british and foreign bible society bible society abbreviation bfbs formation 1804 purpose bible distribution translation advocacy literacy engagement production headquarters swindon region served england & wales website biblesociety.org.uk the british and foreign bible society often known in england and wales as simply the bible society is a non denominational christian bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the bible available throughout the world . 1 the society was formed on 7 march 1804 by a group of people including william wilberforce and thomas charles to encourage the wider circulation and use of the scriptures . 2 contents 1 history 2 the society today 3 where the society works 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit gravestone in wales of thomas charles who helped found the bfbs the british and foreign bible society dates back to 1804 when a group of christians associated with the religious tract society sought to address the problem of a lack of affordable bibles in welsh for welsh speaking christians . many young girls had walked long distances to rev thomas charles to get copies of the bible . later the story was told of one of them a young girl called mary jones who walked over 20 miles to get a bible in bala gwynedd . bfbs was not the first bible society in the world . the first organisation in britain to be called the bible society was founded in 1779 and now called the naval militart and air force bible society . the first bfbs translation project was the gospel of john into mohawk for canada . in the british isles bfbs reprinted bibles in welsh scots gaelic and manx gaelic first produced by spck . the first romani translation was the gospel of luke into the cal language of iberia . from the early days the society sought to be ecumenical and non sectarian . the controversy in 1825 6 about the apocrypha and the metrical psalms resulted in the secession of the glasgow and edinburgh bible societies which later formed what is now the scottish bible society . 3 this and another similar 1831 controversy about unitarians holding significant society offices resulted in a minority separating to form the trinitarian bible society . the bible society extended its work to england india europe and beyond . protestant communities in many european countries such as croatia and albania date back to the work of nineteenth century bfbs bible salesmen . auxiliary branches were set up all over the world which later became bible societies in their own right and today operate in co operation as part of the united bible societies . the bible society is a non denominational christian network which works to translate revise print and distribute affordable bibles in england and wales . 4 during world war one bible society distributed more than nine million copies of scripture in over 80 languages to combatants and prisoners of war on all sides of the war . bible society managed this despite immense challenges supply shortages rising paper costs paper rationing submarine blockades and the sinking of merchant shipping . 5 even greater than these physical difficulties was the emotional toll former colleagues suddenly found themselves fighting on opposing sides . bible salesmen throughout europe were conscripted or volunteered into their respective armies . bible society responded to the challenge . they printed new testaments in khaki stamped with a cross for distribution via the red cross among sick and wounded soldiers sailors and prisoners of war . on average between 6 7 000 volumes were sent out every working day for fighting men the sick and wounded the prisoners of war exiles and refugees . that s over four copies distributed each minute day and night for the duration of the war . 6 translation work never stopped between august 1914 and november 1918 bible society printed scriptures in 34 new languages and dialects . this meant on average there was one new version every seven weeks during the whole period of war . the society today edit the society is working to circulate the scriptures across the world in the church and through the culture . the strategy of bible society centres on bible availability accessibility and credibility what it calls the lifecycle of the bible . these strategic approaches encompass all of its activity translation production distribution literacy engagement and advocacy . 7 translation making the bible available in languages without the scriptures and revising existing bibles to bring the language up to date so that everyone can experience the scriptures in their mother tongue . translation is into spoken and signed languages production printing physical copies of the bible and producing scriptures in different formats such as print audio and digital forms in order to meet the demands of the millions around the world who want a bible of their own distribution taking the bible to places it might otherwise be hard to come by in formats that people can use literacy helping people to read and to read well using the bible as a resource engagement helping people grapple with the bible read and respond to it wisely advocacy giving the wider culture a reason and opportunity to encounter the joys of the bible the bible society has by far the largest collection of bibles in the world with about 40 000 items . it includes its chinese collection which is the largest collection of chinese scriptures anywhere in the world . where the society works edit the society s mission is global . its work is organised into two categories domestic and international . the society is part of an international fellowship of over 140 bible societies around the world known as the united bible societies . its entire international programme is delivered on the ground through the close relationship they have with each of their fellow bible societies . see also edit american bible society protestant missionary societies in china during the 19th century christian apologetics ernest tipson george borrow 1823 peshitta edition references edit http www.biblesociety.org.uk about bible society why we exist our timeline . bible society . retrieved 2010 11 26 . british and foreign bible society s library cambridge university library . mundus . retrieved 2010 08 20 . our history bfbs 1 2 http www.biblesociety.org.uk about bible society what we do external links edit official website charity commission . british and foreign bible society registered charity no. 232759 . bible society work in england and wales old bible maps published by the bible society courtesy of hipkiss scanned old maps after a hundred years a popular illustrated report of the british and foreign bible society for the centenary year 1903 4 . london the bible house . 1904 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title british and foreign bible society & oldid 736711589 categories bible societieschristian charities based in the united kingdomreligious organizations established in 1804christian organizations established in the 19th century1804 establishments in the united kingdomhidden categories pages using infobox organization with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages e tinacymraegdeutschespa olfran aisbahasa indonesia portugu ssvenska edit links this page was last modified on 29 august 2016 at 10 12 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the 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