Cromwell's Bible
In the Museum of London is a dimly lit Bible claiming to be Cromwell’s. There are more Cromwell 'relics' than for any other British ruler, apart from Queen Victoria, according to the museum's curators. This Bible with 'O Cromwell’ on the fly leaf was printed in 1658, the year of the great man's death. The signature is probably not genuine and was probably added in the 19th century. Someone presumably wished to increase the Bible’s value by adding a famous man’s signature. The other week, someone offered me a free Bible commentary, which had Phil Arthur’s name inscribed. I suspect this was genuine rather than some effort of a forger, and it did increase its value to me. What a strange way of thinking I have. It is He who spoke the words, that matters, not the identity of the one who read it, much less owned it. The Victorian forger could not add any value to that object, for God’s word is the most valuable thing this world affords. If some day, one inherits a Bible or commentary of mine, tear out the page bearing the name. Marvel not that I once owned or read it, but how little I lived up to it.
Cromwell was a great man and this very hour stands before his Lord and Saviour in heaven. His greatness was not because he owned a Bible, but that the Bible owned him.
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24, NKJV
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