Another Day of Firsts

Today did not hold quite the unusual excitement of yesterday but it did bring about a day packed with lots of activities. This morning we walked the British Museum which is arguably the best museum of world history in the world. The Brits were and have been for centuries purest when it comes to preserving history. Many of the collections in the British Museum come from countries all over the world, some dating back to at least 6000 B.C. (that's old). Many of these countries are trying to get their artifacts back from the Brits but the Brits do not want to give up easily what they have worked so very hard to preserve even when these other countries would not. One of the main items of interest to evangelicals in the Museum is the Rosetta Stone (not the DVD series on languages) but the original Rosetta Stone. The significance can be found at the link provided: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/t/the_rosetta_stone.aspx Basically, the Rosetta Stone shows the preservation and complexity of language all the way back to at least the 4th Century A.D. The Museum itself if magnificent and enormous and one could spend literally hours in there, but we only spent about 2 and 1/2 which was plenty for me.

Then on we went to the British Library which is also home of 2 highly important pieces of history for evangelicals. There are no known surviving original manuscripts of the Scriptures. However what we do have is Codex Sinaiticus which is the earliest complete copy of the Bible. http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/en/codex/default.aspx It was fascinating knowing what precision the scribes aspired to in copying the very Word of God...the Logos. Also the Codex is crying out the glory of God for all to see that come into the room that speak or read Greek. The Codex is opened to John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God (communion with God), and the Word was God (deity, Trinitarianism)." Also in the Library is Codex Alexandrinus one of the three earliest copies of the Bible, it like Sinaiticus receives it name from the location it was recovered. The third Codecies is Codex Vaticanus. If you care to read more on Codex Alexandrinus you can do so here: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/codexalex.html Praise God for the preservation of His Word!

Next on the whirlwind day was a quick bite to eat at a Pizza place, then some of us in the group moved on to Hyde Park to play lawn bowls...it was awesome...very British feeling. It is basically like boccie ball...it was a lot of fun though I did fall to the soon to be pro Dr. Magnuson 15-10. We ended our night with a trip to London's historic district where we took in some great people watching and the group that went with saw Jersey Boys about the band the Four Seasons and the chronicles of their story. It was a good show and an even better Theater, The Prince Edward Theater. We had dinner at a Wagamamma (a recommendation from Kym) in the Theater Distinct and it was fun and different. http://www.wagamama.com/ After the show we caught the Tube back to our stop and walked the rest of the way back to our home sweet home for the week.

Many Blessings! Stephen