Johann Gutenberg and the Printing Press

ohann Gutenberg (1395 A.D. to 1468 A.D.) invented the printing press with moveable type in Mainz, Germany. There is a museum there today with a replica of his press. The importance of this invention cannot be overstated in the context of European history. In 1521 A.D. Rome promulgated a Bull against all that Luther believed. This meant that his writings were to be burned. Charles V convoked an Imperial Diet at Worms, Germany, and invited Luther to appear before it. This was essentially a court where Luther delivered his "I will not recant" speech, and was allowed to go back home. On the way bay to Wittenberg, he was "abducted" by friends to make him disappear. This was done in order to save his life. He was taken to Wartburg Castle where he was kept in seclusion. While there, he translated the New Testament into German in three months. Other tracts of his were printed as well. The Bible was the first book Gutenberg printed.

ith the aid of the new printing press, Luther's tracts and translation of the New Testament went all over Europe. People could then read the Bible in their own tongue. The printing press was so expensive that the workers who printed the paper sheets could not afford to buy the Bible they were printing. It cost the equivalent of one year's wages for a printer to buy a Bible. The Bibles were not sold as bound Bibles that we have today. They were sold as loose sheets and binding cost extra and was very expensive. The basic print was black. The decorative print was a separate color, ie first letter of new paragraph. The pages had to be printed twice because multi-color printing was still years away.

he invention of the printing press with moveable type was a watershed event in the religious history of mankind. One of the tenets of the Protestant Reformation was "The Bible and the Bible alone is the only rule of faith and practice." Now individuals could read the Bible for themselves on a massive scale for the first time in history. Luther's small tracts (and others) were printed in large quantities and sent all over Europe within a matter of months. The Bible could be printed, but it took longer for it to be used by the masses because of the expense involved. But, the process was started, and no power on earth could stop it!

e serve such a great God, whose timing is always perfect. At such a time that the news of justification by faith needed to get to the people, God gave the message to Luther, and the means to broadcast the message, the printing press with moveable type, was invented a few years before in a town not more that an hour's drive from Worms, Germany!

od's timing is always perfect. In the 19th century a man named William Miller preached that Jesus was coming back to this earth soon. The day was eventually picked (October 22nd, 1844). Jesus didn't come obviously, and the group studied more and more. Among other things, they discovered (re-discovered) the Sabbath truth and accepted it as their belief. This group came to be known as Seventh-day Adventists, partially out of recognition of the Sabbath of God.

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