Beaten with a Bible

Alfredo and Anna lived on a ranch in Argentina. Anna was a quiet little woman who worked hard to keep their ranch house in order, directing servants and overseeing the cooking of delicious meals for her husband as well as for the many farmhands. Although she was quiet and small, she was determined. And when she found an old Bible, it awakened her curiosity. For several weeks now she had been reading in the worn volume, and had discovered many things she has not known were there. Once she made the mistake of telling Alfredo that the Bible says the Seventh day is the Sabbath. She wondered aloud why no one kept it, and why they went to church on Sunday.

Alfredo was a faithful churchgoer. One reason for this was that he wanted his hired help to think of him as a religious man. They would respect him more. Another reason was he had discovered that many of his workers also followed his example and also attended church. The workers who went to church were more honest and got into less trouble than those who didn’t. No, Alfredo had nothing against going to church. But as far as he was concerned, all religious matters were left to the clergy and should not be dabbled in by unqualified persons.

When Alfredo saw that Anna was becoming interested in interpreting the Scriptures for herself, and even worse, she was discovering things that were contrary to the teachings of the church they were attending, he felt she had gone too far. He forbade her to read the Bible any more and he took it away from her. Of course, as a good wife Anna should have obeyed, forgetting all about the Bible and going about her work as usual. At least, that was the opinion of Alfredo. Women were to be subject to their husbands. He knew that was in the Bible.

But Anna had an independent spirit, though in all the twenty years they had been married it had scarcely ever asserted itself. Now she had found in the Good Book something that satisfied her soul. She never seemed to be satisfied from the church services they attended. She decided not to be frightened by her husband. So the next time she went to town she secretly bought a cheap Bible and hid it. Day by day while Alfredo was in the fields she read and studied. She did not understand all she read, but she kept on reading, as it was bringing her peace.

One day her husband found her reading this new Bible.

“Didn’t I tell you,” he roared, grabbing the Book from her hands, “that you were not to read the Bible anymore? The preachers interpret the Bible. It is not our place to try to find out anything for ourselves. We will just get confused.” He tore the Book into shreds and stuffed the pieces into the fire.

Anna said nothing. But the next time she went to town she bought another Bible. Now she should have been more carefully, probably. But the things she was reading interested her so much that it was hard for her not to talk about them. Again she was caught. This time Alfredo took the Bible and beat her over the head with it until the pages all fell out. Nothing but torn and scattered bits of paper remained.

And now he was sorry. He had never expected to be guilty of such an act. How could he do this to his wife? His religion was not teaching him to be gentle and kind to his wife.

It is unusual for a woman of Anna’s type to continue to defy her husband, but in this case Anna was not to be outdone. She bought another Bible. And this time she did not care whether her husband found out about it or not.

One day as she was reading, Alfredo came to the house. Anna saw him coming, but instead of hiding the Bible, she dropped to her knees and began to pray aloud. As he entered the room, Anna kept on praying. The ugly words died on his lips. She was praying for him!

Quietly Alfredo withdrew. He went back to his work, but he could not keep his mind on what he was doing. Anna was praying for him. For him! There must be something in that Bible that made her act like that.

Alfredo hated to lose face. He did not want to admit that he was wrong. He certainly did not want Anna to know that he was sorry for what he had done. No man should ever let his wife get the best of him that way, he thought. Why, she would never respect him if he did not exert his authority. No. He could not lose face. But how much he did want to find out what was in that Bible!

So Alfredo stole Anna’s Bible. After all, she had bought it with his money and she could, and no doubt would, go and buy another one. If he read it in the hayloft she would never know.

So Alfredo read and read. He even forgot to come to meals. His work got neglected. More and more responsibility fell to the hired men. He was simply too busy with the Bible. But Anna was not fooled. Not one bit. She knew that he had taken her Bible, and she suspected that he was reading it. She prayed harder for him. She noticed that he was kinder, more thoughtful, and gentler. And he always came back from the barn with a guilty look on his face. He reminded her of a child who had disobeyed and was afraid he would be found out.

Anna prayed harder than ever, and one day Alfredo confessed. He brought back her Bible and with tears asked for forgiveness. Together they studied. Strange, they thought, that no one else knew about these things.

Then one day a Seventh-day Adventist canvasser came to the house. He had just the books Alfredo needed. Alfredo bought everything, and then persuaded the canvasser to stay and lead out in some Bible Studies. When the man left, Alfredo took the books to church on Sunday morning. Excitedly he began to explain all the things that he had learned. And the congregation believed. “Why are we worshipping on Sunday, if Saturday is the right day?” they asked. And they changed the time of their worship to the Seventh day. Then Alfredo requested a preacher to come. After only a few meetings a baptismal class was organized, and in a few months all of the church members were baptised!

There was just one catch. The church building did not belong to them. How could they keep on meeting in a building that belonged to another denomination? Alfredo, who was a wealthy man, solved that. He bought the building and gave it to the conference.

The Bible beats them all.

“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:37

We need to put God first and not let any family members hold us back from following the Him. By our example, there is a possibility that we can win our family members over to following the Lord. Although, the outcome may not always be as positive as it was in the case of Anna, we still need to follow the Lord regardless whether our family members do or not, and the Lord will be with us to comfort us and give us peace.