A Defining Moment: Supplemental Monograph #1

Despite its unprecedented accessibility, the one-volume Christian Bible is still a mystery to many. It comes to us with no information about when, where, or by whom it was first published. It has no preface explaining what it is or how it should be interpreted.

In prior studies the author sought a deepened understanding of this sacred book by inquiring into its origins. See How the Bible Came to Be. This monograph is a sequel and supplement to these prior studies. Its focus is the "defining moment" when the many scriptures of the Christian Bible were initially published in a one-volume book. The "prevailing views" on this matter are set forth in the Prologue. The author has raised questions about these views in prior writings - and does so again because the issues at stake are important ones for interpreting what the Bible is and means.

Excerpts: "The oldest large one-volume Bibles, Codex Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, are usually dated to the fourth century. Many think this is when one-volume Bibles of this kind were first published. A closer look at these Bibles raises doubts about this assumption."

"Constantine's letter in 332 CE requesting 'fifty volumes ... of the Divine Scriptures' for the new churches of Constantinople suggests a taken-for-granted tradition of having Bibles like this in every church."

"One-volume Bibles of this size and complexity do not get created, accepted and used without someone, somewhere taking the initiative. Ancient texts point to a conclave in Rome in the middle of the second century as the setting in which this occurred."