Apri 8 On August 6, 1586, the' life of one of the seatest_men who ever contributed to. the spiritual welfare of England. came to a tur~ Dulent end. William Tyndale, translator of the New Testament and the Pentateuch, wanted by Henry VIII for spreading sedition in England, who had sought refuge in the Netherlands, was betrayed by one he thought 4 friend, lodged in Vilvorde Castle, six miles from Brussels, where despite' the energetic steps taken' to preserve his life, he was tried and condemned as a heretic, was strangled at the stake and his body burnt. Two years and a month later the following Royal Injunction was issued "You shall provide on this side of the Feast of Baster next coming, one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume, in Enilish, a the same set up in some. convenient place within the said' church that you have "care ff, where your parishioners. may. most com. modiously resort to. the same. and read it the charges of which book shall be rateable borne. between" you, the. parson, and. the parishioners aforesaid..." You shall discour ge, no man, privily or apart, from. the Teading of the hearing of the said Bible, but shall "express" provoke, stir and exhort every person {o read the same, as that Which the very tively Word of Goa' that "whole Bible of the largest volume" Was "Incorporated the works of William Tyndale, His ashes wore scattered in the Netheflands, but two years later his spirit triumphed in the land of his birth. Tt matters not why Henry YILT decided to issue his Royal Injunction; the dissemination of Tyndale's translations but two brief years before had been an act of sedition. The policies of kings and governments frequently change, which Is, Perhaps, a good thing for mankind, and in this instance the reorientation of that monarch's policy regarding religion had the: profoundest effect upon the spiritual character of the people he so blessed. Green, in his "Shorter History of the English People" describes the treat change that came about "England became the people of a book, and that book was the Bible, It was as yet the tone English book which was familiar 10 every Englishman; it was read at churches find read at home and everywhere; its words, as they fell on vats which custom had not deadened to thei: force and beauty, kindled The English had been given free access to the Bible and in the churches where those rear tomes were placed, would gather the iterate to. hear those more happily placed read from the source of wisdom those glorious passages which have through the four cen= turies become 90. familiar as to be even somewhat commonplace.
not necessary to follow the entrancing history of the Bible during the four hundred years which have nearly. elapsed since the issuance of that famous Royal Injunction, oF to trace the manner in which this vitalizing force has spread throughout the world. Ime mediate concern is with the annual report of the China Agency of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the American Bible Society. During the year with which that report deals the two societies decided to combine their forges and function as a single central ganization temporarily called The China Bible House. From December 1, 1936 to November 30, 1937, 62,837 Bibles, 62,808 Now Testaments and 4,619,450 portions were issued in China, 4 total of 4,744,180. And now with these figures in mind it is necessary to recall somewhat of the history of the Bible in China. Robert Morrison, of the London Missionary: Society, landed in Canton on September 7, 1907. " Assisted by William Milne, he translated the whole of the Bible into'Wenli, the literary form of Chinese. This was published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1825. Nine years later the Rev. EC.
Bridgman appealed t0 the United States for means to prepare and circulate the Christian Scriptures and two years later the American Bible Society made its first_ appropriation towards this end. So for more than one Thundred years the two organizations have been busily preparing and. distributing the Chinese translations of the Bible, and while the figures are not available, it is apparent, from those given representing last year's tivities, that an enormous number of Bibles, New Testaments or portions must have reach fed Chinese hands. The tiny brook which commenced flowing in 1823 has grown. to a Inighty river, and is affording a. wonderful example of how that small' acorn which Tyndale planted has grown to an oak the branches of which have spread into all lands. The disputes of Henry VIII with the Church of Rome have had a far-reaching effect of which he probably never dreamed, rior would have understood if indeed he had done so.
The world has seen much trouble since the Scriptures came to be printed in the common
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.