The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1932, Page 190

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190

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

tion from 1911 to 1921 was 6.7 per cent. ; from 1921
to 1931, 12.5 per cent. The increase in the number
of Christians since 1921 is given as 84,349, which
represents a growth of 55.1 per cent. for the ten
years. The total number of Christians in 1931 was
237,772. It is therefore apparent that the increase
of Christians is almost four and a half times as
great as the increase in population and that the
Christians who constituted only 9 per cent. of the
population in 1921 gained more than half as much
as the other 91 per cent. of the population. Com-
parative figures for the 1911—1921 decade show
that the rate of increase of population for that
period was 6.7 per cent., and the rate of increase of
Christians was 24.2 per cent., showing that in the
last decade the growth in the number of Christians
is more than twice that of the previous decade. —
News Bulletin, N. L. C.

The Bible in Demand. — It is nothing unusual
to read that the Bible continues to be the world’s
best seller and leads all other books in the number
of volumes distributed. When, however, a leading
religious journal, a well-known New York news-
paper, and a news exchange from Germany con-
temporaneously comment on the unusual demand
for the Book of books, it is worthy of special notice.
In six weeks Selfridge & Company, Ltd., London,
sold 10,000 Bibles and then placed an order for

100,000 Bibles. The manager of the Selfridge firm

remarked: “There is only one book in the world of
which any business firm would dare to order
100,000 copies.” It is estimated by the American
Bible Society that 34,000,000 Bibles were sold or
distributed in 1930 in every part of the world.
Parts or all of it have been printed in over 925
languages and dialets, including those which are
now obsolete. There are said to be forty-one original
Gutenberg Bibles in existence, one of which was
recently sold by a London dealer to a Swiss collector
for 3,000,000 French francs. In 1926 an American
library paid $106,000 for a copy of the Gutenberg
Bible to the Austrian monastery at Melk.
Spreading the Gospel by Tracts. — The Amer-
ican Lutheran Publicity Bureau since its organiza-
tion has distributed three million tracts, 450,000 of
which were sent out in 1931. According to the
American Inutheran the Bureau does not publish
tracts for the sake of profit, but endeavors to assist
churches and mission-stations whose financial con-
ditions do not permit their paying for them in the

ite dissemination of the printed Word. In the case of
"missions, tracts are furnished without charge,

‘whereas contributions for the support of the tract

fund are gratefully accepted from churches and local
organizations that are able to contribute. It is urged
that “every church should have a tract rack. Tracts
should be distributed at every public function. They
should be sent out through the mails with all the
printed matter of the church. There are a thousand
and one uses to which the tract may be put. Let us
offset the vicious efforts of the opponents of Christ
by a vigorous campaign for the spreading of the
truth of the Gospel.”

A Testimony for Missions. — A story is told of
two sailors who were shipwrecked and thrown upon
an unknown island. They began to reconnoiter
carefully, thinking that the island might be peopled
by cannibals. To get a view of the valley, one of
them climbed a high tree, and when he had looked

“around, he suddenly sang out a loud “Hurrah!”

“What is it?” cried his companion. “The spire of
a church in the valley” was the reply. Where Christ
is known, enemies are changed to friends, and men
are safe. — The C. £. World.

A World Task.— The British and Foreign
Bible Society now publishes the Bible in 653 lan-
guages and dialects. Nine new translations were
added last year. In 1931 the society distributed
11,888,226 copies of the Bible and parts of it.
China is using more Bibles every year. The demand
in Japan is also growing. For the first time in his-
tory, Malaysia required more than a quarter million
copies. The sale of the Bible among the Moslems is
increasing, and more Hebrew New Testaments are
read by the Hebrews of Palestine than ever before.
The Jews elsewhere are also reading the Bible more
and more. Europe increased its demand by 100,000.
The Bible Society used the services of 1,100 col-
porteurs in 1931. It has over a hundred distribut-
ing centers in various parts of the world. Last year
it spent more than two million dollars in carrying
on its work. Its income was about $25,000 less than
its expenses. Its work is largely maintained by
legacies, donations, collections, contributions, and
annual subscriptions. The money realized from the
sale of its Bibles and parts of the Bible is only about
forty per cent. of the cost.

“A hard saying” —we mean that utterance by
Father Luther: “The devil will get whatever we
withhold from God.” A hard saying, but, oh, how
true! And we find. illustrations a-plenty for the
truth of it in these days. The thought and the time
that ought to go to our Savior and our Church is
often devoted to sinful pleasures, and so is many
a quarter. The money that should have gone into
the upbuilding of Christ’s Church has been put into