BIBLE TERCENTENARY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10224, 27 April 1911, Page 5

BIBLE TERCENTENARY.

PUBLIC MEETING IN MASTERTON.

A public meeting was held in the Masterton Town Hall, last evening, in celebration of the Tercentenary of the authorised version of the Bible. His Worship the Mayo'r (Mr J. M. Goradine) presided over a good attendance. A combined choir from all the churches led the singing.

The meeting was opened by the singing of the Hymn "All people that on Earth do Dwell," followed by a prayer offered by the Rev. W. Raine, and a Scripture reading by Ensign Avenell. In his opening remarks, the Mayor said that the meeting was to celebrate one of the most important matters in the history of the world from every.aspect. He stated that the speakers needed no introduction, as they were all well-known. The Rev. A. T. Thompson delivered an address on the subject, "How We Got Our Bible." The process by which the Bible had been formed had been gradual, and a great deal of it had been wrapped in mystery' and obscurity. The formation of the Bible was of a two-fold charac-: ter, the old and new Testaments, each of which were three-fold. The first portion of the Old Testament was the law contained in the first five books, the second portion concerned the Prophets, and the third the Hagiograplia or the other books. In the New Testament there were first three gospels and later four gospels. When the church developed letters and epistles dealing with special difficulties were written, these being called the epistles of the Apostles. In the early churches there were many versions and translations until the revised version was written in Latin. After some years, in the 7th century, an effort was made to translate the Bible into English. King Alfred laid the- Ten Commandments and several portions of scripture as the basis of the legal system. ! Numbers of men were persecuted for their endeavours to put the Bible within the reach of everybody. The Geneva .Bible was the first edition printed wholly in the English tongue. It was not until 1611, after four • years of diligent, patient toil and research that the authorised version was produced. The Bible was got by various means under the influence of the Spirit of God, and after "the persecution of many of our ancestors. At this stage the Mayor introduced the R«v. S. J. Serpell, who was new to Masterton, and. apologised for not having done so before. ' !

The Rev. Mr Serpell addressed the gathering on the "Authority and Inspiration of tlie Bible." The speaker believed that the Bible was the inspired 1 Word of God. The Book holds lis responsible for our faith in its testimony. SGnle parts the sacred volumes have an earlier origin than others, yet the parts which originated later contained things embodied in the earlier revelations. The Bible was a Book for tlie people. It had been used in all the best known and influential portions of the globe in its early history. The trials through the Bible had gone all tended to confirm the history contained therein. The events in the Bible are too minutely described for them to possibly be merely imagination. Men have laboured in vain to find some inconsistency in the statements in the Bible. Th© Bible wields a greater influence in national circles to-day than it has over done.v Egyptian inscriptions had on many l occasions confirmed the genuine nature of the' Bible. Recent discoveries all tended to confirm the truth of the prophecies and historical portions of the Bible. In conclusion Mr Serpell said lie based his faith on the Bible. The Rev. H. Watson took for his subject "The Bible in the World." He stated that the Bible was of wide world interest. Many .books

rrsssn were merely local, and others were not worthy of translation into other languages. Books 'became out of date. None of these things could be applied to the Bible.. It was equally useful and necessary to every man and woman in the world. In the old days God's Word had to be told by preachers, whereas the Bible was now the silent teacher. Others have suffered-to hand the Bible on to us, and it was our duty to endeavour to hand it on to others. The British and Foreign Bible Society had as its object the circulation of the Bible to every person able to read a copy of the Bible in their o.vn language. In this direction £15,500,000 had been exper.dc-d in circulating the Book in 418 different languages, and 30 different languages for blind

people?. The Society also sent out agents to sell the Bible cheap enough for the poorest to buy. The Bible was the foundation of Christianity, which was the foundation of things good that now existed. The Rev. A. Hodge, speaking of the "Bible and National Life," said i was a great subject because our national life was a great fact, the secret of which was the Bible. Good Queen Victoria had said the Bible was undoubtedly the success of the British Empire. The Bible was responsible for all that was good, inspirational, progressive and pei'ma- • i nt, in the Anglo-Saxon world. It iwts responsible for good citizenship. The Bibl? incites its readers into pilgrimage. When the Anglo-Saxon became a Christian he became a pilgrim immediately.. Exploration, discovery, science, art, -education, etc., all follow in the wake of the Bible. People within the influence of the .inspired Word of God are progressive, and will be progressive. The Bible always makes for unity of language, in spite of the fact that it IWf.s circulated in so many different .tongues. .This great Book imparts to all the genius of brotherhood, which was becoming more noticeable throughout the whole of thj nation "every day. The speaker emphasised the fact that the Bible was responsible for all that was good, inspirational, progressive and permanent. The congregation stood and sang t _• Doxoiogy, after which the Bene- .« pronounced by Mr J. E. :i V -.'ojltvtiju was taken during the i'ligiug of a hymn, in aid of the , F;:tish and Foreign Bible Society.