Alex Jr.: There's a famous book written recently by Thomas Cahill. How the Irish saved civilizationthat is the case here.
Alex Sr.: Right. So the remote, godforsaken places, the far west, were actually important places.
Alex Jr.: Because Rome didn't have the clamping power.
Alex Sr.: Rome was not dominant. And then, of course, the Renaissance and the Reformation happened, and literacy rates increased tremendously. To be honest, people from the Renaissance and the Reformation, people like Erasmus (there were others), Ordinary People You should have access to the Bible.
Alex Jr.: Tyndall Perhaps he said it best: “The boy who pulled the plow” could certainly read the Bible better than the pastors of his day.
Alex Sr.: So that's how it started. Listening to the Bible over and over and memorizing it. itself A type of literacy, which we now call “auracy.”
Alex Jr.: We see this not only in Tyndale, but also in his contemporaries, Thomas Cromwell, who, in the name of King Henry VIII, had an English Bible chained to the pulpit in every parish.
Alex Sr.: We'll talk about that later. That's a very clever idea (by Cromwell).
Alex Jr.: And I've already emphasized that, it means that a group of dedicated readers can get together and work their way through a book of the Bible in that way.
Alex sr: That's right.
Alex Jr.: And, of course, on the back cover of the oft-misunderstood King James Bible (1611), we read in italics: Commissioned to be read in church-Which do not As in Late Modern English, it means “authorized.” early Modern English 'AppointedIt means “so conceived or adapted” to have a rhythm and intonation suitable for reading aloud (in this case).
Alex Sr.: Yes, (as in Jonah 2 in the King James Version) “He Appointed It means “fish”Got ready that'.
Alex Jr.: (And the KJV) Drafted That's right.
Alex Sr.: And then through the reading of the Bible, that idea begins to develop. General (Not an elite) I feel like, “I want to actually read the pages of this Bible that I'm listening to.”
So in some cases, you start looking at a Bible that's chained up in a church or a monastery, and it's shown to you, and maybe a portion of the Book of Jonah is read to you, and you say, “I know this story,” and the monk or somebody will point you to the words.
And that was one of the ways they knew someone was smart: whether they could actually follow the words.
Alex Jr.: Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Celtic mythology, especially the shorter gems, were written down. In slang It was written by monks in Ireland and Wales, and later by clergy in England, so that bright boys who heard it at their mothers' knees could read it along and later learn to write good Latin.
Alex Senior: Yes. In Scotland, of course I talk about Scotland a lot because I'm Scottish, from 1579 any head of household who could buy a Bible had to have one, and it was a cheap Geneva Bible. was cheap.
A parish school was established from 1616 and a Sunday school from 1780. The Bible and catechism (basic teachings of the Articles of Faith) were taught there.
And in addition to that, there were three (important) figures in the Scottish parish. Lord (“laird” is the Scottish word for “lord”), a clergyman (priest) and a school teacher. DominiThese three, together or separately, looked after young men and other wealthy Scotsmen (as they were), and sometimes girls of some special charm.
Alex Jr.: And I can testify that in the late 1950s, underprivileged, bright boys like you were being discovered in central Scotland, and in your case by all three people: the local lord, the headmaster or principal of the local school, and the local vicar. all They protected you.
Alex Sr.: Yes.
Alex Jr.: So they were probably having secret meetings?
Alex Senior: Yes, they met regularly. Villages and parishes in Scotland were governed by three pillars. The constables, for example, as I think they were in England, did not act on the authority of a central government, but on the authority of the local government. parishThat is the origin of the constable.
Alex Jr.: He took the oath seriously.
Alex Sr.: This boy Pair of young people (meaning “parts boy”), which is a well-known Scottish custom.
Alex Jr.: And of course, what we mean by “parts” here (and more generally in the term “well-rounded person”) is achievements or skills.
Alex Sr.: part This is so in Latin, for Scots was obviously influenced by Latin learning.
In England (and Wales) the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK), which (jokingly) later became “For the Prevention of the Disturbance of Christian Knowledge” and then “For the Prevention of the Distortion of Christian Knowledge”, never mind that), set up schools for poor children (teaching them to read and write through the Bible in both English and Welsh) soon after its founding in 1698.
Now, think back to Scotland in 1579. KnoxKnox wanted everybody to be able to read. Knox was a great man. He wasn't a very nice man at times, but he was a very great man. He made sure that people had the Bible and the schools and the institutions that were there.
In England, the year was 1698, ten years after the Glorious Revolution, when the SPCK founded a school for poor children. In 1769, a woman named Hannah Ball founded what is generally considered the first Sunday school, and then in 1780, Robert Raikes founded a Sunday school to educate both adults and children.
Alex Jr.: There was also a gentleman from Germany in Bristol, George Muller.
Alex Sr.: Yes. They all taught literacy through the Bible and catechism. By 1831, it is estimated that Sunday schools were educating more than a quarter of the population.
Alex Jr.: Before Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1831, the church was basically preaching to young people. With the[political]upheaval of the early modern period on the horizon, one of the church's concerns was, “If we don't do this, people are going to be lied to about their history.”
Alex Senior: And remember, in 1832, you had the Great Reform Act, which expanded the right to vote in Britain. So all of these things just came together, so to speak.
Alex Jr.: Yes, and again the United States leads the way, because the early American republic was very clear on this, especially on the East Coast. To live in a free republic,you Obligations As citizens, let’s read the long news articles, understand where we are being duped, and vote accordingly.
Alex Senior: Yes, that's correct, and between 1698 and 1831 a series of Bible societies were established: SPCK, Scottish SPCK, the Naval and Army Bible Society, the Religious Tract Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the National Bible Society of Ireland (1806), the Bible Society of Northern Ireland (1807), etc. Note that even then there was an Irish branch.
Then, in 1809, the Scottish Bible Society, in 1816, the American Bible Society, and in 1831, separation (from the BFBS). Trinity Bible Society.
Alex Jr.: That means there are 12 of them!
Alex Sr.: There are 12 Bibles there. These are cheap, subsidized, free Bibles that they give out. Sometimes they have regular Bibles. For example, the Bible that the American got (from me) had “Sold Below Cost Price, $10” stamped on the cover.d.(10 pence, or less than a shilling). It was British.
Alex Jr.: So, what I want you to know here is that this isn't some state funded organization doing a propaganda campaign for people, this is often just good local boys who want to have Bibles in their community.
Alex Sr.: Fast Gideon.
Alex Jr.: do not have Not to promote a sectarian agenda, but to promote literacy.
Alex Sr.: One of the reasons Bible societies were founded was to eliminate denominational bias and to allow people (from different churches) to cooperate. And that's a good way to do it. Christians with different views can come together. canJust as we donate to medical and earthquake disasters (relief funds), we can also donate to the Bible shortage (relief funds). You can all have your own ideas, but any Christian of good will can donate to a central fund to help people get Bibles.
Alex Jr.: This is exactly what happened in North Wales, which led to the formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The London clergy Mary Jones Her experience in getting a Bible in (now) Gwynedd (where she had to walk all day) made her realise that “to put an end to this problem I had to get all the churches to cooperate”, because, of course, Welsh Bibles could never be printed at cost, they would always be prohibitively expensive and subsidies were needed.
