Rivers are like football teams. They have their supporters. The Test, the Itchen and the Meon offer the best angling, they say. The Thames below Teddington is tidal. One of its chief lures is Hampton Court. The Tamar almost makes Cornwall an island. The Trent cuts England into two. The Tyne, the Tees and the Wear were the engine-room of the industrial revolution.
Once we leave these shores, we join the major league. The Rhine, the Rhone and more specially the Danube are big. They make for the North Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Yet further afield the Nile and the Amazon top them all.
Samuel Johnson, that practitioner of common sense, famously said that no man could call a mountain tall until he had seen many mountains and no river deep until he had seen many rivers. This breadth of understanding can be applied to other interests. As far as this aspect is concerned, mountains, rivers and books are alike. The Bible is exceptional – or is it? The biblical documents cannot be given top place by a critic who ha seen only a few books. To speak otherwise of the Bible is to trivialise a serious question.
Baku is the deepest capital on earth. The capital of Azerbaijan It is 92 feet below sea-level. / The deepest hole on earth is 7.5 miles below sea-level. This has been determined by those who have taken notice of other capitals and other holes. There is a difference between saying tha the Bible is the most profound book on earth and saying that if a man has a Bible he needs no other book.
We have to compare hole with hole, capital city with capital city before we are bold enough to say such things about geographical features. The same is true of the Bible. This is not to detract from the reputation of the Bible but to fortify it. Better to be the best of the bunch, on performance, than best in some prescribed sense that cannot be tested. The Bible deserves better than being patronised.
YANGTZE
The River Yangtze is the longest river in Asia. It flows for 3,900 miles.
THREE LANGUAGES
Chinese Christians meet for worship on a Sunday morning in three language groups: English, Cantonese and Mandarin. The services take place in Tyndale Baptist church., Bristol.
AND IN MANCHESTER
Manchester Chinese Christian Church meets in several venues, each worshipping in its own language.
DURHAM TRANSLATORS
Emmanuel church Durham offers translations in Arabic, Farsi, Hindi and Yoruba, amongst those on offer to newcomers.
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