By the Mayor of Philadelphia

A Proclamation

Of the many influences that has shaped the City of Philadelphia as a leading cultural center and the birthplace of our great Nation, none may be said to be more foundational than the Bible.

 

Deep religious beliefs emerging from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible inspired a Quaker clergyman, William Penn, to found our City.  These beliefs provided him with the faith, character and convictions necessary to withstand the enormous challenges confronting his dream to establish a colony built on the foundational principle of religious liberty. 

 

His faith, shaped by the Bible, is evident in that Philadelphia’s name is taken from Revelation 3:7.  Penn’s prayer for Philadelphia inscribed today on City Hall and written in 1684 is expressed in the language of the Bible:

"And Thou Philadelphia the virgin settlement of this province named before thou wert born, what care, what service, what travail have there been to bring thee forth and preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile thee. O that thou mayest be kept from the evil that would overwhelm thee, that faithful to the God of thy mercies in the life of righteousness, thou mayest be preserved to the end. My soul prays to God for thee that thou mayest stand in the day of trial, that thy children may be blest of the Lord and thy people saved by His power.”

 

Penn’s aspirations for Philadelphia were shared by others and helped to establish a common purpose in the midst of the many faith traditions that Penn welcomed to the colony named for his family. This common purpose ultimately answered Penn’s hope that his “holy experiment” would become “the seed of a nation.”  The spirit of religious liberty, at the heart of Penn’s “City of Brotherly Love”, has been embraced by our Nation’s Constitution written here in its abiding commitment to religious liberty for people of all faiths.

 

But Philadelphia has also had an impact on the Bible itself.  It was here in Philadelphia on Market Street in 1782 that Robert Aitken printed the first English Bible in the New World.  Of this Bible, the US Congress then meeting in Philadelphia declared:

“That the United States in Congress assembled highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, as subservient to the interest of religion, as well as an instance of the progress of arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work, they recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.”

 

Many of our Nation’s greatest leaders while serving our nation in Philadelphia -– Founders such as Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Witherspoon and President Washington – appealed to the Bible and its influence as they began our Nation and defined its values.  

 

Throughout the history of Philadelphia, the Bible's teachings of love for our neighbor has inspired Philadelphia’s citizens, institutions and government to expressions of compassionate outreach such as private charity, the establishment of schools and hospitals, and the abolition of slavery.

 

Moreover, the Governor of Pennsylvania, recognizing the important contribution of the Bible in shaping the history and character of Pennsylvania, and so many of its citizens, declared his support of the National Bible Association’s declaration of Philadelphia as Bible City in 2009 on the 23rd of November, 2008.

 

Today our beloved City faces a time of great challenge. As a people we may well be tested as Penn’s prayer suggests, as we have seldom, if ever, been tested before. We will need strength of spirit provided by the Bible perhaps even more than the advantages of technology, wealth, and knowledge.

 

Now, Therefore, I, Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia, in recognition of the contributions and importance of the Bible for our city and our people, do hereby proclaim Sunday the twenty-second of November to Saturday the twenty-eighth,  2009 to be
Bible Week
in Philadelphia, and that Philadelphia has been declared the 2009
Bible City
by the National Bible Association. Accordingly, I encourage all peoples in our city, each in his or her own way, to read the Bible and to reconsider its significant and abiding message.

In doing so, we share in a celebration that has occurred for 69 years wherein men and women of many faiths have banded together with the National Bible Association to sponsor National Bible Week as a time to be reminded of the Bible’s unique place in American life, and that this annual celebration continues to encourage the reading of the Bible not just in Philadelphia, but nationwide;

 

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Seal of the City of Philadelphia on this sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand and nine, the three hundred and twenty-seventh year since Penn’s establishment of Philadelphia, the three hundred and eighth year since Penn’s Charter of Privileges, and the two hundred and thirty third year of the Independence of the United States of America that was declared in Philadelphia.

 

Michael Nutter