Printing and Modern Bibles — Printing and Publishing

The Rise of Printed Vernacular Bibles

Late fifteenth-sixteenth centuries

Printers issued biblical books and complete Bibles in European vernaculars, allowing translated Scripture to circulate on an unprecedented scale.

Full Account

German, Italian, French, Czech, Dutch, Spanish, and English biblical printing developed rapidly around the Reformation era. Printers combined scholarship, commerce, religious conviction, and sometimes considerable personal risk. Print fixed each edition into many matching copies, yet revision continued as translators corrected errors and responded to new knowledge.

Historical Significance

Printed vernacular Bibles strengthened preaching, household reading, literacy, and religious reform throughout Europe.

People, Places and Sources

Key people: William Tyndale; Martin Luther; Miles Coverdale; translators and printers
Key places: Wittenberg; Antwerp; Zurich; Geneva; London; Paris
Languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Czech
Scripture: Romans 10:14-17