Page 12 - THE WORD OF GOD_Gorgeous

In spite of it all, the Bible rises unscathed

from the fire! After every fiery ordeal it rises,

unharmed, from the flames of prejudice and

hate. It is the most durable Book on this

planet. It outlives its most implacable foes.

Diocletian is dead. Voltaire and Pain are

forgotten. Lenin and Hitler have followed

them into the mists of oblivion. But the Bible

lives. Said one astonished observer: “The

Bible’s obituary has been written hundreds of

times, but this Book has an uncanny habit of

turning up at its own funeral!”

In our own century, in spite of all the past

and present hammer-blows of hate, the Bible

has broken all records in book-production

and distribution. No competitor comes

within sight of its translation into 1808

languages (1984 total) – twice as many as in

1920 – and this number is increasing

steadily. The Wycliffe Bible Translators, for

example, have a staff of missionary linguist

working among almost 800 different tribes,