The online edition of the Quarterly Record, the magazine of the Trinitarian Bible Society.
As this edition of the Quarterly Record is being prepared for publication, we are looking forward to the Annual General Meeting of the Society to be held on 9th June at Westminster Chapel, London, God willing. We are proposing to include in the October edition of the Quarterly Record an account of the Annual Meeting together with the Annual Sermon, God willing.
As only some of the readers of the Quarterly Record receive the Annual Report, we are giving below a few paragraphs from the Annual Report for 2000, together with the chart detailing the Society’s distribution during the year, which we are sure will be of interest to all our readers. Copies of the complete Annual Report, which not only contains the complete form of the following, but also reports by the Editorial Manager and the Consultant Accountant, together with details of the Financial Statements, may be obtained without charge from any of the Society’s offices.
A total of 736,716 copies of the Holy Bible were published and distributed by the Society during the twelve month period ending 31st December 2000. In total 9,857,510 items of Scripture were supplied in 37 languages for use in 124 countries.
The Society’s sales in 2000 increased by over 17% to £1,581,696. Although a significant proportion of the items sold were supplied at subsidised prices, a net contribution of £285,383 was made from its sales for use in other charitable activities of the Society.
Many thousands of the Bibles sent out by the Society, as well as considerable quantities of its smaller items, were supplied free of charge to churches, missions and other institutions, as well as to individuals, where there was need. The gross cost of the Scriptures supplied without charge increased from £309,100 in the previous financial year to £345,225 in the year ending 31st December 2000. In addition to this considerable increase in the value of grants allocated in 2000, it is proposed that a significant proportion of the surplus made in 2000 should be used further to increase the volume of grants being supplied in the current financial period.
In the English language, over 310,000 Bibles were circulated during the year. For the second year running, this has been a record number of copies of the Authorised Version published and circulated by the Society. Many of these Bibles were sold to distributors in Nigeria and Ghana, as well as in the UK and other English-speaking parts of the world. Over 374,000 copies of the Society’s Millennium edition of the Gospel of John were circulated, the majority of these in Northern Ireland. The Society has continued to supply copies of its Ten Commandments textcards and posters (as well as other Scriptures) to schools in the UK and elsewhere where the opportunities have been open. Over 358,000 copies of the Golden Thoughts Calendar, and over 286,000 copies of the Words of Life Calendar were also circulated in the English language.
The non-English language Bibles distributed included 1,100 Arabic Bibles, 41,500 French Bibles, 1,100 Greek Bibles, 700 Hebrew Bibles, 24,600 Hungarian Bibles, 94,500 Portuguese Bibles, 55,200 Russian Bibles, 165,100 Spanish Bibles (including those sold under royalty arrangements) and 15,400 Ukrainian Bibles. The Gideons International distributed over 6 million copies of the Society’s Portuguese New Testament in Brazil. In addition, over 1,400 copies of the Society’s Original Languages Bible and 2,500 copies of the Society’s Textus Receptus Greek New Testament were distributed, many of them for use in theological seminaries in different parts of the world. Over 295,000 copies of the Golden Thoughts Calendars in eight languages other than English, and similarly 476,000 copies of the Words of Life Calendar in a total of seventeen other languages, were published and distributed.
As well as publishing copies of the Word of God for distribution, the Society is committed to assisting in the preparation of new translations and revisions of the Holy Bible for publication. Currently the Society has about thirty different projects in progress, which are at various stages of completion. During the year 2000, the work on the text of the Society’s orthographic revision of the Spanish Bible was completed, as was the work on the major revision of the Romanian Bible. Both of these Bibles are now being prepared for publication this year, God willing.
In the Lord’s goodness the amount donated and subscribed increased by over 13% to £520,112, and the legacy income more than doubled. This resulted in all the expenses of the Society being wonderfully covered, and a surplus for the year of £307,306. Although this may appear a large amount, it is anticipated that much – if not all – of this surplus will be required in the furtherance of the Society’s charitable activities in the current financial period.
First, and foremost, our thanks are due to the Lord, the Divine Author and Preserver of His Word, who in His grace has inclined so many of His people to associate with the Society in its work. The continued prayers and sacrificial giving of the Society’s supporters are a constant source of encouragement.
We have been appreciative not only of the help received from individual supporters, but also that which has come through supporting churches, the Society’s branches in Canada, the USA, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, and its auxiliaries in these countries, in the UK and elsewhere.
As the Society continues in its practical but spiritual work of publishing Protestant or uncorrupted versions of the Word of God among all nations, may the spiritual goal and the noble end be constantly before it, that notwithstanding all the difficulties and the many oppositions it may daily face, the Society may continue to maintain the purpose for which it was formed, and be richly used of God as an unworthy instrument in His hand, for the greater glory of His Name, the furtherance of His Kingdom on the earth, and the spiritual enrichment of many.
Brethren, pray for us.
As this edition of the Quarterly Record was being prepared for publication, we received the sad news of the passing away of Brian Oliver, a member of the Society’s General Committee. A fuller notice of Mr Oliver’s contribution to the work of the Society will be given in the next edition of the magazine, God willing. May the Lord grant comfort to Mrs Oliver and the family in their loss. “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men” (Psalm 12.1).
by the Rev. G. Hamstra
A Vice-President of the Society
This divine encouragement provides a special support to the children of God. They often experience sorrows and sufferings. Yet, trusting in their God, they may always find comfort and be cheerful as they walk with the Lord. Afflictions in themselves are not joyous, but grievous. However, God as a gracious heavenly Father overrules and directs all things for the good of His children.
The expression “we know” was a household word among the believers in the early Christian church. There is no room for fate or chance in a believer’s life. God is in control of every event. Our sorrows and our joys are controlled and directed in heaven. This sanctified knowledge, a fruit of saving faith, affects the heart as well as the mind, and produces a firm trust and confidence in this consoling truth.
The darkest day in a believer’s life works as much together for his good as does the brightest. The gloomiest circumstances and the most joyful occasions are equally under divine control. The Bible contains many rich illustrations of this Christian consolation. Take for instance the life of the patriarch Jacob. He mourned the loss of Joseph; he complained about Simeon’s bondage in Egypt’s prison, and feared to lose Benjamin: “all these things are against me” (Genesis 42:36). Yet Jacob’s night was turned into a perfect day. All of his sorrows were written in God’s book. The same holds true about the history of the life of his son Joseph. The hatred of his brothers, the experience of his slavery in a foreign land, and the bondage of a prison life, were all painful circumstances working together according to God’s perfect plan. In due time Joseph could comfort his brothers and say, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20). Indeed, Joseph’s heart was often grieving, but he was ever guided by the Lord’s loving hand.
All things work together for good. But is there not one case for which we must make an exception? Can sin also be included in all these things? Can sin ever work together for our good? This is a rather delicate matter. Sin is always grievous and loathsome and must never be condoned. However, a holy, an all-wise, and a merciful God can make it work together for our good. Sin is always God dishonouring. But God in His infinite mercy makes it work together for the profit of His own. Peter’s denial of Christ clearly illustrates this truth. By God’s grace and through it all Peter became a more humble follower of Christ; it made him hate sin all the more. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Let us always be afraid of sin, and remember that it is not sin in itself that works the good, but God who in His mercy produces light out of darkness. Moreover, we must also consider that what is taught here – that all things work together for good – is limited to those who love God.
Love to God is the most important characteristic of the true child of God. The unregenerate may have a sound confession, but have no love to God. However, all who are born from above have this new principle. They are those who love God. It is by the new birth that this gracious change took place. Once they hated God, now they love Him. God the Holy Spirit produced the alteration. They love God as He has revealed Himself in Christ. They love the Saviour from sin. They love the Holy Spirit as their Guide to Christ. They may confess with the Apostle John: “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
An additional description is given of the children of God: they are the called according to His purpose. This is the inward or effectual call. The outward call comes to all who are privileged to hear the precious Gospel of God’s dear Son. By this call God knocks at the door of the heart of needy sinners. By the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit the heart is opened, and the sinner is translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s marvellous light. This sinner was once dead in sin and trespasses, but is now spiritually alive. Once he loved sin, now he loves holiness. Once he belonged to the world, now he belongs to God and Christ.
The effectual call is according to God’s eternal purpose. Even from all eternity God knew His children. He already purposed to call them before they were born, even before the creation of the world. The effectual call is a permanent call; God’s purposes cannot be overthrown. Therefore all things must work together for good to them that love God! How precious is this divine encouragement in the day of trial!
by C. P. Hallihan
A simple outline of the beginnings of the TBS may be found helpful to our readers, not only as a reminder of those early days, but also highlighting the continuing relevance and significance of issues faced and decisions made at the outset of the work. In our title the word ‘Needs’ will serve to indicate the burden, the vision, which brought the whole work of making the Bible accessible and available, to practical realisation in the formation of Bible Societies. ‘Necessities’ will then direct attention to the formulation of principles and practices in the face of issues and differences of opinion over a quarter of a century which led to the separate and distinct position of the Trinitarian Bible Society.
The immediate need which brought about the formation of Bible Societies was the burden generated by the vast expansion of Missionary labours through the eighteenth century. The burden had been there, of course, as soon as the New Testament began to come into existence and copies of the Epistles and Gospels were made available to congregations other than the first recipients. Very soon copies in translation were needed too, and the complete Canon of Holy Writ began to be made available in manuscript form and in several languages, for almost 1000 years. Amongst the Godly there was ever a hunger to search the Scriptures, to read, expound and hear the Mind of Christ thus recorded, but access to copies of all or any portion of the Scriptures was always severely limited. The European implementation of the craft of printing in the early to middle part of the fifteenth century made for greater availability of the Bible, as the craft of the print shop slowly began to outpace the skills of the scriptorium. The greatest significance of the printing revolution lay in consistency of the copy over hundreds of impressions.1 As far as the individual was concerned though, cost was still high, and availability did not mean very much easier accessibility. Copies of the Bible multiplied, but the multiplication of the Scriptures into more languages was done only slowly from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Various societies whose vision and labours included the distribution of Scriptures came into existence, among them the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in the seventeenth century. In the eighteenth century there had been similar Societies in Denmark, and in Germany, as well as in England and Scotland. With the growing Missions activity at home in the UK and throughout the World, the need for more copies of the Bible and more translations of the Bible grew rapidly, and the formation of specifically ‘Bible’ Societies began early in the nineteenth century. The nature of the work of the early Bible Societies was to respond anew to the need which is as old as the New Testament – the need for the Scriptures to be more and more widely available and accessible. It cannot be too firmly or frequently emphasised that this is the chief reason for the formation and continuation, under the sovereign providence of God, of the TBS.
Many readers will be aware of the accounts of Mary Jones, her desire for a Bible, her six years saving to have the cost of a Bible, and her sixty mile round trek from Llanfihangel at the foot of Cader Idris to Bala, where she acquired a Bible at the hand of Thomas Charles. Perhaps it will now be realised that Dr. Charles’ subsequent impassioned pleas in the December of 1802 to gatherings of similarly concerned Christians in London, was, in the purposes of Almighty God, the spark among much prepared and ready kindling. The resolve was formed to set up the British and Foreign Bible Society, with an inaugural public meeting on March 7th, 1804.
...The society was conceived as a world-wide venture, to bring the Bible to every person in their own language; an enterprise in which all Christians, of whatever denomination, could wholeheartedly unite. The idea caught on, and the new society flourished. The grand simplicity of the Bible Society’s aim, and a new awareness of the spiritual needs of the unconverted world, prompted many to give generous financial help. New editions of the Bible in the languages of Europe were immediately printed, and projects begun for the translation of the Bible into the languages of the Far East.2
Many well known names of Georgian Evangelicalism were involved in the founding and nurturing of the new British and Foreign Bible Society, and thus also in the later controversies. Such names as Wilberforce, Shaftesbury, Charles Simeon, Joseph Irons, Thomas Erskine, Robert Haldane, appear in contemporary references to the work and later differences and decisions. Vatican response was a little slow in coming, but characteristic, most notably set forth in an encyclical of Pope Leo XII in 1824:-
You are aware, venerable brothers, that a certain Bible Society is impudently spreading throughout the world, which, despising the traditions of the holy Fathers and the decree of the Council of Trent, is endeavouring to translate, or rather, to pervert the Scriptures into the vernacular of all nations. It is to be feared that by false interpretation the Gospel of Christ will become the gospel of men, or, still worse, the gospel of the devil.3
From the very beginning the standard of “...without note or comment” was part of every statement of principle and procedure for the BFBS. As we later move on to consider ‘Necessities’ we shall see that the genial simplicity of early statements of purpose and practice became somewhat more rugged in face of controversy.
At this point we can pause to review the Needs which led to the forming of a Bible Society, needs which go back to the beginning of the Christian Church and the desire of the Churches to have access to the written Testimony of the Holy Scriptures.
There is a continuing need for the Scriptures to be made available. This need was brought into sharp focus by the blessing of God upon the Missionary and Evangelistic labours of the Georgian era. As a result there had come into being a specifically dedicated Bible Society. For about a decade this Society appeared to proceed as anticipated and prayerfully sought after. Support was manifest throughout the nation, from great and small, from churchman and dissenter. Auxiliaries began to be formed, Bibles were produced and distributed in the United Kingdom, on the Continent of Europe, and in India. As we now proceed to look at the differences and distinctions which arose, leading to the setting up of the Trinitarian Bible Society, I feel it important to stress that the TBS sees its origins and roots exactly in the situation so far described. The vision is this; the burden is still this; the defining task of the TBS continues to be this – to make available copies of the Scriptures, accessible in form and authentic in content.
Which Bibles? In English the obvious choice in 1804, at the beginning of the BFBS, was the Authorised Version; the obvious, but not the only choice. Besides various curiosities, and small issues of scholarly or even polemic versions of Bibles and New Testaments, there was the Latin-based version of the Roman Catholics dating from the same era as the AV. This was never a serious option for distribution in the United Kingdom, but when it came to work on the European Continent things were different. An early correspondent of the nascent Bible Society was a Polish priest, who desired copies of the Romish version in Polish. Thus began a powder trail of discussion and dispute which would contribute to the explosive meetings of 1829-31 which brought about the separate formation of the TBS. The post-Reformation Latin Vulgate, with its translations into major European languages, was not strictly a true heir of Jerome’s more reputable fourth century translation labours, based in great measure upon the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New. It was the Clementine Vulgate,4 bearing all the marks of the counter-Reformation, as well as the influence of the Septuagint on the text of the Old Testament. The differences in detail cannot occupy us here, but they are many, even with variations between, say, English, French, and Polish versions of the Vulgate.
Closely associated with the Vulgate issue, and probably more prominent in people’s minds at the time, was the matter of the Apocrypha. These are the writings, such as I & II Maccabees, Ecclesiasticus, Susannah and the Elders, etc., which, whilst always viewed in association with the Scriptures from a historical point of view, were not seen as inspired, nor held to be canonical. However, as Andrew Brown records,
While there was general agreement that the Apocrypha was not the inspired Word of God, there were many who believed that the circulation of Bibles would not be acceptable among Lutherans and Catholics unless the Apocrypha was included.5
After 1813 a discretionary resolution in the BFBS committee opened the way for the printing and distribution of Scriptures with the text of the Apocrypha.6 This attempt to secure European openings was not made known generally, and as it slowly came to be realised amongst the supporters of the BFBS, controversy was inevitable.
With both of these early questions and disputes about principles, practice, and the real connection between them, so much is necessarily brought under scrutiny. What is the right basis of translation? What are reliable principles of translation? What determines the choice of a Bible for a particular country – imagined ease of acceptance, or authenticity of text and translation? Another problem brought to sharp focus here is that a translation, however good or bad, should never serve as the sole basis of further translations. You will see why, once the TBS came to be formed, it adopted as a defining principle that it should circulate only the best and most faithful versions which can be obtained. This resolve implicitly extends to the textual provenance and also to the understanding that distribution is not to be determined by ‘acceptability’ but primarily by authenticity of text.
Which Bibles, then? Practicalities brought many Bible Society supporters strongly to feel that the need perceived must necessarily be met with authentic versions of the canonical Scriptures. ‘Authentic’ binds us to translation from the Biblical languages; ‘canonical’ excludes the Apocryphal books, and generally puts us in the Reformers’ rather than the Romish view of the Canon of Scripture.7
To be continued...
Just a brief note to thank you again for the Russian and Ukrainian calendars. We have just returned from another very encouraging time in Ukraine. The dear people were so pleased to receive the calendars. Someone from your office asked us to find out if the Ukrainian translation was acceptable; the comment from a Christian Ukrainian English teacher was, “very good indeed”. May you know the Lord’s richest blessing throughout 2001.
Christmas Baptist Church from the town of Chudniv, Ukraine, greatly appreciates the gift of Christian calendars that we received from you. It was a big blessing from our Lord Jesus Christ. The calendars were delivered to homes of believers and brought them joy and encouragement. We also gave them to unbelievers having a nice opportunity to tell these people about salvation of our Lord Jesus. We wish God’s abundant blessings to you, your families and your ministry. Please, receive warm greetings from all brothers and sisters in our church.
Thank you for forwarding to us earlier last year 1,000 Portuguese Golden Thoughts calendars. I delivered these calendars personally to our co-worker in Carcavelos, Portugal, who helps to distribute Christmas food parcels to needy families in the Lisbon and Carcavelos areas. May the Lord bless you all during 2001.
Greetings from Lithuania. Thank you very much for the calendars which you sent us. We received them and already distributed some of these calendars to the Christian Churches here in Siauliai city, other calendars in Russian language will be given to the Churches in Kaliningrad region (Russia), and Russian Churches in Latvia and Estonia. Thanks again for the work you do and hope you will not forget us next year. God bless you and your work.
We would be very grateful indeed to receive the Words of Life calendars. They would be an absolute “Godsend”!!! One thousand if possible please!!! (Being a dispersal prison we have nearly nine thousand prisoners passing through the prison – or remaining – in the period of a year.)
I am writing to tell you that I had arrived in England from Georgia and applied for asylum. I am asylum seeker. I had known your address and decided to write you. Every weekends I go to Orthodox Church in Knightsbridge area. From this moment I want to study the Bible, but I haven’t any money for buying and I can’t work because I haven’t got a work permit (until May this year). My friends which I met in Church told me that you could help me. I am asking you on this letter. I will be very very grateful if you could send to me the Bible free of charge on Georgian language (or if you don’t have on Georgian you could send to me on Russian). This Book is very necessary for my further life. I look forward to hearing from you.
I’m a Christian among Muslim and all my friends are Muslim, when I spoke about my Lord they are interested. Could you help me with this evangelisation with brochures, tracts and if possible a Bible to help me to talk about the Messiah.
For dear brothers ministry of Trinitarian Bible Society, may God bless you with His incredible grace. Dear brothers, I am so glad that when I get your address from my brother. Let me introduce myself. I am from Muslim religion. So I want to know more about God. So please send for me Bible, books and what you have. God bless your ministry.
We write to thank you for sending the bookmarks and posters for our weekly bookstall and other ministries. Sadly, the posters never arrived. Just occasionally items sent from overseas do not arrive, even ordinary letters sometimes go missing. It’s just one of those things here.
The work in the Schools has taken a few significant steps forward in recent days. We have now been given permission to preach there at the school assemblies on a weekly basis. There are about 1200 students in the school from about fifteen to twenty-one years of age. Only the Gospel can transform their lives.
So many around us are in the advanced stages of AIDS and just this week we heard of a mother of some of our Sunday School children who has died of AIDS. We were having weekly Bible Studies with this woman early last year and then she got a job so was unable to continue. When I saw her in October I was amazed to see how ill she looked and it was obvious then that she had full blown AIDS. Whether she knew it or not we are not sure but are thankful to know that she had heard the Gospel. She came to the Bible Class once with the man she was hoping to marry and two of her children are very regular in their Sunday School attendance. Some 37% of the population are now said to be HIV positive and we are just beginning to see the terrible effects of this across the nation. There is still no moral change in the behaviour of people, however.
We believe it is vital that we continue to pour a lot of energy into the work amongst children and young people. We are very glad of the opportunity to teach the Word of God daily in all the Primary Schools – they each get a visit once a week and we are able to thus reach the top four years of Primary School children. Last month we also commenced a weekly lesson in the International Primary School just outside Palapye. The enthusiasm of the children there is tremendous. This week we have been able to give out a large number of Gospels and a few TBS Bibles (you kindly sent) to teachers who sit with the children during the lessons in the schools and we trust that the Scriptures will be read. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking you for your interest and prayers.
I wish to thank you for the Bibles and tracts you sent me. The tracts have been of much blessing to me and for the people who have received them. I have distributed the Bibles during personal evangelism. I shared them with people of limited finances as here in Honduras there are thousands of people who do not know the Bible and don’t have this book in their homes because they cannot afford them. Please continue to help me with this literature. In 2001 I will be leading at least ten evangelism campaigns and conferences in different churches. I will send you some postcards of my work. The following are accounts from two people who have received the Bibles:
“I am extremely grateful that you have made it possible for me to receive a Bible which is very precious to me. I am unconverted but now I am studying this precious book the Bible. I am studying about salvation in Acts 4:12.”
“I would like to thank the people who have made it possible for me to have a Bible. I am a Christian and am grateful to receive a Bible which is very important for the feeding of our souls.”
We are awed so many times as the Golden Thoughts calendars are given out to the congregation, relatives, friends, neighbours, etc. etc., each year. The acceptance is something to see indeed. Let us tell of a few cases.
The owner of the vegetable-fruit shop where we deal is a fine man, and we believe a staunch Roman Catholic. When we gave him a calendar this year he broke into a very wide smile and said “Ah! pensamientos de oro!” [‘Thoughts of Gold’]. It turns out that the one we gave him last year was taken from the wall right under his nose and he lamented the loss indeed. So likely this year he will keep it out of reach.
Our butcher of many years still likes to get his copy and said this year that some day what he has taken in will “come out”. He has never ever made such a comment before.
A number were given out in a town further North – Fraile Pintado. They were a treat to the parents of the children who came. These are the only bit of the Word that enters the homes apart from the verses the children quote or take home on slips of paper.
A few go to a Spanish group in Canada made up of immigrants from all the Latin-American countries from Mexico down to Argentina. This past year a couple were saved and baptised.
We all here pray earnestly for all of you there, trusting that this coming year will see your expectations all met, above and beyond all you could possibly ask or think. May God be pleased to work great things in your midst. P.S. We very much appreciate the Quarterly also. May it continue with His richest blessing.
I have just received a call from our Pastor saying that the calendars have arrived. He was absolutely over the moon! The Bibles have not arrived yet, but he did receive your advice note. He had distributed the smaller consignment you sent in February last year, among the thirty churches under his care, and said how thrilled the people were to receive them. Piauí is the poorest State in Brazil, and spiritually one of the neediest. Pastor asked me to pass on his thanks, and those of the other pastors in the region, to TBS.
Our first children to complete the Scripture Memory program have just done so. They were happy to receive their new Bibles! We have other children that are close to completion. It has really been a blessing for our church. It’s awakened everyone to Scripture memory. The parents get involved at home helping the children and it becomes contagious. Thank you again. We look forward to sending along more applications soon.
Greetings in the Lord's precious name. This is my privilege to write a letter to you for asking to help me. As I came to Bangalore to study to the Word of God, I face many difficulties about financial problems. I have only NIV Bible. Therefore I am unable to buy "King James" Bible. I also want to read the best Bible "King James". Thus I do ask you to help and send me a good Bible "K.J.V." so that I may not err in my future ministry. I do request you pray for me and my family whom I left at my house, Myanmar.
Greetings in our Lord's name. We appreciate your gift of Bibles and Greek New Testaments. Every year we distribute them to the graduating students. We shall be very thankful if you will kindly supply us with 500 Ruby red Bibles and 150 Greek New Testaments so that we can distribute to the graduating students. These Bibles will be of great use to our students and church members. Thanking you. The Lord bless you.
Thank you very much for the five bundles of Arabic and English Bibles which we received today. We will send it to the deserving contacts of our Bible Correspondence only. There are several testimonies of the effect of God's Word upon the Muslim readers even. May I quote one example here.
"These days I am struggling severely with a thought I cannot get out of my mind: I want to kill myself, because I can no longer cope with my financial difficulties and my personal life circumstances. Because of the many problems I can no longer sleep. Often I wake up from my sleep in horror. Sometimes I can hear a voice, which whispers to me; 'Suicide is the solution to your problem.' In this very difficult situation I received -- completely unexpectedly -- your letter, tracts and the books. I believe that it came from God. The omniscient God must have made you write this letter and send these tracts and books to me, just as he supplied the Israelites with Manna, when they were in the desert. Should I therefore call this letter 'The bread of love, the bread of life and bread of God?' They have made me think about the value of my life, again. I would be very grateful to you, if you could send me a few booklets, which would help me to gain hope and to trust in God. As you know, I am not in a good mood at present. I thank God and you with my whole heart, that you have sent me this letter, tracts and books."
Although certain phrases and expressions used in these letters may not be doctrinally accurate or in the proper English form, we reproduce the letters essentially as received, knowing that the Lord is using His Word to the glory of His Name and the furtherance of His Kingdom as the Scriptures are distributed among the nations of the world.
Copyright © 2001 Trinitarian Bible Society. All rights reserved. The Trinitarian Bible Society permits reprinting of articles found in our printed and online Quarterly Record provided that prior permission is obtained and proper acknowledgement is made.