Rev. Dr. Stephen Hre Kio
It is an honor to be asked to write an article relating to the Bible. This invitation came from the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Myanmar (BSM), the Rev. Khoi Lam Thang himself, and I gladly accept to write it with joy and gratitude. With joy because I had been involved in the works of Bible translations in Asia and Pacific region for some 30 years and I am happy that the number of Bible being translated is ever increasing. With gratitude because I was one of the consultants assigned to the ministry of Bible translations in Myanmar and therefore I was part of the BSM for some years. I am glad that the BSM is even more active and effective in its distribution of the Scriptures. I wish the best to the people who are committed to the ministry of the Word, and their activities in Myanmar.
The Bible is a very interesting book. Interesting in so many ways: One of them is the fact that the period of writing it spans over 1200 years. No book in the world covers that long period of time in writing it. Second, not only that the period of writing spans over a thousand, but also the number of Bibles distributed in the world is amazingly great. Counting the Holy Bible, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the individual books of the Bible (like Matthew, and John), the number of books distributed yearly runs by the millions! And this happens year after year: the Bible has been best seller every year for so many years! No other single book comes close!
Why is this so? Why is the Bible the bestselling book in the world year after year? We may not know all the reasons for it, but I will try to present three reasons why people like to read the Bible.
First: The Bible is often called the Word of God. This has two reasons - (i) As we see in the Old Testament, the prophets often said, “The Word of God came to me …” (Jer 1:2; Eze 30:1; Hos 1:1; Joel 1:1; Jon 1:1; Zep 1:1; Zec 8:1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14,18,20,23; 12:1; Mal 1:1), or “This is what the LORD says…” (Amo 2:1; Oba 1:1; Jon 3:1; Mic 1:1; Hag 1:2). What the prophets believed to be the Word of the LORD, they wrote it down, and we called it the Bible. (ii) The writers of the books of the Bible did not believe that they wrote their own human thoughts, and put it down in their own words. They believed they wrote something greater, and something more nobler than mere human imaginations. They believed that God through His Spirit spoke to them, and it was His message that they recorded. Their urge to write it has come from God himself. In the word of Peter, “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet 1:21).
And so when men and women read the Scriptures (Bibles), they take it as something more than mere human writings; much more than human imaginations. Indeed for the committed readers, the Bible has the touch of the Spirit of God. That means the Bible carries relevance and it becomes meaningful for the lives of men and women - both ancient and modern. It is never out of date! The readers know the Bible not only is meaningful, but also has transforming power in their lives.
Second: In the book of the Hebrews we read something strange and unusual; something nobody has described about a book of having it. It reads, “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart,” (Heb 4:12). It describes the content of the Book as active and living. The content of a Book is active and living? That is unusual! But that is what the Bible says about itself! Active and living! Therefore the Bible is something men and women need to read with care and attention. If its content is active and living, it can touch the lives of the readers! It can touch your lives and your hearts and you may never be the same! That means the Bible is the Word of God with power, which is much more than mere human wish, desire and aspirations. It also means the Bible provides hope, peace, joy and above all faith.
Third: The Bible as the Word of God has the power to change the lives of men. When we say, “It has the power to change the lives of men” it does not mean it changes every man and woman whoever reads it. There are many whose lives may never change even though they may have read it a number of times. Why? Because their attitude towards the Bible is less than respectful. They don’t take it as something active and living. They take it as ordinary writing, and its impact on them is ordinary. But just because some lives have not been changed does not mean the Bible does not have the power to change lives at all. In fact we can mention countless number of men and women in Church history whose lives have been changed because of the Bible. We can mention, due to lack of space, only a few whose lives have been changed, and changed it with amazing results:
(i) In the year around 400 AD, there was a man named Augustine whose life was a mess, with no definite direction for his life. He was highly educated, but led a poor and immoral life. He taught in a school at that time, but he moved from one job to another – unhappy with his profession and his life. His mother Monica constantly prayed for him. Knowing not what to do with his future, he was simply and idly sitting dejected, on a bench in a park; and he heard a small voice, like the voice of a child saying, “Pick it up and read it”. He did pick a small paper up from the ground and read it. It was a sentence from the book of Romans (written by Paul), “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom 13:14). That passage from the Bible struck him like a bullet. The old Augustine died right there, so to speak, and the new Augustine was born. He later went to a Bible school, and became a bishop of the church, a very good leader at that, and one of the best Christian theologians. Without Augustine the Church of the West would not be what it was in later generations. We still read some of his books even today.
(ii) Some three hundred years ago, some of the Islanders in the Pacific were pagans, and even cannibals – eating human flesh! But as a result of some Christian missionaries sacrificing their lives and fortune, even those islanders became Christians. The Bible was translated in their language and Christian faith was taught and practiced. They led peaceful and devoted lives. And one day, many years later, some European tourists visited the Islands. An atheist was walking along one of those roads, and nearby was an old Islander reading his Bible quietly and contentedly. The European atheist saw him and talked to him with a bit of contempt. “Old man, what are you reading?” he asked. “Oh I am having my daily Bible reading,” the old man replied. The European atheist trying to discourage his Bible reading said, “You know, old man, that book you have in your hands was written by clever men of old, and it carries many errors and discrepancies; and you should not take it as truth.” The old man looking straight at him responded firmly, “Young man, listen to me! If we had not had this Book, you would have been part of our dinner yesterday!” At that point the atheist was shocked, but he moved on walking away. Yes, it is true! The Bible often changes lives and societies! Those who read the Bible seriously and regularly cannot remain the same. They are changed for the better.
(iii) It was in the year 1949, while I was about 14 years old, some strange thing happened in a village called Lamtuk in Zokhua area of Hakha Townshin in Chin State. It happened to a house owned by the first Christian in that village by the name of Pa Tawi. “Someone or something” began hurling and throwing stones, charcoals, fruits, flowers, vegetables, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, taros, and many others objects at Pa Tawi’s house! It began at night, but as it continued the stones and other objects were being thrown at his house day and night; and it went on day after day, week after week, month after month. No one was able to find the source of this nuisance. It became unbearable to Pa Tawi, he called on my father - his pastor the Rev. Sang Fen, in Zokhua about 12 miles away. As my father visited him I followed him. And I saw it for myself and - Oh boy, what a mysterious phenomenon it was: it was mysterious, puzzling and even scary. Who threw the stones, etc.? No one knows, except it continued for months – and the items kept coming at Pa Tawi’s house, day and night.
But what is more amazing and puzzling is that once my father started talking about God and to begin worshipping God inside the house, all the stone hurling and throwing stopped! Worship may last for two hours; and nothing disturbed us. All was quiet. But as soon as the worship ended, the throwing of stones and other objects started coming at us – inside the house - hitting us sometimes but with no force – it did not hurt. These objects came from the walls or from the ceiling. Pa Tawi then realized that the “someone or something” throwing stones etc, etc, was actually stealing his (Pa Tawi’s) coins from his locked boxes, his potatoes and his taros, from his other boxes made of bamboo. Pa Tawi was intelligent and thoughtful; he borrowed Bibles from all Christian homes and placed them on the boxes in his house. He was a rich man and had a good number of boxes full of grains, but not enough Bibles were available at his village. He came to Zokhua and borrowed our Bibles. Amazingly those boxes where Bibles were placed on them were no longer disturbed! All the coins and grains were all safe! Nothing was stolen! He had over 30 Bibles in his house. The Bibles became his defense!
What did the Bible do, making the boxes safe? Why was there no more stealing from the boxes once the Bibles are on them? I have no clear answer. The only answer I am sure of is that where the Bible is, there is safety and no one disturbed Pa Tawi’s boxes. Can we not say The Bible is the Word of God with power? Yes, we can, and we should.
(iv) About fifteen years ago, I was checking Falam Bible translation in Tahan, Myanmar, with a committee of nine for a week. One afternoon a poor lady of perhaps around forty years was waiting for me at the door and as I began talking to her, she gave me 300 kyats. This sum must have been her one month wages! I hesitated to accept it, telling her I should be the one giving her 300 kyats. She insisted that I accept it. “This is my gratitude to you” she said firmly. And as I inquired about her life and her struggles she opened up and told me her story:
Some five years past, her son – her only son passed away at the age of three. This loss was so severe and devastating to her - she was literally overwhelmed by sorrow - that she lost her mind! She left her home and wandered about not knowing where she was going. Her husband could not find her; nor her Pastor and church leaders. She was “lost” – both mentally and physically. A month later the young people of her church found her in a remote, unreachable area.
Day after day, and night after night, the young Christians looked after her, prayed for her and took care of her. And they regularly read the Bible to her in Falam dialect – her mother’s tongue! (It was my privilege to have translated that Bible.) After two weeks her mind (her soul) returned! She listened intently to the Bible being read to her. One day she asked: “What is that Bible that I could understand? That Bible speaks to me in my language! It touched my heart!” Since then her mind improved, her strength grew stronger and regularly went to church. But she could not read! Never went to school and never learned how to read. And so she began learning alphabets, struggled through the process of reading. And she began reading it by herself. At the time when she met me at the Bible checking room’s door, she was carrying the Falam Bible in her bag – her Bible had become dog-eared. “This is my companion” she said. “I cannot be without it” and adding, “It saves me!” Yes, who can say to this lady the Bible did not save her?
For Christians there is no doubt that The Bible is the Word of God with Power. They know it is true in their lives. The changes that took place in the lives of the believers may not be as dramatic as that of the life of Augustine; it may be more like the transformation of the lives of the Pacific Islanders. One of the great responsibilities of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is to make sure that the Bible is translated in all the languages of the world. But the greatest responsibility yet of the Churches is to make sure that the Christians read their Bibles with dedication and devotion. The goal for Christians in reading the Bible is to become transformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ – both in their faith and in their lives.
Many often think that the Bible is relevant and meaningful only for people who are simple, ignorant and uneducated. Not so! Even for scientists, at least some of them, the Bible is still meaningful, relevant and precious. Example: In 1970s, beginning first landing in July 19, 1969, Americans landed on the moon a number of times. One of the spacecrafts was known as Apollo 14 which landed on the moon with a Bible passage as one of their cargoes. The astronauts left on the moon Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” written in 16 languages and in a microfilm packet that will last for a long time.
Voltaire (1694-1778), social reformer, scientist, writer and critic of Christian faith, and one of “the most celebrated of French Philosophies” once declared that the Bible in a hundred years will become out of date and unappreciated by the public as irrelevant. In other words, the Bible would be a dead book! Today the place where Voltaire made that declaration is turned into the Office of the French Bible Society where the Bible is printed and distributed. Voltaire is dead, but the Word of God is still living and active. Praise the Lord!
