Bibles in Colonial America

by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Saur's German Bible

Bibles were in America from the earliest days of the English colonization. There were four common translations of the Bible in the early 1600s: The Great Bible, The Bishop's Bible, The Geneva Bible, and the King James Bible. Bibles were allowed to be printed only at official printers approved by the king, so Bibles weren't printed in America. The first Bible printed in America was Saur’s German Bible in 1743.

In his book written in 1810, The History of Printing in America, Isaiah Thomas claims Gamaliel Rogers and Daniel Fowle printed about 2,000 copies of the New Testament in Boston, Massachusetts as early as 1750. Apparently they falsely added to the first page that the Bible was printed in London to avoid being fined by the English Crown, but there is no proof that happened.

American Revolution Bible

The first English language Bible printed in America that can be verified was in 1771. Robert Aitken, who became the first official printer of the Journals of Congress for the United States Congress in 1776, was disturbed by the lack of Bibles in America so he printed the first English language New Testament. On January 21, 1781, Aitken petitioned the Unites States Congress to authorize, and if possible even fund, the printing of a complete Bible in the English language of the King James Version. On September 10, 1782, Aitken received authorization to commence his American printing of the Bible in English. In 1782, Robert Aitken produced the first English language Bible printed in America. It was known as the “Bible of the American Revolution.

The Great Bible

Nobody knows for sure which Bibles were brought to America. A Bible might have been brought to the Roanoke colony in 1585. More likely, it was in 1605 when Jamestown was colonized. The Great Bible translated in 1539 was the first official English translation, and many churches used that version, so it might have been brought to Roanoke or Jamestown. The Great Bible used the outlawed Tyndale Bible as its guide. Another Bible that might have been in early Jamestown was the Bishop's Bible first printed in 1568 to correct problems in The Great Bible translation. It was the authorized version of the Bible in England until 1611 when the King James Bible was authorized. There may have been King James Bibles later, but in 1605 when the ships sailed for Jamestown, it didn't exist. By 1620, it might have been shipped to Jamestown for use by the pastor.

Geneva Bible

When the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth in 1620, there were two Bible translations aboard the ships. John Alden, a prominent member of the Plymouth Colony who was a ship's carpenter on the Mayflower, brought a copy of the King James Bible. Alden was not originally a member of the Pilgrims which is why he probably brought that version. The Pilgrims used the Geneva Bible first printed in 1560, the most popular English Bible until the mid-seventeenth century. William Bradford quoted from the Geneva Bible. The Bible was given its name because of its associations with the Calvinists in Geneva. The Geneva Bible had study notes in it written by many Protestant reformers including John Calvin. King James considered the translation seditious. 

Tamera Lynn Kraft has always loved adventures and writes Christian historical fiction set in America because there are so many adventures in American history. She has received 2^nd place in the NOCW contest, 3^rd place TARA writer’s contest, and was a finalist in the Frasier Writing Contest. Her novellas Resurrection of Hope and A Christmas Promise are available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.