P001 Normal Outline Series Pages (1-5)

P001 Normal Outline Series Pages (1-5) A

SHORT HISTORY OF THE

ENGLISH BIBLE, WITH BRIEF NOTICES OF THE TRANSLATORS. BY J. M. FREEMAN, D.D.

"Believers should ascertain for themselves the matters of their faith by having the Scriptures in a language which they fully understand."—Wycliffe.

"If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than the priests do."—Tyndale.

NEW YORK:

PHILLIPS & HUNT.

CINCINNATI:

HITCHCOCK & WALDEN,

1879.

PREFATORY NOTE. THE various efforts made to give to the English people the word of God in their own language make a story of romantic and tragic interest. The narrative is one of toil, trial, persecution, and martyrdom, followed by glorious triumph.

Such a narrative ought to be familiar to all who speak the English language. The design of this work is to give, in condensed form, the prominent facts relating to this subject, seeking to point the way to more elaborate works rather than to supersede them.

Those who wish to investigate the subject more thoroughly will find in the list of "Authorities" given on page 7 the names of a number of books of this description. As a merely literary production, the English Bible is well worth the attention of the student; while as a faithful exponent of the word of God, which has come down to us from prophets and apostles in other tongues than ours, it has a special interest for all believers in divine revelation. The increasing attention given of late years to the study of the Bible and of collateral subjects is one of the most hopeful signs of the times. Our Sunday-school teachers and advanced scholars, as well as many not engaged in Sunday-school work, are seeking for helps of all kinds to an intelligent and systematic study of the Scriptures.