Gothic BIBLES. It is generally said that Ulphilas, a Gothic bishop, who lived in the fourth century, made, for the use of his countrymen, a version of the whole Bible excepting the book of Kings, which he omitted because of the frequent mention therein of wars, being averse to inspire too much of the military genius into that people. We have nothing remaining of this version but the four Evangelists, printed in quarto at Dort in 1665, and far more accurately at Weissenfels in 1805.
Whilst the Roman empire subsisted in Europe, the reading of the Scriptures in the Latin tongue, which was the universal language of that empire, prevailed everywhere. But since the face of affairs in Europe was changed, and so many different monarchies were erected upon the ruins of the Roman empire, the Latin tongue has gradually fallen into disuse; a necessity of translating the Bible into the respective languages of each people has consequently arisen; and this has produced as many versions of the Scriptures in the modern languages, as there are nations professing the Christian religion. Hence we meet with French, Italian, Spanish, German, Flemish, Danish, Sclavonian, Polish, Bohemian, and Russian or Muscovite Bibles; besides the Anglo-Saxon, and modern English and Irish Bibles.