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His friend inquired, “Did you happen to notice who the printer was?�

“Oh, something like Guten or Gutenhiem, I can’t quite remember,� came the reply.

“Are you kidding?� exclaimed his friend. “A Gutenberg Bible is worth tens of millions of dollars!�

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. It was worthless,� explained the man who collected old books. “Some fellow by the name of Luther had scribbled all sorts of comments in the margins.�

If you did not catch the irony of the above humor, you probably are also in the dark as to the impact that the Gutenberg Bible had upon human history.

Outside of the discovery of fire, the finding of American continents, the invention of manned flight and the advent of the computer, few innovations and breakthroughs have impacted life on earth as did the movable type with which the Gutenberg Bible was printed. Allegorizing this advent upon mankind, the movable type was a tsunami washing the scenery of human existence into another worldly landscape. Name the area of human involvement — politics, religion, education, business, social life, etc. — none were left unaltered by Gutenberg’s wake.

Although historians are uncertain of the exact date of the printing of the first Gutenberg Bible, today’s date of February 27, in 1455, is generally designated as the occasion. Prior to that time, virtually 99% of the world’s population was illiterate. Whether in their faith, their line of work or any other portion of their lives, people simply were unable to research information that might bring them to conclusions other than that which they were told. Even had they been able to read, book manufacturing required that they be printed by hand literally one letter at a time. Thus, books were rare and expensive. Only the very wealthy had access to knowledge. The interior walls of the cathedrals of Europe abounded with paintings of Biblical events as teaching tools because people could not read for themselves. Even as late as the American Civil War, many people had to have voting ballots read to them due to illiteracy.

Movable print changed all that.

Slowly, public education was made possible because of printing. Whether it was the Bible or the morning newspaper, people began to read for themselves. Democracy became possible. Education became possible. Innovations became possible. Upward mobility became possible. Thinking for oneself became possible. Threatened with the loss of control over the population’s freedom brought on by a Bible available to the masses, the upper class did all it could to subvert its spread. Church history is replete with stories of martyrdom and suffering. Even today, there are nations where to merely possess a Bible is illegal.

Unfortunately, as I look around at the church programs and worship alterations I see today, I feel rather strongly that Christianity is voluntarily reverting back to a status in which a few selfish people dominate what Bible knowledge others are exposed to. Many churches no longer have Bible teaching or even encourage Bible possession. With maybe a small amount of scripture projected onto a screen, congregations do not develop a sense of the Bible as a whole. Accompanied by an emphasis of emotional expression instead of knowledge, personal responsibility and thought are all but left aside and “worship� appears more akin to entertainment. Family Bibles collect dust; Sunday school lessons are neglected; few homes have even considered family devotions.

We are forced to ask ourselves “Have those who gave their all so that our generation of believers could freely study God’s Word, sacrificed for naught?�