1904
"Tell me a story, Mommy." '
Hearing this, millions of Christian parents through the years have looked for books of Bible stories to share with their children. In the nineteenth century the American Sunday-School Union had published some small books of Bible stories that proved very popular, but as the twentieth century opened there was a need for a new book of Bible stories.
Jesse Lyman Hurlbut decided to meet that need. With children of his own ranging in age from six to sixteen when he wrote the book, he certainly knew a few things about kids. And he knew the Bible pretty well too. One of the founders of the Epworth League of the Methodist Church, he also served as director of the Biblical Institute of Newark, New Jersey. Throughout his life, he wrote about thirty books in all.
With about five million copies in print, Hurlbut's Story of the Bible "for young and old" has set the standard for others to match. Many other excellent storybooks have been published during the century, but Hurlbut's has always maintained a singular status. In the first half of the century, its sales made it the twelfth best-selling book in the United States (of all books, not just Christian books). In 1962 Time magazine called it "one of the best-selling religion books of all time." The John C. Winston Company published the book originally, but Zondervan Publishing House obtained rights in 1962 and has produced thirty-one printings.
Dedicated to "the Young People of America," Hurlbut tells 168 Bible stories in chronological order, so that both parents and children have a good understanding of the complete sweep of the Scriptures.
In his preface, Hurlbut explains clearly "what we aim to do." His stated goals make it clear that he loves the Scriptures, but he
also has a driving passion to communicate these stories to kids in a way they'll understand. While the principles aren't revolutionary today, they help explain why the book proved so sue-cessful. The purpose of his Story of the Bible, Iiurlbut wrote, is: (1) to tell the stories in order so that the reader has a complete Bible history; (2) to make each story complete in itself with a separate title; (3) to write in plain, but not childish language, so that a ten year old can understand it, with words like altar, tabema-cle, synagogue, and centurion explained, and to exclude technical terms; (4) to remain faithful to the biblical text, to avoid imaginary scenes, and to use biblical language as much as possible, so that readers are drawn to the Bible, not away from it; (5) to avoid doctrinal issues, so that all denominations would feel at home with it; (6) to write with short paragraphs; (7) to choose illus-nations with care.
We find a sample of Hurlbut’s child-friendly writing in the creation story: "This great round world, on which we live, is very old, so old that no one knows when it was made. But long before there was any earth, or sun, or stars, God was living, for God never began to be. He always was."
Newer Bible story books have done more with colorful graphics, of course, but Hurlbut's basic wording has proven amazingly durable. Each new generation seems to come up with a favorite in this category: Egemeier's Bible stories in the 1930s, the brilliant Arch Concordia series in the 1960s, and others in the 1990s, but Hurlbut's remains a classic. As we enter the twenty-first century, this old book still has a following.