After substituting in our local school libraries for almost fourteen years, I have found that my favorite sections of the library are history and biographies. Let’s imagine for a moment if one Saturday morning we showed up at our local library, only to find our favorite books reduced to a pile of ashes.
Centuries ago, that is exactly what happened when thousands of books at the Library of Alexandria caught fire. Alexandria was the place to do research in the ancient world (see video). Then on a fateful day in 47 BC, Julius Caesar set fire to his ships in the Alexandrian harbor to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The fire soon spread to the docks and the naval arsenal, ultimately destroying 400,000 of the library’s precious scrolls.
Such a tragedy shows just how perishable written materials can be. This makes the preservation of our Bible such a marvel. The Word of God has survived book-burnings, riots, revolutions, persecutions, and various catastrophes. Yet scholars tell us that the manuscripts have been accurately preserved through millennia of copying.
God "inspired" the writing of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16) and has promised to preserve it (Isaiah 40:8 cf. 1 Peter 1:25). Next time we open our Bible, let’s take a moment to reflect on how precious it is, and thank God for preserving it so we could be blessed (cf. Psalm 1:1-2; James 1:25) .
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
Centuries ago, that is exactly what happened when thousands of books at the Library of Alexandria caught fire. Alexandria was the place to do research in the ancient world (see video). Then on a fateful day in 47 BC, Julius Caesar set fire to his ships in the Alexandrian harbor to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The fire soon spread to the docks and the naval arsenal, ultimately destroying 400,000 of the library’s precious scrolls.Such a tragedy shows just how perishable written materials can be. This makes the preservation of our Bible such a marvel. The Word of God has survived book-burnings, riots, revolutions, persecutions, and various catastrophes. Yet scholars tell us that the manuscripts have been accurately preserved through millennia of copying.
God "inspired" the writing of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16) and has promised to preserve it (Isaiah 40:8 cf. 1 Peter 1:25). Next time we open our Bible, let’s take a moment to reflect on how precious it is, and thank God for preserving it so we could be blessed (cf. Psalm 1:1-2; James 1:25) .
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
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