Philmont, NY – Phillip Patterson’s hand-written Bible project is nearly complete.
Patterson’s Bible is a personal project that began four years ago . He has already copied pages of the good book onto 2,500 sheets of paper and has burned through countless pens.
He has spent up to 14 hours each day copying the entire King James Bible by hand, writing each verse, chapter, and book in cursive.
He tells the Associated Press that his 800,000-word project has taught him more about the Bible and about himself .
“Every day … I discover something new,” Patterson marvels. “Not so I can become more of a religious person, but so that I can become more of a whole person.”
Patterson is almost done, and hopes to finish the project during a ceremony at his church on May 11, just before turning his hand-written copy over to them.
Though he admits he is not particularly religious , he was surprised by how meaningful his transcription ended up being. “I hadn’t counted on the fact that it would end up being beautiful,” Patterson said. “Or that it would be so exhilarating. And so long.”
He was also surprised by how relateable he found the Bible to be.
“The begetting and the begatting and all of that, that’s really incidental,” he said. “These people are trying to understand where they fit into this world.”
It was initially suggested to him by his long-time partner who suggested that Islam had a long tradition of individuals writing out the Quran for themselves. He shot back that the Bible is too long for such a project, to which his partner replied that’s exactly why he should do it.
“I go to bed and close my eyes and feel so incredibly serene,” Patterson said. “I will take any opportunity I can find to do this again.”
What do you think of Phillip Patterson’s Bible project?
[Image via: maigi, Shutterstock.com ]
