Tke Fundamental of Fundamentals If the Bible Is Not the Very Word of God, We Are All at Sea on Every Other Article of Faith By CHARLES A . BLANCHARD , A . M.. D. D.. P resid en t W heaton C ollege
1. The Value of th e Bible to Men I heard Dr. Griffith Thomas say in an address a year or so ago th a t some one took th e trouble to w rite a letter and send it ou t to one hundred out standing, successful business men. At I remember his statem en t, no preacher, no m issionary, no Bible teacher was in th e number. The one hundred men were outstanding business men; the question subm itted to each of them was th is: “ If you were sentenced to life imprisonm ent and had th e privilege o! tak ing w ith you into your prison one book and only one, w hat would th at book be?” The statem en t was that th e en tire one hundred replied and th a t about ninety-seven out of th e one hundred business men, outstanding business men, declared th a t under the circum stances above mentioned, the one book which they would tak e w ith them into th a t prison would be the Bible. Does any sane man believe that a book w ritten ' by man could produce such an impression th a t ninety-seven out of one hundred outstanding busi ness men perm itted to choose only one book fo r a life imprisonm ent would select th e Bible if it were not th e Word of God? I do not believe it. 2. “W h at Man Makes, Man Can Improve.” Honorable W. J. Bryan, in his g reat address on “The Bible and Its Ene mies,” began on one occasion w ith this proposition, “W hat man makes, man can improve.” He spoke of methods of tran spo rtation ; the devices for lighting buildings and o ther elements of modern civilization. He showed how these had all been improved; man having made them , man improved them . The tallow candle, th e kerosene
HERE are many fundam ental tru th s in th e Christian faith. Each one of them is import a n t; none of them can he
neglected w ithout danger and loss. There is, however, one which seems to me in some respects more im portant th a n any other. I have in m ind the doctrine th a t th e Bible is th e very Word of God. I t is a fundam ental of our faith th a t Jesus Christ is th e only Saviour from th e gu ilt and power of sin. But how do we know anything about Jesus Christ? We learn of Him solely th rough th e Bible. Supposing th a t th e Bible is believed to be a hum an hook, subject to hum an erro rs and defects, how are we to know th a t our faith concerning Jesus Christ is tru e? I do not see th a t this is in any way pos sible. Still fu rth e r, we find th a t when men begin, to doubt th e fact th a t th e Bible is God’s w riting they pro ceed almost imm ediately to doubt th e person and work of’ Jesus Christ. This is n atu ra l and it is inevitable, and so respecting th e teaching about the Holy Spirit and all th e o ther funda mentals of our faith. I th erefo re call th e doctrine th a t th e Bible is th e Word of God, th e fundam ental of fqnda- m entals; th e foundation of th e founda tions, and I desire to set down h ere a few facts which lead me to th is faith , which has now grown -so strong th a t I do not usually speak of it as a belief b u t call it a knowledge. Let our question, then, be, “Who w rote th e B ible?” and le t th e faith of th e fundam entalist be th a t God w rote th e Bible, and let us mention here a few of th e facts which make it clear th a t th is must be tru e.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker