The original painting by Sir George Harvey was engraved by Robert Graves, A.R.A., in 1846.

The setting is the Crypt of Old St. Paul's about 1540. The "Great Bible" is being read by a young fellow named Porter, who died in Newgate following his imprisonment by Bonner, Bishop of London (on the right). HUMPHREY MONMOUTH, the good friend of the Martyr, William Tyndale, is seated, and beside Anne Askew, whose magnificent stand for the truth of God led to her brutal torture at the hands of the Lord Chancellor, who is seen standing with another confederate behind the womenfolk.

In the shadow of the pillar are three Martyrs. These true Christians were burnt with Anne Askew in the fires of Smithfield.

On the left are Bishop Gardiner; Thomas Cromwell, who is credited with having tried to help Tyndale and promoting the public reading of the Bible; and Miles Coverdale ("Editor of the first English Bible"), whose tomb is in the Church of St. Magus the Martyr, by the London Bridge.

The Chained Bible

It is more than 400 years since King Henry V111 declared that a large copy of the English Bible should be set up in every Parish Church in England, so that the poor as well as the rich might hear the word of God. To guard against theft the Bibles were chained as shown in this historical picture.

For Some The Bible Is Still Chained

1. For Those Who Will Not Read It.

In most of the great languages of Europe the whole Bible has been available for well over three hundred years. Those who have sincerely obeyed its message have received riches, which cannot be measured. They have come to know, personally, the only true God, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; "and this" says the Bible, "is life eternal" (St. John 17:3). Others, choosing not to open the Bible, have lived all their lives in ignorance of its vital truths. They have remained paupers, a treasure within their grasp. For such people the Bible remains a "chained" Book.

2. For Those Who Cannot Read It.
Millions, in whose languages the Scriptures are already printed, cannot read. Thus the Bible remains for them, too, a "chained" Book. Yet multitudes of these people are learning to read every year. How important is the task of ensuring that new readers have the Word of God immediately available before producers of harmful literature capture their minds. Missionary teachers are required to teach people to read and understand the Scriptures. Needed, too, in many parts of the world in the actual production of the Scriptures are the minds and hands of those who have artistic or technical ability, dedicated to the service of God and man.

3. For Those Who Do Not Posses It.

Ponder the following facts - the fruits of the efforts of devoted men and women down the centuries:

The whole Bible (1966) has been translated into 240 languages, the New Testament into another 301 and 739 languages more have at least one book of the Bible. Adding those languages which have perhaps only a booklet of selected Scriptures, the total number in which the whole or some part of the Bible exists is now over 1,300.

But did you know that there are at least 3,200 languages in the world? This means that over 1,900 languages are still God's message of love. For the people of these many, many tribes the Bible is still "chained", and they, themselves, are "chained", too.

To give the Word of God to these peoples, hundreds of devoted young Missionary Translators are needed - prepared, for Christ's sake, to go to small tribes in the jungles of Amazonia, in the heat of West Africa, in the mountains of the Philippines and New Guinea. They must accept, as a guiding principle for their careers, the words of the Lord Jesus:

"Whoever will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever will save his life shall lose it;
But whoever shall lose his life for my sake
And the gospel's, the same shall save it."
(St. Mark 8:34-35).

This information was compiled by the SCRIPTURE GIFT MISSION, Radstock House, 3, Eccleston Street, London, S.W.1.

Chained Bible

Bible Baptist Church Malta