For The Masses

Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the world by inventing the printing press in 1440 A.D.  Up until then, books were extremely expensive and were of limited availability, mainly only to the wealthy. 

Gutenberg Printing Press

The ability to inexpensively mass-produce information, ushered the western world from the pre-modern era to the modern era. This allowed the common people access to information once reserved only for the elite ruling class. Literacy rates dramatically increased.

Gutenberg's most famous work is his highly aesthetic printing of the Vulgate, Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible from 405 A.D.:

Gutenberg Bible

The problem with the Vulgate is that it was written in Latin, which limited its access mainly to the religious elite who could read it. But the masses desperately needed access to the Bible, as they were being forced by the church to do a number of things contrary to the spirit of the Bible. 

One such practice was the selling of indulgences, where people gave money to the church to gain forgiveness of sins. 

A priest selling indulgences to the townspeople.

This practice enraged a German monk named, Martin Luther, who in 1517, nailed his 95 Thesis, a list of complaints detailing such abuses, to the door of his local church.  These complaints, written in Latin, were quickly translated into German, mass printed, and spread throughout Germany and greater Europe.

Castle Church, Wittenberg, Germany, where Luther posted his 95 Thesis.

The message of liberation contained in the Thesis spread like wildfire and this event became the major catalyst for the Protestant Reformation, a movement dominated by the idea that a person has access to God without going through the institution of the church.

But the 95 Thesis wasn't enough for the people, they needed the Bible. There were versions of the Bible translated into German at this time, but it wasn't until Luther completed his version, in 1534, that the Bible became available to a widespread audience. Luther's Bible owed its popularity to both his celebrity status and the translation's excellent grasp of the common vernacular.

Die Bibel, Luther's German Translation of the Bible

The common person now had access to the Bible and was able to study on his/her own. The individual, apart from the religious institution, was now able to decide what he/she thought about matters of faith. 

There are incredible advantages to this, as the religious institutions no longer monopolized information and a whole new era of individual rights, education, and liberation was born.

But there are disadvantages as well. The Bible is an ancient document, written by people whose culture, language, and world view are very different from our own. It takes a collaboration of effort to be able to read the original text, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and even more to understand what it means.

We should be thankful that we have access to the Bible, a document like no other, that contains God's narrative for redeeming, renewing, and reclaiming all of creation. But we must understand that we stand on the shoulders of the people who provide us such access.