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There are simpler ways to produce a Bible these days. Less expensive, less time-consuming, less tedious ways. But this is art for the ages.

Aiming to honor God's Word, revive tradition, and inspire young minds, a Minnesota monastery and a Welsh calligrapher are teaming up to produce the first handwritten, illuminated Bible in the modern era.

"It is the one thing we will probably be remembered for 500 years from now," says Eric Hollas, director of St. John's Monastic Manuscript Library.

St. John's Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville, Minnesota, and St. John's University, founded by the Abbey in 1857, commissioned world renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson to create this work of art. Jackson, 62, is known as the "queen's calligrapher" because he's scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Crown Office at the House of Lords.

Following two years of preparation, writing began on The Saint John's Bible in March 2000. The illumination (pictured at right) for the opening of Matthew's Gospel is a menorah with the names of Christ's ancestors in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, surrounded by flowing strands resembling DNA. Jackson describes his task as "the calligraphic artist's supreme challenge—our Sistine Chapel."

The selection and interpretation of Bible passages for illumination was determined by a team of artists and theologians from St. John's, with input from men and women of different religious traditions. The images will reflect contemporary thought. As Jackson said in Newsweek, "I am the first man to write a Bible who knows what the world looks like from 40,000 feet, who has heard of DNA." Colored with natural, handmade inks, hand-ground pigments, and gold-leaf, the illuminations will also include flora and fauna native to Minnesota, indicating this Bible's origins.

When finished, The Saint John's Bible will total 1,150 pages in seven volumes with 150 illuminations. The 15.75"-by-23.5" volumes will be: The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, The Book of Psalms, The Pentateuch, The Wisdom and Poetic Books, The Prophets, The Historical Books, and The Letters and The Book of Revelation.

The first volume (Gospels) should be unveiled by Christmas 2000; the entire $3 million Bible, paid for by private support, should be ready in 2004.

St. John's hopes to offer a mass-produced version of their Bible and a CD-ROM version, too. They plan to tour the seven volumes in libraries and museums worldwide making it accessible to a larger population.

Follow the progress on The Saint John's Bible at www.saintjohnsbible.org/

A Christian Reader original article.

Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).
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