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First Bibles in America.
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Posted by: JG
OUR NATION'S
GODLY HERITAGE
Congress Resolves Bible Shortage
While our nation courts great confusion over the separation of church and state, the lines were clear to our Founding Fathers.
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Photo of Aitken Bible page courtesy of the Library of Congress
When the Colonies were first established, Bibles were imported from Holland, Scotland and other printing centers in Europe because British rule would not permit the Scriptures to be printed on Colonial soil. But after Independence was declared, the British stopped the export of Bibles altogether. When made aware of the shortage by their chaplain, Dr. Patrick Allison, Congress initially voted to import English Bibles on their own. The Continental Congress approved the purchase of 20,000 Bibles on September 11, 1777.
The import was not necessary because a godly man named Robert Aitken, a Quaker from Scotland, began printing New Testaments. With paper made in Pennsylvania, he printed three editions of the New Testament--one exclusively for school purposes--and finally on January 21, 1781 he requested of Congress the approval and support to produce a complete Bible. Congress responded by sending a committee of 
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Portrait of George Washington courtesy of the University of Virginia
qualified congressmen to certify that Aitken's work was accurate and up to the highest standards. Congress did "highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion . . . in this country, and . . . they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States.
George Washington was outspoken in his approval of the Aitken Bible. In fact, he expressed regret that his Revolutionary troops were disbanded before he could provide them with such an appropriate symbol of his gratitude. He wrote to a friend, lamenting, "It would have pleased me well, if Congress had been pleased to make such an important present [a copy of the Aitken Bible] to the brave fellows, who have done so much for the security of their Country's rights and establishment."
More than 10,000 editions of the Aitken Bible were produced, but today there are fewer copies of the Aitken version than remain of the Gutenberg Bible! Thank God for the wise provision of Congress that understood the importance of the Word of God to the well-being of our nation. God grant that our nation will return to the Scriptures and restore their centrality to the moral heart of America.
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Portrait of Abraham Lincoln courtesy of the Library of Congress
PRESIDENTS AND PATRIOTS SPEAK UP ABOUT THE BIBLE
Portrait of Abraham Lincoln
courtesy of the Library of Congress.
When a group of African-Americans presented him with the gift of a Bible, President Abraham Lincoln stated the following:
In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to men. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.
--Abraham Lincoln
Portrait of John Quincy Adams
courtesy of the National Gallery.
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Portrait of John Quincy Adams courtesy of the Nationa Galleryl Gallery
I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, 'Search the Scriptures!' The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity.
--John Quincy Adams
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Portrait of Daniel Webster courtesy of the United States Senate
Portrait of Daniel Webster
courtesy of the United States Senate.
This is the Book. I have read the Bible through many times, and now make it a practice to read it through once every year. It is a book of all others for lawyers, as well as divines; and I pity the man who cannot find in it a rich supply of thought and of rules for conduct. It fits man for life--it prepares him for death.
--Daniel Webster
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Photo of President Bush with firefighters courtesy of the White House
WORDS FROM THE PRESIDENT ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BIBLE
When you realize that there is an Almighty God on whom you can rely, it provides great comfort. That's why I read every morning, the Bible and Scriptures... It matters a lot to me personally.
--George W. Bush
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