The Bible has an amazing history. God has providentially preserved His Word over the centuries through devoted people, through times of turmoil and against seemingly insurmountable odds. It is available in more languages than any other book in the world. Learn about the vivid history of the Bible and its transmission through the ages.

Biographical

JOHN BUNYAN, PLOUGHBOY - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The most interesting aspect of this period of Bunyan's life was the intense spiritual struggle that he endured for several years. This conflict is chronicled on the pages of Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners...

WILLIAM TYNDALE - Dr. Herbert Samworth - On the surface there would have been little reason to think that the birth of a child in Slimbridge, Gloustershire, England in 1494 would change English history. However, that child was William Tyndale...

JOHN ELIOT AND AMERICA'S FIRST BIBLE - Dr. Herbert Samworth - When the Puritans came to the New World they had two goals. One was to form a pure church by separating themselves from the perceived corruptions of the English Church. The other was to bring the Gospel to the native inhabitants...

THE WORK OF JOHN WYCLIF AND ITS IMPACT - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The person resposible for the translation of the entire Bible into English language was John Wyclif... Truly he was the "Morning Star" of the Reformation...

JOHN FRITH: FORGING THE ENGLISH REFORMATION - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The story of his life is crucial to the understanding of the English Reformation. The purpose of this article is to remember one who paid a great price to secure the freedoms that we enjoy today...

JOHN FRITH: HIS FINAL YEAR - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The next production of Frith's pen brought more serious charges against him. To write against the doctrine of Purgatory was serious, but now Frith attacked the doctrine of transubstantiation or the teaching that the elements of the Lord's Supper actually become the body and blood of the Lord...

JONATHAN EDWARDS, A LIFE - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The year 2003 marked the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Jonathan Edwards, Pastor of the Congregational Church in Northampton, Massachusetts, missionary to the Indians in Stockbridge, and President of the College of New Jersey. In this article we will give an introduction to the life and ministry of Edwards through a review of George Marsden's book Jonathan Edwards, A Life...

Historical Theology

THE FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The Middle Ages are frequently perceived as a time when little of importance took place. However, such was not the case. In 1215, a council was held that changed the Latin Church and altered the course of history. That council was known as the Fourth Lateran and was convened by Pope Innocent the Third...

LUTHER'S CRY FOR REFORM - Dr. Herbert Samworth - Martin Luther's famous words "My conscience is captive to the Word of God, here I stand, I can do no other, God help me" were spoken at the Diet of Worms in 1521. But the road to Worms was paved by three major tracts that Luther wrote in the crucial year of 1520...

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT - Dr. Herbert Samworth - This council (1545-1563) gave the definitive answer of the Roman Catholic Church to the Protestant demand for a thorough Reformation of the Church. The knowledge of this council and its decisions will aid in understanding the religious situation of the twenty-first century...

THE DIET OF REGENSBERG - Dr. Herbert Samworth - As the fourth decade of the sixteenth century began, the prospect of a permanently divided Christendom dominated the horizon. However, the Emperor, Charles V, required a unified Empire to carry out his political strategies. Charles ordered all parties to assemble at Regensburg or Ratisbon in April 1541...

Individual Editions / Church History

FROM THE KING JAMES TO MODERN TRANSLATIONS - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The history of the English Bible in the years after the printing of the King James Version differs greatly from what occurred previously...

A GUIDE TO MODERN VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE - Dr. Herbert Samworth - If you had been looking to purchase a Bible fifty years ago, your choices would have been between the King James Version and one or two others. However, today you are faced with shelves and shelves of Bibles that command their own section in your local Christian bookstore...

THE KING JAMES BIBLE - Dr. Herbert Samworth - The printing of the King James Bible was a compromise solution to a situation where two translations of the Bible were in competition. This took place in the following manner...