More than 6,000 Taiwanese Christians have jointly completed the world's first handwritten Chinese Bible to mark the advent of the new millennium.
The drive to create a handwritten Chinese-language Bible was launched by the Bible Society (
The society then spent three more months compiling and arranging the handwritten manuscript which weighs a total of 34.5kg. The manuscript was compiled into seven volumes.
The society displayed the seven-volume Bible for the first time Sunday in a ceremony held at the Shuanglien Presbyterian Church in Taipei.
Bible Society Chairman Weng Hsiu-kung, a Christian pastor, said it is a blessing to be able to record God's words by hand. In ancient times, people wrote the Bible word by word. With the development of printing technology, Christians can now easily read the Bible.
"We launched the `writing the Bible by hand' campaign in the new millennium mainly to let today's Christians understand the hardships and contributions of their predecessors," Weng said, adding that it is also expected to remind the participants to respect God's words.
According to Weng, the handwriting drive started with former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui (
A total of 150 local Christian churches, organizations and schools then mobilized their staff and rank-and-file members to write the remaining parts of the Bible. Each contributor was required to present two copies of the section he or she had written. As a result, two copies of the handwritten Chinese Bible were completed.
Weng said that one copy will be sent to the Bible Society in the US for permanent display and that the original copy will be kept at the Bible Society.
"The different handwriting styles of the 6,000-plus contributors symbolize that despite their individuality, all Christians share a common belief in God," Weng explained.
He said that each participant has donated at least NT$100 (US$2.90) for each section he or she has written.
"As a result, we have collected NT$2.6 million in cash donations. The fund will be used to produce special versions of the Bible for the blind, various aboriginal tribes and other local ethnic groups," Weng added.
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