Gothic Bible

During the Third Century , the Goths lived on the northeast border of the Roman Empire , in what is now Ukraine , Bulgaria and Romania . During the Fourth Century , the Goths were converted to Christianity , largely through the efforts of Bishop Ulfilas , who invented the Gothic Alphabet , and translated the Bible into the Gothic Language. Portions of this translation survive, affording the main surviving text written in the Gothic language.

Gothic Christianity differed from Catholic doctrine as to the divinity of Jesus , with the Gothic Christians maintaining that Jesus was of a lessor creation than God . The Goths rejected the Holy Trinity . (see '' Arianism '').

During the Fifth Century , the Goths overran the Western Roman Empire , including Spain, southern France, and North Africa. Gothic Christianity reigned in these areas for several centuries, before the re-establishment of the Catholic Church, and the advent of Islam .

Several fragments of the Gothic Bible exist. This is discussed under the heading Gothic Language . One text is the Codex Argenteus .

During the Middle Ages , the Catholic Church prohibited the translation of the Bible into any language other than Latin . Penalties for translating the Bible included death by being burnt alive. The Catholic Church also prohibited the teaching of reading outside the priesthood.

Two of the main issues of the Protestant Reformation were the translation of the Bible into the languages spoken by common people, and the universal teaching of reading. The Reformation drew on the Gothic Bible as an inspiration in this direction, following the discovery of portions of the Codex Argenteus in the Sixteenth Century .

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Gothic Bible

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