MILLIONS OF BIBLES.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 8 October 1931, Page 8

MILLIONS OF BIBLES.

The Bible Society never places undue emphasis upon statistics. It is not over-elated when there is a large increase in the circulation, nor over-de-pressed when there is a decrease. Variation from one year to another is tho outcome of many contributing factors. A glance over the records for the past fifty years shows on the whole a steady growth from two millions to twelve millions. This year there is a drop of 287,000. These months have been marked' by widespread economic disturbance and world-wide depression in trade. Vast numbers of workers have been thrown out of employment; standards of living have been reduced; multitudes have sunk into a deeper depth of poverty. Some countries have been the scene of political agitation and revolution. Such conditions necessarily affect the Bible Society’s enterprise. ‘‘Sell books!” exclaimed an experienced Burmese colporteur. “Why, one can hardly give them away just now! The people arc living on bamboo shoots and jungle roots; and when I try to. sell them oven a farthing Gospel they foam at. the mouth.’’ Yet in many countries that have suffered most severely the sales of Holy Scripture have exceeded all previous records. People who need bread have realised that they cannot live by bread alone. The stress and strain of daily life, the disappointments, the disillusionments, have led men and women to think again of eternal varities which never , change and never fail. Over many lands, according to competent' ooservers, there has come a new readiness to receive God’s message. A considerable decrease occurred in the issue of English versions: of these, 83,200 fewer copies were sold at Home, and 58,300 fewer were sent abroad. But the volumes in English numbered 1,659,000 —which is double the number of ten years ago. «Even that large figure is eclipsed by the sale of versions in China, which totalled 4,694,000. It need cause no surprise that there should be some falling off in the unprecedented circulation reported twelve months ago from China, especially in view of the reign of terror which in vast provinces like Iviangsi terrified the people generally, and made it impossible for many colporteurs to continue their work, or for supplies of books to be sent to them. A change for the better which occurred in China towards the end of 1930 raise our hopes for the future. The enormous strides which popular education has taken in recent years open out a wide prospect for the circulation of, the Scriptures. It is a cheerful sign that amidst all the turmoil the sale of complete Bibles steadily increase, for these are brought by Chinese Christians, and the larger sales mean that Christians are giving more thought to' Bible study. The other great mission fields of the Ear East—Japan, Korea, Malaya—witnessed a considerable growth in the circulation. In Malaya the quarter of a million mark was exceeded for the first time.

It is now 120 years since the Bible Society lirst Auxiliary was established in India. The faith of men like Henry Martyn has been amply justified. During 1930 over 1,123,000 volumes of Scripture were circulated; in spite of the absorption of the educated classes in politics this figure represents an increase of over 26,000 on that of the previous year. Even in the height of the agitation, Indian students by the thousand were applying for, * and receiving, copies of the Hew Testament as the Society's gift. A heartening feature is the fact that the growth in circulation is chiefly due to Indian Christians who now voluntarily sell Gospels as part of their effort to win their non-Christian neighbours for Christ.

In some lands which, are predominantly Islamic, the Scriptures are winning their way in a manner that is full of encouragement. The Gospel of St. Matthew has now been issued in the Roman script enforced by law in Turkey; and the preparation of a revised Turkish Hew Testament is proceeding, *A colporteur reports that in Constantinople fully eighty per cent, of purchasers are Turks. Prom the depot in Cairo, the intellectual centre of Islam, nearly 17,000 volumes were sold, and three times that number by the colporteurs who travel in the thickly populated Delta of the Nile. Long journeys were made in regions of the Sudan once dominated by the fanatical Mahdists, and everywhere a welcome was found for the printed Word. A colporteur had considerable success during a tour in Tripolitania. The largest sales on record were made in Morocco. From Persia and Iraq our reports tell of a favourable change of attitude; where Bible-sellers formerly suffered persecution, they are now acclaimed benefactors of humanity. There was 7 an increase of over 7,700 in the sales in those two countries.

Competent observers say that the Hebrew New Testament was never sd much read in the Holy Land as it is to-day. There and elsewhere the ijews purchase the Scriptures in growing numbers.