The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-04

1eo8 ... 5,429 $2.752.0e Books received. ...... 1887 1.lss.ol
 25.o7s ss,ssl.so sales for 1908 .... ..fs.sss s7.ssLs7 Donstions.. =. s.sso sio.ss Loss through deposito- ass Books i on hand January .,.,. l.. 1sos.. ...!.;. 6ssi 1,e ss.o7s ss.sS1.so s'sheo' w. ]. Elliott. Manager" The Board of Directors of the Ala baraa Bible Society will meet n tne offices of the institution lnls sss.'yss coming year, oficially act on the an nuai report and receive new mempers:
 Rev E. E., Cobbs, rector or st .Iohn's Episcopal Church. then arose and spoke in part as follows:
 "While the work of the Alanama b,- ble Society Is primarily coneerned Wt,n tba methods of distributing the biole' vet indirectIy but very vitally It's work has to do with the study and interpre- tatiou of the book which it has put into inc hands of the people. Each age mas ita peculiar needs and dangers 1hs mead of the age of the reformation was the setting free of knowledge 10 be the possession of all men. and the trans iation of the Word of God into the isn- ruage which the people could un- derstand We live to see in our day the vrondarful response to this need. and the splendid fuifillment of the ann Vislon which the Kings and Propnets ot humanity have longed to see ana nave not aeHTas : "vTbiie it may be debatable whetfter the love of knowledge As such has ever attained to the highest stanuaru or Tne most cultured among the ancient Greeks, yet it is an obvious fact tnas never have the rudiments- Of general adi,cataon been so widespread and so cheap as they are today. And the other naad Of an earlier age has likewise been abundantly answered.. Not only has ths Bible been translated into, the English tongue, but into every language ano every dialect even of the most remote ana insfgnficant tribes who live about | the great Arctic Circle.
 sThe British and Foreign Bible So- cfety at an informal reception given te the delegates to the Pan-Anglican Con- gress dn London in June last, had ar ranged in the center of a great room . striking illustration of the work which ! that Society is doing so as to enable the | Gospel to speak to all men, leach in our own tongue A great pyramid had been made of Bibles. each one in diff | teFeut language. and the pyramid was over sixty feet in height. And still in the face of such great accomplishments the same Society can write that there remain at least 1000 other languages 1 and dialects in which. hitherto no part of the Bible has been published.
 The Greater Task.
 sGratsfui therefore for all that has been accomplished and deeply con- scious of the present need and oppor- tunIty for translating and distributing the Bible, and not unmindful of the great good which the generosity and in- sight of the founder of this Alabama Bible Society has made possible. may I, in fulhIling the obligations of this hour venture to suggest certain dan- gers and certain needs which are pre- eminently our peculiar burden. in their relation to the interpretation of the Bible. Within our experience almost ali men can read and write. and all can. without exception, obtain copies of the Bible. Our need does not He along these lines, but along the more difncult paths of life and of thought How to interpret the Bible in terms of human life and to make 1t living word to each generation, how to keep the mind
 
 truth, and so to bring an our truths to make clearer and deeper the truths of the Revelation of God.
 "This is our task. and no light task 1t is. Along these lines must come our contribution to the interpretation of the Word of God. but on every hand there is a disposition of unwillingness to face these facts of life; futile clinging tc the past. a blind ignoring of the pres m sa Pog wvh half God who made the world, but so faith. less that 1t will not trust to Ills love nny of the interest uf this present life. There Is a faith which believes in the Bible but which so reRPs and distrusts God Himself that it trembles at every advance of science and every rproclama- tioh of truth and light We ought to grow into that deeper faith in Pres- ent God, who lives and speaks in thR hearts and minds or men, and as we grow we shall come to see that there is nowhere any contradiction of that greater revelation but only illumina- tfon. We do not hesitate to praise any great ana good life for fear that it will detract from the life of Him whom we can Master. Yea rather we see In the lives of ali good men those qualities which His blessed life has made pos. sibie, and which His life now makes beautiful. So ought 1t to be with aIi truth. D. our faith In the few eternal truths of the Bible ought to make us generous and open towards all the les ser truths which our fellow-men bring to us. Just these simple truths. that the world was made by God. made in love, not hate, and that our Lord Christ is creations final meaning and com, pletIon, for in Him heaven and earth God and man. are tndissolubly united The man whose heart Is certain about these truths will not fear nor under value many other lesser truths which his fellow men may bring to him. Bible Steers.
 T would point out therefore. how 1t is really the Bible which delivers from the two dificulties which seem to