Living as we do just across the frontier of a new age, we sometimes need to remind ourselves forcibly that things are really different than they were twenty years ago. Human nature being what it is, we all too frequently take for granted that life goes on just as it did in our youth. We read about jet flights across the Atlantic in six hours; we vaguely gather the impression that now there are machines which can "remember" and "think" and do the work of a great number of people; we hear about nuclear tests in terms of megatons, one of which is equal to a million tons of TNT. Since few of us have experienced an explosion of one ton of TNT we have no difficulty in shrugging our shoulders, for the words have little meaning. Even the space exploits of astronauts and cosmonauts have little meaning because, after all, who can comprehend speed that involves a complete trip around the earth in eighty-eight minutes?
Then, one day we leave New York in midmorning and arrive in London in time for dinner and suddenly a little of the feeling of the new age begins to dawn upon us. All of this tends to remind us that we humans are prone to reject from our minds all that we cannot experience. What a tragedy this is for the Christian who is called to witness to his Lord in the age in which he really lives—not the pleasant days of youth that never will return.
In human terms what do we need to realize about this "new age"? Primarily this age is one of a population explosion. In 1940 we talked of a world population in terms of "something over two billion." Today we talk in terms of a population of three billion; and we are told that by the year 2000 this figure will rise to six billion! When we use figures like this we must take great care not to reject them mentally because we do not experience the impact of this fantastic increase in the number of people on this earth. These figures mean increased hunger in many areas, for the greatest increases are being experienced in parts of the world where the food supply per person is lowest.
These figures also mean an increasing number of young people in their teens and of older people who may have difficulty supporting themselves—because an important cause of the population explosion is increased medical care, which saves the lives of babies and extends the average age of mankind.
But another important aspect of our new age is the increase of literacy. The selfhood of many new nations cries out for better education for young people and literacy programs for adults so that they may share in the affluence the more-educated Western nations now enjoy; and because literacy in itself is a vacuum, books must be printed in many languages. And these books must be put into the hands of the people who are so hungry for them.
Our new age has also seen a tremendous increase in the influence of non-Christian religions. According to figures presented at the recent All Africa Conference of Churches at Kampala, Islam is not only keeping up with the population growth in Africa—this means 2 million additional followers of the Moslem faith each year—but is moving ahead by an additional million new converts each year. The ancient religions of Asia are also showing new vitality as they now compete vigorously with Christianity for the minds and hearts of men.
As Christians, this brings us face to face with the question of how relative we are in presenting God's Word to this new age. Perhaps it is important to say here that we are not discussing the content of the gospel, which never changes from age to age. We are discussing the manner of presentation and appearance of the publication that should be relevant to the age we are seeking to reach.
Multiplying Annual Bible Distribution
The United Bible Societies meeting in Japan last May, facing the challenge of this new age, covenanted together that with the help of the churches round the world we would seek to increase the annual circulation of the Scriptures through the Bible Societies from 51 million in 1962 to 150 million in 1966. There is no question of the need. In the 20 years between 1901- 1920 there was an increase of world population of 95 million. In the same period the Bible Societies distributed 280 million Scriptures. In a similar 20-year period between 1941-1960 the Bible Societies distributed 455 million Scriptures—a good increase—but the world population increased by 774 million persons! It is obvious that a "business as usual" approach to our work as Christians is simply inadequate for this new age. The King's business demands haste and we had better be up and doing.
But how is the tremendously large distribution of God's Word to be accomplished? Stated simply, by a twofold effort: The Bible Societies will greatly increase the supply of Scriptures available throughout the world. Not only in the present formats and bindings, but in many new and colorful formats and bindings to attract the interest of the men of this age. And the churches, we believe, will want to challenge each one of their members to become a voluntary distributor of the Word of God in order that its message may reach to the hearts of men and women in every land.
This is work for the whole church and for every member of the church who is awake to the realities of this new age.
Before we speak of how the church can participate in this program let us consider some of the fresh and attractive formats in which the Scriptures are now available, or will soon be available, in most of the major languages of the world. First, a number of attractive and colorful Selections are available through the Bible Societies. For several years special printings of the Christmas story from Luke's Gospel and the resurrection account from John's Gospel have been prepared. Now these are available as beautifully designed folders, attractive enough to catch the eye of every man. The Sermon on the Mount has been prepared in the form of an attractive little booklet and is now available in more than 45 languages with more being added to the list each year. The parables of our Lord recounted in the fifteenth chapter of Luke's Gospel—the Lost Coin, the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Son—with three full-color illustrations have been published in another very attractive folder. The latest addition planned for this list of Selections is that of Acts 2, which is to be used in connection with a worldwide reading program in the church to emphasize afresh the presence of the Holy Spirit and His work in the midst of the church.
The Bible Societies speak of "Portions" when referring to a whole book of the Bible, generally a book of the New Testament. The Gospels in the form of Portions have been greatly used for evangelistic purposes throughout the years. Now these are appearing in attractive new formats for our new age. One of the most unusual of these is One Way for Modern Man, the Gospel of John in J. B. Phillips' Translation, illustrated with pictures from right off the streets of a modern city. This has been prepared especially for senior high- and college-age young people but will undoubtedly prove to be of interest to men and women of all ages. Here the gospel is truly presented in an up-to-date format that should prove to be most attractive to men and women who have made no commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Of special interest in areas where Spanish is spoken and for use with Roman Catholic friends is a recently issued Portion entitled St. Peter Says. This is the First Epistle of Peter, most attractively illustrated and printed in a stark black-and-white treatment which will catch the attention and, we believe, hold the interest of almost any Roman Catholic who speaks Spanish. New Portions are being issued in what has been termed "spoken French" and "spoken English" for areas of the world where these languages are widely spoken as second languages, such as in Africa. Here the attempt has been made to faithfully reproduce the meaning of the original Greek (which after all was written in the "spoken Greek") in a simple and straightforward manner as a person speaks—not in the usually more complex written form.
The Mission of the Bible Societies
These and many more new and attractive formats are now ready or will soon be available through Bible Society offices the world around. In addition, of course, the Bible Societies continue to publish both the New Testament and the whole Bible in well-produced, yet inexpensive, editions, which are priced not on the basis of cost to produce as a commercial book publisher prices his product, but rather on the basis of a man's ability to pay based on the economy in the country where he lives. The mission of the Bible Societies is to make the Scriptures available. And to do this, they must be economically available as well as physically available. This can be done because Christian people all over the world recognize the importance of the mission of the Bible Society and give to make it possible.
But the very finest of formats and productions are only paper and printing until they reach people. To put these publications into the hands of people is essentially the work of the churches. Here two separate emphases need to be set down. Every Christian who is literate should have a copy of the whole Bible for his own devotional life and study. Yet it has been recently pointed out that only half of the new Christians won to Christ each year in Africa ever obtain a copy of the Bible. Illiteracy undoubtedly plays a part in this startling failure, yet it is not the whole answer and it is increasingly becoming a less important factor. Indifference is probably a much larger factor. Indifference to the Word of God in which alone each individual Christian can find guidance for his spiritual life and development. It is at this point that the church must rediscover its emphasis and dependence on the Bible, not human teachers, for spiritual instruction. The Bible must be delivered to the whole church as the message of God to each individual Christian.
But another way in which the church can participate in this historic program of advance in distribution of the Scriptures is in evangelism. The colorful and attractive Selections and Portions referred to above have been produced at prices that are within the financial capacity of any church the world around to obtain. With these "tools" the local church can prayerfully plan to put at least a Selection or Portion of the Scriptures into the hands of every member of its immediate community. If this program is begun and carried on in prayer, and if the distribution plans are thoughtfully conceived, this means that a vast multitude of men and women all over the world will be introduced to the Holy Scriptures, which have power to make men wise and lead them to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. If this is done by someone who cares enough to do it at a personal sacrifice of time and energy, there is no telling how the Holy Spirit of God will move in saving power as more and more churches avail themselves of this God-given opportunity.
