ABOUT BIBLES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12083, 11 August 1917, Page 6

ABOUT BIBLES.

TREASURES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. (By J- STEWART.) Of all civilised countries under the jun, I know of nono in which, tho Booic of Books has had a stronger 'or moro beneficent influence than, in Gre:it Britain. In this regard, I think that Scotland occupies a prominent position, at least since tho days oi John Knox and tho Reformation. Tho Bible has been the vade rneeum of tho nation. It has been the quarry, from a spiritual pcirifc of view, from which the stones have, been taken to bund '' the temple not made with hands," and from tlu> mundjana it has been the charter for the uplift to freedom and progress. Of courso, there is no reflection 111 these remarks on tho position England has occupied with regard to tho Bible, and its influence on Englishmen generally. Far from it, seeing that m tho evolution of the translations of tne, scriptures most of them were undertaken and earned out by learned and scholarly Englishmen. But- thci ew as this difference: tho Anglican Church, with its prayer book and liturgy, hylel a divided allegiance with the Biblo among the laity, whilo a Scotsman s faith was rooted and grounded m the Bible alone. • It must be .admitted, however, that in the later translations, subsequent to the Authorised Version of Ifill, with its fulsome dedication to '' .Tames, by tho grace of God King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender or the Faith, etc" (now wisely excluded from the revised version), several lenrued Scottish-divines were appointed on tho Revision Committee', one of whom 1 knew well, Dr David Brown, principal )of the Free Church College, Aberdeen, whose classical attainments were widely known. ' L It is worthy of note- that tiiß la-tost Revised Version, issued in 18S4 (the R-evited Version of tho New Testament having been issued three years earlier), wa.s carried out by •our translators in conjunction with the American revisers.' Each sttbmittod their revision to tho others, tho collective 1 erudition of the two bodies resulting; in the almost perfect translation we now possess. A PRICELESS COLLECTION. Quito roocnt-ly tho tercentenary of i the issu'ei of the Authorised \crsion was celebrated. On that notable occasion attention was called to tho priceless collection of Bibles, or parts of the' Bible, contained in the British Museum. As is well known, the Museum contains such a large number of tho most interesting objects, ancient and modern, apart from the world-renowned library, that the visitor is bewildered when pacing its halls. There is one collection, however, to which we would call the special attention of Scots. It is the Long Hall in tho King's Library. Here they will find displayed such a number of Bibles, from earliest times down to tho present day, as can bo seen nowhere else. Let. me act tho part of a cicerone. First of all, and perhaps the most interesting, is the Alexandrine Codex, one of the three oldest MSS. of tho Bible, and probably copied from a more accurate original than any other. Adjacent are copies, almost as old, of Syriac and Coptic fragments. These precious documents, coming down to us from tho very early ages of the Christian faith, cannot fail to stir emotion in the heart of every lover of the Bible. A MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION. Then there are the Lindisfarne Gospels. For beauty and importance, considering the ago in which they were written—between G9O and 700 A.D.— nothing approaches them in the King's Library from a Biblical point of view. The exquisite penmanship and colouring must be seen to be believed, and, as tho visitor gazes on this gem, let him remember that tradition says it tvas preserved to us by a miracle. They were the chief treasures guarded by the monks of Holy Island, off the coast! or Northumbria, and when the sails of the Vikings (or Danish pirates) appeared on the horizon the precious volume, bound in a cover of gold, heavily bejewelled, was rowed across the sea to the mainland and buried there. On one occasion the monks were caught in a storm in mid-ocean with their treasure on board, tho boat."was upset, and the holy volume sunk like ti stone to the bottom of the sea. It lay there for some time, then tho miracle took place. It is said " while the monks were searching for it the sun flashed its mist. brilliant rays, which penetrated to the deeps', which had ebbed to a greater distance than ever was known, tho gold cover reflected back its golden beams, nnd thus the Gospels were recovered." If tho visitor will scan tho volume carefully he will discover a little discolouration along the edges towards the end of the book made by ■ the sea water permeating the enclosure. Interleaved will be found the first English translation of the Biblo by a priest named "Aldred," written about the year 950 A.D. The Gospels were written in a Ann half-uncial hand, in honour of St* Cuthbert, who died in the year 687 A.D. Leaving the priceless volume, wo next como on a _ number of manuscriptBibles in Latin—a striking evidence of the diligence of the monks in these faroff times. Among theso we may call Bttention to a beautiful example, the William Devon, a famous English scr;bo and illuminator. WYOLIFF'S VERSION. Nest comes tho WycltfE Bible (over which one may linger)), the first great Reformer, in our modern acceptation of that term. He was persecuted and condemned by the hierarchy, but protected tram their evil dt signs by John of Gaunt when he was condemned to death by Urban VI. at Rome in 1378. the former's protection ho began his English translation of the Bible in 1380, which was finished seme time before his death at Lutterworth in 1334. As the visitor looks reverently on the open page he will doubtless find a difficulty with the archaic spelling. But some of the verses are easily understood. Take o sentence from the story of the wedding in Cana of Galilee, " Mine hour is not yet come." Wy'cliff has it, " Myn hour cam not yit." Ho was born in tho year 1324, just ten years after the Battle of Bannockburn. The great Reformer's death took place when Rector of Lutterworth, where he finished his translation of the Bible. In the opposite case thero is exhibited the Old Testament written in Greek of the Septuagint version, date about the year 300 A.D. THE ADVENT OF PRINTING. But now a new era was Mediaeval darkness was to see a groat light. In 1440 came th« invention of printing by Gutenberg, Faust and cchoffer. About sixteen years thereafter (some authorities sav twenty-two) Gutenberg . completed and issued the edition of tho Latin Bible (''The Mazarin," so-called), the first hook ever printed, and most beautiful work it i&.

It is called the 42-line Bible, to distinguish it from the Bible in the same Qase, and its publication about lioTi. it. is rightly said, was " the last nail in the colfin of the Middle Ages." All honour to the famous German of Mayence, who made tho Book of books the first that issued from his press to shed the light of trmh o'er a world sunk in darkne-ss and superstition. Close by there are copies of the first printed Italian Bibles, and in^ the adjoining case we come on Tyndnle's 1 Bible, which contains only the Penla- ! tench and the New lestamcnt. He i vowed he would teach the Scriptures to the " boye that dryveth tho plough," and he succeeded, as the spelling is H'Oi o modern than in Wycliffs version. Owing to the interdict of Queen Mary, j the volume was printed abroad. Coverdaie's, in point of order, comes next to Tyndale's. If. also was printed abroad. Soon after the Reformation in England in 1533, an Act was passed' forbidding appeals to be mado to the Sen of Rome, and three years afterwards Convocation _ petitioned Henry for an Authorised Version. In the following vear Cranmcr issued what is called *'' Matthew's '' version, which was a mixture of Tyndale's and Coverdales. It was considered unsatisfactory, and a fresh translation was arranged for. .Tt was generally supposed that this version was the work of CYanmer himself, and it is sad to think that, he was the first infU'tvr to .sailor death ajt tho hands or " the Bloody Mary." Towards the end of Henry's reign another translation was issued, that < f ["The Great Bible," but the accession |of Queen Mary put an end to Hlnl ' printing and circulation of English Bibles. The printing, however, went on abroad, and they were surreptitiously introduced into EnglandWo coino now to Elizabeth's reign. The Archlibishop of Canterbury, Dr Parker, was instructed to summon a committee of tho Bishops of tho Southern Province to undertake a fresh translation of the Scriptures, arid in courso of -time '1 he Bishops Bible was produced. The critics of this translation say " that, as a piece of pure, and nervous English, it is liner than the Authorised Version of 1(311.' It is from this version that tho Psalms in the Book of Common Prayer have been taken. "Tho Bishops' Biblo and '" Tho G mevan Bible" wero those which Elizabethan England and Shakespeare used. THE REVISED VERSION. Tho Authorised Version of 1611 is, of course, to bo seen in the King s Library. It is tho Biblo wo have known from our youth up till we received tho Revised Version of 1884; and i|t is no secret, that those who have arrived at tho patriarchial ago preier to use it in tho home. Alter tbu aged of the present generation have been gathered to their fathers, the Revised Version will doubtless tako its rightful place in tho hearts and minds of the people. May it bo a light to Rho feet and a lamp to the path " in the coming generations. La our own day there liavo been several translations by learned classical divines, two oi the most popular being thi'ijj by the la to Dean Alford and the recently lamented Dr Weymouth. : May I. add in conclusion, one of the finest eulogium? on tho Bible that lias corno within mv ken It occurs in " Pollock's ' Course of Time,' " a noble epic which is not appreciated as it ought uo be, but which was highly thought of in my younger days: . . . The Bible. Hast tliou ever heard Of such a book'"' tho author lied himael!; Tho subject, God am! man, salvation, iife, And death —eternal life, eternal death.— tJrond words; v.'tio&o meaning hus eo cud, no bounds! Mo3t uondio«3 Book! bright, candle of tho Lord! Star of etc-rnity! the only star By which tho iv.rquo of man could navigalo The sea- of life, and jj'.in the coast of blias Securely; only sear which rose on Time; And, oa its dark und troubled billows, ital As generation, drifting s'ov.-ly by, Succeeded Koneration, threw a ray Oi Heaven's own light, and to the hills oi God The eternal hill?, pointed tho tinners' oyo. By prophets, sccrs, and priests, and sacred bard?, Evangelists, apostles, men inspired, Avid by the Holy Ghost anointed, set Apart, and consecrated to doc'aro To earth the counsels oi the Eternal On-2 — 'lliia Book, this Holiest, this Sublimes!, Book, ) Was sent. There are many other notable exhibits in the King's Library, amongst them will bo found the originals (with a copy alongside) of tire great Magna Charta, letters of prominent men of the past; and the originals of works by Burns, Byron, Sir Walter Scott, Tennyson, Dickens, Keats, et hoc genus omnca. j