The bible is the sacred book of the Jewish and Christian religions (actually a collection of a number of books) . The Hebrew Bible, recognised by both Jews and Christians, is called the Old Testament by Christians. The New Testament comprises books recognised by the Christian church from the 5th century as canonical (the first Christian bible was produced in 494). The Roman Catholic Bible also includes the Apocrypha. It was only in the 13th century that single-volume Bibles with a fixed content and order of books became common, largely through a Paris-produced Vulgate of 1200 and the Paris Bible of 1230. The first English translation of the entire Bible was by a priest, Miles Coverdale in 1535; the Authorised Version, or King James Bible of 1611, was long influential for the clarity and beauty of its language. A revision of the Authorized Version carried out in 1959 by the British and Foreign Bible Society produced the widely used American translation, the Revised Standard Version.
A conference of British churches in 1946 recommended a completely new translation into English from the original Hebrew and Greek texts; work on this was carried out over the following two decades, resulting in the publication of the New English Bible in 1961 and 1970. Another recent translation is the Jerusalem Bible, completed by Catholic scholars in 1966. Missionary activity led to the translation of the Bible into the languages of people they were trying to convert, and by 1993 parts of the Bible had been translated into over 2,000 different languages, with 329 complete translations.
The King James Bible has probably sold more copies than any other book in history, and is still popular, especially among fundamentalists. The 'Good News Bible' has been the most popular translation into modern colloquial English. Two new versions of the Bible were published in the mid-1990s: the Contemporary English Version of 1996, which rejects old biblical language in favour of a contemporary spoken style, and the Schocken Bible of 1995, a translation of the Pentateuch, which attempts to renew the shock of the original Hebrew. As more manuscripts are discovered, disputed readings become clearer, so that in some respects modern translations are more accurate than older ones. Research Bible
The British Empire League was an association formed in 1895 in London for the purpose of promoting trade between the United Kingdom, the colonies and India; fostering closer intercourse between the different portions of the empire by the establishment of cheaper and more direct steam postal and telegraphic communication; devising a more perfect co-operation of the military and naval forces of the empire, with a special view to the due protection of the trade routes; assimilating, as far as possible, the laws relating to copyright, patents, legitimacy, and bankruptcy throughout the empire; the calling of periodic conferences to deal with these and similar questions on the lines of the London Conference of 1887 and the OttawaConference of 1894. Research British Empire League
The Congress of Troppau was a conference of representatives of five European powers held at Troppau in October and November 1820. It met at the instigation of Metternich to discuss the affairs of Naples, where a revolution had just taken place. Austria, Russia and Prussia were in favour of intervention, but France and Great Britain disagreed. The only result was a protocol signed by these powers, threatening any state which, as Naples had done, changed the form of government by revolutionary means, with exclusion from the European concert and if other states were disturbed by such proceedings, with armed force. Great Britain alone protested. The conference adjourned to meet at Laibach in 1821. Research Congress of Troppau
The Hampton Court Conference was a conference which took place in 1604 at Hampton Court under the presidency of James I between the representatives of the Episcopalian and Puritan parties in the church. The proceedings consisted largely of browbeating of the Puritan members and theological dogmatizing on the part of the king himself. A few slight alterations were made in the Common Prayer Book, and it was determined that a new version of the Bible should be undertaken. This, the Authorized Version, appeared in 1611. Research Hampton Court Conference
The Pan-American Congress was an international conference of representatives from the United States and from seventeen States of Central and South America, which assembled at Washington, on October the 2nd, 1889, on the invitation of the United States. Its purpose was to adopt some plan of arbitration for the settlement of disputes, and plans for the improvement of business intercourse and means of communication between the countries. San Domingo was the only State to refuse the invitation. The delegates were taken on a tour of inspection through the Union, prior to assembling for the business convention. Nothing very definite was arrived at in the convention, which was of value chiefly through its exposition of the commercial status and resources of the various countries. The Bureau of American Republics was established at the suggestion of this convention. Research Pan-American Congress
The People's Party was an American political organisation organized during the National Union Conference at Cincinnati, on May the 19th, 1891, and formed chiefly from the various Farmers' Alliances. A national committee was appointed to look after the interests of the new organization, and the platform of the Farmers' Alliance was indorsed advocating free silver; the sub-treasury plan; equal taxation; revenues limited to the necessity of the Government; a graduated income tax;
the election of President, Vice-President and Senate by a direct vote of the people; and prohibition of alien ownership of land. The National Convention at Omaha, Nebraska on July the 2nd, 1893, nominated James B Weaver, of Iowa, for President, and James G Field, of Virginia, for Vice-president. James B Weaver obtained a popular vote of 1,030,128 and an electoral vote of twenty-three. Research People's Party
Population is the number of people inhabiting a country, region, area, or town. Population statistics are derived from many sources; for example, through the registration of births and deaths, and from censuses of the population.
The first national censuses were taken in 1800 and 1801 and provided population statistics for Italy, Spain, the UK, Ireland, and the USA; and the cities of London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and New York. Since that time a growing number of countries have taken regular censuses, often at ten-yearly intervals, including Austria (1821), France (1821), China (1851), Russia (1861), Japan (1871), and India (1901). Although censuses are approximately accurate for wealthy industrial countries, this may not be the case with other countries.
Between 1990 and 1995 world population increased by 1.7% a year (the number of elderly increased at 2.7% annually). In mid-1994 world population was 5.7 billion and increasing at the rate of 86 million per annum. According to a UN 'low variant' projection, the world population will be at least 7.9 billion by 2050, 9.8 billion by a mid-range projection, or 13 billion by high-range forecasts.
In September 1994, a UN international conference on population and development was attended by politicians from 150 countries. It emphasised the importance of improving the position of women for effective population control, as well as improved sex education and contraception. Serious population studies date from the later 18th century; for example, Thomas Malthus's 'Essay on the Principle of Population', first published in 1798. Research Population
The Red Cross is an international organisation established to secure neutral rights and protection for wounded soldiers irrespective of nationality, and for all places and persons devoted to their care. The organisation was formed at an international conference in Geneva in 1863 following public sympathy aroused during the Crimean War and the Austrian-Italian War and especially the Battle of Solferino in 1859. The original notion of such a body can be traced back to the Order of St Mary which was instituted at the siege of Acre in 1190. Research Red Cross
The Sugar Bounty was a grant of public money, or subsidy, paid to the manufacturers and exporters of beet sugar to enable them to compete with cane sugar in the world's markets. The system was adopted in France and other countries in the 19th century. In Great Britain the duties on imported sugar were abolished in 1874, and from 1882 onwards strong protests against the Continental sugar bounty system were made by the West Indian sugar producers and the British sugar industry.
An international conference met in London in 1887, and a convention condemning sugar bounties was signed in 1888 on behalf of all the countries represented except France, Denmark and Sweden. The convention, however, was not ratified and by 1896 the crisis in the cane-sugar industry had become so acute that a royal commission was sent out to report on the position in the West Indies. In 1902 an agreement was reached by the Powers, to abolish sugar bounties for five years as from September 1903. Great Britain withdrew from the convention in 1913. Research Sugar Bounty
Unitarianism is a system of theology. It is a belief that God exists in one Person. Some writers maintain that Unitarianism was coeval with the Apostolic Church. Described as succeeding to Arianism, Arminianism, and Socinianiam, it has undergone, many changes in modern times. Unitarian congregations first arose in Poland and Hungary. Persecution, the martyrdom of men like Michael Servetus in Switzerland, John Biddle and Bartholomew Legate in England, and Francis David in Transylvania, as well as repression in Italy and elsewhere, gave it impetus. After the Reformation many Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists were drawn to it, and Milton, Locke, Newton, and Isaac Watts are said to have favoured it. Among its leaders, James Priestley and James Martineau in England, and Theodore Parker and W E Channing in America are conspicuous. In the USA the name given to the system is Universalism.
With no creed, and opposed to dogma, its modern position in Great Britain has been defined as a belief in the unity of God, in the humanity of Jesus, who is regarded as a prophet superhumanly endowed in progressive revelation and in the immortal hope for all mankind. While believing in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, Unitarians deny the doctrine of the Trinity, the verbal infallibility of the Bible, and eternal torment. They claim to be open to all the revelations of science and evolution, and to all that is implied by the laws of change. Their ministers and congregations are free and independent.
Most of the churches have Sunday schools. The first Unitarian church in London was founded by Theophilus Lindsey in Essex Street, Strand. The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was founded in 1825; a national Unitarian conference was organized at Liverpool in 1882; and there are training colleges at Manchester and Oxford. Research Unitarianism
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Bible
