South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-05-22
ASSERTS BIBLE
GREAT CIVILIZER
Rev. c. A. Decker Says 1t Has
Greater Circulation Than
Any Other Book.

eff civilization is a state Of social
culture. characterized by progress
ia the arts. science and statecraft
the Bible has had a large share in
bringing about such a condition. The
pass hundred years have been Won
derful years Of progress. The world
has been made accessible. the scien-
tidc spirit has been dominant in all
lines OF thought and investigation"
said Rev. Charles a. Decker, pastor
Of the First Baptist church, sun
Gay morning. in his sermon on the
subject: The Bible as a Civilizing
Force"
lie said this period has been one
OF Great Christian activity. and Of
the most widespread circulation Of
the scriptures. 1.-The American Bible
society" said Rev. Decker. lis ceIe-
Lrating its Tooth anniversary this
month.
What then, is the relation Of
the circulation of the Bible 10 prog
ress2 They bear the relation Of
cause and effect. And this is not
mere assertion: the proposition is
capable Of demonstration.
Testimony of Great Men.
The testimony Of our great lead
ers is TO this effect. For example,
Washington said the Bible has had
melioroting influence on mankind.
and has increased the blessings of
society. Andrew Jackson asserted
that the Bible Is the rock on which
our republic rests. while Gen. Grant
exhorted the people 20 Hold fast
% the Bible as the sheet anchor of
your liberties To the influence of
this book we are indebted for the
progress made in civilization. and
10 this we must look for our guide
in the future Thus might be quot
60 Webster. Gladstone. Ruskin. Hulk
ley, Garibaldi, and scores of others
who were not religious leaders and
prejudiced, hut men Of affairs who
saw things as they are.
Among the things that make for
progress and indicate country's
civilization is the development of it's
guage, but II cannot be said 20 be
civilized until It has written Ian
guage. Now in many countries the
language has been reduced 10 writ
ing. because OF the need of "A medium
10y which the Bible might be circu-
lated among the peopl. In many in
stances the missionaries have Great
cd the written language Of the coun-
try. In Africa this is almost uni
versally true. There are in that con-
tinent 500 languages: 100 of these
have ben reduced 10 writing by mis-
siOnaries. Twenty were thus de-
velcped last year Among the South
Sea islands this is entirely true. our
American Indians were given their
languages in writing when the time
came 20 give them the scriptures in |
their native tongues.
EnriChes Language.
1T is also true that I'm the most |
settled countries the printed Bible I
has greatly enriched the language by
adding variety and volume to their /
vocabulary
The invention of printing was I
one or the greatest events i'm the I
history of the world To appre- /
ciate this we need but to try 10 I
what the world would be |
without the art OF printing We I
would still be in the dark ages. The /
printing press has made for civil I
zation more tellingly than any other F.
ore thing. And IL was the need of .
some way 20 more widely circulate I
The scripture that has developed the /
art OF printing than anything else.
The first book of any Importance \
20 be printed was the Latin Bible. /
And the Bible has been i'm the lead /
ever since. For there are more 4
Bibles printed than any other book. /
I'm 1914 there were over 32.OOO0OO /.
copies printed. This is an average I
n more than one each second. dav
and night for 800 days The Bible F..
Is now being printed in 500 Ian /
guages. IL is a safe assertion that f.
the Bible is the greatest civinzing F..
ageney in the world today"