Many books have been written on every known subject, but never has a book been written surpassing the Bible in knowledge, purity, simplicity, and extent of influence. It is the Book of books.
ALFONSO N. ANDERSON
Has the Bible outlived its usefulness? Do we still need it in this age of great scientific progress? A definite answer to these important questions may be found in the reports of the great Bible societies. The number of translations of the Scriptures is climbing upward at such a rapid rate that reports soon become obsolete. A prominent representative of the British and Foreign Bible Society recently stated that the Bible, in whole or in part, has been translated into no less than 898 languages and dialects. This is one of the most outstanding achievements of this age of modern wonders. In downright benefit to the human race it soars far above the great inventions and discoveries of a merely scientific and material nature.
A FASCINATING STORY
There is no more fascinating story than the romance of the translation of the Scriptures into so many languages and their wide distribution far and near throughout the world. This was when the Bible was a very rare and expensive book. In the days of Edward I, who ruled England in the thirteenth century, the price of a fairly well-written Bible was 37 pounds, or approximately $184. The hire of a laborer was a penny and a half a day. The purchase of a copy of the Bible would have taken such a person 4,800 days, or thirteen years and fifty-five days, of continuous labor. Excluding Sabbaths, something more than fifteen years and three months of constant labor would have been required to compass the price. To-day a complete copy of the word of God may be had for sixpence and a copy of the New Testament for tuppence. And those who are so impoverished that they have neither sixpence nor tuppence may “buy” the blessed Book “without money and without price.”
We owe an infinite debt of gratitude to such men as the monk of Germany who pronounced the righteous ultimatum: “Here I stand. God help me. I can do naught else.” Though he was at once branded as a contumacious heretic, he took his stand firmly for the right. Not only the German people, but the entire world has been marvelously blessed by the translation of the Bible by Luther into the speech of the common people.
TYNDALE TRANSLATES THE BIBLE
William Tyndale promised the bigoted religious leaders of his day: “I will make the Bible such a common book in England that the plowboy shall know more of the Scriptures than the priests do to-day.” And so he labored and lived in danger because he stood for a high and holy principle and had consecrated his life to the attainment of a pure and lofty purpose. Tyndale did much of his work by candlelight, but was lighting a torch for the entire world. At last the work was completed. The great translator was taken out and burned at the stake for his crime. Later, when the Authorized Version was prepared, it was Tyndale’s translation that was largely incorporated into the text that has so sweetly influenced and molded our English language.
The true philosophy of history teaches that the nations that have exalted the Bible the highest have attained the loftiest positions among all the races of the earth. When the world rejects the far-shining beacon, there is no alternative but to crash downward to destruction.
BIBLE SOCIETIES SPREAD BOOK
“A little child shall lead them.” What a debt of gratitude we owe to Mary Jones, the little Welsh girl who, upon reading the words of Jesus, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me,” said resolutely, “I will! I will!” For six years she saved her pennies until she finally had enough to purchase a Bible. After walking barefoot for twenty-five miles, she at last secured her precious prize. The incident inspired a few good men to found the British and Foreign Bible Society, which has done so much to circulate the Book far and wide, and has fostered many other societies, including our own American Bible Society.
(Continued on page 13)Page Five
Giving the World the Book(Continued from page 4)
When the British and Foreign Bible Society was founded in 1804, the Bible, in whole or in part, had been translated into seventy-one languages. But since that time no less than 827 languages and dialects have been added to those that were at that time conveying the words of God to men. Gradually all the peoples, even the lesser, most savage, and debased tribes, are coming to be richly blessed by the Scriptures in their own tongues. A splendid beginning has been made in behalf of the million and a quarter recorded blind in the world. Some portion of the Bible appears in a new language or dialect every five weeks.
A veritable flood of Bibles is pouring forth from the publishing centers, and is refreshing the parched ground of a myriad hearts. Last year 50,000,000 copies of this wonderful book or parts of it were distributed throughout the world field. It is free to enter every land except Tibet, Afghanistan, and some Mohammedan states of North Africa. But over in Tatsienlu, West China, Dr. J. N. Andrews is circulating the Ten Commandments and other Biblical literature among the Tibetan caravans, which carry the good tidings of salvation across the lofty mountains back into Tibet. Could the modern acts of the colporteurs, those humble, hard-working messengers of light, be written, it would be a most inspiring book.
A NEW BOOK DESPITE AGE
Why is there such an overwhelming demand for this unique Book that was written so many centuries ago? Because it is truly the most modern book. It is like some of the ancient wells of old Palestine, still filled with cool water, pure and sweet and living, whereas the broken cisterns that have been recently discovered by archaeologists, have been long since utterly abandoned. The hypotheses and philosophies of men, exalted and lauded to the skies to-day, to-morrow are forgotten. Unlike these ephemeral flecks of foam on the ocean of time, the word of God lives and abides forever. The book of God speaks directly to the human heart of every age and every clime. It answers perfectly our every need. It solves for the contrite heart the baffling riddle of life. It cuts the Gordian knot of human and terrestrial destiny.
Nearly a thousand translations! What an infinite divine-human labor of love! Before our eyes is taking place a clear and beautiful fulfillment of the Saviour’s prophecy: “This6gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14. The sweetest message of the word of God, the glad tidings of a soon-coming Saviour, is being given with great power throughout the earth.
THE BREAD OF LIFE
What is the secret of the wonderful power of the Book, which distinguishes it from every other book? It is the bread of life. A little girl once said, “The Bible is a loaf; every chapter is a slice, and every verse a bite.” She had caught the inspiration of the prophet who wrote, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Jeremiah 15:16. In Japanese the idea of prejudice is expressed in the idiom, “Not-eating-dislike.” To the humble “love-reading” disciple the ambrosial words of Holy Writ are sweeter and more satisfying than honey and the honeycomb.
The book we call the Bible is, verily, the word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. There is a certain variety of Alpine rope the genuineness of which is attested by a crimson thread running throughout its entire length. Other ropes are mere imitations. In the perilous sport of mountain climbing it is of the utmost importance to suspend one’s self over a cliff by means of nothing weaker than a rope that has been fully guaranteed. The crimson thread running through the Bible is the precious blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, the fountain full and free that flows from Calvary. Throughout the sixty-six books of the Scriptures the contrite searcher for truth may find the light that will lead him ever onward and upward to the throne of God, the river of life, and the tree of life eternal.
