Elias Boudinot
Elias Boudinot was one of our founding fathers. Born in Philadelphia in 1740, he was literally the next-door neighbor of Benjamin Franklin growing up, until his father was appointed to a position at Princeton. Elias became a successful lawyer, and later became an active supporter of the American Revolution. During the Revolutionary War, he loaned and gave money to equip units for battle. Elias was elected to the New Jersey Provisional Congress and was appointed a Colonel by General Washington to oversee matters of prisoners of war during the conflict.
Elias was appointed to the Continental Congress after the war, where he served a one-year term as the Congress’ fourth president. Elias served three terms as elected Representative from New Jersey and, when he refused to run again, President Washington appointed him as director of the US Mint – a position he held for ten years. During all his time in office and in government service, Elias advocated for the Christian faith in American life. He did so by advocating for the rights of Native Americans and slaves in the states – using God’s Word as a basis for his advocacy. He advocated for prayer in the new nation, and was one of the first to push for the establishment of a Thanksgiving Day holiday.
In 1816, when Elias was 75 years old, he was given a report that some young men had researched and written together. This report painted a bleak picture that many people within the United States had no access to a copy of the Bible. There were a number of smaller Bible societies in the nation trying to fill this need, with marginal success. Elias was moved by this, and made extraordinary efforts to unify the various Bible societies and the various Christian churches committed to the cause. Four months after beginning his work, Elias was named the first president of the American Bible Society. In response, he said, “I am not ashamed to confess that I accept the appointment as the greatest honor that could have been conferred on me this side of the grave.” He continued, “I am so convinced that the whole of this business is the work of God Himself, by His Holy Spirit, that even hoping against hope I am encouraged to press on through the good report and evil report, to accomplish His will on earth as it is in Heaven. So apparent is the hand of God in this disposing the hearts of so many men, so diversified their sentiments as to religious matters of minor importance, and uniting them as a band of brothers in this grand object that even infidels are compelled to say, ‘It is the work of the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes!’ Having this confidence, let us go on and we shall prosper.”
Elias spent the next 5 years unifying the efforts of the various smaller Bible societies into one homogenous whole. He donated $10,000 of his own money to set up a headquarters in New York and begin work. Elias was a big believer in efficiency and innovation, and the American Bible Society became one of the earliest American publishers to use stereotype plates and steam-powered presses in its Bible publishing. In 1817, the organization presented 65 Bibles to the crew of the USS John Adams – the inauguration of its lengthy and fruitful ministry to the US military. In 1819, they published their first translation of the Bible, a ministry to the Delaware Indians.
Elias’ death in 1821 has not dimmed the ministry of the American Bible Society. Today, they remain very active in military ministry, Bible translation, and publishing & distribution – among other ministries. Elias Boudinot left a fantastic legacy, indeed.
http://sites.tld.bible/history/elias_boudinot/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Boudinot
