How We Got the Bible: The Bible for a Few vs. The Bible for All

For centuries, the Bible was hand copied, and this process took so long that Bibles were rare and usually kept safe by scholars. The original languages of the Bible were Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, and so common people had no way of reading the Bible in their own language. But translators such as Jerome, and later John Wycliffe, Erasmus, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, and others put the Scripture into local languages for the common people. Gutenberg’s printing press changed everything. Fearless translators and printers in the 1400s and 1500s challenged the religious authorities of the day and gave their lives to translate the Bible into common languages such as English and print them quickly in large quantities. How We Got the Bible gives a brief overview of the translators’ faithfulness, courage, and sacrifice.

How We Got the Bible Explains the Basics of the History of the Bible

• Who wrote the earliest Scriptures?
• Who collected the Scriptures into the Bible?
• Which brave Christians gave their lives to bring us the Bible in English?
• How can we be confident in the Bible we use today?

How We Got the Bible Timeline Includes 5 Reproducible Printable Worksheets and Handouts

1. Worksheet: Early Bible Translators: Brief Biographies of Jerome, Bede, John Wycliffe and William Tyndale
2. Handout: How We Got the Bible: 10 Key Points
3. Handout: How We Got the Bible Timeline
4. Graphic: The Family Tree of Bibles: The Origen and Growth of the English Bible
5. Handout: 5 Teaching Tips and Project Ideas for Kids

How We Got the Bible Wall Chart Includes All of the Earliest and Today’s Most Common Translations

This incredible timeline describes the history of the earliest Bibles

• Coverdale Bible
• Matthews Bible
• Great Bible
• Geneva Bible
• Bishops Bible and more

Newer Bible translations from AD 1650 to Present

• The King James Version of the Bible, 1611
• Revised Version, 1881
• American Standard, 1901
• The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1947
• Revised Standard Version, 1952
• Berkley Bible, 1959
• Amplified Bible, 1965
• Jerusalem Bible, 1966
• New English Bible, 1970
• New American Standard Bible, 1971
• Living Bible (paraphrased), 1971
• Today’s English Version, 1976
• New International Version, 1978
• New King James Version, 1982
• Revised English Bible, 1989 and the New Revised Standard Version, 1990

Size and Lamination Quality of this How We Got the Bible Wall Chart

Full color. Large classroom-size Sunday school chart. Size: 19.5” x 26”. Printed on heavy chart paper and laminated with high quality 3 mil plastic for durability for kids’ classrooms. You can write on the laminated How We Got the Bible Wall Chart using water-soluble “wet-erase” markers only. Perfect for quizzes. Rolls neatly for storage.