THE BOOK OF BOOKS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30302, 30 November 1963, Page 3

THE BOOK OF BOOKS

I Renewed by G.M I 6000 Years of the Bible. By G. S. Wegener. Hodder and Stoughton. 340 pp. Illust. Index. When the Bible is forgotten, civilisation will’ be ready for its winding sheet. As a book its history is unmatched; as a record of man's adventure into the realms of thought, speculation and spirituality it is without peer. The story of the Bible over a period of 6000 years is fascinating if the storyteller has both vision and a love of history. The book under review has such a storyteller. G. S. Wegener is a German professor, whose work and worth have enriched the Church in particular and the religious world, in general, ol the common man. It presents in simple and graphic language the history of the most important book in the annals of mankind. The book is translated from tire German by Margaret Shenfleld. Over 2000 illustrations make the book a gallery of history. Going back to the first appearance of Israel in recorded history, the story moves to Palestine and from thence to practically the uttermost corners of the world. Israel’s gift to posterity was THE BOOK, which, more than once, changed the course of history. From the time of Solomon the history of the Jews plunges into catastrophe. As an independed state. Israel ceased to function from the time of the Babylonian captivity. Has anything in history approached the effect the Ne-v Testament has had upon civilisation? Here. within the compass of less than a century, a collection of writings gathered round Christ, has geared history to an ideal and to consummation thai has altered life for millions. It is interesting to note that the first words of the New Testament were written ir A.D. 51, only 18 years after the Crucifixion, and are tc be found in the first verse o! the Apostle Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians

Professor Wegener takes us on an enthralling journey as he describes the rise of printing and the thrilling stories of the printing of the first Bible by Gutenberg in tire fifth century, then through to the New' English Bible of 1961. Great characters illumine the story, scholars and reformers leave their mark on the scroll of history. It is surprising to read that Martin Luther was “a small, rather delicate and extremely sensitive scholar”; a very different figure from the thick swarthy man generally depicted. The story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their effect upon scholarship is told with vivacity and veracity. It is the sensational story of an Arab boy looking for a straying goat and finding treasure, in the shape of parchment scrolls and copper rolls, hidden in caves near the Dead Sea by the Essenes —a religious group that separated themselves from the busy life of their time < the time before and after Christ) and lived within almost monastic rule—before the destruction in A.D 70 of Jerusalem by the Romans. What they hid lay for 2000 years and when found in 1947, electrified the world.

These scrolls are still being read and interpreted and prove beyond the shadow' of a doubt the authenticity of the ancient Bible. During the negotiations—and the theft and bribery, the fakes and forgers— for the possession of the scrolls, a tew of them were advertised in, of all papers, the “Wall Street Journal”: “Biblical manuscripts for sale, dating from 200 B.C. at latest. Ideal gift for educational or religious institutions”—the greatest.

“find” in modern history, up for sale. This is no book on theology. It is the human record of The Book Of Books. It is a thrilling story, mare exciting than any fictional thriller, and is written for the ordinary man who w’ili read it with enjoyment and great profit.