South Pacific Division Receives Gift of Rare Medieval Bibles

Volumes were part of a collection by Polish pastor Henryk Patryarcha.

September 7, 2024 | Tracey Bridcutt, Adventist Record

The South Pacific Division (SPD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been gifted a priceless collection of historic and rare Bibles, some dating as far back as the 14th and 15th centuries.

The Bibles, carefully curated over decades by Polish pastor Henryk Patryarcha, now serve as both a spiritual resource and a historical treasure for the South Pacific, regional church leaders said.

Patryarcha’s journey as a collector began more than 50 years ago with small finds in Poland’s attics and antiquarian bookshops, eventually expanding to include rare editions from across Europe. Despite facing financial challenges, his dedication never wavered. “I wore leaky shoes and torn trousers,” he recalled, “but I always had money for a Bible.”

He didn’t collect the Bibles merely for his own interest — he wanted to share their significance with others. His first small exhibition, held in 1982 in Podkowa Leśna at the Polish Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, was originally intended for the theology students. However, it attracted unexpected attention when a local priest brought a group of young people to see the Bibles. Patryarcha was encouraged by the interest in and enthusiasm for the collection.

“The Bible was — and is — a magnet,” he said. “Bibles opened the way for me not only to show interesting exhibits related to the Bible, but also to conduct conversations on religious topics.”

Over time his exhibitions spread across Europe, held in churches, clubs, libraries, and museums, reaching thousands of people. They provided opportunities to engage people with the history and reliability of the Bible.

“From the reports I received I know that many visitors became interested in the truth and joined the Adventist Church,” Patryarcha said. “I myself baptized two people who became acquainted with the biblical truth of the church through a Bible exhibition.”

As Patryarcha grew older, he began to consider the future of his collection. He knew that in Europe there were many Bible museums and libraries, but Australia offered few opportunities for people to experience this kind of biblical history.

In 2019, part of the collection was sent to Australia to feature in an evangelistic series conducted by John Bradshaw and Eric Flickinger in Victoria. In that same year, Patryarcha traveled to Australia to guide local leaders Roman Chalupka and Louis Bermudez on how to conduct Bible exhibitions. Chalupka and Bermudez went on to conduct about 100 Bible exhibitions across Victoria and New South Wales.

Patryarcha’s vision for the collection is clear. “My desire is that the Bibles, collected with great effort, will encourage people who view them to become interested not only in the Bible as a book and its history, but also in the Bible as the Word of God.”

The remainder of the collection has now arrived in Australia and features more than 200 Bibles, along with scrolls and stamps. “It is really exciting for the division to receive this amazing collection of Bibles,” said Darius Jankiewicz, SPD field and ministerial associate secretary. “We hope to use them for evangelistic purposes as well, and eventually exhibit them in a purpose-built museum.”

The collection is being processed and documented by the Adventist Heritage Centre team in Cooranbong. “It is our hope in the future that we will have a permanent home for these Bibles so that people from our church and the general public can come and see this extraordinary collection,” Adventist Heritage director David Jones said. “It can be a testament to how God’s Word has lasted through the centuries.”

The original version of this story was posted by Adventist Record.