Drudgery and Genius

Ealizing that he could never give himself as he should to the making of the new Reference Bible except by withdrawing from every other form of service, Dr. and Mrs. Scofield went abroad in 1904 to take up this work. Both were very weary, and Mrs. Scofield had never seen London, so they went there first, with no special purpose in mind except a bit of sight-seeing. At this time Dr. Scofield had no plans as to a publisher for the Reference Bible. He had not even thought of that important detail in the work, not appreciating then, as he has since, how vitally important it was that the right publisher should be found. In Northfield he had become well acquainted with the older Mr. Scott of the well-known firm of religious publishers in London, Morgan & Scott. He welcomed the Scofields to London, and took them with him for a little visit at his country place at Dorking. There Dr. Scofield told Mr. Scott quite fully about the work he had undertaken in a a new Reference Bible.

“Who is going to publish it?” at once asked Mr. Scott.

“I do not know,” was the reply. “I have not taken that up. The first thing I must do is to get the material ready; then it will be time enough to think of a publisher.”

“But the question of the publisher is of the utmost importance,” replied Mr. Scott. ‘And there is only one concern that ought to publish that Bible. My own house would be glad to publish it, of course; but we could not give it the world-wide introduction which it must have. The publishers of this Bible must be the Oxfoid University Press.”

“TI do not know any one connected with the Oxford Press,” said Dr. Scofield.

“I can easily arrange that,’ answered Mr. Scott; and forthwith he took his friend to call upon Mr. Henry Frowde, then the head of the great Bible publishing house of Great Britain and the English-speaking world.

Mr. Frowde was interested. He said he would consult Mr. Armstrong, then head of the American branch of the Oxford University Press. Mr. Armstrong was immediately enthusiastic at the suggestion that this new Reference Bible be brought out by the Oxford Press, and a preliminary understanding was quickly reached. Mr. Frowde assured Dr. Scofield that, if he finally decided to place the Bible with them, they could readily arrange a proper contract for the publication, in the interests of each party. And so the publishing question was settled, God having fulfilled his word that “‘before they call, I will answer” (Isaiah 65: 24).

Dr. and Mrs. Scofield now went from London to Montreux, Switzerland, for quiet work and study. Here he fell desperately ill. It was evidently one of the several attacks that Satan began making upon him and this work of putting the riches of God’s Word freely at the disposal of multitudes who otherwise would not have them. The story of the Adversary’s persistent, desperate, but futile attempts to prevent the successful completion of the Scofield Reference Bible is a significant and impressive one. Satan is a terrible adversary; but, praise God, he is an “already defeated foe.”

For three or four months Dr. Scofield’s illness prevented his doing anything further. Before this illness began he had given an order in Geneva for the making of several big blank books, one for each of the grand divisions of the Bible, such as the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, the Poetical Books, the Prophetical Books, and the rest. These books consisted of large blank pages, and his plan was to paste the text of the Scriptures from a good edition of the Bible on these blank pages, then make his references and annotations and comments on the margins. For the Bible text for this use the Oxford Press had given him half a dozen copies of their most accurate edition, of which the proof had been read thirteen different times.

While he lay sick and helpless, utterly incapacitated for going on with his work, Mrs. Scofield, unknown to him, pasted up the entire Bible in the big blank books that had come from Geneva. Upon his recovery he found this preliminary part of the work finished, and the books ready for him to go ahead. Broad four-inch margins on all four sides of the Bible text on each page of the books gave ample room for the necessary editorial work. This was but the beginning of the large contributions made by his devoted wife to the monumental work that lay ahead for both of them.

Worn out from his illness, Scofield was far from strong when he now settled down to the real work for which he had been unconsciously collecting material during the twenty-five years since his conversion, and even earlier. But the Lord was his strength, and was going to complete that which He had begun.

In making the chain references, which were to be one of the central features of the new Bible, the very first mention of every great theme or subject had first to be located; then patiently all the other most important references to the same theme throughout the entire Bible, Old Testament and New, must be searched out and brought together. Each theme or subject was searched out, carried through the entire Bible, and completed before another theme or subject was taken up. All this involved a concentration and continuance and infinite painstaking in detail of labor that probably no one can imagine who has not done some such work. “May the Lord spare you that kind of work,” said Dr. Scofield fervently to a friend years afterward.

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paper; and then they were transferred from
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And fully half of this work of entering them
finally into the books was done by Mrs. Scofield.

The conscious purpose that Dr. Scofield had in doing this work comes out in his characteristic statement: “If you’re going to do it, and do it for God, there is only one way — not a smooth, easy way, but as unto the Lord.”

For example, he found that in making accurate and illuminating subheads for the paragraphs of the Reference Bible in the Gospels, there must be a careful study of all the parallel passages before any subhead could be safely decided upon for any paragraph in any one Gospel. Parallel passages bearing on that paragraph in another Gospel might alone determine the correct subhead. This patient sort of search and painstaking comparing Scripture with Scripture characterized the making of the Reference Bible at every point. This it was that prevented rapid work, that added almost incalculably to the labor, and that enabled God to bless the work as He has done.

On that first foreign trip for the making of the Reference Bible the introductions to the larger or grand divisions of the books of the

Bible were written, the introductions to each of the sixty-six books, and the analyses of each of the sixty-six books. This first retirement abroad in order to give undivided attention to the work lasted for eleven months, nine of which were spent in solid work at Montreux.

About this time the First Congregational Church in Dallas was having a difficult time, becoming somewhat disheartened on account of the long absence of the one who was nominally its pastor, though it had been clearly understood that he must be free to give his whole time to this work; and the people of the church urged Dr. Scofield to return and let them have a little of his time, assuring him that he would still be free to go on with his labors on the Bible. At the same time the problem of the providing of money for the continuing of his sojourn abroad had arisen. He says frankly to-day, in looking back at that particular time in his work, that he suffered a weakening of his faith as to God’s purpose to provide the money and see him through this tremendous task. And so he came back to America, and took up preaching and pastoral work in Dallas. The Lord had, indeed, provided all the money needs hitherto — even when “the bottom of the barrel”? had more than once just about been reached, the Lord’s provision always arrived before there was any real suffering.

It was not long after resuming preaching and pastoral work at Dallas that Dr. Scofield realized that it was impossible to attempt to go on with his Bible work and church work together. He had somewhat of a breakdown in health again. This time he spent a winter at the Sanitarium at Clifton Springs, New York, — not so much as an invalid as because of the splendid facilities there for the best food and air, and medical attention when needed, and at the same time freedom to go on with his work.

He took up quarters there that gave him every facility for working, and with Miss Ella E. Pohle, who had done invaluable secretarial work for him for years in connection with the Bible Correspondence Course, he again entered upon the arduous labors of the Reference Bible. Mrs. Scofield and Miss Pohle worked together in putting the multitudinous chain references into place on the pages of the big books that were gradually constituting “copy” for the final work, after Dr. Scofield had carefully prepared these references himself on separate sheets.

It must be remembered that every entry of a reference in this chain reference plan required three separate lines. First came the topic or theme, such as “Gospel” or “Inspiration.” Then came the chapter and verse reference for the next succeeding passage of Scripture where that same topic or theme occurred. Finally came, in parentheses, the references for the first mention of that topic or theme in Scripture, and its last mention. For example, on the passage in 2 Kings 6:6, where Elisha makes the axe-head to swim, you will find the chain reference entry in the margin: “Miracles (Old Testament), verses 5-7, 18-20; 2 Kings 13: 21. (Genesis 5:24; Jonah 2:1-10).”

Now multiply this work for each entry by the number of such entries you find in the Old Testament and the New in the Scofield Reference Bible, recalling that each such entry was written out first at least twice by Dr. Scofield himself, and then by those who were helping him to transfer the references to the final “copy” for the printer, and you begin to have a hint of what this task involved. And that was only one detail in the great work.