How a teen created a Bible in 9 years

Kenny Campbell first discovered his daughter, Caroline, was hand-copying the Bible when he found a stack of papers with her handwriting on them in her bedroom.

Leafing through the pages, he realized it was Scripture, copied word for word by hand.

A photo of Caroline Campbell’s Bible, Genesis Chapter 19

It turned out that Caroline, who was then a teenager, was writing down the verses their pastor preached word for word during sermons.

She’d built up a substantial collection over time.

Caroline's Process

Inspired, Kenny challenged Caroline, who is Downs Syndrome, to copy out the whole 1973 NASB version. A project she willingly took on.

Nine years and 782,815 words later, she had amassed 10,000 pages into 43 binders, finishing in June 2021.

Caroline Campbell leafs through her handwritten Bible

Caroline would spend up to two hours per day transcribing. Persisting out of a devotion to the word and as an encouragement for members of her church who were following her effort closely.

“It was amazing to watch her do it,” Kenny told Christianity Today in June 2021 as she reached the end.

“It was never boring to hear her say where she was at or what she was doing. It didn’t take encouragement to keep her going.”

Caroline Campbell photographed with her journals and files