BIBLE IN THE WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18702, 7 May 1924, Page 11

BIBLE IN THE WORLD.

THE SOCIETY'S ACTIVITIES.

PROBLEMS IN THE EAST.

An address on "The Bible in 'the World" was delivered by Dr. John H. Hitson. general secretary to the British and Foreign Bible Society, ,in the Scots Hall last evening. Bishop Averill presided. ;

.The Bible Society. Dr. Ritson said, was the greatest co-operation , of , Christian people -on earth, united by one object, to .translate the Scriptures into the spoken tongues of men and bring them within reach, of every human being in his mother tongue, leaving the interpretation to the organised churches. The Bible, whatever view men might -hold in regard to it, was admittedly the world's book of law, and Christian experience showed that it - contained ,' a dynamic which made obedience to law possible. ;.V 'In - the present ; situation, when the nations of the world were kept apart by ; bitterness and' strife,: and when the races, black, 'yellow; and' white, were developing a mutual suspicion- and distrust, it was of supreme ; importance . that ;; all men should be raised to one ' high / level of moral life. l Until this end was attained, war would be inevitable and the : nations would be "compelled to spend their energies . and resources on the ;i maintenance of armies and fleets. ; The forces of evil which were abroad could riot : all be attacked at once, - but he' thought there were five strategic points on which Christian men ought to concentrate immediately. • The first and [ most important / point upon which the energies of .the;, Bible Society must be turned was Europe. The society had its representatives in every country, under a Frenchman in Paris, a Spaniard. in Madrid, arid so on. Another urgent problem on which' the society must concentrate was the Christianising of the pagans of Africa before they became Moslems. Africa had* passed r the stage of its infancy, ' and it was now going to school. The Bible Society had put , the Bible into 160 of its languages, and its volumes were to be ■ found in the desk of every scholar. If Africa learnt from the Bible, the world would be saved from a - black ..V peril, v : There was also urgency in - giving the Scriptures to the masses of Indians, "who were being stirred up by a minority to claim immediately a greater -measure of self-gov-ernment than they were fit for. The quickest and most effective way of making it possible for the people of India to rale themselves was to place the Scriptures in their-hands in the hundreds of tongues they spoke. ' The fourth problem was that of China, where there were four hundred millions of the human race. Every fourth child that came into the world looked into the face of a Chinese mother, : and China had been like a great hulk in dry dock for centuries,, and even milleniums. The nations of the wo,rld had broken in, and the hulk had floated out on to the high seas, and was the biggest thing afloat. At present there, was no one at the rudder, and China was a menace to the race. There was ground for hope in the fact that • the Bible Society sold every year more than 3,250,000 volumes of the Scriptures, and out : of ; the readers of the&e volumes surely men of integrity would arise to hold ,the helm of State. The fifth - problem _ upon which the society was concentrating was ,to meet the need of the women of the East. It was trying to bring the Scriptures into -the hands of the mothers, the pisters, and the wives of India, V Malaya, China, Korea, and Japan, : realising that- if they were won for Christianity the nations themselves were won. To meet these needs the Bible Society was sending out about' 30.000 volumes of the. Scriptures on every :working day of; the year, and these were in 564 different languages, bringing, the books within reach of three-quarters of the human race. The Bible Society spent in its task about £1000 a day. ; ''