The Press Junior THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1938. A Bible Anniversary

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22429, 16 June 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Press Junior THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1938. A Bible Anniversary

On Sunday - , next, June .19,: in churches in all parts of the British Bmpinre. churchmen and women will-celebrate the anniversary of the placing of an English translation "of the Bible in the parish churches of England in the year IS3SI “It was theh directed that eycry should secure for. his parish “one boke of the whole Bible in the largest volume in English to be set up in some convenient place wythin the churche that Ye have cure of, where as Your, parishioners may moste comodiously resorte to the same and use it.” The Bible that was put in- those parish churches (inimst cases it-was carefully Stained to the pulpit so that eager readers-might, not steal it away) .wasknown as Matthew’s Bible,, and bore the inscription, “The Olde and, Newe Testament, truly arid purely translated in Englysfa by .Thomas Matthew.” Students generally agree that the Thomas Matthew'was in reality John Rogers, a friend and helper of William Tindale- It is thought that he worked with Tindale and received from him his famous but incomplete translations, and succeeded in' making from them and from the. translations of Miles Coverdale a complete book few the English people. Probably the translation that was put into the.churches 400 years ago was not all the work of one man; perhaps as many people as the Venerable Bede, John Wydiffe and Ms helpers, and all the assistants of such. men as Coverdale and Tindale had a -part in producing the translation that was put together’ after the death of Tindale in 1536. When it went into the churches with the name Matthew’s Bible it was the best English translation that had till then been available to the people of England. There arepictures which represent such old churches as at that time had the precious volumes chained to their puipits; but there is no way of telling how many, Bibles were in existence in the English language or in the Greek or the Latin. It is well known, however, that the people who could read English. at that time were few;-the Bible-, was a book for those few and was one of the very small number of books for them to read. As the work of printing books gradually advanced and became more common in the countries of Europeand In England, the numbers of Bibles available to the people increased. As education reached agreater number of people the Bible became a book for the homes, and ceased to be. a rare mad costly volume chained to a desk in a church. By 1804, when the British and Foreign Bible : Society was founded in London, She demand for Bibles.had grown until the gospel had to be translated tor many nations into many mnjuages. To-day it is .read in latigtiages. Since 1804 the society has sent to different

parts of the ' world 432,000,000. Bibles to be read in these many tongues. During the last year in the-: British: Isles; Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada,. So.uth : America and’ Australia and New- Zealand alone, 10,500,000 Bibles were circulated. Consider these numbers and then look back 400 years to the times when men like WyclifTe, Tindale, and Coverdale •>worked at 'translations in fear df"their/lives, so: that they might produces few copies of the gospel for men and-women to" read, with. difHcUlty and discomfort, standing , ,in the dim churchds of. sixteen tb ... century England.