century's witness to the bible. 



81 



translation, publication and distribution of the Word of God ; 

 and not least amongst the fruits of this work must be reckoned 

 the friendships which have been formed between men separated 

 ecclesiastically and diverse in nationality, but called to work 

 around the same translation board." And again* : " The Bible 

 Societies have had a similar influence towards unity and joint 

 action upon the Church at home. They are in many places the 

 one agency which brings together practically all sections of the 

 Church on a common platform." 



The Bible Societies are, of course, only organisms through 

 which the Bible itself, and (as the effect suggests) Someone 

 behind it, exert this influence. One does not hear of a similar 

 influence on Sunni and Shiah emanating from the Koran, or on 

 Saivite and Vaishnavite from the Veda. 



III. Bible Translations. 



A third unique fact about the Bible, which the last century 

 brought into marked prominence, is its suitability for being 

 translated into every variety of language, and that without 

 losing its captivating power over men. To quote again a few 

 words from Green's History of the English People: "Ko version 

 could transfer to another tongue the peculiar charm of language 

 which gave their value to the authors of Greece and Eome. 

 But the tongue of the Hebrews, the idiom of Hellenistic Greek, 

 lent themselves with a curious felicity to the purposes of 

 translation. As a mere literary monument, the English version 

 of the Bible remains the noblest example of the English 

 tongue."f 



When the British and Foreign Bible Society was formed, 

 there was a notion in some quarters that a translation of the 

 Scriptures into Chinese was, from the nature of that language, 

 an impossibility.J This supposed impossibility has vanished. 

 Translations of the Bible, not only into Chinese, but even into 

 poor and barbarous languages of all kinds, have already 

 appeared and are in use. Darwin calls the people of Tierra 

 del Fuego " miserable and degraded savages," and their speech 

 scarcely deserving to be called articulate."^ But the Bible 

 Society has printed two Gospels and the Acts in this Yahgan 

 tongue as they were translated by the late Kev. Thos. Bridges, 



* P. 126. t P. 448. 



X History of the B. and F, Bible Society, by W. Canton, vol. i, p. 299. 



§ Ih., pp. 135, 136. 



