According to the Biblical concept, there is a continual battle raging within the heart of man between God and Satan. He who yields to Satan becomes his servant; he who allows God to have control of his life finds inner peace and joy. It is a choice each man must make for, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” 12 This conflict between God and Satan brings us to the underlying idea in all literature: the eternal con flict between good and evil. Through the ages this problem has faced mankind. Great wars have been fought on the battlefield and in the mind of man in an attempt to bring1about the triumph of good over evil. The problem all began back before the creation of the world when Lucifer, one of the most beautiful angels in Heaven, became a slave to his own ambition and desired to be like God. As a result of his pride, Lucifer and his followers were cast out of heaven. Satan had no more power in heaven, but he retained great powers on earth. He is called “ the prince of the power of the air” 14 and “ the prince of this world.” 13 Milton’s Paradise Lost de scribes Satan’s fall in great detail as Milton imagined it. When God created Adam ai.5 Eve, Satan had a chance to use his power. We are all familiar with the story of Eve being tempted by the serpent. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating of the forbid den fruit, they committed the first sin and immediately knew the difference between good and evil.16 From then on, every child born into this world has had the natural ability to tell right from wrong and “ All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” 17 Not only the basic conflicts, but the universal themes of literature are set forth in the Bible. One of the most prominent themes is that of love. Famous Bible love stories include those of David and Bathsheba, Samson and Delilah, and Ruth and Boaz. Modern au thors have rewritten these stories in various forms. Saint-Saëns’ masterpiece, Samson et Delila, has ele ments of both oratorio and opera by reason of its Bibli cal story and the wealth of choral effects combined with powerful dramatic characterization. The story of David and Bathsheba has been made into a movie and has been retold in quite a few books. Brotherly love, roman tic love, motherly love, and the love between friends, the love of one’s country—all are found in the Bible, but the greatest love is the love of God. God Himself is the very embodiment of love.18 The problem of human suffering and the mystery of the destiny of man are also great themes. The great est book ever written on these subjects is the Book of Job. Though it was written thousands of years ago and its author is unknown, it has been highly praised by ¡'¿The Holy Bible, Matthew 6:24 How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.13
many of, the famous writers of modern times. Victor Hugo said, “ The Book of Job is perhaps the greatest masterpiece of the human mind.” Thomas Carlyle also praised the book: “ I call this book, apart from all theo ries about it, one of the grandest things ever written. Our first, oldest statement of the never-ending prob lem—man’s destiny, and God’s ways with him in the earth. There is nothing written, I think, of equal liter ary merit.” The book is a philosophic discussion, in highly poetic language, of the problem of human suffering. Very early in history men began to be troubled over the awful inequalities and injustices of life: how a good God could make a world like this, where there is so much suffering, and where so much of the suffering falls on those who least deserve it. We don’t under stand the problem any better now than they did in Job’s day. We come into life, having nothing whatever to do with bringing ourselves here. Throughout life, as we see more and more of the world’s inequalities and injus tices, we keep asking ourselves, “ What’s it all about?” The grand lesson of the book as a whole seems to be that Job, out of the patient endurance of his sufferings, by coming to the end of himself, comes to see God, and is abundantly rewarded. The modern play J. B., by Archi bald MacLeish, is based on Job. MacLeish’s account pro vides challenging and interesting reading, but it loses all the beauty of the language of the King James ver sion and the poetic style of the Hebrew writers. The central theme of the Bible itself is Christ. The whole Old Testament is the story of God’s preparation for the fulfillment of His plan for the redemption of mankind from the awful curse of sin. The whole Bible is built around this beautiful story of Christ, and His promise of life eternal to those who accept Him. The Bible was written only that men might believe, and understand, and know, and love, and follow Christ. When Adam sinned, sin came upon all men, and the whole human race condemned. Throughout the Old Tes tament, the Israelites had to make sacrifices for their sins in the form of a perfect lamb without spot or blemish for “without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sins.” 19 The New Testament tells us how that God loved us so much, that He sent Christ, His own Son, to die in our place.26 Christ could do this because He had no sin of His own: He was the perfect Lamb of God.21 “ Therefore, as by the offence of one, judg ment came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”22 When Christ died for our sins, there was no longer any need for continual sacrifice, for Christ paid the penalty once for all. The Gospel story did not end, however, with Christ’s death. He was buried, but He rose again and ascended into Heaven where He sits on the right hand of God to inter cede for those who have accepted His sacrifice.23 Many of the books written by modern Bible scholars treat the Bible accounts as though they were mere leg ends and fables. They deny the possibility of miracles and contradict the generally accepted facts about Bible authorship. There is a present-day view, held rather widely in certain intellectual circles, that the Bible is a sort of cumulative story of man’s effort to find God: a record of man’s experiences reaching after God, gradually improving his idea of God by building on the WThe Holy Bible, Hebrews 9:22
mbid., Isaiah 14:12-14 14/6id., Ephesians 2:2 >3/6iii., John 14:30 lOThe Holy Bible, Genesis 3:22 17 Ibid., Romans 3:23 Wbid., I John 4:7, 8, 16
20/6td., John 3:16 2*Ibid.', John 1:29 22Ibid., Romans 5:18 2Hbid., Romans 8:34
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OCTOBER, 1964
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