IT WAS CONGRESS THAT ORDERED BIBLES TO BE SENT TO EVERY SCHOOL

Prior to the American Revolution, the only English Bibles in the colonies were imported either from Europe or England. Publication of the Bible was regulated by the British government, and required a special license. Robert Aitken’s Bible was the first known English-language Bible to be printed in America, and also the only Bible to receive Congressional approval. Aitken’s Bible, sometimes referred to as “The Bible of the Revolution,” is one of the rarest books in the world, with few copies still in existence today.
The endorsement was signed by Charles Thomson, who was Secretary of the Continental Congress at the time as well as a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Thomson is also famous for “Thomson’s Bible,” the first American translation of the Greek Septuagint, published in 1808. (Thomson was an accomplished theologian, publishing such works as “A Regular History of the Conception, Birth, Doctrine, Miracles, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.”)

Robert Aitken printed three documents in the front of his Bible, the report of the committee established to review his memorial; the report of the Congressional Chaplains; and Congresses endorsement. Below is the text of these documents.