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No, when the Bible was translated into Latin (the Vulgate) in A.D.390 It was precisely so the common man could read it. Latin was the common (vulgar) language of the day.

I understand that's what you've been taught, but I don't believe it, so prove it to me. JH

Sorry, I don't understand. Which is it that you don't believe?

That the Septuganit was translated into Latin,
That a man we call St. Jerome did the work,
That he did it in A.D. 390-405,
or that people in Ancient Rome spoke Latin?

v.

...but instead they wrote it in Latin and told the people that only a well educated priest is qualified to read it to them. Is that pretty well how it happened? JH

Now Jim. I'm surprised at your response. You're acting like if it weren't for those darn Catholics (or whatever the 4th century church was) everyone would have had a copy of the Bible to interpret for themselves instead of some Church official. This exhibits an ignorance of how scripture got to us that I don't expect from you.

Think about how the Scriptures we have today were passed down with such reliability and accuracy (with some notable exceptions). Yes, the Holy Spirit preserved the Word, but it was done through the work of men. You might think that copying an entire bible by hand would be a daunting task that could take you many months. You would be wrong, it was actually much longer. The reason that Scripture is preserved so well is that some monk would sit and copy line by line, character by character (even including seeming superfluous marks) and then would check by the known number of times a particular word or character was repeated in the passage. Then others would recheck his work before a page could be considered copied. Each "copy" of scripture could take many man/years to complete and no individual (apart from the very richest) could ever afford a copy or even a book. In some towns their bible could be worth more than their church. So, just like with the Jews that they followed, a priest would be the person to read the Scriptures from the altar.

I understand that's what you've been taught, but I don't believe it, so prove it to me. JH

As for the Latin Vulgate... Exactly what language do you think people would be speaking throughout the Roman empire of the 4th century? Perhaps Wycliff is an acceptable source for you? -

But during the 4th century, Latin began to replace Greek as the common language. Several Latin translations, often inaccurate, leaked into circulation. The Church needed an official translation.

Pope Damascus assigned the job to Jerome, his theological advisor and perhaps the most learned man of the time. Jerome's translation, called the Latin Vulgate (meaning vulgar or common) became the Bible of the Middle Ages.

Reformation struggles
The Vulgate would outlast its purpose. As centuries passed, Latin became the language only of the highly educated. Common people could no longer understand the Church's