“I think it’s appropriate today to thank the Lord for the Bible that you hold in your hand.”
(Jordan Standridge – The Cripplegate) October 31 should be Bible Appreciation Day.
While the world’s children appreciate candy and playing dress up, we Christians ought to appreciate those who shed their blood in order for us to hold the Bible.
If only Wycliffe, Hus, and Tyndale could have seen a vision of my iPhone as they were being killed for their hard work! They would have seen the dozens of translations I hold in my Bible gateway app, or my Logos app, that allows me to have access to so many tools, including the ability to parse Greek words at the drop of a hat!
I think it is proper for us to spend a little time tomorrow thanking God for His Word, and for emboldening men and women to be willing to die for the sake of the possibility to hold our Bibles.
It is also imperative that you realize the ramifications of their actions. The Roman Catholic Church hates the fact that you have your Bible.
They made that very clear when they dug up John Wycliffe’s bones in order to burn them and scatter them in the river Swift. His Bible translation left such an impact that the Roman Catholic Church needed to make a public statement about their hatred for him.
They proved that again when they burned Jan Hus for translating the Bible into Czech. The story goes that they were so excited about his death that hundreds of prostitutes made their way to his execution, and hundreds died while partying in the local lake.
They kept their tradition strong when they killed William Tyndale for his English translation work by strangling him and then burning his body. If it were up to the Roman Catholic Church we would all be biblically illiterate buying our way to heaven through indulgences.
Watch a dramatic reenactment of Martin Luther standing before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms defending what he taught and had written here.