There are many versions of the Bible floating around this world. Your local bookstore contains several (the merits of which I will not debate here). But it starts to get really interesting when we get a glimpse into much older versions, scriptures that were being compiled and copied in a time long before the printing press, and much closer to the actual beginning of Christianity.
Often, very old manuscripts are not really available for public scrutiny. For one thing, most of us don’t read Greek. Plus, they are incredibly fragile–too much light or air could crumble these things to dust in little time. (This is why many of our country’s most important documents are kept in special air-tight and light-limited storage in the National Archives.)
But now, one of the world’s oldest known copies of Christian scripture is available for all the world to examine in minute detail on the Internet. This copy dates back to the time when Christianity was beginning to come into its own. A lot of important things were happening in the 4th Century–the Nicene Creed was codified, and along with it, the “right” and “wrong” ways to be Christian. So polish up your Greek, and find out for yourself just how accurate that King James Bible translation really is.
Certainly it’ only a matter of time before some objective soul translates this text, eh?