NY scribe handwrites King James Bible

PHILMONT -- In the beginning, Phillip Patterson decided to write out every word in the Bible.

Four years of work begat more than 2,400 pages and left a multitude of pens in its wake. Now, as he copies the last words of the last book, Patterson sees all that he has created.

And it is good.

"I hadn't counted on the fact that it would end up being beautiful," he said. "Or that it would be so exhilarating. And so long."

Patterson, 63, might seem like an unlikely scribe for the King James version of the Bible. Tall and bald with a hearty laugh, the retired interior designer goes to church but has never been particularly religious.

Health issues -- including AIDS and anemia -- have sent him to the hospital and slowed the work. But he has always been curious.

One day in 2007, his longtime partner, Mohammad, mentioned that Islam has a tradition of writing out the Quran. Patterson replied that the Bible was too long. Mohammad said, well then, Patterson should do it. "The next day I started researching pens and pencils and paper and never looked back," he said.

Patterson began copying the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch, in 2007. He tackled the complete King James Bible in 2009.

Patterson works at a wooden desk by his bed. Fingers on his left hand track the words on a small hardcover Bible while he methodically writes with his right hand.

The Bible's exact word count depends on who is doing the tallying, but multiple sources put the King James version at around 788,000 words or more. Patterson used to work up to 14 hours a day on the project, though he averages around six to eight hours a day now that his stamina has ebbed. "I go to bed and close my eyes and feel so incredibly serene," he said.

The countless hours of transcription has led him to conclude that the Bible is more sublime than just a bunch of stories from thousands of years ago.

"Every day as I write, I discover something new and it expands my mind more and more," Patterson said.

"He's not a martyr or a saint. That's what's so nice. It's just what he does," said Laura Glazer, a photographer who has documented the project since its start.

Patterson will finish up the final lines of the Book of Revelation during a ceremony at his church, St. Peter's Presbyterian, on May 11. Once the books are bound, the Bible will be given to the church.