{"id":122181,"date":"2022-08-24T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=122181"},"modified":"2022-08-23T21:07:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T02:07:04","slug":"nothingsurvived-but-the-word-of-god-180-year-old-bible-miraculously-endures-after-inferno-turns-historic-church-into-scene-of-complete-devastation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/nothingsurvived-but-the-word-of-god-180-year-old-bible-miraculously-endures-after-inferno-turns-historic-church-into-scene-of-complete-devastation\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Nothing\u2026Survived But the Word of God&#8221;: 180-Year-Old Bible Miraculously Endures After Inferno Turns Historic Church Into &#8220;Scene of Complete Devastation&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Members of a <strong>Mississippi <\/strong>church are in mourning after a fire destroyed their historic sanctuary, but a 180-year-old <strong>Bible <\/strong>that weathered the blaze is bringing much-needed hope to the beleaguered congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>College Hill Presbyterian Church<\/strong> in <strong>College Hill<\/strong>, Mississippi, built in 1844, has inspired <strong>Christians <\/strong>for nearly two centuries, but the historic building was left in what <strong>WATN-TV<\/strong> described as a \u201cscene of complete devastation\u201d after the August 13 fire broke out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original pews, pulpits, and stained glass were completely destroyed during the tragic inferno, leaving church members in pain and mourning. But one item did endure: a Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The historic Bible, dating back to the church\u2019s founding, has been handed down and preached from throughout the church\u2019s history, with dated inscriptions in the book\u2019s margins telling part of its history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the holy book was usually kept open on a pulpit, someone closed it just hours before the fire, amazingly protecting it from potential destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.localmemphis.com\/article\/news\/local\/massive-fire-oldest-church-oxford-mississippi\/522-be55e11f-44c0-4990-bf4d-712baa2eaa60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this WATN-TV report<\/a>&nbsp;for more on the Bible:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BTq7kOe86cI\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>Church elder <strong>Doug Paul<\/strong>\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.localmemphis.com\/article\/news\/local\/massive-fire-oldest-church-oxford-mississippi\/522-be55e11f-44c0-4990-bf4d-712baa2eaa60\" target=\"_blank\">told WATN-TV<\/a>\u00a0the Bible\u2019s survival has sent a profound message to the congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are a Bible-believing church, and we believe that that is the word of God, and that is sustaining,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so the idea that essentially nothing in this church survived but the word of God \u2014 that\u2019s not lost on us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul said the church feels \u201cheartbreak\u201d and \u201chope,\u201d as they recall God\u2019s goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe first response on Sunday is heartbreak,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there is just as much as there is a heartbreak, there\u2019s also hope and a confidence that, if God protected us for the first 180 years, there\u2019s no reason why we\u2019re not going to build again and be protected for another 180.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FLafayetteCountyFD%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0VEiZqLaTCTPp8yknK9VV3TNcaK4jJwJF72orYfG44gHv2NYrhdgyacBQKkoMBU8nl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"809\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>A similar message was posted on the College Hill Presbyterian Church website, with leaders lamenting the loss but looking toward <strong>God<\/strong>\u2019s goodness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis historical building, constructed in 1844, was a significant part of our church\u2019s rich history, and we are mourning its loss,\u201d it&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/chpcoxford.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reads<\/a>. \u201cHowever, College Hill Presbyterian Church is a body of believers, not a building. While we are devastated by the loss, we will continue to gather and unite with great hope and joy as a congregation to worship the Lord who has faithfully shepherded and loved this church for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The church\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CHPCOxford\" target=\"_blank\">gathered August 20<\/a>\u00a0for services in its education building, which was untouched by the fire. The cause of the incident is under investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue to pray for the congregation as it recovers from this tragic event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/author\/bhallowell\/\">Billy Hallowell<\/a><\/em> &#8211; <em>Original article posted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/2022\/08\/23\/nothing-survived-but-the-word-of-god-180-year-old-bible-miraculously-endures-after-inferno-turns-historic-church-into-scene-of-complete-devastation\/\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"25\" height=\"16\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14544\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bible-collegehill-mississippi-1024x603-1.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"377\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bible-collegehill-mississippi-1024x603-1.jpg?resize=640%2C377\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-122183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bible-collegehill-mississippi-1024x603-1.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bible-collegehill-mississippi-1024x603-1.jpg?resize=300%2C177&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bible-collegehill-mississippi-1024x603-1.jpg?resize=768%2C452&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of a Mississippi church are in mourning after a fire destroyed their historic sanctuary, but a 180-year-old<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":122183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[20081,1895,8070,22130,22238,2510,378,5,7067],"class_list":["post-122181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-bible","tag-church","tag-college-hill","tag-college-hill-presbyterian-church","tag-doug-paul","tag-fire","tag-god","tag-mississippi","tag-ole-miss","post_format-post-format-video"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/bible-collegehill-mississippi-1024x603-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C603&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}