re does it matter which church in article may geneva rutgers edu gideon otago ac nz gideon king writes when the protestant reformers opposed and subsequently separated from the church of rome the battle cry of the new protesting religion was the bible the whole bible and nothing but the bible underlying that cry was a theory that if people could read the bible for themselves in their native tongue they would discover the truth about god and his purpose they would shed their old errors and be united by a common faith this idea that the reformers somehow were the first to bring the bible to the people in their own language is a myth many vernacular translations of the bible existed long before the reformation the vulgate bible which is still the official version of the bible for the catholic church was itself a translation in the common i e vulgar vulgate tongue of its day latin and had existed for about a millenium before the reformation it might also be noted that the printing press was not even invented until the same century as that in which the reformation occurred steve creps indiana university creps lateran ucs indiana edu
