Philadelphia Named National Bible City of 2009
"Written thousands of years ago, the message of the Bible has transcended time, cultural adversity, and remains relevant in today's changing world." -Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
(Philadelphia, Pa.)—The Bulletin reports that Philadelphia has been chosen as the National Bible City of 2009 by the National Bible Association (NBA), birthing plans for Bible-themed events around the city culminating in the National Bible Week. Last year's National Bible City was Johnson City, Tenn., and Seattle, Wash., will be the 2010 Bible City.
"The purpose of the NBA is to get people to read the Bible," said Ralf Augstroze, the executive director at the Providence Forum, an organization for Philadelphia's Bible City program participation. "It has primarily been a layperson's organization. The NBA has never had a pastor or member of the clergy as its president, chairman, or any board member. It has by and large been community leaders, business people, and corporate executives." (Photo: Independence Hall/Visitor's Center)
"It is fitting that national Bible week be celebrated the week of Thanksgiving, in that it reminds us of the adversity that our ancestors struggled against in obtaining the right to practice religion freely and read Scripture without consequence," said Gov. Ed Rendell in his proclamation on National Bible Week in 2008. "Written thousands of years ago, the message of the Bible has transcended time, cultural adversity, and remains relevant in today's changing world."
According to the report, the first English Bible ever printed in the new world was printed in Philadelphia in 1782 at the order of Congress and also, Philadelphia's Liberty Bell bears a Bible verse from Leviticus 25:10, which says to "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land."
