Bible Society
any society constituted for multiplying copies of the Bible, and, as far as the financial resources at its disposal will permit, diffusing them abroad. Of these societies the following may be enumerated: 1. American Bible Society: The American Bible Society was founded in 1816. Sixty delegates, from 12 States of the Union, met in New York City and organized the society. All its publication are issued at cost; below cost, and free. Bibles in 84 languages have been scattered over the United States. In 1918 the Society issued 6,040,000 bibles. 2. In the United Kingdom these socities for circulating the scriptures were established: The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, incorporated in 1649, and again in 1661; the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, established in 1698; the So- 6. The Philadelphia Bible Society, the first in the United States, founded in 1808. 7. The City of London Bible Society, founded in 1812. 8. The Russian Bible Society, established under the auspices of the Emperor Alexander in 1813, but suppressed in 1826 by his successor, Nicholas, the antagonist of the allies in the noted Crimean War. 9. The Netherlands Bible Society was founded at Amsterdam in 1814. 10. The Trinitarian Bible Society, founded in 1831. 11. The National Bible Society of Scotland, founded in 1860, with which the Edinburgh Bible Society (1809) and the Glasgow organization (1812) are now incorporated.
Bible societies, though wide in their constitution, are practically Protestant BIBLES institutions; and, on June 29, 1816, a bull denouncing them was launched by Pope Pius VII.