THE OPEN BIBLE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23067, 18 June 1938, Page 19

THE OPEN BIBLE

400 TH ANNIVERSARY INFLUENCE ON NATION COMBINED RALLY TO-MORROW The celebration of the 400 th anniversary of the edict of Henry VIII. by which a copy of the Bible was ordered to be set up in every parish church in England was first discussed at a meeting at which the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dr. Scott Lidgett, the noted free-churchman, were present. To-morrow celebrations will be held throughout the British Empire and all Protestant religious bodies in Auckland will combine in a rally to be held in the Town Hall in the afternoon. The debt which evangelical Christians believe themselves to owe to the Reformation has been stated in a letter to the Times signed by the Bishop of Worcester, the Master of St. Peter's Hall, 'Oxford, and a number of prominent free-churchmen. The letter set out four causes of special thanksgiving which were approved at the preparatory meeting in 1935. One of the causes included the following statement: — "The Reformation has ' given to every English man, woman and child free access to the Bible in their own tongue as the supreme rule and standard for faith, life and devotion." In commenting upon the four points set out in the letter. the Modern Churchman states that the Reformation gave to the English people not only the open Bible, but also the hardly less important gift, the open mind or the right of private judgment in religious matters —a private judgment which should seek not only the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but also enlightenment from all advances in human knowledge. Archbishop Averill will preside at the combined rally in the Town Hall to-morrow and addresses will be given upon the influence of the English Bible on the character and literature respectively of the British peoples by the Rev. A. C. Nelson and Mr. J. W. Shaw.