Rob Hix's Unique Bible Copy Method
Rob Hix is a man after my own heart.
Someone who started a “Bible writing” practice to improve his devotions and his quiet time. But who needed to create a mechanism to keep him accountable.
In Rob’s case, in addition to creating a unique method for copying the Bible (more of which shortly), he went on to create a dedicated Facebook page called The Handwritten Bible and a Facebook Group called Bible Scribers to bring together a community of over 400 like-minded men, women and children sharing their hand-copied Bible writing and encouragement.
The Handwritten Bible Facebook Page
Check them out…but not before reading more about his fascinating journey and his novel process! I’ve added the links to the bottom of the page as well so you won't miss out.
Unexpected Inspiration
Rob, a professional video producer, told me his inspiration to write out his own copy of the Bible, came not in church but in a synagogue. Talking to me from his home in Gaithersburg, MD, he recounted the story that during COVID, a Jewish synagogue reached out to him to start live streaming their Saturday services.
“In working with them and filming the High Holidays and Bar Mitzvahs, I came to see the handwritten Torah scrolls and observe the awe and care that they treated them with.”
Rob learned that when a new synagogue is established, a professional scribe is commissioned to create a new, perfect, handwritten version of the Torah on scrolls. “Looking at them, it blew my mind that someone would spend that much time and effort perfectly etching and carving each Hebrew letter. I was just in awe.”
Rob’s awe turned to questioning his own commitment and faith. Seeing the reverence of another faith made him question his own care and commitment to his. With his Bible so readily at hand on his phone, was he taking the word as seriously as he should?
Hix’s tracing method creates very neat pages
That initial concern led to another;
“As a Christian, one of the things that I've always been afraid of is being led by a pastor that would lead me astray. The only way that I'm going to know if I'm led astray by a pastor is if I fully know the Bible myself.”
This fear, combined with the diligence he observed in the synagogue, propelled him to begin his own handwriting practice, to show care for the word and to know it better as a protection for his soul.
Cautious but not reluctant
As with so many of the Bible writers we have met in this series, he was as daunted as he was excited and resolved to copy a small book first. Better to know whether this was going to be a fleeting impulse or something he would dedicate himself to. He says, “I wasn’t reluctant to start, but I was cautious.”
Rob’s recommendation for someone starting out is to “start with a small book like Titus. You can write out Titus in an hour. When you know you’re keen to continue, you can write Titus multiple times with different ideas for styles, paper, and book types to formulate what works for you, then when you’ve got your formula, you can go for it. Completing a book and seeing it just as you want it is the ideal encouragement”
An Unexpected problem. A unique solution.
As Rob went through these trial runs, he encountered an unexpected problem and came up with a unique solution. Copying out the KJV, constantly referring to and from his Bible, he began to get terrible headaches from the strain on his eyes. Dramatically limiting the time he could spend writing, breaking up his rhythm.
This, combined with his frustration at making mistakes and having to restart half-completed pages, Rob resolved to copy the passages he wanted to write into a document, then reformat it into columns and a new Dekko font that closely resembled his own handwriting. He then places vellum tracing paper over his base document and traces the words out top creating a clearly rendered copy below. This way, he can read the words without moving his head constantly from side to side and know that he isn’t making mistakes.
Rob says he’s found this process keeps him focused on the word and free from fear and frustration, leading to longer periods of dedicated writing. As you can see from the photos, the result is stunning. Rob details his process in this video, and you can also follow along with his sessions on his Youtube channel here.
A new respect for the Bible
Rob says that hand-copying the Bible has increased his knowledge and his respect for the history of his faith and the Bible.
“Once I understood the concept of even handwriting a Bible, I started to learn the history of the Bible, and how it came to be, which was a fascinating journey. There's such a cool, amazing story of how the individual books of the Bible got canonized. The story of the King James Bible and so many great, amazing stories that I didn't know about. It was amazing to go through that journey.”
Another important discovery was that handwriting kept him away from social media.
“The hour a day I spend copying out the Bible is so peaceful, as I am not on a device or the TV. I can't tell you the inspirational story that now I can recite the Bible. That's not what happened with me. Handwriting the Bible is more meditative and calming”
He goes on to say, “I don't recall more of the Bible because of writing it, but I am calmer and more thoughtful. I get lost in the word”.
Encouragement
Rob’s Bible isn’t finished. Having completed 16 books, he’s currently in the middle of Psalms and continues to publish his videos on Youtube and Facebook. You can join his Facebook group here and follow the other scribes on this journey.
Rob's Youtube channel (here) contains numerous videos you can follow to see Rob in action, including time-lapse videos of his handwriting the Gospel of Luke with an audio soundtrack.
As you can see, there are a lot of us enjoying this practice in our own different ways.
