Thursday 20 May 2010

Highlights of 200 years of the Bible Society in Scotland

The Chief Executive of the Bible Society Ms Elaine Duncan presented an account of the activities that were undertaken by the Bible Society in their celebration of the 200 years of the Scottish Bible Society.

Pride of place was given to the development of a DVD of the Bible in Glasgow vernacular in cooperation with the Herald and Collie production. This action, said Ms. Duncan, disseminated the Bible to many households in Scotland that would otherwise not have had access in the vernacular. Ms. Duncan mentioned her pride during the reception hosted at the Scottish Parliament of the way in which MSPs proffered their faith in Jesus Christ and honoured the Bible.

The Bible Society supported various appeals throughout the year. There was the “Bibles and Bandages” appeal in Brazil and a translation project in Vietnam. The Brazilian appeal reached over £250,000 to provide a bus that will circulate amongst the Northeast part of Brazil, distributing Bibles amongst local Christian communities. In Vietnam the situation is completely different. The most current translation of the Bible in Vietnamese was written 150 years ago, therefore, the Bible Society sponsored the translation of the Bible in modern Vietnamese. Ms Duncan reported an absolute hunger for the Bible in Vietnam.

The Bible Society hosted visitors from the Church in China. The Chinese delegation came to Scotland during 2010 to celebrate 25 years of close collaboration between the Church in China and The Bible Society. There are currently 23 million Christians in China and according to reports form the elders that visited Scotland, the numbers of Christians are still growing.

Finally, Ms. Duncan presented a taster of activities for 2011. This will be the 400 anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. She presented the general Assembly with a sobering thought reflecting on the words of a Christian in Romania. “You have had the Bible in your language for 400 years” what has gone wrong?”

She ended her address with a call for the Kirk to join in celebration of the King James’ version through a reflection of the impact this particular version of the Bible has had on the life, language, education and the arts of the English-speaking world.

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