p. 13 | The Burned Bible

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 8, 1908

The Burned Bible

The Bible Society Record reports the following incident from Bitlis, Turkey:— “A priest from a certain village bought a Bible in the ancient language, practically a dead language, but still the language of worship. Another man, learning of what the priest had done, went to the shop, and bought a New Testament in the vernacular. The priest, very much displeased, seized the Testament, and threw it into the fire, exclaiming, ‘Have you, also, become a Prot?’ This conduct of the priest excited some feeling among the villagers, and many said, ‘The priest should give a goat in payment for the book he has burned.’ The man said he did not wish a goat; he wanted his New Testament. He even refused to accept money. And so one of the neighbors settled the difficulty by seizing the priest’s goat, and selling it for a dollar. Then he went to the city, found the colporteur, and bought another copy of the book, which he carried back in triumph, and gave it to the man whose book had been burned.”