SNP MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, John Mason, recently took part in a Scottish Parliament Members’ debate to commemorate the People’s Bible which has been making its way around Scotland.

The Glasgow MSP was speaking in a Members’ debate, secured by his SNP colleague, Dave Thompson, MSP for the Highland constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

The motion for debate recognised that the People’s Bible has travelled over 5,500 miles since June 2011 and recorded 18,320 verses in over 60 towns and cities in Scotland, which included Glasgow.

Commenting after the debate, John Mason MSP, said:

“This debate was a good opportunity to talk about faith, the Bible and our own personal experience of God’s word.

“In contrast to Westminster where the proceedings start with prayers, the Scottish Parliament is pretty secular and it’s unusual to get the opportunity to speak about my faith quite so openly, so I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on my own experience of the Bible and how I take encouragement from it.

“Faith, interpretation of the Bible and one’s relationship with God is something that has been the subject of much discussion in Scottish politics recently, particularly with topics such as gay marriage and the Sectarianism Bill being discussed, so I felt this was a good opportunity to dispel some of the myths about the Bible.

“It was, however, a little disappointing that no Labour or Liberal Democrat MSPs even attended the debate let alone spoke. Surely there are some in these parties who consider the Christian faith to be important? As it was, only SNP and Conservative MSPs attended and spoke in the debate which marked a hugely significant milestone for Scotland’s Christian community.

“That said, Wednesday’s debate was timely and rightly recognised the fantastic achievement of the People’s Bible, which has been a huge success in commemorating this, the 400th anniversary of the King James translation”.