Christian Soldiers Penny Bible
The Souldier’s Pocket Bible has a fascinating history connecting the American and English Civil Wars. Originally published in 1643 during the English Civil war, the booklet is a collection of 125 verses from the Geneva Bible translation to encourage soldiers in Oliver Cromwell’s army. Only three original copies of this pamphlet are known. Antiquarian George Livermore discovered one in 1854; he later reprinted it for use by soldiers in the American Civil War.
The Christian Soldiers Penny Bible is for the most part the same as The Souldier’s Pocket Bible, though somewhat enlarged and with a different title. in The Penny Bible, the texts are quoted from the King Jame Bible, with some slight alterations.
Numerous organizations worked to provide Bibles and spiritual nourishment to the troops, North and South. At its annual meeting, May 9, 1861, President Frelinghuysen of the American Bible Society (ABS) stated: “While there is much to alarm and afflict us in the political agitations of our country, on thing is our special comfort in the cause of the Bible Society: We are still one, bound together by the bonds of Christian kindness, animated by like hopes, earnest in like purposes and cheered by the same sympathies.”
The ABS had 16 printing presses operating in New York. The first year of the war the society printed 370,000 more Bibles than the previous year. During the war the ABS distributed a total of 760,773 Scriptures to the armed services and 823,566 additional Scriptures through the Christian Commission. Some 300,000 Bibles, New Testaments, or portions were distributed throughout the South, though the wartime blockade often hindered distribution in the South.
This 1861 New Testament is the first edition printed by the American Bible Society specifically for distribution among Civil war Troops. Knowing Soldiers would have difficulty carrying about the normal size Bible, the ABS printed user-friendly pocket size New Testaments. During the Civil War, the ABS distributed over 1.5 million Bibles to both Union and Confederate soldiers.
The Christian Soldiers Penny Bible is for the most part the same as The Souldier’s Pocket Bible, though somewhat enlarged and with a different title. in The Penny Bible, the texts are quoted from the King Jame Bible, with some slight alterations.
Numerous organizations worked to provide Bibles and spiritual nourishment to the troops, North and South. At its annual meeting, May 9, 1861, President Frelinghuysen of the American Bible Society (ABS) stated: “While there is much to alarm and afflict us in the political agitations of our country, on thing is our special comfort in the cause of the Bible Society: We are still one, bound together by the bonds of Christian kindness, animated by like hopes, earnest in like purposes and cheered by the same sympathies.”
The ABS had 16 printing presses operating in New York. The first year of the war the society printed 370,000 more Bibles than the previous year. During the war the ABS distributed a total of 760,773 Scriptures to the armed services and 823,566 additional Scriptures through the Christian Commission. Some 300,000 Bibles, New Testaments, or portions were distributed throughout the South, though the wartime blockade often hindered distribution in the South.
This 1861 New Testament is the first edition printed by the American Bible Society specifically for distribution among Civil war Troops. Knowing Soldiers would have difficulty carrying about the normal size Bible, the ABS printed user-friendly pocket size New Testaments. During the Civil War, the ABS distributed over 1.5 million Bibles to both Union and Confederate soldiers.
Language English [eng]
Date 1862
Copyright Public Domain
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The Bible Archive