Before Bibles Were Commonly Available

[blhowes]

I really appreciate being able to open up my Bible whenever I want to read and/or study it.

Lately I've been wondering what it must have been like for the average Christian before the invention of the printing press, before Bibles were commonly available in Christian homes.

Have any of you read any books/articles that describe what it was like for the average Christian back then? What was it like for them? Was their learning/studying/memorizing of the scriptures totally dependent on what they were taught at church, or were there ways to do this privately?

Also, somewhat related: The catholic mass use to be in Latin, which most people wouldn't understand, and therefore wouldn't be too useful if they wanted to read/learn/meditate on the scriptures. Was the Latin mass an 'innovation' of the catholic church, or is it something that dates back to early Christianity?

 

[ChristopherPaul]

Before everyone could own their own hip pocket Bible, they were much more apt to memorize large portions of scripture. This still happens today in foreign mission fields where either the scriptures are not yet available in certain languages or the people are simply illiterate. The OPC's missionary to Uganda shared a story as to how some of the uneducated and illiterate in his church have nearly memorized the entire book of Psalms.

In such situations (past and present) the saints not only congregate for formal worship but also congregate to study the scriptures wherever those scriptures are available. If it were not for each and every man having his own copy of the scriptures, there would probably be more meeting daily among the saints for this very purpose.