Display Case 3

Matthew Henry Commentary

Matthew Henry, an English minister and Bible commentator, was born in Wales in 1662. His father had been ejected from his ministry in the Church of England because of his non-conformist (or Puritan) views and thus Matthew’s early life was spent in a Christian community under persecution. Following early theological training, Matthew began preaching near his family’s farm and eventually pastored several Presbyterian congregations. He died of diabetes and kidney disease in London in 1714. Henry authored several publications, but his most famous, the massive commentary on the Bible, was begun in 1704, with portions first published in 1708. By the time of his death, he had completed and published the Old Testament commentary and through the book of Acts in the New Testament. After his death the work was finished by several other ministers with the final editing of the complete edition occurring in 1811. The commentary is an exhaustive verse by verse study of the Bible, primarily exegetical, interpreting the text of Scripture as presented. Henry’s intention was explanation, not translation or textual criticism. Matthew Henry’s work helped to shape the spiritual convictions of many Christians of the 18th and 19th centuries. His Commentary is still being published today.

American Bible Society, 1816

The American Bible Society, organized in 1816, was founded to distribute the Bible around the United States through nondenominational and nonprofit groups. Their first grant for Bibles was given for a distribution in New York state in 1817. And in that same year, the Scripture grant program for the armed services began with Bibles being distributed to the crew of the USS John Adams. The Society provided Bibles to both the North and the South during the Civil War. The Society was a part of a growing evangelical press in America in the 19th century which was covering the expanding nation with Bibles, denominational newspapers, and spiritual tracts. Though retaining “American” in its name, the ministry of the Society gradually shifted from a national to an international focus. This is evidenced by the Society’s efforts in seeing the Bible translated into over 1500 languages reaching most of the world’s population today. The ministry of this Society continues around the world from their headquarters in New York City, cooperating with other Societies internationally to coordinate the translation and distribution of the Bible on every continent.