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-47-
God Hath Spoken
The Geneva Bible
Mary, Queen of Scots, had banned the use of the Bible and had unleashed a bloody persecution against the Protestants in Scotland. Therefore, in 1558, Miles Coverdale went to Geneva to begin a new translation of the Bible. Others finished the translation in April 1560. It was called the Geneva Bible, and was the first "pocket Bible." It became the second most important version of the Bible to the English speaking world, and was the official version used by the Puritans.
The King James Version, or Authorized Version
Seventy five years after the death of Tyndale, God was pleased to answer his prayer. James I of England authorized fifty four translators to translate the Scriptures from the original languages. It was therefore called the Authorized Version, or the King James Version, of 1611. He had been petitioned to make a uniform translation and was encouraged by the promise that the work should be dedicated to him, and that wherever the Bible went, his name would go.
About ninety percent of the King James Version came from Tyndale's translation. Tyndale coined such words as "scapegoat," "mercy seat," "Passover," "longsuffering," and "tender mercies of God." The Puritans rejected the Authorized Version however, because it was dedicated to a wicked king.
The Pilgrims and The Puritans
The Pilgrims brought the Bible to the New World. In the 1680's, the Puritans brought the Scriptures with them. Then, in 1782, the first English Bible was printed in North America by Robert Aitken. It was a King James Version, and was published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the city of brotherly love, and where the Declaration of Independence had been signed, and where the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights would be signed.
The Congress of the United States recommended the Bible for public use, and in a special resolution recommended the importation of 20,000 Bibles, which had been hampered on account of the recent war with England. How far our country has strayed!
The Missionary Thrust
Missionaries carried the Bible to the distant regions of the world. American school children brought money to school to purchase two ocean going ships to carry the Bible to the South Sea islands. These ships were called the "Morning Stars."
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Education Association have played a major role in re shaping American society in a way vastly different from the intention of our forefathers. Using our courts and our schools, they have encouraged Americans to turn their backs upon God; but can we believe God will allow our nation to get away with it?
Persecution and Modernism
Dusk again came upon the world scene. This time it took the form of persecution and modernism. In the French Revolution of the 1790's, bonfires were made of Bibles. Again, in the not so distant past, during the Second World War, Mussolini in Italy, and Hitler in Germany also made war upon the Word of God, and made great bonfires of Bibles.
It is significant that the last radio communication from the German army besieged in Stalingrad by Russian forces was "Send us Bibles." Although they were starving and freezing to death, they wanted the Word of God.
Communism has waged constant war with Christianity. Until only recently, Bible smugglers carried the Word of God to people in Russia and China. But in America, and elsewhere in the free world, modernists have introduced not only heretical doctrine into the churches, but they have introduced perversions of Scripture; and they have done it under the guise of making the Bible more readable.