#divinity school

Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian Libraries @BodleianLibs, was born #onthisday in 1545.⁣⁠ ⁣⁠ Bodley is credited with rescuing the original university library, which was effectively closed when the Dean of Christ Church removed all books and manuscripts from it in an effort to purge the English Church of all traces of Catholicism in 1550. In 1598, Bodley refurnished the old library to house a new collection of nearly 2,500 books, some of which were given by Bodley himself. A librarian was appointed shortly thereafter, and the library opened to scholars on 8 November 1602.⁣⁠ ⁣⁠ The Bodleian Library is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and is now the second largest in Britain with over 12 million printed items. This picture shows the interior of the Divinity School, the oldest teaching and examination room used for the study of Theology. It was built between 1424-88. ⁠

“For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand again and again;and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes.

In this compelling and fascinating book, Ehrman shows where and why changes were made in our earliest surviving manuscripts, explaining for the first time how the many variations of our cherished biblical stories came to be, and why only certain versions of the stories qualify for publication in the Bibles we read today. Ehrman frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultra fundamental and conservative views of the Bible.”

Today in Literary Oxford: Divinity School of the Bodleian Library.

Built between 1427 and 1483, it is the oldest surviving purpose-built building for university use. Let me repeat that: the oldest thing that has been specifically built for a university that currently exists. That's pretty cool. Nowadays it is no longer used for lectures or exams, but it still serves a ceremonial purpose.

Someties it is beautifully illuminated for events - I have sneaked a peek at the multi-colored ceiling from the outside a few times, and always wondered what was going on...

You can also recognize it as a filming location for Harry Potter - the intricate ceiling is hard to miss

Pictures by @bluebellraven