Church Leader Hopes Hand-Written Bible Bridges Religious Divides
By Movieguide® Contributor
In an act of unity, church leaders, Right Reverend Justin Welby and American Abbot John Klassen joined together to burnish a small gold dot in a Blessing ceremony to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of The Saint John’s Bible, a special edition of the hand-written and illuminated Bible, per PBS NewsHour.
“It was an honor of the highest caliber to present an Apostles Edition of The Saint John’s Bible to the head of the Church of England and Anglican Communion, The Right Reverend Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury during yesterday’s Evening Prayer,” The Saint John’s Bible posted on Instagram. “This gift was made possible through the Catharine Elizabeth Laney Trust. We extend immeasurable gratitude to all who made this beautiful service possible.”
Tim Ternes, the Director of the Saint John’s Bible for the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library at St. John’s University, said the Apostles Edition of The Saint John’s Bible was started in honor of the new millennium. “The project began in 1995, and they [Saint John’s Abbey and University] formally commissioned it in 1998 as a way to mark the millennium. They were approached by world-renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson to help him create this once in a millennia project.”
Abbot Klassen said about his initial reaction to the request, “In a world where everything’s going digital, is this the right thing to do?” However, he soon recognized the significance of the project. “Historically writing the word, scribing, illuminating, it’s deeply woven into the Manastic DNA. So we moved steadily toward it.”
The original pages and the artwork of St John’s Bible have a permanent home at Saint John’s in Minnesota. “This was never meant to be a museum piece, it was meant to be shared but the reality, it does need care,” said Ternes, “In a time of so much polarization, these pages have had something for everyone who visits the exhibit.”
“We have people who are non-believers, who are, people who are staunch believers, people who are fairly liberal, people who are fairly conservative, and they all come together, and so it does exactly what it’s intended to. For me, the most surprising thing is how truly communal the Bible is,” Ternes shared.
Abbot Klassen hopes the dedication of the Apostles Edition of The Saint John’s Bible will heal religious divides from the painful break experienced during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
“We are just aware of the enormous wrenching pain for these most awful, awful conflicts between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church,” Klassen said. “So to be burnishing this with the archbishop here, we would hope it would lead to other kinds of communing.”
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +4