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Home of the Touring Historic Saur Bible

Youth Page

Written by James Funkhouser

Welcome to the Youth section of the Bible Visit website. Here you can find helpful links, fun skits, and info on what the Saur Bible is.

My name is James Funkhouser. I am 17 years old, a recent graduate of Liberty High School, going on to study at Bridgewater. I am currently being licensed to the ministry.

My hope is that this Bible will bring to you as much inspiration as it has me. To see this Bible is incredible. When it comes to you, may it give you hope as you remember the struggle that it took to make it and how many people have seen it, and may it encourage you to read the Bible, to strengthen your faith through God's Word.

Saur Bible?

So what is the Saur Bible? The Saur Bible was the first Bible printed in America in a European language. Not only that, but it was one of the few Bibles in German. Christopher Saur Sr. and his son Christopher Saur Jr. together worked to make this Bible. Christopher Saur Sr. considered himself a "separatist". In other words, while he was Christian, he did not want to belong to a particular church. However, his son became Brethren. But so what? Who cares about a guy who printed a Bible? I mean c'mon you type up the Bible and print it out. My printer can do that in no time. Sad to say, but it turns out that in colonial times there were no digital printers. The printing process took forever. Each letter was raised on a little cube. They had to take each letter of a single page of the Bible and put it into a block of wood. Imagine bumping against it and having to start over. They then took ink and padded it over the block, and finally placed the paper on top and ran it through the press. All of that for a single page in the Bible. Most Bibles have at least fourteen-hundred pages. I can barely type a ten page paper without my hand hurting let alone fourteen-hundred pages. After much work the first Bible in America to be printed in German or any other European language was in 1743. He later printed two more versions one in 1763 and the other in 1776. There was a lot of conflict surrounding this new version of the Bible. Many people criticized it for its possible errors and other Bible printers tried to get rid of it by selling their Bibles at much lower rates. But despite all of the conflict, Saur Jr. pulled through. However, that was not the end of Saur Jr.'s troubles. During the Revolutionary war, the now state of Pennsylvania wanted Saur Jr. to take an oath for the state. Saur Jr. didn't believe in oaths and like most other Brethren at the time was a pacifist and did not believe in the killing. He was considered a spy and a traitor. But after four days of imprisonment, George Washington set him free. He was later unfairly tried and his property, including his printing shop, was confiscated and sold at public auction. He appealed, but to no avail.

So this guy was something else. He stood up for his beliefs and accomplished some amazing things. So what's the point? What is this tour of the Bible supposed to do? It has three purposes.

• to encourage Brethren to become faithful readers of the Bible, increasing their appreciation, study and application of it
• to acquaint them with Christopher Saur, Jr., a colonial Brethren printer, and our biblical heritage
• to create a spirit of unity and renewal as the traveling Saur Bible links us with those of the past and with each other

Skits

Christopher Saur Skit

Characters:

Announcer
3 Contestants (#3 should have a very southern accent)

Story

Announcer: Good (morning, evening) ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to "Who is that man". The show where the guess who of Milton Bradley becomes the fast pace game of "Who is that man". I'm your host Johnny Rolds and it's time to play "Who is that man". Here are our contestants. (Contestants Enter)

1: Hi, my name is (name of person playing part). I am a Senior Software engineer at computer Science Corporation.
2: Hi my name is (name of person playing part). I am a professor at Shippensburg State College and an active member of the Organization of American Historians.
3: Hi ma name is Charles. I drive big rigs for a truckin companee in Wichita.
Announcer: Okay, here are the rules. I will give you a clue about our mystery man. If you can guess who it is you win. If you can't you will have to overcome a challenge. Ready players?
(Constants nod)
Announcer: Okay, your first clue is: Born in 1695, he was the last child being born when his father was 53.
1: What is Sir Isaac Newton?
Announcer: I'm sorry no. And it's time for our first Challenge. Name the books of the Old Testament.
(1 tries to name books)
Announcer: Next clue. In 1713 he started to show up in records as a tailor, but it was not until 1743 that he printed on his own press his most renowned work.
2: What is John Megauphen?
Announcer: No, I'm sorry. That's wrong. Your challenge is to perform the B-I-B-L-E song.
(2 does that)
Announcer: Your final clue: The name of his most important work was the Saur Bible written in German.
3: What ees Christopher Saur?
Announcer: Why yes that's right! (1 and 2 look in shock) You win! Join us again next time on (All 3 contestants and Announcer shout) "Who is that Man"!

End

The Bible Skit

2 characters

(character 1 needs a Bible)

Story

1: (hums while reading the Bible)
2: (walks in and looks around for a while, then looks at 1 in a puzzled way) What are you reading?
1: The Bible
2: The what?
1: The Bible. You know the Scriptures and stuff.
2: You're reading that?!
1: Yeah, it's quite interesting.
2: Ha! Yeah right. That's about as interesting as getting my teeth pulled.
1: No really. It's got some great stories.
2: Oh really?
1: Yeah. You name it, it's got it.
2: Oh yeah?
1: Yeah. It's got love stories in Song of Solomon. It's got wisdom in Proverbs, songs in Psalms, tragedy in Job, and many many more.
2: Sounds kind of interesting.
1: That's what I've been trying to tell ya.
2: Could I read with you?
1: Sure. How about this story. . .

End