Bible and the French Revolution
239
God’s faithful witnesses, slain by the blasphemous power that “as-
cendeth out of the bottomless pit,” were not long to remain silent.
“After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into
them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them
which saw them.”
Revelation 11:11
. It was in 1793 that the decrees
which abolished the Christian religion and set aside the Bible passed
the French Assembly. Three years and a half later a resolution re-
scinding these decrees, thus granting toleration to the Scriptures, was
adopted by the same body. The world stood aghast at the enormity
of guilt which had resulted from a rejection of the Sacred Oracles,
and men recognized the necessity of faith in God and His word as the
foundation of virtue and morality. Saith the Lord: “Whom hast thou
reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy
voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of
Israel,”
Isaiah 37:23
. “Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know,
this once will I cause them to know My hand and My might; and they
shall know that My name is Jehovah.”
Jeremiah 16:21
, A.R.V.
Concerning the two witnesses the prophet declares further: “And
they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up
hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies
beheld them.”
Revelation 11:12
. Since France made war upon God’s
two witnesses, they have been honored as never before. In 1804 the
British and Foreign Bible Society was organized. This was followed by
similar organizations, with numerous branches, upon the continent of
Europe. In 1816 the American Bible Society was founded. When the
British Society was formed, the Bible had been printed and circulated
in fifty tongues. It has since been translated into many hundreds of
languages and dialects. (See Appendix.)
For the fifty years preceding 1792, little attention was given to
the work of foreign missions. No new societies were formed, and
there were but few churches that made any effort for the spread of
[288]
Christianity in heathen lands. But toward the close of the eighteenth
century a great change took place. Men became dissatisfied with the
results of rationalism and realized the necessity of divine revelation
and experimental religion. From this time the work of foreign missions
attained an unprecedented growth. (See Appendix.)
The improvements in printing have given an impetus to the work
of circulating the Bible. The increased facilities for communication