THE BOOK OF BOOKS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 104, 4 May 1911, Page 2

THE BOOK OF BOOKS.

UNITED CHURCH SERVICE. AUTHORISED VERSION: TERCENTENARY. St. John's Presbyterian Church was crowded last evening when th© 30Oth anniversary of th© Authorised Version, of the Bible was celebrated. The platform was filled with clergymen of most of the evangelical churches and prominent public men. Rev. Dr. Gibb, who presided, said he thought it would be fitting to regard the assembly Tather in the. light of a religious service than a public meeting. In that case applause of the speeches would be out of place. After the hymn "All People that on Earth do Dwell, 1 ' Rev. J. K. Elliott read the 19th Peahnj Rev. W. Shirer read Luke xxiv. j and Rev. J. G. Chapman offered prayer, all present joining in the Lord's Prayer, which was sung intoned. ' A NOTE OF REGRET. Dr. Gibb read apologies for absence from Mr. Justice- Chapman and Professors Eaeterfield and Picken. Be expressed his profound thankfulness for the interest -manifested in Wellington and throughout New Zealand in th© tercentenary of the Authorised Version. He further expressed his pleasure at seeing such a representative gathering, but regretted that some of the non-Roman churches were unrepresented. Probably every one of those churches was- represented in every place in the .Empire except Wellington." He was sorry that on© of tha non-Roman churches was unrepresented, for he would have liked to see all the Protestant churches united on that occasion. ' THE ENGLISH BIBLE. R©v. J. J. North gave an* interesting historical address on "How England got her Bible." The Bible in the common tongues, he said, "was the greatest gift ever mad© to a free people. The Bible wiis not won for England without great suffering, enormous sacrifice, and at the price of tho blood of the martyr. He traced the 'Bible's association with the national life of the British people from the early Christian times, until "the great darkness of the middle ages." Naxt he referred to the advent of Yfycliff and hk translation of the Scriptures from th© language of Jerome into the Anglo-Saxon tongue, for which work "th© ghouls dug up his bones and scattered them., to the winds." The great seed had been sown and the English people had been made aware that the Church and the Bible were not one but two. Luther's w«rk was also referred to, together wiin. Tyndale's great labours in directly translating the Scriptures from the .original language. England owed her Bible to Tyndale. BIBLICAL CRITICISM. Rev. J. R. Glaeson spoke of "The New Appreciation of The Bible" speaking from the literary standpoint, quoting from Moulton. There could be no doubt but that the atudy of the Bible was becoming mm'© popular, especially among the educated people. This was particularly noticeable in the United States. The iT.M.C.A. Bible -classes, too, were more numerous than they had ever been in both the United States and in England. The roan who knows his Bible and how to appreciate it will be the moet useful preacher or, teacher that the Church could have. One thing that Christian people ought to know was the Bible. The Bible was no longer regarded as a book out of date, and this was due, no doubt, toi the reverent cautious critical works of many devout scholars, who had mad© the Bibl© a new thing and had brought it more into touch with modern men and women in a way that had never been done before. MAGNA CHARTA OF LIBERTY. Hon. G. (Minister of Education) 'addressed the assemblage on' "Tho Bible in Civjio Life." He regarded the giving of the Holy! Scriptures to the people in their own 'tongue as the greatest event in history. Th© Bible was the Magna Charta of human liberty. Truth never assumed a healthy condition whpn confined to the cloister and the cell. Today it was recognised that the greatest boon ever given to the world was the opportunity to study the Bible, given .to the common people in their common tongue. . From the time the Authorised Vei-faion had. beW given to the British people, that people had developed into the greatest in the world. The last three hundred yeavs had been the history of civilisation. They knew that well in the South Seas. Alas, in many cases the Holy Book had been accompanied by thecask of gin, and the good done by the missionaries had been minimised by the people who followed in the wake of the missionary. He particularly referred to the excellent work done by the Bible's influence in the South Sea Islands under the Government of New Zealand. The two nations that were speaking the tongue into whicb the Bible was translated were to-day discussing a complete treaty of peace, which proposal, he had no doubt whatever, was to he regarded, as one of the triumphs of the English Bible. Tho unity that had been produced between these two peoples, and which would be produced to a larger extent among all the peoples of the world, would tend to hasten tho time when there would be something of a spirit of brotherhood the world over. LIBERTY AND SALVATION. Hon. C. M. Luke believed that the relationship between the British nation and the United States to-day was attributable to a free and open Bible enjoyed by these two peoples. These nations, he believed, were destined to become th© great missionary nations of tho world. Their motive power was derived from the Bible, which imparted the inspiration and self-sacrifice that made men go forth to carry the news of human liberty and human salvation. That liberty and salvation was all that the State needed, and it was that that God desired to see effected to the full. The choir, under Mr. Maughan Barnott, sang special hymns and anthems.