The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1935-08-29
How We Got Our English Bible
The Manuscripts

The Manuscripts
The writer has often wondered when
modern readers open the beautiful
Bibles of our day, printed on India
paper from beautiful easily legible
type, bound in the finest morocco,
silk sewed, edges red under gold,
equipped with helps and conveniences
for study, whether they ever think
of the price that has been paid for
this precious Book.
How old is the Bible? Older than
man. When the divine act of crea-
ton began, the Grand Architect of
the Universe wrote on nature the
first edition of his law. The Psalm
list recognized and read this record
when he said "The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the armament
showeth his handi-work." Our hea-
venly Father was preparing at the
very dawn of creation for the revela-
ton of Himself to man whom He
had made in His image and whom
He loved.
The second edition of the law of
God was written on conscience, and
is revealed by the universal sense of
right and wrong inherent in the hui
man race. Of course this does not
mean that conscience needs no edu-
cation. On the contrary it must be
trained like the mental and physical
powers, and adjusted to it's environ
ment. Yet the impulse to select one
course of action and reject another
from convictions of right is a uni
versal attribute of man.
The third edition of the law of God
was written on tables of stone when
thunders and lightnings were about
Sinai, and Moses was authorized to
record the Ten Words.
Then followed through a succession
of years the entire scriptures writ
ten at different times, and in many
places, by men of different nationali-
ties and cultural backgrounds, yet
demonstrating a unity of design and
a harmony of teaching which demand
a supernatural origin as their eX-
| PLANTATION. A period of more than
1900 years was required for all three
writings to be made. When we con-
slider the difficulties which were in
the way of the early writer's, scarcity
and costliness of writing materials,
| the unsettled state of the world, and
the problem of finding safe reposi-
tories for the ancient manuscripts, the
survival Of the truth they contained
is little short of miraculous.
Christ has we'll been called the Il
Illustrated Edition. St. John declares
in the first chapter of his Gospel,
"And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
Glory, the Glory as of the only be-
gotten of the Father) full of Grace
and Truth.
The writer of the Epistle to the
Hebrews refers to an edition of the
Scriptures written on the heart, which
quite agrees with David's declaration,
wherein he says: "Thy Word have
hid in mine heart, that l might not
sin against thee" This naturally re-
suits in the manifestation of the out
ward Christian life, or the living
epistles, known and read of all men.
However, before this truth could
become part of human thinking and
hence of human life, it had to be first
spoken into willing ears, or written
for the instruction and inspiration of
all who would receive its precious
truths. This was done in the ancient
manuscripts, now lost for centuries,
wherein the original writers, the
prophets and apostles, wrote their
messages as they were inspired by
the Holy Spirit and the course of
the history of the Jewish nation.