A Bible and Christian Heritage Exhibition

A few days ago we were delighted to host a wonderful Bible and Christian Heritage Exhibition. The exhibition was brought to us by David and Jenny Driver, of Our Inheritance Bible Ministries. OIBM is based at Polegate, in Sussex.

In over 40 brilliantly illustrated panels the exhibition presented to us the history of the Bible, and explained how it has impacted upon the life and history of this nation. The exhibition focuses on Christianity, and brings home to all the message of the Bible, and how it has formed the basis of our moral and legal establishment for over 2000 years.

We were able to learn about King Alfred, a Christian king, who believed the Bible to be God’s Word, the only king universally given the title ‘Great’. He ruled from 871 through to 901 and established English Law based on Biblical Principles. He also translated a number of the books of the Bible into Anglo Saxon.

From Alfred the Great through to the 20th century, we discovered much information about many people and events that have shaped our nation. Examples of only ’some’ of the people and events that were highlighted to us were:

14th Century: John Wycliffe and the Lollards

14th Century: Dawn of the Reformation

15th Century: Erasmus and the Greek text

15th & 16th Centuries: Martin Luther and Papal Resistance

16th Century: William Tyndale and his part in making the Bible available in our own English language. Previously it had only been able to be read by those who could understand Latin

16th Century: Mary Tudor and her persecution of Protestants

17th Century: The Authorised Version of the Bible, in 1611

17th Century: The Age of the English and American Puritans

18th Century: The Great Awakenings

18th and 19th Centuries: Sunday Schools and Missions

19th Century: Family life in the 19th Century

19th Century: Great preachers, such as Charles Haddon Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle.

There was so much it is totally impossible in a short article to mention everything, but alongside the panels there were many actual historical artifacts, including Large Family Bibles and small ‘Finger’ Bibles, the latter being very often favoured by Victorian ladies. A clay tablet with cuniform writing, parchments, a replica of Tyndales New Testament of 1526, and a very rare and valuable copy of ‘The Great Bible’ dated somewhere in the 1540’s. There were of course many, many other exhibits, over 400 in actual fact, each interesting and compelling.

Of particular interest to many was a copy of a Family Bible, orginally belonging to Derek Carver from Brighton. He was one of of the Lewes Martyrs, burnt at the stake on the 22nd of July, 1555. Perhaps the most well-known of the Lewes Martyrs, he was burnt in a beer barrel in the centre of Lewes during the reign of Mary Tudor, known as Bloody Mary, for his Protestant beliefs. At his ‘examination’ (trial) in St Mary’s Church-Over-the- Water (now Southwark Anglican Cathedral, he is said to have exclaimed to his examiners, “Your doctrine is poison and sorcery, ye say ye can make a god, ye can only make a pudding.” Thus he, and a number of others went to their death, upholding the honour of Christ, refusing to recant, and declaring those truths for which many more were to die in Mary Tudor’s reign.

Apart from those who came to the exhibition at the church, there was a smaller, portable exhibition which was taken to a number of nearby schools. Over 500 children were able to view the exhibition, and study the items on display. That was a great encouragement to us all.

Please check out our Gallery page for a few photographs of the exhibition.

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