7. The Bible in America

The public significance of the Bible among the American people. – The Bible in language, literature, art, and politics. – A newly corrected translation of the New Testament and the public interest concerning this event. – The character of the translation. – A newspaper half the size of the Bible.

“The Bible contains 3,586,489 letters, 773,692 words, 31,173 verses, 1,189 chapters, and 66 books. The word Lord appears 1,855 times, the word and is repeated 46,277 times. The middle verse of the Bible is Ps 118:8. All letters of the alphabet except the letter j are found in 21 verses of the 7th chapter of the book of Ezra. The longest verse is Esther VIII, 9, and the shortest is in the Gospel of John 11:35.”

I recently had occasion to read such a mathematical calculation regarding the contents of the Bible in a New York newspaper, and it represents not only a curious oddity but also an interesting characteristic feature. The scrupulous attention to the contents of the Bible by a busybody counting its letters and words is only one of many manifestations of the general American attitude toward the sacred book. Surely nowhere does the Bible have greater public significance than in America. Here it is not only a book in constant use in the ordinary sense of the word, but has entered into the very flesh and blood of American society. If it were possible to take the Bible away from the American people, it would mean depriving them of half their being. For the American, the Bible is connected with the sweetest memories of early childhood. As soon as a child becomes conscious, he begins to see in every house without fail a thick gold-edged book, which a white-haired grandfather or a wrinkled grandmother in silver spectacles invariably reads every morning and evening by a blazing fireplace. The monotonous and peculiar recitative of this reading forever becomes associated in the child’s mind with the blissful period of happy childhood. When the time comes for schooling, on the Christmas holidays the father gives to his son or daughter, along with other gifts, also a tiny pretty Bible. Then school begins, and there again the sweet memories of the child’s family life are revived and sustained by daily Bible reading. In American schools, instruction daily begins with reading a chapter from the Bible, though without any explanation. But the Sunday school, which in America is at a high level of development, has as its special purpose the explanatory study of the Bible. Remarkable success is achieved in this regard. Children in America generally develop very early, but clear and distinct biblical knowledge is acquired by them at an age when European and especially Russian children have no notion of the book itself. At Easter in one of the New York churches I attended a celebration of the Sunday school’s anniversary. About seven hundred children had gathered. After several hymns came what was called in the program an annual review of the work. The instructor of religion listed in order the Sundays on which Sunday school was held and asked the children what text was explained on such and such a day, and immediately the entire mass of children with astonishing clarity and liveliness recited the text by heart. Since the explanation of texts in school is conducted by the same system by which the Bible is read in church, this made it possible for the press to follow the teaching in Sunday school, and in the Sunday issues of secular daily newspapers one can always find a more or less detailed explanation of the text that is coming up in Sunday schools, so that children have the opportunity to encounter the same text three times in different forms – in church, in school, and in the newspaper.

Given all this, it is understandable what influence the Bible has on the life of American society. When you enter an American home, you will see on the table in the parlor a book that you can recognize as the Bible by its appearance alone. Sometimes the Bible is preserved as a heritage from distant ancestors, and on its margins is recorded the precious chronicle of family traditions. Often such a Bible serves as the sole decisive arbiter of disputed questions in court concerning the legality of inheritance. Look around, and you will see on the walls small plaques that harmonize very elegantly with the color of the wall decorations. If you examine these plaques closely, you will see biblical texts on them. Together with the Bible on the table lies an album. In it, besides photographic cards, you will find a multitude of Christmas and Easter cards with which Americans give each other presents at Christmas and Easter. They are inscribed with holiday wishes and biblical texts. Because of this, what is astonishing is the knowledge of texts that one can constantly encounter in conversation with Americans. Their conversation itself bears a strong biblical tone. Along with verses from Shakespeare, an American will certainly bring forth several biblical texts. In comparisons they constantly turn to biblical facts. The influence of the Bible on literature is even more noticeable. No literature bears such a strong biblical imprint as American literature. Biblical texts and turns of phrase are encountered daily in newspaper articles claiming literary merit. “We have no book that exerts such a deep influence on the thought and style of the newest literature,” said the “Herald” regarding a recent occurrence. “For every writer with claims to thought, it is impossible to avoid obligations to this sacred source. There is no work that has so deeply imprinted itself on the hearts and minds of all English speakers.” Texts sometimes begin leading articles in secular newspapers, as, for example, an editorial in the “Herald” regarding the election of a new president. In art, the Bible also plays an important role. Biblical subjects are eagerly developed by American painters. At annual exhibitions of paintings, you constantly encounter either several biblical pictures or genre scenes with the introduction of family Bible reading by the hearth. Bible reading is sometimes even introduced into theatrical plays depicting the everyday family life of the American people. Finally, both in everyday life and in the heat of political struggle, one can constantly encounter traces of biblical influence.

Political orators in addressing the masses constantly illuminate their thoughts with biblical examples, though sometimes not of the most elegant kind. During the presidential election of last year the air trembled with such biblical-political speeches. Once a zealous democrat, his voice hoarse from political zeal, amid the whistling of rockets in the evening air, from a high platform exerted himself to prove to the gray mass of people gathered before him that they should vote for the democratic candidate and not the Republican. Having laden the latter with all manner of ponderous epithets, the orator declared that his nomination was itself impious and shameful. “The Republicans say,” the democrat orated, “that the nomination of General Garfield as a candidate for the presidency was accomplished as if by inspiration. Yes, truly by inspiration, but what kind of inspiration? – Countrymen, it was indeed inspiration, but not one kind or another, but that great inspiration by which the swine of Gadara rushed down the cliff into the water. Just as the swine of Gadara had one and the same inspirer, so too do the Republicans, and that inspirer is none other than the evil spirit – Satan.” And then the democrat orator, finding approval among his listeners for his apt comparison, drew a long parallel between Republicans in general and the swine of Gadara. The gray mass only roared and guffawed. Differently does Garfield himself explain his nomination for the presidency. As is known, he rose to the highest position in the world’s greatest republic from the canal tow-path, where as a child he earned his meager daily bread. Such an extraordinary elevation in itself suggests the thought of divine providence, and all the more so for Garfield, who himself was once a preacher in a church of the community of “Disciples of Christ.” The action of transcendent providence manifested itself also in his nomination for the presidency. This nomination was completely unexpected. The candidates were such famous figures as General Grant, and there was no thought of Garfield at all. Nevertheless Grant suffered defeat, while the canal boy received the nomination. On this occasion Garfield himself tells the following story: “The night before the nomination we sat until past midnight, trying to sort out the tangled state of affairs. Affairs were in a hopeless state and we, having rested a little, began to prepare for a new futile struggle. When I set out the next day to the convention, I passed a man who was eagerly handing out sheets to every passerby. I took one, thinking it was probably an advertisement for some patented medicine or something of the sort; but upon glancing at it, I saw that it was a sheet from the Bible, and therefore I did not throw it away, but put it in the pocket of my coat and forgot about it. Soon the nomination was made and telegrams poured in from all sides. I read them and placed them in the same pocket. After the session, I went to my hotel, and telegrams continued pouring in great quantity, so that it was impossible to answer them all, and I ordered my secretary to put them all in a bag, so as to examine them at home. Grabbing from my pocket a packet of telegrams, I handed it to him. ‘And what is this?’ he asked me, showing me the printed sheet. It turned out to be a sheet from the Bible, and it folded in such a way that only one verse could be read, namely: ‘The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’ Those present at the time were astonished and drew attention to this occurrence. I believe, gentlemen, in Providence, added the President. A sparrow cannot fall to the ground without it. But – I shudder at the very thought that such a high Power acted for my sake or for my advancement.’”

Given the enormous influence of the Bible on the life and thought of the American people, it is not surprising that every event concerning the Bible becomes a major public event. Such an event was recently the publication of a new corrected English translation of the New Testament. The current English translation of the Bible, in general use among English-speaking peoples, was made under English King James I and is therefore called the Jacobean. This translation, according to experts in the English language, is distinguished by major literary merits. Its language is distinguished by a majestic and at the same time simple style, elegant, clear, strong, and musical. It is one of the finest examples of English classical prose. These great merits explain the remarkable fact that it came into universal use, displaced all other translations, and became the “authorized” translation, without being officially authorized by anyone. It is used in churches and families, and its somewhat archaic language has become entirely sacred language for the people, like our Slavonic. With time, however, the popular English language underwent such changes that some words acquired an entirely different meaning or fell completely out of use, so that the Bible translation in certain places ceased to be understood by ordinary readers. Given the prevalence of the Bible among the people, this began to concern preachers of God’s word, and they began to think about correcting the translation, especially since with the development of biblical-critical science it seemed necessary to them to make corrections in the text of scripture more substantial than a mere correction of the translation. Ten years ago, for this purpose a special Bible society was formed. It included all the best learned scholars in the field of biblical exegetics and philology, both in England and in America, and in a membership of eighty began the work. The English and American parties worked completely independently, and only at certain periods presented their work for comparison, and then in case of disagreement the matter was decided by majority vote. The work consists not only in correcting the translation but also in checking the text itself by newly discovered ancient manuscripts and in critical evaluation and verification of the meaning of every word of the Greek or Hebrew original. The work is obviously colossal, especially given that the number of different readings (variants) in the various discovered manuscripts and translations of the New Testament amounts to 150,000. The public followed the progress of this important work with interest, and the interest naturally increased as it drew to a close, until finally it turned into actual impatience. Already by the end of last year newspaper reports began to appear of the translation approaching completion, but the translation itself appeared only on May 20 of this year. And this day, together with the entire week that followed, was a day of extraordinary triumph of God’s word. America, as is known, is a country of literary sensations. Any literary work, strongly touching the sensitive string of public life and sufficiently preparing itself through loud advertisements and original announcements, completely captures the minds and hearts of society and quickly sells in a series of several successive editions. The new translation of the New Testament had no artificial announcements for itself other than those reports which the all-pervasive and all-knowing reporters strove to disseminate, and yet the day of its release was such a literary event as America does not remember. Even before the publication of the translation, up to 800,000 people in New York and Philadelphia had placed orders for it! Then on the very day of its release there was talk of nothing but the new translation. Newspapers published leading articles on the significance of the Bible in general for the English people; reporters scattered throughout the city, asking all somewhat competent persons about the merits of the new translation; crowds of people thronged outside shops impatiently awaiting their turn to receive a copy of the New Testament, while small booksellers transported the new translation in bales to their shops. To what extent the demand was great, one can judge by the fact that on this single day alone 300,000 copies were sold, at prices ranging from 15 cents to 10 dollars. The next day about 200,000 more copies were sold, and within the first week the number of sold copies had risen to a million – and this only in New York and its immediate vicinity. Newspapers throughout the entire week were filled with articles and reviews of the merits of the new translation. In the “Herald” in five successive issues there appeared such a mass of articles and reports on the new translation that if they were collected together, there would result a substantial book of some ten pages of ordinary print. And if all this material were translated into Russian, then given that each Russian word is at least twice as long as the English, there would result a substantial book of about twenty printed pages. All of this was published in five issues of the “Herald” newspaper. If one takes into account that this newspaper is distributed daily in 125,000 copies and is read by at least five times that number of people, then the public became fully and comprehensively acquainted with the new translation. Even greater interest in this new translation was shown by the Chicago newspaper “Times,” published in the city of Chicago, three days’ railway journey from New York. In order to give their readers the opportunity to become acquainted with the character of the new translation on the very day of its publication, the New York correspondent of the newspaper transmitted by telegraph all twenty-eight chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. In the next two Sundays preachers chose the new translation of the New Testament as the theme of their sermons, and the preacher’s reviews again occupied entire pages in the Monday issues of newspapers. It was a great and perhaps unprecedented day of the shining of God’s word. I have no factual data for comparing this public interest of Americans regarding the publication of the new translation of the New Testament with the public interest manifested in Russia on the occasion of the appearance of the first authorized translation of the Bible into Russian; but I shudder at the very thought of such a comparison…