Don Ashley spent approximately 210 hours copying Scripture and says the discipline became an “anchor” during a season of transition and recovery.
Retired educator Don Ashley completed a handwritten copy of the entire New Testament after devoting approximately 210 hours to the project over eight months and 15 days.
Ashley began the undertaking after retiring from a 27-year career in higher education, moving from Alaska to Arkansas and undergoing a serious operation. He told CBN News that the daily practice of copying Scripture gave structure to a period of significant personal change.
Working with a fountain pen, Ashley generally copied about 30 verses each day. He continued the project while traveling and sometimes used a Bible application as his source when a printed Bible was not convenient.
Ashley said the idea had remained with him since seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls at a Society of Biblical Literature exhibition in San Diego in 2007. Encountering ancient handwritten biblical manuscripts made him consider how writing Scripture by hand could slow his reading and deepen his attention to each passage.
The completed New Testament was not the end of the project. Ashley began handwriting the Book of Psalms the following day.
His undertaking was a personal devotional exercise rather than a new Bible translation or publication. By writing every verse instead of reading quickly, Ashley said he noticed details and connections he might otherwise have passed over.
Related: Lifeway Study Finds More Churchgoers Say Some Biblical Truths Can Become Obsolete.
