The World's Slowest Selling Bible

The world's slowest selling Bible and possibly the world's slowest selling legitimately published book is the Coptic translation of the Bible published in 1791 by David Wilkins (1685 - 1745). The book has never sold more than two copies a year.

Wilkins was a Prussian orientalist born as David Wilke (or David Wilkius) in what is now Lithuania. As an adult he lived and worked in England as an Anglican priest, librarian, translator, and university professor. He was a specialist in Arabic, Coptic, Hebrew, Armenian, Chaldaic, and Anglo-Saxon.

Extrabiblical Evidences of Biblical Persons, Places, and/or Events: The Gezer Calendar

The Gezer Calendar is a tenth century BC/BCE (possibly 925 BC/BCE) fragment of an inscribed limestone  plate.  It was found in the ruins of the Canaanite city of Gezer (Tell el-Jazari).  The inscription is one of the earliest known examples of a text written in ancient Hebrew script.  It consists of seven lines of text and was discovered in 1908 by R.A.S. Macalister (see the bibliography below).  The Hebrew name, Abijah, appears in the text.

The calendar describes the crops planted, tended, and harvested in various months.  The purpose of the calendar is unknown, but some have suggested that it may have been used for taxation purposes. 

http://www.google.com/search?q=the+gezer+calendar&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-9jBUerzIYzS9ASAzoDQCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1202&bih=812

The limestone tablet is housed in the Museum of the Ancient Orient in Istanbul, Turkey. The Jewish Virtual Library gives these bibliographical listings for the Gezer Calendar: 

R.A.S. Macalister, Excavation of Gezer, 2 (1912), 24–28; Albright, in: BASOR, 92 (1943), 16–26; L. Finkelstein, ibid., 94 (1944), 28–29; Wright, in: BA, 18 (1955), 50–56; Segal, in: JSS, 7 (1962), 212–21; Talmon, in: JAOS, 83 (1963), 177–87; Wirgin, in: Eretz Israel, 6 (1960), 9–12 (Eng. section); Rathjen, in: PWQ, 93 (1961), 70–72; Honeyman, in: JRAS (1953), 53–58; Pritchard, Texts, 320; Pritchard, Pictures, 272; EM, 2 (1965), 471–4 (incl. bibl.).  S. Ahituv, Handbook of Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions (1992), 149–52.

Biblical mentions of Gezer: Joshua 10:1-34, 12:12, 16:3-10, 21:21; 1 Chronicles 6:67, 7:28, 14:6, 20:4; Judges 1:29; 2 Samuel 5:25; 1 Kings 9:15-17.  Gezer is not mentioned in the New Testament.  During that period it was known as Gazara.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Vaclav Klaus: (b. 1941, Bohemia) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic 1992-1197, President of the Czech Republic, elected 2003. Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

Jiri Paoubek: (b. 1952, Czechoslovakia) Prime Minister of the Czech Republic  2005-2006. Czechoslovak Hussite Church.

Martha Bedell Alexander: (b. 1939, Florida (USA)) Librarian, chaplain, North Carolina House of Representatives  1993-2013. Episcopal.

Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard: (b. 1938, Netherlands; Beatrix of the Netherlands) Wife of Claus van Amsberg.  Queen of the Netherlands (1980-2013) Protestant Church of the Netherlands.

Claus George Willem Otto Frederik Geert van Amsberg: (b. 1926 – d. 2002) Husnad of Beatrix of the Netherlands, diplomat.  Dutch Reformed Church.

Prague Christian Library

The Prague Christian Library  (Křesťanská knihovna Praha) website is available in English and Czech.  This is a physical library of over 6000 items (books, videos, DVDs, CDs, pamphlets, position papers, etc), with a searchable database.

The library is open to the public about thirty hours a week (four days a week and two Saturdays per month).  The library issues library cards and allows patrons to check out items.   The available items cover the following subjects: Biblical studies and reference, Children's books, Christian fiction, Church history, Evidences for belief, Family and relationships, Leadership development, Practical ministry skills, and Social issues and ethics.  Many items are in the languages of the countries which neighbor the Czech Republic. 

The library does book searches and sells some items related to their mission focus.  They state that they accept donations and are non-denominational.

Book Comment: Handbook of Denominations in the United States

Do you know a Schwenkfelder?  Do you know the difference between the Unity School of Christianity and the Unity of the Brethren?  Frank S. Mead's classic 1951 reference book, Handbook of Denominations in the United States can help you with these questions and many others. The book is so useful that it has been released in multiple editions (there were eleven editions by 1985!)

Each religious body is described listing its history, contact address, membership statistics, distinctive doctrines and beliefs, prominent members, geographical distribution data, and a discussion of the body's government.  The listings are placed within major groupings: Baptist, Adventist, Bahai, Jewish, Muslim, Episcopal/Anglican, Mennonite, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Spiritualist, Reformed, Catholic, Fundamentalist,  Mormon, and others.

Opening the book to ten random pages finds articles on the following groups: Anglican Catholic Church,  Branch Davidians, Hungarian Reformed Church in America,  Conservative Baptist Association of America, The Pillar of Fire, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, Open Bible Standard Churches, International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, Unification Church, and the National Baptist Convention of America.

I know that the idea of a reference book may sound dry and boring but this well-written book is fascinating.  It will be useful reading to anyone interested in the history of religion in the United States and should be available in the adult reference section in most larger libraries.

Martin Luther on The Word

"In the matter of faith one must let everything go and cling to the Word alone.  When we have gripped that, let the world, death, sin, hell and every misfortune storm and rage.  But if you let go of the Word, you will be doomed."  Martin Luther

I found this quotation on the blog of Pastor Heath Pukallus , a Lutheran minister in Western Australia.  I didn't understand the bibliographical listing for the quotation, SL.XI. 1767, 15, so I asked Pastor Pukallus about it.  His kind response told me, "SL refers to the Saint Louis Edition (translation) of Luther's works.  There are four different editions, St. Louis (SL), American (AE or LW), Weimar (WA), and Erlangen."

Since I am a "library rat," I set out to learn more about this.  I found a very informative 2009 article, "Cracking the Code: Making Sense of References to Martin Luther's Works. " The writer of the article, Pastor Paul T. McCain, calls sorting out references to Luther's writings "an alphabet soup kind of situation."  McCain lists twelve additional editions which you might see as bibliographical listings.

Many people find bibliographies and library studies to be as dry as the Mojave Desert, but for those of us who thrive on the stuff, this is a very interesting avenue of study.