Historical Power of Bible

A historian studying the great discoveries and influences on the history of the modern world, lists the rise of the Vernacular Writings.

The way of life of the ancients did not change greatly for thousand of years up until the time of the reformation, marking the end of Medieval times, then began a rapid increase in education, science, invention, industry, medicine and general welfare. Education was limited to the noble and rich and their paid scholars. The vast masses of common people could not write nor read and had virtually nothing to read. Nothing was written in their vernacular, the common spoken language. The few learned scholars studied, read and wrote in the classics, Latin and Greek. This prevailed throughout the Medieval times abetted by the Catholic clergy who kept the Latin for their own ends for the benefit of the hierarchy, but discouraging general education of the working classes, until the time of the reformation, when things began to change, to improve. The tight held dam began to break, light began to enter. First God's light came then all other kinds of light followed.

Now historians looking back can enumerate various discoveries and movements which had important dynamic effects in the rise of modern civilization. One was the rise of writing in the vernacular. This was a wondrous thing. This came about just exactly when the Bible influence was on the rise. It was not in the many other lands of the world where the Bible was suppressed or unknown. Luther immediately began to translate and distribute the Bible in German and that formed the basis of the accepted different provinces. That united agreement on dialect made possible the formation of Germany which was a leader in science and industry up until they began to leave the fundamental faith to follow the way of Modernism theology, "Higher Criticism" they called it. I wrote this of Germany some time ago. Now I wish to look at the historians discovery about England.

Then William Tyndale came to England soon after the Reformation had begun in Germany. Tyndale wished to convert souls to living knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, but soon realized a translation of the Bible was needed in the English vernacular. Tyndale was not wealthy, but he knew the classic languages. He set to work with great sacrifice not subsidized by any rich patron,and often persecuted and hunted by the priests of Rome. He had to study and choose which vernacular of the four, five or six main dialects would be best for a central united vernacular. Those dialects in the 1500's were so desperate, people of one could often not understand the others. He studied, he prayed, he chose, and he created a composite vernacular, both practical and beautiful, very obviously guided by God.

When he began to publish and distribute his first portions of the Bible, he also published a dictionary explaining meanings and distributed them together. This lexicon or dictionary was one of the first in the vernacular in history.

As the Bible became more widespread, more common folk began to learn to read, more writing on all subjects was done in the vernacular, and the vernacular used was that created by Tyndale, the man of the Bible. The growth of education, science, medicine, invention and industry rapidly followed, creating an England that spread all over the world. The fount was the Bible with its higher moral values, along with the spread of general education, after Tyndale created the united English vernacular.

Countries which did not have an open Bible and a Bible religion did not develop in that way, but remained backward, a few rich, millions of suffering and illiterate poor, poor hygienic conditions, and high mortality rates, destined to stay in darkness until the light should come. That is where we are today and why Bible missionaries are going all over the world.