Moses was responsible for the book called The Torah which means The Law.
Many other books written by learned Jews were added over the years.
It was in Alexandria that the books were combined and translated into Greek. Alexandria was built by Alexander the Great. After his death one of his generals became leader of the Egyptians. His name was Ptolemy it was under his leadership that the Greeks migrated to Alexandria.
The city had more than 300,000 Greeks and even more Jews living in the city.
The books that made up the old and new testaments were called the Bible, because the Greek word for books was bible.
Egypt was the largest Christian centre in the world. It was here the largest and most extensive library in the world was set up. Great thinkers, teachers, writers and theologians gathered to debate Judaism and Christianity. The Romans conquered Egypt and at first killed Christians but eventually converted to Christianity.
It was not until 200 AD, we have the first written bible in Latin. It was the 
the Romans who when they became Christians, preached the bible throughout Europe.
When the Roman empire began to collapse, it divided between the east and west with the west based in Constantinople. The western empire spoke Latin and Greek as their chosen language and was allied to Egypt…all the Arab countries finally fell to the Muslim armies who swept Christians aside both in Greece and Egypt and Constantinople in the seventh century.
But the modern Bible both Old and New Testaments can be considered to have been translated and passed down to us today by the Greeks, with help from dedicated Jews and Egyptians in the famous library of Alexander the Great. A great deal of the historical work and books once housed in the library was destroyed allegedly by the attacking Muslim armies.
Today Egypt is still has more than ten per cent christian, and Greece is no longer a Muslim country. Once considered the centre of the world, Egypt stood between Africa the Middle East and Europe. It still today is the hope for peace in a difficult times. The ability to accept Jews , Christians and Muslims into their society and live in peace must stand as an example to the super powers of today. After all they lived through the Greeks and the Romans and the Persians and survived.
Is the bible is their gift to us all in these troubled times, or just another comic book?
By Professor P.T. Brown
