![]() The fear usually pertains to corruption of the text. If the preservation of their institutions in the name of “protecting the Bible” required restricting the freedom of the Church, so be it.ĭisregarding, for a moment, the intrinsic theological implication that the Sovereign God who has preserved His Word for two millennia is now dependent on human institutions to preserve it, it is worth considering: From what does the Word of God need to be protected? ![]() But, as the collective owners of the copyrights to virtually all existing Bible translations, the law was on their side. Many organizations that made their living from managing the scarcity of the Print Era found the abundance of the Digital Era threatening. What had been difficult (distribution of Bibles) was so easy anyone could do it. What had been expensive (creating new copies of Bibles) was free for everyone. (Though being the exclusive distributor of a sought-after Bible translation did have its advantages.) Officially, this was for “stewardship” of the Word of God and copyrights “protected” the Bible. Those who had been entrusted by the Church with distribution of the Bible now became its owners. Copyrights on Bibles soon became the norm. Then in 1901, the ASV was copyrighted to prevent unauthorized publication. It started about 200 years ago, when the Church established Bible societies to provide bibles as rapidly as possible, at the lowest possible cost. The Church is under the rule of “gatekeepers” who mediate between the people of God and the Word of God. But today, in virtually every language where it is available, the Bible is not the common property of the Church and it is not freely available without restriction. From the beginning, the Bible was the common property of the Church. This is a true story, and there are many more like it. Why is it being taken away?” But without further explanation, their access to the Bible was terminated. “How can you take the Word of God from us?” they asked. The pastors had just been informed that, due to licensing issues, the Bible they had used for over a decade was no longer permitted for use. A cry of dismay ran through the assembly.
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