Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tion—mix Irish, classical, and even Byzantine forms. (Read an electronic copy using the
touch-screen computers.)
These Gospels are a reminder that Christianity almost didn't make it in Europe. After
the fall of Rome (which had established Christianity as the empire's official religion),
much of Europe reverted to its pagan ways. People worshipped woodland spirits and ter-
rible Teutonic gods.
Lindisfarne was an obscure monastery of Irish monks on an island off the east coast of
England. In that chaotic era, it was one of the few beacons of light, tending the embers of
civilization through the long night of the Dark Ages. It took 500 years before Christianity
was fully re-established in Europe.
Early English Bibles
By the year 1400, England was mostly Christian. But the Bible was still written in Latin,
even though only a small percentage of the population understood that language. A few
brave reformers risked death to translate the sacred books into English and print them us-
ing Gutenberg's new invention, the printing press. Within two centuries, English transla-
tions were both legal and popular.
These Bibles are written in the same language you speak, but try reading them. The
strange letters and archaic words clearly show how quickly languages evolve. Jesus spoke
Aramaic, a form of Hebrew. His words were written down in Greek. Greek manuscripts
were translated into Latin, the language of medieval monks and scholars. In the 1400s,
English scholars began translating the Greek and Latin into the King's English.
The King James version (made during his reign) has been the most widely used Eng-
lish translation. Fifty scholars worked for four years, borrowing heavily from previous
translations, to produce the work. Its impact on the English language was enormous. It
made Elizabethan English something of the standard, even after ordinary people had long
since stopped saying “thee,
” “
thou,
”
and
“
verily, verily.”
Recent translations are not only more readable but also more accurate, based on better
scholarship and original manuscripts. But scholars still encounter problems when trying
to translate old phrases to fit contemporary viewpoints (case in point: our generation's de-
bate over whether the God of the Bible should be a he or a she).
Printing
Printing was invented by the Chinese (what wasn't?). The
Diamond Sutra
(c. 868) is the
world's earliest, complete printed book bearing a date. It's written in Chinese even though
the Buddhist faith originated in India. Considered one of Buddhism's most important sac-
red works, it addresses the nature of perception, reality, enlightenment, and impermanen-
