The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1938. English Translation of the Bible

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22431, 18 June 1938, Page 14

The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1938. English Translation of the Bible

“Lord open the King of England’s eyes,” cried William Tyndals at the moment of his violent death in 1536. 'The King for whom he prayed was Henry VHI, whose reign has left deeper marks on succeeding ages than any other reign in English history. Concerning many of his actions there has been and still is much controversy, but most Englishmen will agree that Henry often built better than he knew. In nothing is this more obvious than in his authorisation of the Bible in the • English tongue. This Book became a new force in the religious life of England, and later of Scotland. It has made a profound contribution to the development of English thought and character. A century earlier John Wyclif had attempted to popularise the Scriptures'in an English version. In his day there were four main forms of English, and his choice of one of these forms marks an important stage in the growth of the English language. The decisive translation of the Bible, however, yiras done by Tyndale, whose work formed the basis of subsequent translations such as Coverdale’s, Matthew's, and the 'Great Bible. It was this “ Great Bible ” which was authorised

to be set up in every parish church in England. “It was ordeyned and commaunded that in al “ and synguler paryshe churches, there shuld be “ prouyded at the costes of the curates and “ paryshioncrs the olde and newe Testament, “ in the Englyshe tounge, to be fyxed and set up “ openlye in euery of the sayd paryshe “ churches ” so that “ the paryshioners may “most commodiously resort to the same and “rede yt.” This was the officially authorised version of the Bible, although the 1611 version of King James, by one of the mistakes of history, bears that title. Throughout the Englishspeaking world the commemoration of. the quarter-centenary of the Open Bible is being celebrated on June 19.

When we attempt to discover the influence of the English Bible we find at least three factors at work. First, there is its influence upon English speech and literature. Front the time of Wyclif to the so-called Authorised Version of 1611 and later, the. Bible had much to do with the fixing of the forms of the national speed: and the furnishing of the minds of the English people. An essay on the special influence of the Bible on English literature would consist largely of a catalogue of illustrious names. The constant hearing and reading of the Scriptures has created a standard of pure, forceful and felicitous diction. So thoroughgoing has been this influence that we all use words and phrases from the English Bible, and in many cases are quite unconscious of it. In the well-known words of J. R. Green, England became “the “ people of a book and that book was the Bible. “ The English version remains the noblest ex- “ ample of the English tongue, the standard of " our language.” After four centuries it is still true that the type of prose style which no good writer can forget is the style of the first man who ever made printed English speak to the whole nation. English thought, literature, and speech cannot be understood apart from the English Bible. Without it we should no longer be the same people.

The spread and universal use of the Bible, however, have not been due to its literary excellence. Men viewed it as and proved it to be the means of a Divine revelation. Throughits words there came to -their mind and Conscience an authoritative Word of God. The Bible is the book of religion. It is a library of books written by many different types of men, widely separated by time, and yet united by their interpretation of life in terms of religion. The reading of the Bible by the people led to a more intelligent, understanding and appreciation of religious truth. This, in turn, created a new demand for preaching, for an exposition of the teaching of Scripture. The Reformation period is a golden age of preaching. Its cause was a better educated laity .co-operating with a more scholarly ministry. During the current commemoration there will be many exhortations to engage in the private reading of the Bible, and it is to be hoped that the appeals will not be in vain. Yet the commemoration is primarily of the “open Bible” in the midst of the Church. The clergy have many duties, but it is doubtful if there is a more important one than the systematic teaching of the content of Holy Scripture. They now have the aids of modern scholarship, linguistic, historical, and textual; their task is one which belongs peculiarly to the Church and is sufficiently exacting for any man in any situation. Once again, the Bible is significant as being the source of unity among Christian believers of all denominations and sects.. The various communions or churches are separated by differences of doctrine, organisation, and forms of worship, but all acknowledge the ultimate authority and primacy of Scripture. This fact was given striking expression at the World Conference of the Churches at Edinburgh last year, where it was declared, “We have lifted up our “hearts together in prayer; together we have “read the same Scriptures. We recognise in “ one another, across the barriers of our separation, a common Christian outlook and a com- “ mon standard of values. We are, therefore, “ assured of a unity deeper than our divisions.” Most people are aware that our age witnesses the break-up of the European tradition, with its commonly accepted ideals and standards of conduct. The real difficulty in European relations to-day is that the great nations are no longer united by a “ common outlook or a “ common standard of values.” It is of profound significance, then, that at this critical moment the churches of the world are gaining a new insight into the meaning and relevance of their common tradition. The Bible may be regarded as the source and the symbol of this new unity. Herein is a unifying force in a world of- disunity. The Book provides a common philosophy of life, a single standard of moral conduct, and a common object,of faith and-devotiozw

Xhe Prime. Minister and the Trade Cycle

The Prime Minister’s complacent faith in the success of his Government’s endeavour to “in- “ sulate ” New Zealand against econqmic depression oversea was the subject of comment here a few days ago, when he had spoken to this effect in the North Island; but it is tempting to say a little more, merely to direct attention to one or two passages in a lecture by Mr A. Loveday, Director of the League of Nations Economics Intelligence Service. Mr Loveday’s lecture, one of the Halley Stewart series for 1937, was devoted to “Problems of Economic “Insecurity” and has just been printed, with others by Professor J, B. Condliffe, Professor Ohlin, Professor Heckscher, and Senor S. de Madariaga, in a volume entitled “The World’s “Economic Future” [Allen and Unwin]. It is amusing to find that Mr Loveday answers Mr Savage as exactly as if he had heard one of these curious speeches and had set out patiently to answer it. There is no need to introduce quotation more elaborately.

The problem [says Mr Loveday] is a world problem. You cannot expect a depression to occur in one of the great industrial States without spreading far and wide. Immediately, the contraction of that country’s demand will affect the price of raw materials and foodstuffs and hence all mining and agricultural countries. The reduction in the purchasing power of these producers of primary goods will affect all the other industrial countries which were in the habit of selling to them. It is a world problem that cannot be solved nationally. Efforts to isolate a national market must diminish the purchasing power of other countries, and thus the export industries of the self-isolating State. Largescale Government expenditure or any other policy of credit expansion must influence the domestic price level and may cause a disequilibrium between it and prices abroad. As such disequilibria arise, currencies are threatened, deflationary strains come into play, and so the trough of the depression moves from country to country and threatens those from which it has moved again with its backwash as one currency or another collapses.

All the facts are there, in general form; all the .facts are there, in their particular application, which characterise New Zealand’s situation in the world economy. The only supplement which Mr Loveday’s paragraph may be given, without superfluity, is that the policy of the Labour Government must actually have the effect of making the Dominion, not less vulnerable, but more so. Mr Savage is going about, boasting that he has strengthened the foundations of the house, when he has added storey to crazy storey and imbalanced the whole pile.