Article May 4, 1907 Issue

THE BIBLE INTERPRETED

GERTRUDE SMITH.

Wyclif's translation of the Bible was not welcomed in England, and the New Testament passed through a trying ordeal when Tyndale interpreted it in English. The Government employed active agents to watch the seaports of England and seize every copy; and all that were found were promptly burned. For years after the English translation, the reading or even the possession of a Bible was "prohibited on the pain of death;" but divine Love overruled the savagery of carnal mind, and the Bible became in time the spiritual guide-book of the Englishspeaking world.

The Holy Bible! Our hearts stand still in contemplation of what this earth would be if bereft of the godly influence of the "Book of books." Above the chaos of creeds human opinions have neither lessened the utility of the Bible nor thwarted its purpose—it has shed a unifying light over all. Hundreds of books have been written about Christ Jesus; thousands of books have been written about the Bible; and does it seem strange in this enlightened day that the prayers of the Christian world for centuries should have been answered in still another book that exalts the Christ and pays highest tribute to the Bible? Not since the great bonfires of Bibles celebrated the translation of the Holy Scriptures into English has a book been written that has created the discussion, roused the prejudice, and brought forth such peans of gratitude as the little book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy.

Our hearts overflow with gratitude that God has sent a messenger to make the Bible more inspiring and help ful than ever before. Its portals are entered through "Prayer," and no earnest seeker for Truth can turn away from this first chapter of our text-book without a deep sense of the sacred quality of the book. The prayer of every Christian has been for a more perfect understanding of God, and how to assimilate and make the life of Christ Jesus his own. It has always been a wonder to the human mind that the child of God should be a creature torn by conflicting desires and impulses. For consolation in their bewilderment men have looked forward to death—and death, though fought against with every known material. means, has after all been considered the entrance into heaven, an eternity with God and the angels.

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