THE GREAT BOOK IS READY

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1952, Page 13

THE GREAT BOOK IS READY by The Rt. Rev. W. N. PANAPA, Bishop of Aotearoa The war clouds of World War II had hardly rolled away over the horizon after VE-Day, followed by VJ-Day. Countless members of weary and disillusioned folk, after long years of strife and anxiety, followed by months of want and uncertainty, were left, many of them, spiritually bankrupt—the prey of materialistic forces. How to stir new hopes and rouse the people to fresh endeavours was the immediate problem. This was the atmosphere in which the British and Foreign Bible Society in New Zealand found itself. It was faced with the task of providing for the moral and spiritual recovery of many in all lands. But while facing up to this tremendous task it was not unmindful of the needs of the Maori people in this land. This, of course, was in line with the broad policy of the society, and consistent with steps taken previously. For all this the Maori people generally should be for ever grateful. Following on the cessation of hostilities in World War I, the late Bishop Herbert Williams, then Archdeacon of Waiapu, was given the task of bringing out a new edition of the Maori Bible. To his everlasting credit he took over the double burden of editing and supervising the work through the press without flinching. But it was too big a task for one man, even a man of his calibre. There were men like Sir Apirana who were ready and willing to help if they were called upon. The result was the edition of 1925, which, unforunately, was full of typographical errors. The Society, without any thought of revision, set about the task of having these mistakes corrected before re-publication. Individual copies of every book of the Bible were printed, and a panel of scholars of the language invited to do the work. Men well known for their scholarship, standing and interest responded to the call, and did a good job of work. In the process of this work, which meant a very close scrutiny of the whole text of the Bible word by word, these men felt that something more than a mere correction of errors should be carried out. In other words, a revision of the Maori Bible was called for. In response to this demand, the society thought fit to call a conference of selected members of the three main Churches concerned to study the question further. This conference met in Wallis House, Lower Hutt, Wellington, on March 9–12, 1946, under the chairmanship of the Rev. David Calder, who was secretary of the society at the time. The conference was of one mind regarding the need of revision, and the following were selected as the Maori Bible Revision Committee: Chairman: The Very Rev. J. G. Laughton, C.M.G. (ex-Moderator and Superintendent of Presbyterian Maori Mission) Members: The Right Rev. F. A. Bennett, C.M.G., L. Th. (Bishop of Aotearoa) The Rev. Eru Te Tuhi (Superintendent, Methodist Maori Mission) Sir Apirana Ngata, M.A., LL.B., Litt.D. Mr William Bird, M.A. (former Senior Inspector of Native Schools) The Rev. Te Hihi Kaa, L.Th. (Waipawa Maori Pastorate) The Rev. W. N. Panapa, L. Th. (Taupo Maori Pastorate) The presence of Sir Apirana on the revision committee put a new complexion altogether on the work of the committee, and ensured that, for all time, the new edition would be a standard work on the Maori language. His leadership, capacity for work and organising ability made itself felt, and his was the impulse

which drove the work relentlessly on to its completion in three years. Now that he has passed on to join the ‘great cloud of witnesses’, an extract from our chairman's report should be quoted here: ‘No words can adequately express the gratitude of the revision committee, nor its admiration for the work of Sir Apirana Ngata in this great undertaking. He is a scholar of the Maori language without peer, he knows it in all its idioms, he is master of its poetry and historical background, and from the moment he entered the ranks of the revision committee he has thrown himself into its work with boundless enthusiasm, and with an energy that fairly astonishes his fellow members. To him, also, is due the initiative of the splendid effort of the Maori people to raise £3,000 towards the costs of the revision and publication of this new edition of the Maori Bible….’