The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-08
is THE BIBLE READ.

A few weeks ago the Waterman. the or
gan of the New England Blptists. declared
that there was widespread and deplorable
Ignorance regarding the Bible in the United
States. The Waterman goes so far as to
say that church-going people and those
who attend Sunday schools are unfamiliar
with the contents of the Bible, using the
following language:
A generation is growing up in our Sunday
schools which Is practically unacquainted
with the Bible. Literary men of high
standing deplore the popular ignorance of
the Scriptures: ministers say they can no
bnger take 1t for gr tnted hat the simplest
biblical illusions will be understood by
some of the members of their congrega-
tons, who have spent ten years or more
in the Sunday school: the religious press
teens with complaints that Christian peo-
pie co not know their Bibles: the daily
papers. during the last two or three years,
rave repeatedly emphasized the unfamiliar
ity of the people with the Scriptures. and
educational institutions have found ii
necessary to make special provision for
acquajnting their pupils with the Bible,
deeming it at least a reproach to an edu-
Gated person to be unfamiliar with the
Bible. If any one doubts the extent of
popular ignorance Of the Bible among the
young people. even of Christian families.
let him test an average class Of boys or
girls. and a few questions will convince
the most skeptical.
This is so sweeping a charge Of ignorance
concerning the Bible that the New York
Sun feels called upon to dissent. even
though the Waterman is sustained by other
religious papers and teachers. 1t calls at
tention to the fact that the eightieth re-
port of the American Bible Society shows
that the sales i'm the United States are
large enough to give the entire population
the opportunity of possessing it. During
the year covered by the last report nearly
a million. copies were sold in the United
States. During the eighty years of the
existence of the society nearly 60, 900, coo
copies nave been sold, half Of which would
furnish a Bible for every family in the
land. There are other Bible publishers,
and many are imported.
Thus it appears that the statistics COM
pei the inference that the Bible is read in
this country more than any other book
that is published. If it is not read. then
it must be assumed that those who own
and purchase so many Bibles have not BE-
come possessors that they may read and
study, but because it is ret a proper thing
for a family or a person to be without a
Bible. 1t Is probable the DOCK Is not READ
so much as it was two or three g~eaerations
ago; still there are more people of fair in
telligence who, from one source or an
other, have more knowledge of the Bible
than any other book. The church-goers in
this country are a. large part Of the people.
so that once a week millions of men. women
and children must listen either to the read
ing of some portion of the Scripture, il
but a single text, while all sermons must
of necessity contain biblical illusions. 1t
seems impossible that the Sunday school
can be so changed that the reading or
teaching OF the Bible is ignored. The Bible
was so much read by all of the early set
tiers of the country that a knowledge Of 1t
has been transmitted from generation to
generation in the language with which
ideas are communicated. Its historical
characters are we'll known today. If they
| cannot repeat them in their order. most
| people know the Ten Commandments. If
| they cannot give the order of the events re-
corded. or the books of the Old and New
Testamenus in their order, or even remem-
Der their names, they recognize the Ian
guage and the force of the Sermon on the
Mount. 1t may be tue that less is known
of the incidents recorded i'm the Bible,
but it's spirit still pervades the country's
l:fe. The spirit is better than the letter.