New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was recently gifted a facsimile replica of the Gutenberg Bible, one of the most significant artifacts in Christian history, to display in its Museum of the Bible and Archaeology.
The facsimile, or exact copy of the text, was presented during NOBTS chapel on Aug. 28 and set up for display in the Museum later that afternoon.
The facsimile is bound to specifically replicate the original design of the Gutenberg Bible, printed more than 500 years ago. It is one of the closest things to an original copy that someone can own.
The Bible was donated by Tim Yancey, a long-time vice president of Chick-fil-a who has worked for many years to produce replica bindings for facsimile copies of the Gutenberg Bible.
Yancey discovered and acquired a lost cache of Cooper Square Bibles (recent facsimiles of the Gutenberg Bible printed in 1961) and worked to add binding to the facsimiles that mimics 15th century craftsmanship.
One of these facsimile replicas, encompassing two volumes of 42 lines per page, now resides in the seminary’s Museum, which combines the work of the school’s archaeology institute and center for New Testament textual studies. Yancey also donated a replica of the 1526 Tyndale New Testament.
Yancey shared during chapel about his passion for not only for bookbinding, but for the Scriptures themselves.
“One of the things that I personally want to help accomplish is to help people fall in love with the Bible,” Yancey. “That’s my ultimate goal.
“Even if we can’t have one of the original copies, if you can have the look and feel of a Gutenberg Bible and put it in the hands of people for them to actually handle it and study, that’s what we wanted to accomplish.”
Yancey, along with his wife Connie, were welcomed to chapel by NOBTS President Jamie Dew.
“We just want to say thank you so much for the gift of this copy,” Dew said. “We will treasure it and steward it well.”
Dew went on to speak to the chapel audience about the importance of the Gutenberg press for Christianity.
“I hope the significance of being able to own a Bible is not lost on you,” Dew said. “We often take the surplus we have of Scripture for granted in our world today.
“We want you to understand that historically speaking, lay folks did not have the Bible and could not read it even if they had one before the invention of the Gutenberg press. There were reformers long before Luther, but he came at a time when there was a printing press. As a result, this theology and these doctrines about God’s grace were able to go out and quite literally change the world.”
Bill Warren, professor of New Testament and Greek and director of the H. Milton Haggard Center for New Testament Textual Studies, commented on the importance of the Gutenberg press and the facsimile replica gifted to NOBTS.
“The invention of the Gutenberg press in the mid-1400’s is one of the pivotal points in human history, with the Gutenberg Bible being a hallmark that revolutionized Western culture,” Warren said.
“For NOBTS to have a complete facsimile replica of both the text and the binding of the original two-volume work is an incredible teaching tool for us to have in our Museum. The donation of this work by Tim Yancey is amazing to say the least, for now students and others can see this epic work in its full size and magnificence. I’m deeply grateful for the work of Museum Director Amy Williams in helping secure this donation.”
Warren closed out chapel with a message about the power and history of the Bible.
The full message can be viewed here.
More information about the NOBTS Museum of the of the Bible and Archaeology can be found here.
