Dallas Man One Of The Few To Reproduce Bible By Hand

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - You could call James Pepper a modern day scribe.

He's taken a quill and ink and reproduced the Bible by hand. Pepper is believed to be one of the few who have reproduced the Bible this way in the past 500 years.

"Something that's lost in modern printed works, is the use of handwriting," Pepper said.

Pepper said it's his way of spreading the word.

"If I can write the Bible, you can pick it up and read it. The idea that people don't have time to read it, ah come on," Pepper said.

He calls his plain, New Testament work "The Pepper Bible." He's also completed an illustrated set of the Gospels and other books of the Bible, too. His illustrations contain the most intricate detail.

Pointing to patterns of red dots on one page he said, "Those dots were murder."

Pepper has a degree in Art History. He taught himself how to do calligraphy. Pointing to his Celtic script he said, "I can write like that. I can write the worst handwriting you've ever seen."

Though he's been at it 23 years, he confesses he still makes a mistake or two. But like the scribes of olde, he covers them.

"Ah. New decoration. There you go. They did it all the time. Oh yea. Absolutely," Pepper said.

Olde has met new. Pepper's Gospel According to St. Luke is available on an e-book.

It's difficult to imagine that Pepper had vision problems as a young man. He says he'd be nearly blind if it wasn't for medication. Now, he's helping others see.

His next project is the book of Psalms. Then, it's on to other books of the Bible. He said he's going to keep going until he can't.