Bible Society Australia this week marks 200 years since its inception and, as part of the celebrations, the organisation is giving away free Bibles.
The society, which was founded in Sydney on 7th March, 1817 – making it the oldest continually running organisation in the country, is doing so as part of its vision to see “all people engaged with the Bible in a language they can understand, in a format they can use, and at a price they can afford”.
“Our mission is to lighten people’s hearts with the Bible’s message of unconditional love in Jesus Christ,” read a statement from the organisation. “Giving away free Bibles is a great way to lighten people’s hearts, without lightening their pockets.”
Anyone who would like a free Bible or who wants to give one to a friend, simply needs to register at www.bible.com.au.
The Bible is the world’s best selling and most widely distributed book with an estimated five billion copies printed between 1815 and 2016. More than 15 million copies were printed in China alone in 2016, a figure tipped to double this year. But the Bible is also reaching people through digital platforms with the YouVersion Bible app downloaded more than 250 million times since 2008.
Despite this, less than 10 per cent of the world’s almost 7,000 languages have a full Bible translation and almost 500 million people still have no Scripture translated into their language.
