I had never heard of Saint John’s Bible until last week.  However, in the past few days, I have been reading a lot about it from the internet.  My niece heard that is was going to be at one of the local museums and asked if Jacki and I would like to go.  Therefore, we went that last Thursday evening.  We got there at about 5 o’clock, which was perfect.  We walked right in.  Within the next thirty minutes, there were so many people that the museum staff was only allowing so many people into the exhibit room at one time.  As one person left, they would allow one person in.

 

It was an amazing to see.  First, let me give you some background information.  The Abbey Church of Saint John the Baptist has commissioned this bible.  It is the place of worship for the monastic community of Saint John’s Abbey.  It is the home of Saint John the Baptist Parish and is the primary place of worship for the Saint John’s University community. 

 

Donald Jackson, who is the Queen’s Scribe, was the one who undertook this project.  Saint John’s is also know for there 1500-year monastic tradition and its long-standing commitment to manuscript preservation, which it why they got involved in commissioning this project.  The Saint John’s Board of Regents and the monastic community got together to seen if they wanted to do this, and they decide that, “Yes, we want to embark on this monumental project.  We want Donald Jackson to bring the Word of God to life on vellum for the next five hundred years.”

 

Let me state, before I go on, that I do not agree with this bible being written.  I will get more into that later.  I want to spend a little time describing how this bible is being written, which I do find fascinating.  Most of the information about Saint John’s Bible, I get from either their website, or employee’s at the museum.  (more…)