Why was the christian bible the first book to be printed with movable type during the Renaissance?

When Gutenberg invented the movable type during this period, many people of his era were very religious. Bibles were hard to come by, yet people wanted to read it for themselves. Gutenberg needed to show that his movable type had a necessary function, after having invented it. He needed initially to raise money, then to pay his investors.

One group of Gutenberg's customers was the church. for whom he began printing indulgences. There is documentation for 1454-1455 regarding these. Whether he approached the church, or vice versa, is not known. What is known is that he began working on the Bible printing in 1452, and was printing possibly Latin grammars already.

The Gutenberg Bible came out in 1455. It may have initially been in response to the needs of the church, but nothing is documented as to what made him come up with this idea.

This Bible has often been credited with bringing the Bible to the masses. Before Gutenberg, Bibles were handwritten by scribes, whom it took a year to complete each one.Why was the christian bible the first book to be printed with movable type during the Renaissance?
Why was the christian bible the first book to be printed with movable type during the Renaissance?



The Bible (B.T.W. you ALWAYS capitalize the 'B' in Bible) was the first book to be printed because it is the most important book--and was the number one bestseller in those days, as it is today also. What else would they have printed? Ask yourself the question. It just makes sense that because of the influence of Martin Luther and other Christians at the time, the Bible was the first thing to be published. But, if you aren't a Christian, I can see why you might be wondering--though if you are, that's a good question, worth a good answer. ;)Why was the christian bible the first book to be printed with movable type during the Renaissance?
Guaranteed sales. It was the book most people would want. Plus lots of Churches, Bishops and Monks. Also they were the ones with the widest literacy.



Edit Lorenia The Gutenberg Bible is in Latin ( the Vulgate version I think translated by St. Jerome)



Martin Luther was later and advocated translations in the native tongue of the readers.