had acquired an in-
terest in the historical as-
pects of his religion that
caused him to begin study-
ing the history of the
source: the Bible.
Indeed, much of the his-
tory of scripture is en-
meshed in the stories of
those who were martyred in
protecting (and furthering)
the Gospel. Thus began the
operation that has today
blossomed into the full-time
ministry of accompanying
the collection throughout
the United States and
abroad showing the collec-
tion and telling of the histo-
ry that surrounds the
Bibles included therein.
Today, those with more
colorful histories are among
those that are of greater
value - as are those that
were present on the scene
prior to, and during, those
periods in our history when
Bibles (and those that
helped in circulating them)
were subject to public burn-
ings.
The Tyndale Bibles, for
instance, were of two specif-
ic groups: those that were
published when William
Tyndale first began dis-
tributing his Bibles. He
published 3,000 Bibles pri-
or to King Henry VIII's or-
der to burn all Bibles. In an
unbelievable display of effi-
ciency, King Henry's men
succeeded in burning all
but one of those First
Edition Bibles.
Tyndale continued in his
mission, however, and pub-
lished another 15,000
Tyndale Bibles before he
was captured and burned
at the stake for his devotion
in about 1510 A.D.
Those Bibles of Tyndale's
second batch are also con-
sidered to be of great value
- but the one first edition is
virtually priceless. It is to-
day the property of the
Baptist Museum in London,
England.
One of Smith's more re-
cent acquisition's includes a
beautiful scroll, with rolls
of 2 and 1/2 feet in length
from the top handle to the
bottom one, with the scrip-
ture imprinted on deerskin.
Incredibly soft and pli-
able, the scroll was smug-
Smith tends to the display of this 65 pound edition included in his col-
lection.
This reproduction Gutenberg Bible is representative of the detail and
beauty of the original - now valued at almost $20 million.
gled out of Russia only
three years ago by Jews re-
turning to Jerusalem.
"They cut it into 'wear-
able’ lengths and wrapped
it around their bodies to es-
cape detection,” Smith ex-
plains. "In Jerusalem, they
met and rejoined the pieces
in their appropriate order
so that of the original piece,
and its value remains in-
tact . .. ." The scroll will
soon go to paleographers for
dating.
Smith's collection even
includes a photgraphically
reproduced copy of the
Dead Sea Scrolls believed
to be dated about 400 B.C.
"Any time we have an ad:
dition to the collection that
is not an authentic item, we
are careful to document
that fact and note thereon,
the means by which it was:
reproduced,” Smith ex!
plains. "We only travel with
between five to ten percent
of the actual collection, al-
so. Most of it remains at the
archives in Orlando where
it is displayed in a more
protected environment."
What began as the ser-
vice of taking a collection of
ancient Bibles for viewing
throughout the world, has
become a ministry of equal,
if not greater, importance.
Smith's reputation as an
authority on scripture has
lead into the issue of our
- modern day translations
and their acceptance in the
modern world.
According to Smith, there
are ever increasing num-
bers of new’ Biblical texts
flooding the marketplace.
While these versions are,
indeed, easier to read and
perhaps to understand than
the more widely known and
accepted Kings James ver-
sions, these new editions
See Bibles, Page 6