The Making of the Bible as a Book

Most ancient histories began as oral traditions before they were written down and eventually compiled into complete works. The Bible, however, stands apart. Christians believe and know it is God’s inspired Word, and throughout history, people have taken extraordinary care to preserve and transmit its text. Today, it remains the most translated and widely distributed book in the world.

A visit to the Papyrus Museum in Vienna gave me a deeper appreciation for that remarkable history. As I examined ancient biblical manuscripts and fragments, I realized how much effort generations of scribes invested in preserving the Scriptures. These fragile papyri are more than archaeological treasures; they are tangible evidence of the care with which the biblical text has been copied and passed from one generation to the next.

The papyrus process for preserving the Word of God developed in the early years of Christianity and, when compared with other religions, shows how much they loved the Word of God. One could wonder why other religions did not do the same.

The papyrus plant grew along the Nile River in Egypt, so in ancient times, they cut the stalks into strips, then layered another strip at a 90-degree angle, which dried together when pressed. The Egyptians took these sheets of papyrus, pasted them together, and formed a long roll that could be written on one side, making it a scroll.

The Christians in the 2nd and 3rd centuries placed the scriptures on sheets of papyrus and bound them into codices. “What is remarkable to historians and scholars is that nearly every single one of the earliest copies of the New Testament books was written on papyrus bound in the codex format.”^[1]Timothy N. Mitchell in Christian Papyri and the Ancient Church, Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 173, Number 690, (April-June 2016) 186. I adapted this paragraph from this article.

Like no other book

Why has no other book in history been copied, translated, and preserved like the Bible? Well, for one reason, the early believers read the scriptures publicly, so they had them available and copied. Early on, Egypt copied the scriptures, and then later, places like Constantinople did the same.

Despite the prevailing cultural norms of scrolls, the churches produced codices in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Paul mentions the codex when in 2 Timothy 4:13, he asks for his books in scroll format and the notebook of parchments (written on animal skins).^[2]Timothy N. Mitchell in Christian Papyri and the Ancient Church, Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 173, Number 690, (April-June 2016), 194. These words highlight the easy use of the Scripture and not confined or controlled by church leaders.

The Early Church Read Publicly

The early church read, copied and sent on replicas of the letters and writings that they had. Researchers found hundreds of copies of the scripture in Egypt, as papyrus was the source. Then Polycarp wrote to the Philippian church in 112 AD, “We are sending to you the letters of Ignatius that were sent to us by him together with any others that we have in our possession, just as you requested.”^[3]The Martyrdom of Polycarp 22.2, in Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers, 219. The early believers loved to read or at least learned to read. They wanted to share what papyrus or parchment of Scripture was in their hands. In this letter from Polycarp, they most likely had previously passed on Scripture; now they were sending the latest teaching they had received by letter.

Believers love the Bible, and throughout the centuries, they placed God’s Word into the hands of others for recitation. The Bible is the most translated book in the world. Jesus spoke common, everyday Greek, and for each believer, the Bible should be in their common language. As of 2026, portions of the Bible are available in over 4,000 languages, the whole Bible in 700 languages, and the New Testament in 2,500 languages.

Let’s read the Word of God:

https://www.bible.com/app

People of the Book

Islam calls Christians the People of the Book. We know that Surah 5:46 says, “We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light.” He is Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, in which no one can make it to God but by him (John 14:6). He said he is the first and the last, so we need no other.

The Bible is eternal, and God has preserved His Word for us. The manuscript process shows the love for the Word of God and how he preserved the Scripture, so we know the originals were without error. We have over sixty manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament dating from the second and third centuries, and some include nearly the whole of the 27 books.^[4]Timothy N. Mitchell in Christian Papyri and the Ancient Church, Bibliotheca Sacra, Vol. 173, Number 690, (April-June 2016), 183.

Early Christianity consisted of multiple house groups that gathered for prayer and reading the Scriptures. For this reason, biblical books written for Asia Minor or Phillipi, Greece, reached Egypt and Rome soon after their publication. The sea routes passed on goods but also the process of copying letters or news of importance. We previously studied how mosaic templates passed from one port city to the next; the transmission process by artisans most likely connected the same copyists or readers in the churches.

Other religions, like Islam, do not believe in the inspiration process where God intimately breathes the Scripture into the heart and hand of the writer. They follow a more download-style format from above. The process of inspiration is quite interesting, and I write about it in my book, Searching Below the Surface. During this visit to the Papyrus Museum in Vienna, I once again appreciated the Word of God, which I can read every day to guide me. Other religions did not put their writings into the hands of believers as willingly as Christianity.