The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1924-12-11

(Magi, wise men), as told in st. Matthew, Chap
ter II:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem Of
Judea, In the days of Herod the king, behold,
there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem.
Saying. where is He that is born King of the
Jews for we have seen His star in the East, and
are come to worship Him.
When Herod the king had heard these things, he
was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
And when he had gathered all the chief priests
and scribes of the people together, he demanded
of them where Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea:
for thus 1t Is written by the prophet,
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda. art
not the least among the princes Of Juda: for out
of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my
men. inquired of them diligently what time the
star appeared.
and search diligently for the young child; and
when We have found Him, bring me word again.
that l may come and worship Him also.
When they had heard the king, they departed;
and, 10, the star, which they saw In the East, went
before them, till 1t came and stood over where the
young child was.
When they saw the star. they rejoiced with ex-
ceeding great joy.
And when they were come into the house. they
saw the young child with Mary His mother, and
fell down, and worshiped Him and when they had
opened their treasures, they presented unto Him
gifts; gold and frankincense, and myrrh.
The Bible is the Book of C~hristmastide. 1t is
the Book of Sunday. 1t is also the Book of Every
Day. For the Bible is the Best Seller, year in and
year out all over the world. The presses cannot
keep pace with the demand.
Why this demand? Why do the millions of
earth in this Twentieth century buy and read this
old book when new End important and up-to-date
books are turned out every day of the year and
every hour of the day? How is it that widely
separated peoples are adopting a book and a lit
erature in a foreign tongue? The Bible is itself
the best answer to these and similar questions.
To a young American 1t might be said that he
must read the English Bible because he cannot
afford TO be ignorant OF 1t. Ignorant 0f ira con-
tents, he will be unable to understand much of
the best of English literature, and unable to ap-
preciate much OF the greatest In art and music.
The most important reason, however, is that his
ignorance of the Bible will deprive him Of the
greatest source of moral strength and inspiration.
Part of this argument, of course, is hardly ap-
plicable TO Asia or to Africa.
Nevertheless, it is not sentiment and not ~pietistic
or sectarian zeal that keeps the Bible press going
day and night The law of supply and demand is
here, as everywhere. And anything that
is continually sought for and purchased is worth
its price to the buyers or the demand will die down
and out. There Is that In the Bible for which
the hearts of all peoples cry out.
And there is no doubt whatever that the Bible
Is the worlds Best Seller. There are believed to
be about 1000 tongues in use among the peoples
Of the world. The Bible, as a whole, or in part,
is now published in no of these languages and di-
alects. The whole Bible has been translated into
LOO u tltSc tdLSud6CS, LII 4>CW 1cStdLueut lHlN
l42 other languages; portions in each case lat
east one complete book of the Bible) into 442
)ther languages; and briefer portions into 48 other
languages. The principal organizations engaged
n the translation of the Bible are the British and
Foreign Bible society and the American Bible So
.iety, Of which Edwin Francis Hyde (portrait
lerewith), a New York banker, is now president.
A wealthy Italian paid $25O,OOO for a famous
bible the other day. A New Yorker recently paid
go, 600 for the "Mazarin Bible" About the same
line the American Bible society announced that
had received an order for 100000 copies Of
he Scriptures to be sold for one cent apiece. The
ange between the prices tells a story. In spite
+ the light fiction tonnage annually thrown on the
market, the Bible Is still supreme as the Best
.eller. In eight years the sale of a popular Amer
IAN novelist's books, the second best sellers, has
cached 100000, whereas In the same period
than 100000 600 copies Of the Bible have
cen sold. At the present rate Of distribution the
hole world may he supplied before the end OF
v Century. OF last years total about one-fourth