believe it and it is true, we will have eternity to regret that dreadful mistake! The truth of the Bible is avowed by many of the greatest men of ancient and modern times. Christ Him self said of the Bible, “ Thy word is truth.” 23 Lord Bacon said, “ I believe the Bible is the Word of God whereby His will is revealed.” W. E. Gladstone once said, “ I have spent seventy years of my life studying that Book to satisfy my heart; it is the Word of God. I bank my life on the statement that I believe this book to be the solid rock of Holy Scripture.” Locke spent the last fourteen years of his life in the constant study of the Bible, and then gave this decision: “ It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of error for its matter.” Sir Isaac Newton made this statement: “ There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.” Winston Churchill, one of the greatest and most respected men of our time, boldly stated his belief in the Bible when he said:
experiences of preceding generations. This modern view contends that when the Bible says God spoke, it was in reality only men expressing their ideas about God. The Bible is thus reduced to the level of other books, and is made to appear, not a Divine Book, but a human book pretending to be Divine. I reject this view completely. The Bible is not man’s account of his effort to find God, but rather an account of God’s revelation of Himself to man. The credibility of the Bible is firmly founded on many lines of irrefuta ble proof. I will .attempt to outline some of them briefly. The first and perhaps greatest reason that the Bible must be the truth is the fact of its divine authorship. A careful study of all the books of the Bible will reveal a unity of thought indicating that one mind inspired the writing and compilation of the whole series of books. The Bible was sixteen hundred years in composition, was written in many different countries, and in various languages by forty writers with varying abilities, yet it is one book, coherent, progressive in thought, and complete, without a single contradiction. Another important reason is that the Bible has en dured throughout hundreds of years. If the Bible had been built on a corrupt foundation of fraud, it would have disintegrated long ago. But the Bible is true and has stood the test of time. It has never had to be revised or brought up to date as have all ordinary reference books. An astounding fact is the Bible’s absolute historical and scientific accuracy. Secular history agrees with the Bible’s account, and archeology has proven its geo graphical references. When one considers that the Jews were without telescopes, microscopes, or even a slight interest in experimental science, yet wrote a book that, whenever it touches the realm of science, speaks with absolute accuracy, we are confronted by a literary mira cle of the first magnitude. The Bible taught, long before man discovered it, the countless number of the stars (Jer. 33:22), the immensity of space (Job 22:12), the universal law of motion (Job 38:7), the refraction of light (Job 38:12, 13), the weight of atmosphere (Job 28:25), the sphericity of the earth (Isaiah 40:22), the circuits of the wind (Eccls. 1:6), that the heavens are built on orbits (Job 22:14), that man’s body has the same chemical analysis as the dust of the ground (Gene sis 2:7) , and many, many more such facts.24 Even the long-disputed question of creation is settled by the Bible. Most truly great scientists must admit, no mat ter what their theories, that there must have been a “ first cause.” No proven scientific fact disagrees with the Genesis account. Dr. I. W. Dawson, the distin guished scientist, said, “The order of creation as stated in Genesis is faultless in the light of modern science.” Another proof of the Bible’s truth is its ability to accurately prophecy concerning future events. Many events occurring even up to the present day were fore told a long time ago in the Bible. The coming of Christ and the events in His life were also foretold by the Old Testament writers. In the light of its past performance, isn’t it logical to believe what the Bible says will happen in the future? According to the Bible, one day Christ will return and take those who have accepted Him up to Heaven to be with Him. The Bible also says that there will be a great judgment day in which each one of us will have to stand alone before God. Those who have not accepted His Son will be eternally separated from God. Those who have accepted will reign forever with Christ. So we see that the Bible gives us a very clear picture of the future. If we believe it, whether it’s true or not, we have nothing to lose, but if we don’t -+Fred John Meldau, Fifty-Seven Reason* Why
We reject with scorn all those learned and labored myths that Moses was but a legendary figure upon whom the priesthood and the peo ple hung their essential social, moral and reli gious ordinances. We believe that the most sci entific view, the most up-to-date and rational conception, will find its fullest satisfaction in taking the Bible story literally. We may be sure that all these things happened just as they are set out according to Holy Writ. We may believe that they happened to people not so very different from ourselves, and that the impressions these people received were faithfully recorded, and have been transmitted across the centuries with far more accuracy than many of the telegraphed accounts we read of goings on of today. In the words of a for gotten work of Mr. Gladstone, we rest with assurance upon “ The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture.” Let men of science and learning expand their knowledge, and probe with their researches, every detail of the rec ords which have been preserved to us from those dim ages. All they will do is to fortify the grand simplicity and essential accuracy of these recorded truths which has so far lighted the pilgrimage of man.
Certainly the most wonderful proof of the Bible is the ability of its message to change lives. The simple Gospel story, when believed and accepted, has the power to make sinful people holy, dishonest people honest, vile and unclean characters clean and pure. It offers love to the unlovely, hope to the hopeless, and freedom to those enslaved by sin and guilt. Best of all, salvation is a free gift to all who will accept it. “ For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 26 In conclusion, I wish to summarize some of the ideas which I have presented. The Bible has a great influence on the modern world. It is the basis for many of our customs and much of our thought. Throughout the centuries, painters, sculptors, composers, and writers have made use of Bible plots, themes, conflicts, and lessons. Not only is the Bible a book of great liter ary merit, but also it is God’s true revelation of Him self to man. The Bible has as its central figure Christ, and its main purpose is to show God’s plan for the redemption of man. Only through personal faith in Christ and adherence to the truths found in God’s Word can we hope to find lasting peace and the answer to man’s endless search for Truth.
~$The Holy Bible, John 17:17 -"The Holy Bible, Romans 6:23
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