Inspired by Islamic Tradition, NY Man Produces a 2,400-page Handwritten Copy of the Bible

THE GUARDIAN
By Associated Press

UNITED KINGDOM---the beginning, Phillip Patterson decided to write out every word in the Bible. Now, as he copies the last words of the last book, Patterson sees all that he has created. And it is good. One day in 2007, his longtime partner, Mohammad, mentioned that Islam has a tradition of writing out the Qur'an. Patterson replied that the Bible was too long. Mohammad said, well then, Patterson should do it. "The next day I started researching pens and pencils and paper and never looked back," he said. Patterson [finished] up the final lines of the Book of Revelation during a ceremony at his church, St. Peter's Presbyterian, on May 11. [link]

Patterson, 63, might seem like an unlikely scribe for the King James version of the Bible. Tall and bald with a hearty laugh, the retired interior designer is neither monkish nor zealous. He goes to church but has never been particularly religious. Health issues – including AIDS and anemia – have sent him to the hospital and slowed the work. Once the books are bound, the Bible will be given to the church. Every day as I write, I discover something new and it expands my mind more and more," Patterson said. "Not so I can become more of a religious person, but so that I can become more of a whole person."