Awake!, October 8, 1979

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Awake! — October 8, 1979

Source: jw.org

Contents

Page Two

The World’s Best Seller—Its Fight to Live

The Bible Survives Natural Obstacles

The Bible—Victim of Savage Attack

Purity of the Bible Text Threatened

A Living Book Reaches the Ends of the Earth

The Cuckoo—A Cunning Rogue?

Getting More out of Later Life

The Tokyo Summit

Greece—Tenth Member of the Common Market

Watching the World

Does It Matter Which Bible You Use?

Did You Miss It?

Page Two

In most lands the Bible can be easily obtained. But it was not always so. Although the Bible teaches one to love God and one’s neighbor, both brutal and crafty efforts have been made for centuries to destroy it. Why? Why is it that, despite such opposition, the Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world? As you read the following series of articles, consider how that book can benefit you

3 THE WORLD’S BEST SELLER—ITS FIGHT TO LIVE

4 THE BIBLE SURVIVES NATURAL OBSTACLES

7 THE BIBLE—VICTIM OF SAVAGE ATTACK

14 PURITY OF THE BIBLE TEXT THREATENED

17 A LIVING BOOK REACHES THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

The World’s Best Seller—Its Fight to Live

OUT of every thousand books published, only about fifty continue in popular use for at least seven years. Because people soon lose interest, the life-span of a book is quite short.

What would you think, then, about a book that has continued in popular use for over 3,000 years? Add to this the fact that it has survived the fiercest opposition faced by any book in the history of the world. Tyrants, kings, princes, yes, even whole empires, have striven to destroy it. Yet, today it has become the world’s best seller!

At times it appeared to opposers that the destruction of the Bible was assured. Mighty rulers formed edicts and prohibitions condemning it to the fire, only to sound its death knell in vain. The book survived. Its preservation through wave after wave of assault throughout centuries has been termed “a miracle of history.”

Just think! Is it not extremely strange that a book as old as the Bible and that has been subjected to such opposition would be the all-time best seller? In some respects, books are like humans. They have a beginning, may grow in popularity, and usually become old and die. Libraries are often cemeteries of millions of dead books.

Yet, the Bible, with its written origins going back 35 centuries, is very much alive and is readable in the languages of 97 percent of earth’s population. So amazing is its distribution that even before the term “best seller” was coined, the Bible was the most sought after book in the world.

More Needed than Survival of the Book Itself

The Bible claims to contain the words of God, in that its writings were directly inspired by his spirit. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20, 21) God said of his word: “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever.” (Isa. 40:8, An American Translation) But its ‘standing forever’ would mean more than that God’s word would merely exist in a book for a long time.

Actually there are “books” in existence today that in written form appear to be older than the Bible. For instance, there exist clay tablets and other literary works of the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians that are believed to have been written centuries before the Bible began to be compiled in 1513 B.C.E. by Moses. But these ancient documents are written in dead languages and discuss matters that are of little interest to the masses of persons today. For all practical purposes, these “books” are dead.

To the contrary, the Bible says that God’s Word would remain “at work in [the] believers.” (1 Thess. 2:13) The force of its message would influence the lives of those who used it. In its rendering of that same verse, The Jerusalem Bible says of “God’s message”: “It is still a living power among you who believe it.”

A Mammoth Challenge

Would God be capable of preserving his word as a “living power” forever? If so, it would mean overcoming enormous obstacles. Added to natural impediments would be an assault that ultimately would almost destroy the Bible as a living force among believers.

How the Bible overcame all this opposition makes for an absorbing discussion. Through centuries men have tried to burn and to bury it. Mighty kings and emperors have raised the power of entire empires against it. And yet the Bible remains indestructible down to this day.

One might wonder: ‘Just why was such effort put forth to preserve it? Is it simply so that the Bible can have a good effect on my life? Could there be a much deeper and more profound reason?’ Yes, why is it that strenuous efforts were made in the past, and are still made, to enable every person to have and to read the Bible?

You will find a very happifying answer to such questions in the material that follows. It will also genuinely enhance your own appreciation for the Bible’s preservation until our day.

The Bible Survives Natural Obstacles

THE imposing library at Alexandria, Egypt, was without question the greatest collection of books the world had yet seen. At one time its ancient shelves bulged with over half a million documents.

Scarcely 350 years from its construction in the third century B.C.E., fire devastated some of its books. Soon what was left of its valuable documents was pillaged and destroyed. These “compositions of ancient genius,” stated historian Edward Gibbon, “irretrievably perished.”

Yes, this huge collection of books, written for the most part on papyrus (a paper-like material made from the fibers of the plentiful Egyptian papyrus plant), was destroyed by a natural obstacle to a book’s survival—fire, along with ravishing by man. Had the books been stone or clay tablets rather than perishable papyrus, they might have fared better.

Yet on this same perishable material, papyrus, parts of the Christian Greek Scriptures may have been written in the first century C.E. Mainly used in Bible writing was parchment or vellum (a writing material made from the skins of animals [2 Tim. 4:13]). This too can be burned and in time will rot. How easily the original handwritten copies of the Bible could have perished without a duplicate to replace their priceless message! However, many copies were made and circulated, so the message was not lost, though written on perishable materials.

Small Minorities Entrusted with It

Another natural obstacle to its survival was the fact that the Scriptures were originally entrusted to disliked minorities. The apostle Paul acknowledged: “Jews were entrusted with the scriptures of God.” (Rom. 3:2, Moffatt’s translation) A number of Jews over a period of more than a millennium were used by God to record his words, and the nation endeavored to safeguard these sacred writings.

But just think! When Bible writing began, this nation was described as being “the least of all the peoples.” Its puniness was contrasted with the greater might of neighboring nations, such as the Hittites, the Amorites and others. Yet what has happened to the literature of those stronger neighbors? It is dead. The remains of such lie buried in the earth or moldering in museums.—Deut. 7:1, 7.

The writers and protectors of the Christian Greek Scriptures (“New Testament”) were also a small defenseless group that was intensely hated. It was said of this group by contemporaries: “Everywhere it is spoken against.”—Acts 28:22.

Now, thousands of years later, the writings of these hated minorities have flooded the entire world. Quite contrary to what natural circumstances would suggest! Would it not seem that a much higher force acted as a protector?

Written in Languages Forgotten by the Masses

Can you read ancient Hebrew? Few can. Yet this is what the Bible was at first written in. Obviously if it were only in this script today, it would be a dead book!

However, at the time the script was used, all who utilized the Bible, as well as many in the surrounding countries, could read that style of writing with understanding. The ancient Hebrew script was understandable to worshipers of the true God for centuries.

Then in the critical seventh century before our Common Era, with the destruction of the Jewish capital at Jerusalem, there began a dispersing of the Jews into countries with strange languages. Greek became the international language. Though a small segment of Jews who resettled in Jerusalem managed to keep Hebrew a living tongue, soon many of the Jews who were “dispersed among the Greeks” were unable to read the Bible in Hebrew.—John 7:35.

Would the message of the Bible cease to be a “living power” in their lives? Also, what about the millions of non-Jewish Greek-speaking people? Would knowledge of God’s Word remain hidden from these?

The First Translation

About 300 years before the Common Era, nearly a million Greek-speaking Jews lived in Alexandria, Egypt, a cultural center of the Hellenic world. Through their efforts and perhaps the cooperation of King Ptolemy Philadelphus, at last a translation of the Bible was made from Hebrew into the Greek language.

What a boon this was! Now the benefits from reading the Hebrew Scriptures were no longer limited to a few persons, but as first-century Jewish philosopher Philo observed: ‘The whole of the human race might reap the benefit of access to our wise and holy excellent laws.’

Because Alexandria had a long history of “book production,” it was not long before copies of this translation, called the “Septuagint,” were being recopied and shipped world wide to Greek-speaking Jews. It was truly “the people’s Bible.” For it was in the language of the general public, and its small cost, resulting from the publishing techniques in Alexandria, enabled many worshipers to have their own personal copy.

Early Christians Make the Bible Live

The use of the Hebrew Scriptures can be seen by the action of the apostle Paul. “He reasoned with them [Jews in the synagogue at Thessalonica] from the Scriptures, explaining and proving by references that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead.” (Acts 17:2-4) To ‘prove by references,’ he pointed to various passages in the Hebrew Scriptures to establish the truthful basis of Christianity.

Use of the Bible, including the newly written Christian Greek Scriptures, by the early Christians led to a development that completely revolutionized the book industry. Up to that time books were made in the form of a scroll. This was fine for leisurely reading. But the Christians were using the Bible in missionary efforts, to ‘prove by references’ the basis of their religion. Can you imagine how awkward it would be to find one reference text after another in scrolls that may have been up to 35 feet (11 m) long!

Nearly a century before, the Romans had experimented with a new form of book with thick leather pages. The bulky contraption never became popular. However, someone used this idea, but made the pages of thin sheets of papyrus. This codex was ideal for quick references. It was the forerunner of today’s book design. Who made this monumental breakthrough? The authoritative Cambridge History of the Bible says:

“Someone conceived the idea of making a codex not of parchment, but of papyrus. Where and by whom the idea was first tried out we do not know; but we do know that the new form is directly connected with the earliest days of Christianity, and the inventor may actually have been a Christian.”

Today, then, when you open a book as opposed to using a scroll, you can think of the zealous witnessing activity of the Christians who adopted the codex as the form of their books. So by the opening centuries of our Common Era, the message contained in the Bible was very much alive and was indeed “at work” in the hearts of many worshipers. But such a serene picture was not to last long, as we shall see.

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The Bible was written on perishable material; here you see the oldest Biblical manuscript in the British Museum

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Translation from Hebrew into Greek kept the Bible alive for the common man

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The codex made the Bible easier for zealous Christians to use in teaching others

The Bible—Victim of Savage Attack

HOW could you destroy a book? In several ways. To illustrate, consider how you could ruin a glass of pure water. You could (1) take a rock and smash it or (2) simply add some dirt or other impurity to the water, changing its content.

A similar two-pronged assault threatened to deal a deathblow to the Bible. A fierce attack against the book itself was coupled with attempts to tamper with its contents, to change its message. Either effort, if successful, would render the book useless and prove God incapable of preserving his own Word.

But Why?

You may feel that it is very strange that the Bible has been so intensely opposed. Since it teaches high morals and love, why should anyone want to destroy it? Often, too, those who unleashed the greatest fury against the Bible claimed to hold it dear. It is almost as if some power, higher than mankind, was maneuvering matters.

This is precisely what the Bible shows. It identifies a wicked spirit creature as the one who will stop at nothing to prevent God’s Word from reaching appreciative hearts. Undoubtedly this opposer of God, namely, Satan the Devil, masterminded the whole scheme to suppress the Bible.—2 Cor. 4:4.

Of course, some readers may object to such a conclusion. But what else could explain the sustained fight, through centuries, to prevent or discourage the common man from using the Bible and making it a living force in his life? No other book in history has been subjected to such prolonged onslaughts.

Brutal Attack in the Roman Empire

Though Christians had been persecuted by Rome for many years, the first assault against their sacred writings came in the year 303 C.E. Emperor Diocletian then decreed that all Christian books be handed over and burned. Refusal would bring death! Sadly, scores of precious Bible manuscripts were burned in the streets. However, some, like Felix of Thiabara (Africa), refused to turn over the Scriptures. He said: ‘It is better for me to be burned than the divine Scriptures.’ He paid with his life.

For almost a decade this savagery was vented against the Bible. Yet all the might of the Roman Empire could not destroy this book. Copies were carefully hidden until the persecution stopped. But this was a mere foregleam of what was yet to occur.

Living Book Among First Christians

The early Christians kept the Bible alive by using it extensively in their religious meetings and at home. Some Jews who later became Christians were commended for “carefully examining the Scriptures daily.” Even in the second century, Irenaeus urged all to “diligently read the scriptures.” And Clement of Alexandria suggested that all have “readings in the Scriptures before meals.”—Acts 17:11; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 3:15.

All were urged to obtain their own copies. Wealthier Christians even made gifts of Scripture to others, as did a certain Pamphilus, of whom Eusebius says:

“He was also ever ready to distribute copies of the Sacred Scriptures not only for reading, but even for private keeping. Not only to men, but even to the women whom he found to be interested in reading them. Thus he prepared many copies so that he might present them as gifts.”

Nevertheless, in time there was a development that adversely affected the influence of the Bible in the lives of those who professed faith in it.

Religious Apostasy Almost Dooms Bible

The apostle Paul foretold a falling away from the true Christianity, an “apostasy,” and the development of a religious “man of lawlessness” group that would highly exalt itself. (2 Thess. 2:3, 4) He showed that this “man of lawlessness” would develop from some elders or overseers (“bishops,” American Standard Version) who would “rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.”—Acts 20:28-30.

True to prophecy, after the death of Jesus’ faithful apostles, false, imitation Christians, “weeds,” became manifest. (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43) Some formed splinter groups, and they twisted the meaning of the Scriptures. (2 Pet. 3:16) This led to what some might view as an inconsequential maneuver, but it was one that had ruinous effects.

“The Holy Scriptures themselves, which inspire us with faith, the forerunner of knowledge, can be of no use to you unless you understand them rightly,” said Augustine, a church leader of the fourth century. Origen said in his work, De Principiis:

“Since the teaching of the Church transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles and remaining in the churches to the present day is still preserved, that alone is to be accepted as truth, which differs in no respect from ecclesiastical and apostolical tradition.”

The “teaching of the Church” and “ecclesiastical and apostolical tradition” were placed on the same level as the Scriptures, to prevent heresies or the teaching of alleged religious error.

At the same time, the ceremonies and rituals of the church were stressed. It was felt that these would be of greater benefit to the members than having them become confused by probing into the “depth of Holy Scripture.” Magnificent church buildings, with Biblical scenes carved on their walls and housing images of Bible characters, were considered ‘books of the ignorant.’

Some religious leaders, like Chrysostom of the fourth century, still were champions of personal Bible reading by all. But the die was cast! The people themselves, for the most part, no longer saw the importance of personally reading and studying the Bible. Some argued with Chrysostom, saying:

“We are not monks. I have to give my attention to public business; I carry on a trade; I must look after my wife and children and servants; in short I am a man of the world; it is not my business to read the Bible; that is the business of people who have renounced the world and devote themselves to a lonely life upon the top of the mountains.”

So, gradually the feeling prevailed that Bible reading and study were only for the clergy and highly trained intellectuals.

A Sacred Relic?

In time, the Bible was translated into Latin, the language of the common man. It was decided by the religious authorities that Latin be considered a sacred language. The Bible was to remain in Latin. But later a change gradually took place, and few common persons could then read Latin. No longer willing to put forth effort to understand the Bible, many found it easier simply to revere its pages. The Bible was used as a magical charm. If a person was about to engage in some important or hazardous undertaking, he would open the Bible and interpret the first passage that met his eye as a divine message to him. Magnificently bound copies, written on purple parchment with letters of silver and gold, were made. Sadly, these books became mere showpieces and were hardly read. Yes, the Bible was slowly becoming a “sacred relic” rather than a living, meaningful book.

No doubt you can see that the Bible was in danger. Even some of the priests or ministers could no longer read the Bible in Latin. What happened to some “sacred” writings of ancient Rome illustrates what could occur in the case of the Bible. The New Catholic Encyclopedia explains:

“For centuries pagan Rome preserved certain old sacred texts, even when the priest no longer understood them.” (Italics ours)

Yes, no one could read them. Sacred and highly esteemed—but dead! Could the same fate overtake the Bible?

Translations into Languages of the Common Man

Though vernacular translations were made by the Roman Catholic Church for many centuries, these were not intended for the masses. Concerning the attitude of the Church authorities during the Middle Ages, the book The Lollard Bible says:

“If this translation were made for some king or exalted personage, or by some solitary student, and remain a hallowed but practically unused volume in a royal or monastic library, no objection was taken to the translation of such; but if the translations was used to popularize a knowledge of the biblical text among lay [common] people, prohibition immediately followed.”

Such a translation was not made until the 12th century. And when that occurred, sparks flew!

The Waldensians of France

In the beautiful valleys of southern France lived a religious group called Waldensians. Shortly before 1180, an outstanding member of this group, Peter Waldo, reportedly paid two priests to translate portions of the Bible into the vernacular. Its readers made real changes in their lives. Even one of their fiercest enemies acknowledged a striking contrast between their conduct and that of the people in general. He said:

‘The heretics [Waldensians] are known by their manners and words; for they are orderly and modest in their manners and behaviour. They are free from falsehood and deceit. They are chaste, temperate, sober, and abstain from anger.’

Infused with zeal from personally reading the Scriptures, they went up and down the countryside of France in pairs reading and teaching others the Scriptures. So zealous were they that one reportedly “swam over a river in the night and in the winter, to come to [a certain person] and teach him.” What was found in the Scriptures had become to them a “living power”!

Filled with enthusiasm, they traveled to Rome, Italy, to obtain official approval from Pope Alexander III to use their Bible to teach others. Permission denied! One of the religious dignitaries at this Third Lateran Council, Walter Map, exclaimed:

“Shall not therefore the Word given to the unlearned be as pearls before swine!”

Just think! To enable the common person to read the Bible in a language he could understand was considered to be ‘throwing pearls to pigs’!

A crusade was organized by Pope Innocent III to “exterminate” the heretics. Reports from those who led the crusade indicate that hundreds of men, women and children were cruelly butchered and copies of their Bibles were burned because, as one religious judge or Inquisitor at the time put it,

“They have translated the Old and New Testament into the vulgar [common] tongue, and thus they teach and learn it. I have heard and seen a certain ignorant rustic who recited Job, word for word; and many who knew perfectly the whole New Testament.”

Bibles Spread in the Common Tongue

Fire and sword caused the Waldensians to flee to other countries. Shortly thereafter translations of the Bible that the common man could read appeared in Spain, Italy, Germany and other countries. Wherever they appeared, bans and harsh persecution usually followed. Several official prohibitions of the Bible are shown on the opposite page. To violate these religious and secular laws often meant death by burning!

In England around 1382, John Wycliffe and his associates finished the first complete Bible in English. But many of the common people could not read. So he organized a group of men called Lollards to go and read the Bible to the people.

Shocking Persecution

Those “Biblemen,” as they were sometimes called, created quite a stir. The religious authorities in England responded with unbelievable persecution. In 1401 the English Parliament stated that any who possessed the Bible in the common language should be “before the people, in a high place caused to be burnt, that such punishment may strike fear to the minds of others.”

And indeed this caused such fear! One possessor of an English Bible, out of fear that this would incriminate him, remarked that “he would rather burn his books, than that his books should burn him.” Yet many were not that easily deterred from reading the Word of God. Hundreds of these persons were burned alive for simply, as the court records show, “having a certain little book of scripture in English.” Oftentimes these individuals were burned “with the books of their lore [the Scriptures] hanging about them.”

This persecution raged through one country after another. In some lands, whole villages were massacred where persons persisted in reading the Bible in the vernacular. No man was safe from his neighbors, his employees or even his own children, as all, under fear of severe reprisals, were urged to report anyone seen reading the Bible in his own tongue. Needless to say, to avoid detection, there were many midnight Bible readings.

What would you have done under such circumstances? Would you have treasured the message of the Bible so much that you would have risked your life to read it?

Still, vernacular Bibles were being destroyed faster than they could be made, since they had to be copied by hand. This arduous task also made the Bible extremely expensive, surely out of reach of all but the wealthy. A complete German Bible reportedly cost 70 Florentine gold gulden. At the time, for one or two gulden a person could buy a fat steer. So a Bible was equal in value to a herd of cattle! Some poor persons even ‘gave a load of hay for a few chapters of James or Paul in English,’ according to historian John Fox.

Slowly, it appeared, the Bible would die as a living force among people in general. But at the darkest hour something was invented that greatly changed the picture.

Printing Press with Movable Type

With the printing press, Bibles could be reproduced faster than they were being destroyed. Reportedly, the first book off the press was the Latin Bible. Soon, however, copies in what was then the common language were rolling off presses.

Because the Bible could now be mass-produced the price of a copy was so low that the average man could afford having his own. Martin Luther and William Tyndale, who translated from the original languages, not merely from Latin, made the Bible easier to read. Tyndale used words that even ‘a boy that drives a plow’ could comprehend. Instead of “charity” he used “love”; instead of “church,” “congregation”; instead of “penance,” “repentance.” This helped to make the Bible live for the ‘man in the street.’

However, the fight against such Bibles was far from over. For decades after the first Bible began to be produced on the printing press in 1456, there was a virtual war to destroy copies in the vernacular. Tyndale’s Bibles were burned as fast as they could be confiscated by the bishop of London. So intent was he on destroying all of Tyndale’s Bibles that this cleric reportedly paid for copies so that he could burn them! On one occasion, through a friend, Tyndale sold him some defective copies and used the money to finish his revision. This resulted in a greater flood of his version into England!

For years, Tyndale was hunted down like an animal. Finally, he was betrayed and captured. His efforts cost him his life, as he was strangled and burned at the stake.

Why Translations Were Opposed

Do you find it difficult to understand why many religious officials opposed translating the Bible into the language of the common man? It was not that all these men were directly against the Bible. Some held it in high esteem. These mistakenly feared that unauthorized persons would make faulty translations and, hence, abuse the Word of God. Keeping it in the dignified, stable Latin language was their way of protecting the Bible from being “profaned” by loose translations into the developing vernacular languages.

Why, then, did they not produce an “authorized” translation? In time they did. A German version by Emser was published around 1527, and the English Rheims New Testament was issued in 1582. The reason given for slowness is expressed by Roman Catholic official Geiler of Kaysersberg (Germany), who said around 1500:

“It is dangerous to put knives into children’s hands, for them to cut bread with themselves, for they may cut themselves. So also holy scripture, which contains the bread of God, should be read and explained by such as are already far advanced in knowledge and experience, and will set forth the undoubted meaning. For inexperienced people will easily take harm from their reading. . . . Therefore, if you wish to read the Bible, beware of falling into error.”

But was fear that the unlearned reader might ‘fall into error’ the only reason for not encouraging Bible reading? No, for noted Catholic scholar Erasmus candidly offered others, saying:

“The woman who is occupied in reading the sacred volumes neglects her domestic duties, . . . and perhaps the soldier will be slower to go forth to fight! and a great danger that would be! . . . In many places in the sacred volumes the vices of pastors and princes are reproved, and if the people were to read them, they would murmur against those set over them.”

Regardless of the reason, the effect was that the Bible was almost destroyed as a living force in the life of the common man. Had such attitudes prevailed, regardless of how well meaning they might have been, the Bible would indeed have become a “sacred relic.”

How thankful we can be that through the efforts of some very devoted men, as well as the use of the printing press, the Bible was published in a living language and was made available for use by the common man! And at a cost that the majority could afford. Indeed, the Bible had withstood a most savage attack.

But what about the second method of attack—tampering with the contents? Dirt added to a glass of pure water can ruin it. How did the Bible fare against this subtle attack?

[Blurb on page 8]

What could explain the sustained fight, through centuries, to prevent the common people from having the Bible?

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What would you have done if your life was threatened because you read the Bible?

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‘Inexperienced people will easily take harm from reading the Bible,’ explained one church official. But the scholar Erasmus candidly stated: “In many places in the sacred volumes, the vices of pastors and princes are reproved, and if the people were to read them, they would murmur against those set over them.”

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THE BIBLE PROHIBITED

“No man shall possess books of the Old or New Testament in Romance [the common language].”—JAMES THE FIRST, KING OF ARAGON (SPAIN), A.D. 1223

“Lay [common] people shall not have books of scripture, . . . moreover we prohibit that lay people should be permitted to have books of the Old or New Testament.”—RELIGIOUS SYNOD OF TOULOUSE (FRANCE), A.D. 1229

‘Wherefore, we strictly command all Archbishops, Bishops and all clerics, and all dukes, princes, etc., that you assist the said inquisitors and confiscate such books, written in the vulgar tongue, from all men. And all these are to be taken from all persons, secular and chiefly from lay [common] people (and the more especially, since it is not lawful, according to canon law, for lay people of either sex to read any books whatsoever of Holy Scripture written in the vulgar tongue).’—KING CHARLES IV, EMPEROR OF GERMANY, A.D. 1369

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The Roman emperor decreed that Bibles be seized and burned

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Bible reading came to be viewed as something only for the clergy

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Magnificent, costly Bibles were produced, but were treated as if they were “sacred relics”

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Officials decreed that any who possessed a Bible in the common language should be burned to death

Purity of the Bible Text Threatened

“I HAVE written letters at the request of the brethren. But the apostles of the Devil have filled them with tares, removing many things and adding others. Woe is reserved for them. Since certain people have dared to tamper even with the sacred writings of the Lord it is not surprising that they have made attacks on less important writings.” So Dionysius of Corinth, a professed Christian overseer in the second century, bemoaned what had been done to his own writings.

His words show that some in his day “dared to tamper even with the sacred writings,” the Scriptures. In fact, Marcion of that same period is said by Tertullian to have “openly used the knife, not the pen, since he made such an excision of the Scriptures as suited his own subject matter.” “He has erased everything that was contrary to his own opinion.”

You might be surprised that attempts were made to meddle with the text of the Bible. Can we be sure that such tampering was not eventually successful, changing the meaning of the Bible message? Also, the Bible had to be copied by hand for centuries. Could copyists’ mistakes have ruined its purity? The answer to these questions will help us to see how easily the Bible’s living message could have been irreversibly corrupted. However, because of some highly exceptional circumstances, it was preserved.

No Book Copied with Such Care

Centuries before the Common Era, the Hebrew Scriptures were meticulously copied by devoted scribes. These were called Sopherim, a term apparently derived from the Hebrew verb “to count.” Why? ‘The early scholars were called Sofʹrim,’ according to the Talmud, ‘because they counted all the letters of the Law.’

The letters in each new manuscript were carefully counted and the number had to be identical with the original. What care! Just consider the toil to count every letter. It is reported that they counted 815,140 Hebrew letters in the Scriptures. Every care was taken to prevent corruption of the text.

Yet, to have no mistakes in copying would have required God to perform a miracle every time a scribe picked up a pen. This simply did not happen. Mistakes were made. Were these serious enough to ruin the meaning of the Bible? Or is there evidence to show that, despite thousands of years of recopying, the Hebrew text is virtually the same? For many years such questions went unanswered, because the oldest Hebrew manuscripts went back to only around 900 C.E.

“An Absolutely Incredible Find!”

Near the beginning of 1947, in a small cave overlooking the Dead Sea in Palestine, a 15-year-old boy stood in the dim light and stared bewilderedly at a mass of leather wrapped in a linen cloth. The unsightly bundle was stored in a large, two-foot-high clay pot. How disappointing! He was anticipating hidden treasure in the jar.

However, this lad held in his hands what has since been termed “the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times . . . an absolutely incredible find!” Here were parts of the Bible that date back into the second century B.C.E., 1,000 years earlier than the oldest copies available up to that time. How would they compare with the more recent copies? Millar Burrows, who worked with the scrolls for years, analyzing carefully their contents, stated this conclusion:

“Many of the differences between the St. Mark’s Isaiah scroll and the Masoretic text [the Bible manuscripts in the ninth century] can be explained as mistakes in copying. Apart from these, there is a remarkable agreement, on the whole, with the text found in medieval manuscripts. Such agreement in a manuscript so much older gives reassuring testimony to the general accuracy of the traditional text.

“It is a matter for wonder that through something like a thousand years the text underwent so little alteration.”—The Dead Sea Scrolls, pp. 109, 303, 304.

One scroll contained almost the complete book of Isaiah. Out of the 1,292 verses of Isaiah in the English Bible, only 13 were adjusted by the translators of the Revised Standard Version because of the text of this scroll. This did not mean that there were no more variations than this, but the vast majority of others were mere changes in spelling and grammar. Remember, these Hebrew scrolls were penned 1,000 years apart.

What About the Christian Greek Scriptures?

Especially is the matter of accurate transmission a blazing issue in connection with the Christian Greek Scriptures. For, as mentioned earlier, tampering was attempted. Doubt on the purity of the text loomed for many centuries like a dark cloud, because even up into the 17th century, the oldest authoritative copies of the “New Testament” in the original Greek language went back only to the 10th century—over 900 years after the originals were penned. No one could prove that tampering or the pen of careless scribes had not destroyed the Christian message.

A “Pearl” Hidden in Secluded Monastery

In 1844, Konstantin von Tischendorf, in search of ancient copies of the Bible, entered the library of the monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai south of Palestine. His eyes were attracted by a large basket of book pages. A closer look left him stunned!

Here were pages from a copy of the Bible in Greek far older than any he had ever seen. Hardly containing himself, he inquired about these pages. His heart sank. They were used to start fires! Two heaps had already been burned! The monks gave him 43 pages, but they refused to cooperate further.

He made a second trip to the monastery—no success. A third trip—again all appeared lost. He made arrangements to leave, considering it a hopeless search. Three days before departing, he was talking to the steward, or caretaker, of the monastery who invited him into his small room. The steward remarked that he had read an old copy of the Bible and abruptly pulled down a heap of loose leaves wrapped in a red cloth.

As he opened this bundle, ah! here was the “pearl” Tischendorf had been searching 15 years to find. This Bible manuscript, now called the Codex Sinaiticus, contained all the “New Testament.” Believed to have been written around 350 C.E., it was over six centuries older than authoritative manuscripts at the time. Did it reveal any tampering with the text?

Tampering Discovered and Corrected

It was obvious from the start that the text of Tischendorf’s discovery was basically identical with that which was the foundation for today’s Bibles. Yet it revealed evidence of tampering.

An example is the familiar account at John 8:1-11 (Authorized Version) about an adulterous woman about to be stoned, and that reports Jesus as saying, ‘Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.’ It was not in this early manuscript. So later editions of the Bible have removed it or put it in a footnote to refine the Bible text. Other additions were also found and deleted.—Matt. 17:21; 18:11; Acts 8:37.

In more serious cases, tampering had been done with the text to support a false teaching, such as at 1 Timothy 3:16. The Authorized Version states, “God was manifest in the flesh,” as opposed to “He who was manifested in the flesh.” (American Standard) Quite a difference! Which is correct? If the first is, it would appear that Jesus is God, contrary to passages that say he is God’s Son.—Mark 13:32.

In older manuscripts the words for “God” and “who” (masculine) were similar (Greek letters—who, masculine) (Greek letters—God). Recent manuscripts usually had Greek letters or the equivalent. But in the manuscript found by Tischendorf it is Greek letters, or “who,” referring to Jesus, not God. A scribe had changed the term so it read “God.” The Alexandrian manuscript of the fifth century makes us wonder if it was an innocent mistake. At first glance, it appeared to be Greek letters, but by examination with a microscope it was found to have been originally Greek letters, and ‘a much later hand’ added the lines to change it. Recent versions have refined the text by reading properly, “He who was manifested in the flesh.” (See interlinear word-for-word reading, Interlinear Greek English New Testament, Nestle; also Emphatic Diaglott.)

A blatant example of tampering was also found at 1 John 5:7 where the phrase: “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one,” (Authorized Version) was added. Not only were the words not in the Sinaiticus, but they could not be found in any Greek manuscript before the 16th century. The evidence indicates that a manuscript now found at Trinity College, Dublin, was purposely written about 1520 to insert that spurious verse! Basically, all modern versions have omitted this glaring tampering.

A Host of Witnesses

Even earlier manuscripts than those dated as of the fourth century were forthcoming. In Egypt were found copies of the Bible written on papyrus, some even wrapped around mummies! These were carefully restored and they dated back to the third century C.E. One small fragment of the book of John was even dated back to 125 C.E.! How did these compare with those manuscripts of the fourth century and, hence, with our Bibles today? It is not letter-for-letter exactness, but the message is the same. Any tampering is easily exposed. The message rings clear.

Over 5,000 Greek manuscripts provide ample means virtually to reconstruct the original text. Frederic Kenyon, who has spent nearly a lifetime studying these ancient manuscripts, concluded:

“It is indeed a striking proof of the essential soundness of the tradition that with all these thousands of copies, tracing their ancestry back to so many different parts of the earth and to conditions of such diverse kinds, the variations of text are so entirely questions of details, not of essential substance.

“And it is reassuring at the end to find that the general result of all these discoveries and all this study is to strengthen the proof of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and our conviction that we have in our hands, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God.”—The Story of the Bible, pp. 136, 144.

The Bible comes off a double winner! It survives as a book and with a pure text. However, does it seem reasonable that its survival with a refined text happened merely by accident? Is it just by chance that a book completed nearly two millenniums ago, and subjected to intense assaults, would still exist along with thousands of ancient copies, some dating back to perhaps within 25 years of the originals? Is this not abundant evidence of the power of the One of whom it is said: “The word of our God shall stand forever”?—Isa. 40:8, An American Translation.

Still in our account of the Bible’s fight to live, there is a final chapter. How did this book, which was “born” in the East, manage to be distributed in living tongues to the far corners of the earth? Also, what is the all-important reason why God has seen that his Word may be available to people everywhere?

[Picture on page 14]

Very ancient Dead Sea Scrolls have confirmed the basic accuracy of texts being used for Bible translation

[Picture on page 16]

Where copyists had tampered with the text, this was exposed through discoveries made by men such as Tischendorf, who found the Sinaitic manuscript at St. Catherine’s Monastery

A Living Book Reaches the Ends of the Earth

HE HAD conquered Europe and feared no one. No opposing forces seemed unconquerable. Yet, after considering the history of the Bible, Napoleon admitted: “The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.”

Indeed, it is a book that has proved to be indestructible! And its powerful influence is not limited to the land of its origin. Though born in the Middle East, the Bible has marched into one land after another. It has “learned to speak” in hundreds of languages to the very hearts of mankind. However, this march into lands having unfamiliar languages was not without serious problems.

Into the Languages of the World

Between the ends of the 15th and 19th centuries the number of languages in which the Bible “spoke” rose from 30 to over 450. This was no easy task, for translators were often confronted with unwritten languages or ones whose structures were totally foreign, as Adoniram Judson, the translator of the Burmese Bible, explains:

‘When we find the letters and words all totally destitute of the least resemblance to any language we have ever met with, and these words not clearly divided but run together in one continuous line, a sentence or paragraph seeming to the eye but one long word; when we have no dictionary and no interpreter to explain a single word and must get something of the language before we can avail ourselves of the assistance of a native teacher—that is work!’

Yet there were other more severe obstacles.

The Chinese Bible

When Robert Morrison secretly began to translate the Bible in Canton, China, in 1807, he had to contend with a Chinese law that said: ‘From this time forward, such Europeans as shall privately print books and propagate their religion shall be executed.’

In an abandoned warehouse, living under constant fear of detection, he finished the book of Acts. He had copies printed and freely distributed these, with false covers, to the book sellers. To conceal the handmade wood printing blocks, he buried them, only to find later that termites had destroyed them all! Still not deterred from his goal, in time he completed the entire Bible.

However, his translation was in the literary language, which was not spoken by the majority of Chinese, so Isaac Schereschewsky began a version in the common dialect. After he had just started, a spinal disease rendered him a complete invalid. He had the use of only one finger! Still, on went the translation. With his one good finger he typed while his helpers converted the words into Chinese characters. For seven years, according to the book Chinese Versions of the Bible, ‘he had literally one object—to make plain the Word of God to the Chinese. Day by day, without rest or intermission, he toiled on.’ At last “the One-Finger Bible,” as it was called, put God’s Word into the language spoken by more people than any other in the world!

The determined efforts of such translators have made it possible for various parts of the Bible to be currently available in 1,660 languages. One Bible society alone currently distributes over 200 million copies each year.

Is Its Power Waning?

But does wide distribution assure that the Bible is a living influence? One young girl was asked if she knew anything that was in the Bible. Her tragic answer was, “Yes, there is a pressed squirrel tail, a rose from Aunt Molly’s grave, a lock of Grandpa’s hair, an insurance receipt, and Pa’s Masonic emblem!” Many are like her.

You may own a Bible. But when was the last time you read several pages? How familiar are you with its contents? One Baptist minister observed: “Many know the Bible as we know of George Washington, Socrates, Napoleon, and others—historically. They are dead so far as our knowing them personally is concerned. Just so dead is the Bible in the thinking of many today.”

The enlarging influence of television and radio, along with increasingly busy schedules, has discouraged book reading. Additionally, many doubt that the contents of a book several millenniums old can help them to cope with today’s emotional strains and pressures. Yet, not all feel this way.

The Bible—A Living Force to Millions

There is a former Brazilian prostitute who ran her own brothel; a former hardened killer in a Guatemalan prison; a former member of a shoplifting gang in Ireland who “earned” for himself £100 (about $200, U.S.) a day; an American housewife whose marriage problems caused her to attempt suicide twice and to have a nervous breakdown; and a former Guyanese drunk who was a habitual gambler and “took a delight in beating women.” What do they all have in common?

All of them changed their conduct to harmonize with the Bible’s principles of morality and honesty. The list of examples could go on and on as, yearly, thousands of persons—old and young alike—have found the strength to cope with the pressures of today’s world with help from the Bible. Their lives have reached levels of personal dignity, happiness and satisfaction previously undreamed of.

How did they do it? Did they merely pick up a Bible, begin reading, and make such transformations? Hardly! As one said: “I’ve always wanted to understand the Bible, but it is difficult!” In every case they received personal assistance, much like the Ethiopian court official mentioned in Acts chapter 8. While reading the Scriptures, he was approached by one of the early Christians, Philip, who asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” His modest reply was, “How can I unless I have someone to guide me?” Philip freely assisted him.—Acts 8:30, 31, Phillips’ translation.

Attending meetings designed for group Bible study also helped these ones to mold their lives. These meetings are similar to those of the first-century Christians. There the Bible is copiously read. Also, qualified teachers serve as did the ‘prophets and teachers’ in the first century. (Eph. 4:11-14) Of these, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible says: “The prophets and teachers explain to the believers, and apply to their lives and circumstances, the message of salvation that was brought them by the apostles.”

Have others noticed the effects of such Bible study? In the cases mentioned earlier, all became Jehovah’s Witnesses. Concerning the Witnesses, The New Catholic Encyclopedia mentions that they have a “current reputation as one of the best-behaved groups in the world,” with “indefatigable zeal” in preaching, and their “conjugal [marriage] and sexual morality is quite rigid.”

From Africa comes the following report:

“From all accounts, those areas in which Jehovah’s Witnesses are strongest among Africans are now areas more trouble-free than the average. Certainly they have been active against agitators, witchcraft, drunkenness and violence of any kind. A close study of the Bible is encouraged.”—The Northern News (Zimbabwe Rhodesia).

Naturally, their conduct is not perfect, but the overall condition is certainly striking. Such a large international brotherhood of over two million persons applying Bible counsel clearly shows that now, as never before, the message in the Bible is a “living power,” at work in the believers!—Isa. 2:2-4.

Is the Bible a Living Force in Your Own Life?

No doubt you want happiness and success in life. Who in his right mind does not? Notice this recommendation:

“This book of the law should not depart from your mouth, and you must in an undertone read in it day and night, in order that you may take care to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way successful and then you will act wisely.”—Josh. 1:8.

Yes, the key to a successful life is not the mere possession of the Bible, but reading and carefully following it. Though much of the Bible is crystal-clear, some parts are “hard to understand.” (2 Pet. 3:16) These difficult portions help to reveal one’s motives. (Heb. 4:12) If a person, deep inside, is unconcerned about learning and doing God’s will, he can point to difficult passages as a “reason” for not reading much of the Bible.—Compare Matthew 13:10-16.

We must face the fact that making the Bible a living force in our own lives requires real effort. Proverbs 2:1-5 shows that to find ‘the knowledge of God’ we must ‘cry out for understanding and search for it as for hid treasure or for silver.’ “Hid treasures” are not in the open for easy picking. You have to dig. While digging for treasure, some have sacrificed food and sleep. Ah, but when the treasure is found, it was all worth it!

So, too, time, concentration and meditation are all needed to read the Bible with benefit. Oftentimes a translation in modern language can be helpful. Many have made it a goal to read the Bible through every year. By reading three chapters a day it can be done.

Never forget what some did in the past merely to have a Bible that they could read with understanding. They were willing to face death on a burning stake to do so. Recall how some men, at the risk of their lives, translated the Bible so the common man could read it. Such examples should surely move us to show our appreciation for this precious book by carefully reading it.

A Book That Offers Hope of Eternal Life

Now to that yet unanswered question: Why has God seen to it that the Bible was preserved and made available in a form that all, earth wide, can understand? Because it enables us to get to know our Creator and it contains his promise of everlasting life. He wants every person to have these blessings. The Bible, at Titus 1:2, refers to “a hope of the everlasting life which God, who cannot lie, promised before times long lasting.”

Everlasting life under what conditions? The Bible speaks of a ‘new heavens and a new earth where righteousness is to dwell.’ When righteousness prevails, all will have God’s words at work in their hearts and will deal lovingly with one another. God will bless these with perfect health and freedom from want. What a world! Are we not deeply thankful that God saw that this promise was preserved through his Word till our day?—Ps. 37:10, 11; 85:10-12; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:3-5.

God wants you to know about and enjoy this hope. It is offered to all who are willing to make the Bible a living force right now in their life. Why not make it such in yours? Jehovah’s Witnesses will be glad to help.

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The Bible, the whole or in part, is now in 1,660 languages, the tongues spoken by nearly all mankind

[Full-page picture on page 21]

The Cuckoo—A Cunning Rogue?

By “Awake!” correspondent in the British Isles

IN Russia it is called the kukusbka, in Germany the kuckuck, in France the coucou, in the Netherlands the koekoek, and in Japan the kak-ko. Yet, by whatever name it is known, whether in Scotland or on the slopes of Mt. Fuji, it is the same bird—the common cuckoo.

In full plumage it is a handsome bird, nearly as big as a pigeon, yet weighing less than four ounces (113 gm). Of clear-ash coloring, it has a distinctive barred waistcoat, with white spots and tips on its long tail. Among bird cries, its “cuckoo” is unique.

Fascinating as the bird is, it does have traits that may make it seem to be somewhat of a rogue. The common cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and never bothers to build a nest for itself.

Choosing Foster Parents

The hen cuckoo selects another bird to be the foster parent of its young. She watches the nest-building activities of the chosen foster parent, and after one or more eggs have been laid in the nest, the cuckoo deposits one of her own eggs while the other bird is absent. Since the hen cuckoo lays between 12 and 20 eggs in a season, she has quite a few foster parents to find.

In some mysterious way the female manages to disguise her eggs sufficiently to look like those of the foster parent she has chosen. Ranging through five shades from brown to green, and having a variety of stains and blotchy markings, the cuckoo’s eggs may be pear-shaped or spherical, yet small in relation to the bird’s size.

The deception, however, evidently does not stop there. Some observers say that she removes one of the original eggs from the foster parent’s nest and either eats it or drops it as she flies away.

Rearing of Young Cuckoos

The incubation period of a cuckoo’s egg is only 12-1/2 days, so this egg is often the first one in the nest to hatch. It seems that the young cuckoo, about 10 hours after hatching, is unable to bear having anything touch it; and, for this instinctive reason, it makes desperate attempts to eject other eggs or baby nestlings from the nest. On the baby cuckoo’s back is a highly sensitive cavity into which it maneuvers the offending egg or nestling, then, with much struggling and by using its featherless wings and stiffening its legs, it forces the burden out of the nest, leaving itself the sole occupant. Failures are rare, even though the youngster is blind, naked and seemingly helpless. The instinct is strong to rid itself of all rivals that would contend with it at feeding times.

Such is the impressive power of its commanding call “chiz, chiz, chiz,” that not only do its foster parents spend all their time in searching for food for it, but other birds also feel compelled to drop tidbits, intended for their own offspring, into the baby cuckoo’s ever-open mouth. Often overflowing the frail nest not built for it, it strongly resents any kind of interference, hissing defiance and pecking furiously at a human hand and sometimes even at the bird that has just fed it!

It seems strange that the instinct of the foster parents to rear this unlovable nestling is so strong, so compelling. However, any possible perception they might have that this is not one of their offspring evidently is swallowed up in the struggle to feed it for the necessary 20 days or so before it is ready to fend for itself.

Mysteries of Migration

When the seasons change, the cuckoos are on their way from the British Isles to Africa. But the young ones often go weeks after their parents have left. How do they, along with other migrants, find their way over vast landmasses and seas, often flying at great heights where oxygen is likely to be scarce, beset with cold and high winds—and yet arrive at their destinations with the precision of a computerized journey? Only the Creator knows.

In the spring they find their way back again. Year after year adult birds return to the exact territory they occupied the summer before. Each cock announces its arrival by persistent calling, thereby staking out its claim to a certain stretch of land as its feeding ground.

As for the female, whom will she select as the foster parents for her young? Robins, meadow pipits, sedge warblers, reed warblers, pied wagtails, dunnocks, bullfinches and others have become unwitting parents to those greedy baby cuckoos. But the female remembers the species that reared her and she chooses the same species to hatch her eggs and rear her young.

Useful Feeding Habits

Despite its many unfavourable characteristics, the common cuckoo does have some useful habits. Always a greedy creature, it is this insatiable desire for food that apparently accounts for its eating destructive larvae that other birds will not touch. These larvae, among them the tiger, ermine, drinker or gold-tail moths, have irritating hairs that protect them from other birds, yet hold no fear for the hungry cuckoo. Similarly two other larvae, the magpie moth and the gooseberry sawfly, have protective coloring that scares off other birds, but not so the cuckoo, which finds them very much to its liking. Beetles, worms, centipedes—all are greedily devoured by this ever-hungry bird.

According to human standards, the cuckoo might well be classed as a rogue. But, then, it is not human. The way in which it imposes the care of its offspring on others may seem shocking, but the other birds are not complaining. The cuckoo lives according to the pattern set for it by the Creator, contributing its part to the balance of nature. And while it does so, it carries on in a way that fascinates all who observe it, and that, too, is evidently what the Creator purposed.

Getting More out of Later Life

EVERYONE wants to be able to enjoy living. It is no different if you are one who is in the later years of life. Although perhaps being more restricted in what you can do physically, you certainly want to get the most that you can out of life.

Those who have been better prepared for retirement say that, while they miss certain aspects of their former work, they now enjoy the less hectic pace. They can do things they had cultivated a liking for earlier in life but could not pursue due to a lack of time.

Many appreciate having more time to enjoy the wonders of creation. They enjoy working in gardens, going on trips, observing the trees, plants, flowers and animals. They find mental and physical stimulation in taking walks, enjoying this activity alone or in the company of others.

Then there are those who find much pleasure in having the time to read more. And if their eyesight is not keen enough, they like to listen to recordings, radio programs, or have others read to them. And they enjoy good conversations with people of all age groups.

Literary historian Malcolm Cowley, when he passed the age of 80, made this comment on what was to him another pleasurable activity:

“There are other pleasures as well, including some that younger persons find hard to appreciate. One of them is simply sitting still, like a snake on a sun-warmed stone, with a delicious feeling of indolence that was seldom enjoyed in earlier years.

…

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Awake!, October 8, 1979