Man on 'Mission' to Handwrite Entire New Testament: 'Anchor for My Soul'

Tré Goins-Phillips : Sep 28, 2026
Faithwire

"...I wanted to experience something about what the ancient scribes experienced." -Don Ashley

[Faithwire.com] It took Don Ashley about 210 hours over eight months and 15 days to write his own handwritten copy of the New Testament. (Image: via Faithwire-Screengrab)

Ashley, a recently retired university administrator who relocated from Anchorage, Alaska, to farmland in Arkansas, posted to social media this month that he'd just completed the project—an endeavor he said he began "on a whim" on Jan. 5.

But what started as an impulse quickly turned into what he called "a mission."

"In all these life transitions," he told CBN News, "this really served as an anchor for my soul."

The idea, he explained, was born out of a work trip to the Society of Biblical Literature, a 146-year-old learning society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and other ancient writings.

When he was at the meeting in San Diego, Ashley saw a display of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of roughly 1,000 ancient Jewish manuscripts dating from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD They were discovered in the 1940s and 50s.

"I was so impressed by the artistry required ... that I wanted to experience something about what the ancient scribes experienced," Ashley said... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Continue reading, and watch the interview Here.