Directed Blog #4 MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!

U.S. One hundred dollar bill.

1614 Low German bible. Illustrations in the bible are woodcuts from the Hans Stern publishing family in early Lüneburg, Germany.



Bible production is an example of the mass reproduction of an article of faith to educate the masses. However, it was not always this way. In 331, Emperor Constantine requested Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, to provide him with fifty copies of the Old and New Testaments for use in the principal churches in Constantinople. Poor old Eusebius had to hand write each and every one of these bibles because there was at that time no way to mass reproduce printings on paper.
As time went on and with the advent of woodcut printing, mass reproduction of the bible started to occur. The bible spread to various cities and states, and now was able to be translated from language to language.

In contrast to the bibles mass reproduction for the purpose of educating the masses, I have chosen to compare paper currency (money) as an object that society values because of its ability to reach or appeal to the masses.

So what is it about paper currency (Money) that makes it so fabulous? Well that's a stupid question! I think we all know. It is the power, status, and comfort that is associated with money that has us all killing our selves to acquire as much wealth as possible. But, we also need money to survive and this is simply because we have no other way to secure our livelihoods without money to barter with. So how did the notion of paper currency (money) begin?

Some of the earliest known paper money dates back to China, where the issue of paper money became common from about AD 960 onwards. Printed paper currency replace the old barter and trade system however there was a problem with this system. There was no set value of what an item was worth. After trial and error humans introduced metal objects as money around 5000 B.C. By 700 BC, the Lydians became the first in the Western world to make coins. Countries were soon minting their own series of coins with specific values.
After coins had been used for some time it was determined that a median could be used that in its self was less valuable however worth just as much " Paper Currency".

So there you have it, two examples of two subjects which appeal to the masses because of two completely different reasons. Faith & Survival.