BIBLE DISTRIBUTION

[s. 101] : Its object is to bring knowledge of the Bible within reach of every Bliadral£lk Bible DlMtrlbntlon person. The great Bible societies have adopted the principle that the end which they are to keep in view is not the po e ion of the Bible, but its proper use, and that any distribution which ignores tliis distinction is liable to do more harm than good. At different times certain person.s. have given away large numbers of Scriptures to the crowds that gather at such places as Jerusalem, or at fairs and expositions. The object was undoubtedly laudable, but the invariable result has been that the books tlirown broadcast in this way exercised little or no influence for good, and even inspired a feeling of contempt. In order to meet the requirement that the Bible shall be placed within the reach of every person, however poor, the societies have adopted the general principle of gauging prices by the ability of the people rather than by the cost of the book. In such lands as the United States, Great Britain and the larger part of the Continent the Bible societies as a rule ask cost price for their publications, reckoning in the cost the expense of printing and binding, but making no account of the outlay for editorial work. To this however, there are exceptions. In order to meet a special need, an edition, usually of the New Testament, is sometimes placed at a figure even le than the cost, as in the case of the editions designed for use in the schools or for distribution among the poorer laborers. In the mi ion fields the day’s wage of a laborer is often taken as the gauge, and an edition of the whole Bible, in plain but substantial binding, is i ued at such a figure as will be within the reach of the ordinary peasant or artisan. Editions of the New Testament, or of different portions of Scripture such as the Gospels, Psalms, Proverbs, the Pent a teuch, etc., are made proportionate in price. Scriptures in finer binding are sold at actual cost, since they are of the nature of luxuries. If the distributor is satisfied that a person is not able to give the price of the book, and that a copy will be well used, ordinarily a free grant is made. The plan of trying to secure the attention and interest of a person not especially interested in the Bible by the donation of a copy has not, as a rule, been succe ful. But no iron rule as to free distribution can be laid down. Much must be left to the judgment of the person engaged in the work. For many years the Bible societies worked as auxiliary to the mi ion societies in distributing the Bible; making grants of books, giving money As the different denomto pay colporteurs, etc. i nations entered the field, and in not a few cases covered much the same ground, the work began to individualize, and at last the nece ity for providing the Scriptures for many people whom the mi ionaries could not attempt to reach, led to the appointment of a cla of agents quite distinct from those of the mi ionaries. Thus grew up the system of agencies much like those of any mercantile house. The Bible Society Agent is located at some central point, such as Berlin, Vienna, Constantinople, etc. He keeps informed as to the needs of the territory a igned to him, and seeks to improve every opportunity to increase the circulation of the Scriptures and to add to the popular understanding of their value. In Japan the Bible Society Agent has made a point of selling the Scriptures on railroad trains, with good effect. As in the case of mi ionary societies, so with Bible DiNtrilmfion Bible Translation the Bible societies, disadvantages have arisen from tlie presence of two or more in the same territory. This has often entailed needle expense, and has produced more or le of friction, if not between the Societies or their Agents, at least between their employees. (See Comity). The svlbordinate agencies of distribution are: These do not serve merely 1. Bible Depots. or even principally as salesrooms or places of storage, but above all they are centers of influence The sales from a Depot seldom equal those by a colporteur and it has sometimes been a serious question whether the cost of maintaining them has been wisely incurred; yet where an effort to dispense with them has been made, they have been quickly reestablished as an e ential feature of Bible work. The work of these men is the 2. Colporteurs. main stay of Bible distribution in the mi ion fields. By far the larger part of the Scriptures sold on mi ion ground pa through their hands and colporteurs have done and are doing quietly and unobtrusively a work unsurpa ed in importance by that of any cla of evangelistic laborers, because it is generally like the work of the pioneer. More than the mi ionary preacher or teacher, They colporteurs come in contact with men. seek people out in their homes, their shops, their fields, and find acce to places which no one else Having as their aim the placing could enter. of the Bible in the hands of all who will read and study it, they have to be wiser than serpents. Their daily life abounds in incidents as thrilling They are as any in the history of the Church. commonly plain men, selected not because of education but for their initiative,their tactful methods of dealing with men, and their knowledge of the Bible as a practical guide to life rather than as a At present there are storehouse of doctrines. few lands where every city and town, or even every village and hamlet is not within the field This of course a igned to some colporteur. demands careful organization, and no one can read the annual reports of the Bible societies without realizing how gigantic is the work to which they are bending every effort. Readers. The work of the Bible 3. Bible society at the point of distributing the Scriptures is so nearly the same as that of the mi ionary society, that it is not always po ible to draw the line sharply between their respective spheres. For many years the Bible societies did not consider it within their sphere to do more than act Holding aloof from ually distribute the Bible. all preaching, they considered that Bible readers who must inevitably be in a great degree teachers, were more properly mi ion employees. Yet in many cases, when people were unable or unwilling to read themselves, it was found that the Bible reader, by arousing an interest in the Bible, became a very important factor in its distribution. Moreover the mi ionary societies have found it simply impo ible to provide such It has thus laborers for all outlying regions. come about that the iBible societies have accepted the employment of Bible readers as a legitimate part of their work. Every mi ionary in the foreign field, whether man or woman, preacher, physician, or teacher, also becomes a distributor of the Bible in the ordinary line of daily duty. Travelers, merchants and officials of many nations and many religious denominations have often gladly used their opportunities for giving to others the book which they most prized for themselves. 84 Many a courier or dragoman in the East shows with pleasure the New Testament quietly put into his hands by The number the stranger whom he has served. of copies of Scriptures distributed in this unrecorded way is greater than is commonly imagined. As to the results of Bible distribution, one might almost say that the history of mi ions throughout the world is the history of the wonderful influence of the Bible upon men of every All mi ionary literature teems with race. incidents illustrating the far-reaching results of inducing men to read the Bible. Sometimes it is a robber in the Armenian highlands, who has stolen the book from a traveler, sometimes it is a peasant in Mexico who has received it from an American soldier during the war of 1848; sometimes it is a Hindu peasant who has taken the book from the doctor who healed his disease, but the result in each case is the same changed life and a desire to tell others of the wonderful book. Something of the magnitude of this influence of the Bible, may be judged from the fact that according to the conclusions of Rev. Dr. James S. Dennis, after a laborious study of the reports of the different Bible societies in order to avoid duplication of statistics, the number of Scriptures or portions of Scripture annually distributed in foreign mi ion fields by the Bible soc i- — eties, is 3,286,834. 102