April 29, 2019
A Bible That Survived the Titanic
On April 15, 1912, the much promoted unsinkable ship—the Titanic—sank in the North Atlantic after colliding with an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York City.
1,523 people lost their lives. Reverend Robert Bateman was on the Titanic, planning to meet his wife, Emily, in New York City before returning to their home in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he’d founded a church in the 1890s. On the night the ship sank, Robert Bateman helped his sister-in-law into a lifeboat, handing her his Bible to give to his wife. After the death of Emily Bateman, the “Bible that survived the Titanic” was put on display at the Titanic Museum in Tennessee.
The story serves as a reminder of those who have treasured and protected the Bible over the centuries.