Chapter five: The Sustaining power of the Bible during Persecution
5- The queen collected the Bibles and burnt them
The Bibles were not consumed; they were burnt and reduced into ashes but not consumed in the hearts of the Merina Christians. The FMBM, Society for the Propagation of the Bible in Madagascar, says lllay Boky nodorana nefa tsy levona-the book was burnt but not consumed'. Those faithful read it, re-read it and memorized it.
It was already in their hearts and in their minds. No one could remove or burn it from there. For that reason the FMBM says 'it is not consumed'. It was written with indelible ink in their hearts and minds.
So, the Christians worship went on, because once they came to Christ, through their reading of the Bible, nothing could separate them from him, neither life nor death (Rom 8:34-39). The FMBM's film confirms that those Christians were ready for anything because they already set their desires towards heaven (Phil 2:2-5) and counted earthly things as a loss for Christ (Phil 1:21). The passage in the Apocalypse chapter 14 verse 13 came to them with its full vigor: 'Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord'; that is why Rafaralahy Andriamazoto, witnessing the death of Rasalama, said 'If I die such a peaceful death, I too prefer to die for the Lord' (Rabary 1925:84), and his wish was fulfilled because one year later he was also crowned with a martyr's death. At the edge of the hurling cliff of Ampamarinana Ranivo even begged her persecutor to be executed. Her executioner had pity on her because of her tender age and her beauty. He spared her life. But she preferred to die for the Lord and share the fate of her friends.
Being an eye witness of the persecutions, the FMBM made her the narrator in the 'Hay Boky nodorana nefa tsy levona'.
6- Christians hide their Bible
Although possession of the Bible was an offence punishable by death, the Merina Christians hid Bibles which had survived the soldiers' raid. The Bible was their 'treasure' (Mat 13:44) and they kept it as the apple of their eyes. They buried some in the earth for greater security and stored others in various hiding-places far from the reach of the queen's spies and soldiers; 'One of these copies, stained by the damp soil, is one of the most treasured possessions in the Bible House Library in Queen Victoria Street, London' (Patten 1935:38). This copy was used by the Christians of Vonizongo
during the persecution. They took great care of it for several years. They repaired and sewed it with thread of vegetable fibre, and it had been protected with a cover of skin (1935:39). When the dark period was over, the missionaries took it and kept it in that library as a valuable archival item in the memory of persecution in Madagascar.
Some Christians found the entire Bible too bulky to hide easily, so they cut up some Bibles into sections and divided them among the members so that they could hide it easily or carry it in their bosoms without being noticed. The copies also were few because of the raid, and everyone wanted to have a copy, so they had to share the few remaining. When they came to their secret prayer meetings, each one took out the portions of Scripture that they guarded so zealously, and read it to the assembly;
'sometimes it was a copy of the Psalms, sometimes an Epistle, sometimes some cherished pages of the word of the Master Himself (Ridgwell 1920:33-34). Those Christians made sure that their Bible remained hidden from the queen and her spies who were spread everywhere.
Due to the scarcity of the Bible, their leaders wrote to the missionaries who were in London at that time to send them some Bibles. They wished to get the complete copies but they requested a small format for security purposes: 'Do send us some' they wrote 'and let them be of a small print, so that we may easily preserve them' (Patten 1935:39). Despite the death sentence awaiting those who were caught having the Bible, there was a great desire for the book in Imerina.
Hiding the Bible from the queen's spies was a problem, and hiding it from their own was another one; because not a few of them were betrayed by their fellow Christians or friends, even by their kin. A typical example was the betrayal of Ratsitapahina and his friend Rabearahaba by his own wife Rasoanjanahary. They were on their way to a mission at Ambongo, a village at the border of Antananarivo and Mahajanga. At the crossing of the river Ikopa, she denounced them to the soldiers who were working at the boat, helping people crossing the river. She told the soldiers that they were on their way to Ambongo to resuscitate rebellion among the Sakalava against the queen and they had a Bible because they were Christians. The soldiers searched the men and
found their Bible. They were arrested on the spot, and brought to Antananarivo. They were tortured and asked to denounce their fellow Christians but they refused to mention any name. So they were executed.
Many more Christians were caught in possession of the Bible, some were executed and others were put to jail or reduced to slavery with their entire household. This last kind of punishment was very degrading; some preferred to be executed than to be reduced to slavery. Alone in the year 1849, sixty-nine Christians were caught in possession of the Bible, of whom 'forty-two who had possessed books were made slaves, and their property seized; twenty-seven who had possessed books and who had preached, or explained, were made slaves with their wives and children' (Ellis 1859:165).
Possession of the Bible was a capital offence during Ranavalona's reign punishable by death or reduction to slavery or a life jail term.