For a long time the holy scriptures were preserved in times of persecution when pagan Roman authorities sought to make christians deny their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. During those times the holy scriptures were passed from one congregation to another in hand written copies that were made without the benefit of expensive materials or professional copyists. These are preserved only in a few places with dry climates or in caves or other places where natural processes have allowed them to remain in decipherable condition. Of course these ancient manuscripts were written in Greek and some in Latin but none in English because English was not yet in existence - in the first five of six centuries of the Christian era the people of Britania spoke Latin or one of several Celtic languages then in use in the British isles.
After the rise of Constantine to the imperial throne in the Roman empire Christianity became an accepted religion and the copying and preservation of the holy scriptures came out into the open. With toleration came better funding for the making of copies of holy scripture and that meant better materials (such as vellum) and professional copyists. One more thing to note, the scriptures were in the Greek and Latin languages (mainly Greek). At about this time the issue of which books were canonical arose. In the west the decision was to have the books of the LXX, as listed in the canons of the third synod of Carthage (in 397 AD), and the 27 books of the new testament declared as canonical scripture. Soon afterwards (around 405 AD) saint Jerome produced a Latin translation based on the ancient Latin translations of the new testament, the Hebrew old testament in use at that time by Rabbinic Jewry, and the LXX in Greek. His translation eventually became the official bible in the west (this happened in the 16th century). Between the 5th century and the 16th century Jerome's Vulgate gained wide acceptance.
Thus the holy scriptures were preserved in the west by means of church copies and translations. In the east the the copies were in Greek using the LXX for the old testament and copies of the 27 books of the new testament in Greek. The eastern church decided a canon around the same time as the west and it contained the same books with one extra psalm (psalm 151) and several extra books in the histories and wisdom writings of the old testament. The extra books were The prayer of Manasseh, 3 & 4 Ezra, 3 & 4 Maccabees. 4 Ezra and 4 Maccabees are accepted in the Slavonic Orthodox churches but not in the Greek Orthodox church.
In the ancient churches of Ethiopia and the Sudan the number of books in the canon varies. Some accept over 80 books in their wider canon.
The Catholic Church has a 73 book canon for holy scripture. The books accepted by Catholics which are not included in most English bible translations serving churches of the various Protestant traditions are these:
- Judith
- Tobit
- Baruch
- Wisdom
- Sirach
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
- some parts of Esther
- some parts of Danial
The 66 book canon in use among Protestants is regarded by Protestant traditions as being the universally accepted books of holy scripture. Of course the canon as defined by the Catholic church was also made up of the universally accepted books until the rise of Protestantism (the Orthodox bible has extra books but contains all the books in the Catholic bible).
Nowadays bibles are printed in vast quantities and their preservation is the work of major publishing houses, museums, and churches each working for their own purposes but all serving, in their own ways, the purpose of the preservation of the holy scriptures.
