The Doctrine of the Bible
Part One: How the Bible Came into Being
Everybody knows the Bible has been and continues to be the world’s best seller, but not everybody knows just how this amazing book came down to us today. It could have happened this way: At some early ecumenical “Scripture session,” a group of prophets and priests got together in Jerusalem to write a religious best seller. A committee was soon formed which assigned the books, appointed the authors, and arranged for all other details. Upon completion, the publicity chairman commissioned the Palestinian Press to print up the first one million copies.
We said it could have happened that way. But of course it didn’t. God used three wonderful methods as he carefully carved out that most blessed of all books, the Bible. These three “tools of the Trinity” are referred to as revelation, inspiration, and illumination. Let us use an earthly story to illustrate this.
Over fifty years ago a famous German scientist named Albert Einstein developed a very important mathematical concept of the nature of our universe. Let us picture the scene. He suddenly summons you into his home for a secret conference. He invites you to be seated and immediately explains why you have been asked to come. He begins: “I have just completed one of the most comprehensive scientific theories since the days of Sir Isaac Newton. I want you to write this all down on paper and send it to the news media of the world. Here is my astonishing theory—energy equals mass times the speed of light squared (E = mc2)!”
He then goes on to explain how mass and energy are equivalent, and that the property called mass is simply concentrated energy. You are awed as he continues with his amazing grasp of the universe. Finally he stops and says: “Now I want you to write this all down in your own words, but in order to make sure you get everything right, I want to help you in choosing those words.”
So the next few hours are spent in this manner. Dr. Einstein gently but firmly guides you in the selection of the verbs and nouns from your own vocabulary. At long last you have it all down, the exact and complete revelation of truth from Albert Einstein described perfectly in your own handwriting and from your personal reservoir of words.
Before you leave, the aged scientist speaks once again: “One final thing that will encourage you: I plan to call every important newspaper and television editor, telling them that the message they will receive from you is true and they should both believe it and publish it!”
Here we have an example (however weak) of God’s three tools and how they function. Revelation occurred when Dr. Einstein called you in and imparted to you his great truth. Inspiration took place when he guided you as you wrote it down. Illumination happened when he encouraged the news editor to accept his report as given by you.
How then did we receive our Bible? Well, around 1400 b.c. God began to quietly call some forty men and women into his presence. Oh, he didn’t call them in all at once, mind you. In fact, it took him nearly fifteen centuries to complete the job. He spoke the burden of his great heart in simple but sublime language to those chosen forty. With a holy hush they heard him tell of creation and corruption, of condemnation, justification, sanctification, and glorification. Weighty words, indeed. When he had finished, the first tool in carving out the Bible was set aside. Revelation had occurred.
Now we see this almighty Author as he quickly but carefully guides each chosen human vessel in his assigned writing task. Each of the forty is dealt with individually. Job, a rich farmer, will write differently than will Amos, a poor farmer. The words of the educated Paul will be more complicated on occasion than those of the uneducated John or Peter. But all will carry with them the divine approval of heaven itself.
Finally, the last scribe lays down his (or her) pen. The angels watch as their Creator lays aside the second tool in the making of his manuscript. Inspiration has taken place.
Soon many thousands of men and women join the ranks of those original forty and begin their assigned task of taking God’s glory story to the uttermost parts of the earth. As they do, untold multitudes are stopped in their tracks, convinced in their hearts, and saved from their sins. By what secret power did all this take place? The answer is simple: the Author of the Bible is using the third and final tool. Illumination continues to take place.
And so the Scriptures are shaped. To summarize thus far, think of the three tools as follows:
Revelation: From God to man (man hears that which God wants written).
Inspiration: From man to paper (man writes that which God wants written).
Illumination: From paper to heart (man receives the light of that which God has written).
Now that we have observed the purpose of these three tools, let us turn our thoughts to the nature of each weapon. We have examined the fruit of the tools, but what of the root? How did God make the weapon itself? We first consider:
I. Revelation. We know God spoke to man, but how did he speak? Hebrews 1:1 informs us he spoke to the fathers and prophets in many ways. A careful examination of the Bible reveals at least eight different modes of communication. These are:
A. He often spoke to men through angels. Consider:
1. Angels reassured Abraham of the birth of Isaac and informed him of God’s decision to destroy Sodom (Gen. 18).
2. Angels warned Lot to flee Sodom before the awful destruction took place (Gen. 19).
3. The angel Gabriel explained the nature of the tribulation to Daniel (Dan. 9:21-27).
4. Gabriel informed Zacharias he would have a son who would become the forerunner of Christ (Lk. 1:11-20).
5. Gabriel informed Mary that God had chosen her as his vessel for Christ’s birth (Lk. 1:26-37).
6. Angels announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds (Lk. 2:8-14).
7. An angel announced the resurrection of Christ to some women (Mt. 28:5-7).
8. An angel directed Philip to the seeking eunuch (Acts 8:26).
9. An angel directed Peter out of a Roman prison (Acts 12:7-10).
B. He spoke to men through a loud voice.
1. He spoke directly to Adam (Gen. 3:9-19).
2. He spoke directly to Noah (Gen. 6:13-21).
3. He spoke directly to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3).
4. He spoke directly to Moses (Ex. 20:1-17).
5. He spoke directly to Joshua (Josh. 1:1-9).
6. He spoke directly to Samuel (1 Sam. 3:1-14).
7. He spoke directly to Nathan, about David (2 Sam. 7:4-16).
8. He spoke directly to Elijah (1 Ki. 17:2-4).
9. He spoke directly to Jeremiah (Jer. 1:4, 5).
C. He spoke to men through a still, small voice (1 Ki. 19:11, 12; Ps. 32:8).
D. He spoke to men through nature (Ps. 19:1-3; Acts 14:15-17; Rom. 1:18-20).
E. He spoke to one man through the mouth of an ass (Num. 22:28). This has to be one of the funniest moments in the Bible!
F. He spoke to men through dreams. On a number of occasions God chose this method.
1. Jacob received the confirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant in a dream (Gen. 28:12).
2. Solomon received both wisdom and a warning in a dream (1 Ki. 3:5; 9:2).
3. Joseph in the New Testament received three messages in three dreams.
a. Assuring him of Mary’s purity (Mt. 1:20).
b. Commanding him to flee to Egypt (Mt. 2:13).
c. Ordering him to return to Palestine (Mt. 2:19-22).
4. The wise men were warned of Herod’s evil intentions in a dream (Mt. 2:12).
G. He spoke to men through visions. Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines a vision as: “A supernatural presentation of certain scenery or circumstances to the mind of a person while awake.” It may be noted that many great truths in the Scriptures were related to men through this unique method.
1. Jacob was instructed in a vision to go to Egypt (Gen. 46:2).
2. David was warned of judgment in a vision (1 Chron. 21:16).
3. Isaiah saw God’s holiness in a vision (Isa. 6:1-8).
4. Daniel saw the great Gentile powers in a vision (Dan. 7, 8).
5. Daniel saw the glories of Christ in a vision (Dan. 10:5-9).
6. Daniel saw the rise and fall of Alexander the Great in a vision (Dan. 8).
7. Ezekiel saw the regathering of Israel in a vision (Ezek. 37).
8. Ananias was ordered to minister to Saul in a vision (Acts 9:10).
9. Cornelius was instructed to send for Peter in a vision (Acts 10:3-6).
10. Peter was ordered to minister to Cornelius in a vision (Acts 10:10-16).
11. Paul was ordered to Macedonia in a vision (Acts 16:9).
12. Paul was comforted at Corinth in a vision (Acts 19:9).
13. Paul was comforted at Jerusalem in a vision (Acts 23:11).
14. Paul viewed the glories of the third heaven in a vision (2 Cor. 12:1-4).
15. The Apostle John received the book of Revelation in a vision.
H. He spoke to men through Christophanies. A Christophany is a pre-Bethlehem appearance of Christ. Some theologians have seen a number of these appearances in the Old Testament, believing that the term “the Angel of the Lord,” is actually another name of Christ. If this is true, the following examples of Christophany communication could be submitted.
1. The Angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob (Gen. 32:24-30).
2. The Angel of the Lord redeemed Jacob from all evil (Gen. 48:16).
3. The Angel of the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush (Ex. 3:2).
4. The Angel of the Lord protected Israel at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:19).
5. The Angel of the Lord prepared Israel for the Promised Land (Ex. 23:20-23; Ps. 34:7; Isa. 63:9; 1 Cor. 10:1-4).
6. The Angel of the Lord commissioned Gideon (Jdg. 6:11).
7. The Angel of the Lord ministered to Elijah (1 Ki. 19:7).
8. The Angel of the Lord reassured Joshua (Josh. 5:13-15).
9. The Angel of the Lord saved Jerusalem (Isa. 37:36).
10. The Angel of the Lord preserved three Godly Hebrew men (Dan. 3:25).
How then did God communicate his revelation to the forty human authors? To be truthful, we simply do not know. He could have used any one or a combination of these eight modes of communication as have been described above.
II. Inspiration. We have discussed various possibilities and ways God may have employed in the giving of his revelation to the human authors. Now let us consider the next major step, that of inspiration. The ears have heard the message, but how will the fingers react? What is involved in transferring the voice of God into the vocabulary of man? We shall now examine five areas along this particular line. But before we do this, let us define the word itself. The term “inspiration” is found but once in the New Testament. This occurs in 2 Timothy 3:16. Here Paul says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God…” The Greek word is theopneustos, and literally means, “God-breathed.”
A. Various theories of inspiration.
1. The natural theory. This says the Bible writers were inspired in the same sense that William Shakespeare was inspired. In other words, that spark of divine inspiration that supposedly is in all men simply burned a little brighter in the hearts of the Bible writers. This theory is totally rejected by the Apostle Peter.
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2 Pet. 1:20).
2. The mechanical theory—that God coldly and woodenly dictated the Bible to his writers as an office manager would dictate an impersonal letter to his secretary. It should be noted here that the Bible is the story of divine love, and God is anything but mechanical or cold concerning this subject. The Holy Spirit therefore never transgressed the limits of the writer’s vocabulary. Thus, the educated Paul uses many of the “85¢” words, while the less educated John employs more of the “28¢” words. But both writings are equally inspired by God. (See 2 Tim. 3:16.) Here Dr. Charles Hodge has well written:
“The Church has never held what has been stigmatized as the mechanical theory of inspiration. The sacred writers were not machines. Their self-consciousness was not suspended; nor were their intellectual powers superseded. Holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It was men not machines; not unconscious instruments, but living, thinking, willing minds, whom the Spirit used as His organs…The sacred writers impressed their peculiarities on their several productions as plainly as though they were the subjects of no extraordinary influence.” (Systematic Theology, Vol. I, p. 157)
3. The content (or concept) theory—that only the main thought of a paragraph or chapter is inspired. This theory is immediately refuted by many biblical passages.
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Mt. 5:18).
“Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:1, 2).
4. The partial theory—that only certain parts of the Bible are inspired. This of course is the position of the liberal theologian who would cheerfully accept those portions of the Bible which deal with love and brotherhood, but quickly reject the passages dealing with sin, righteousness, and future judgment. But let it be said that heaven and hell are like up and down—you can’t have one without the other. Paul refutes the partial theory in 2 Timothy 3:16.
In his textbook, A Dispensational Theology, Dr. Charles F. Baker writes:
“A certain bishop is purported to have said that he believed the Bible to have been inspired in spots. When asked for his authority for such a statement, he quoted Hebrews 1:1, stating that this meant that God spoke at various times in varying degrees. Thus, some spots were fully inspired, others were only partially inspired, and still others were not inspired at all. The bishop was embarrassed when a layman asked: ‘How do you know that Hebrews 1:1, the one scripture upon which you base your argument, is one of those fully inspired spots?’” (p. 38)
5. The spiritual-rule-only theory. This says the Bible may be regarded as our infallible rule of faith and practice in all matters of religious, ethical, and spiritual value, but not in other matters such as historical and scientific statements. This is pious nonsense. Consider the following: Here is a pastor greatly beloved by his congregation. How would this man of God feel if only his “moral” and “spiritual” statements made in the pulpit were accepted by his members? How would he react when the members would smile and take lightly any scientific or historical statements he might make? The fallacy of the spiritual-rule-only theory is that any book or man whose scientific or historical statements are open to question can certainly not be trusted in matters of moral and spiritual pronouncements! This theory is soundly refuted by Jesus himself in John 3:12.
“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?”
6. The plenary-verbal theory—that all (plenary) the very words (verbal) of the Bible are inspired by God. This view alone is the correct one.
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4).
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16, 17).
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13).
“For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee and they have believed that thou didst send me” (Jn. 17:8).
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (Jn. 6:63).
B. Scripture texts on inspiration.
The Bible, of course, strongly claims its writings are from God. Compiling a few choice texts, we discover that:
1. No Old Testament Scripture was thought up by the prophet himself (2 Pet. 1:20).
2. All Old Testament Scriptures were given by the Holy Spirit as he moved upon men (2 Pet. 1:21).
3. This Spirit-breathed inspiration was given in many ways (Heb. 1:1).
4. Once it was given, this inspired writing:
a. Could not be broken or shaken down (Jn. 10:35).
b. Is exact in all details, down to the smallest stroke and letter (Mt. 5:18).
c. Would abide forever (Mt. 5:18; 1 Pet. 1:25).
5. The Old Testament writers did not always understand the nature of everything they wrote about (Lk. 10:23, 24; 1 Pet. 1:10-12).
a. They did not completely understand the details of Christ’s suffering.
b. They did understand that the mysteries would be clearer to a generation other than theirs.
6. The four Gospels were given by inspiration of God (Heb. 1:1; 2 Pet. 3:2).
7. Paul believed his writings were inspired by God (1 Cor. 2:4; 15:3; 1 Thess. 2:13; 4:15).
Note: Some have felt that Paul claimed no inspiration when he wrote certain passages in 1 Corinthians 7. Consider the following:
“But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment” (v. 6).
“But to the rest speak I, not the Lord”…(v. 12).
“Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment…” (v. 25).
“But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God” (v. 40).
Let us now briefly examine each of these passages:
a. In verse 6 the word “permission” is literally “a joint opinion,” and may refer to the inspired “considered opinion” of both Paul and Sosthenes. At any rate, Paul was simply saying this opinion was not a command but rather a divine suggestion. For a comparable passage, see Romans 12:1.
b. Verse 12 can be explained by comparing it with verse 10. There, Paul quotes a command uttered by the Lord Jesus himself while he was upon the earth (Mt. 19:6). But here is a group situation (one partner saved, one unsaved) to which Jesus issued no command while on earth, but now does so in heaven through Paul’s inspired pen.
c. The same answer given for verse 12 also applies here in verse 25.
d. The word “think” in verse 40 could also be translated “persuaded.” See Matthew 22:42; 1 Corinthians 8:2 where the same Greek word is used.
8. Paul used the Holy Spirit’s words to explain the Holy Spirit’s facts (1 Cor. 2:13).
9. Paul’s writings were received through a special revelation from Christ (Gal. 1:11, 12).
10. Paul’s writings were to be read by all (Col. 4:6; 1 Thess. 5:27).
11. Peter believed his writings were inspired by God (2 Pet. 3:2).
12. Peter believed Paul’s writings were inspired (2 Pet. 3:15, 16).
13. John believed his writings were inspired (Rev. 22:18, 19). John warned:
a. That if anyone added to his words, God would add horrible plagues to him.
b. That if anyone subtracted from his words, God would remove his name from the Holy City.
C. Implications of inspiration.
As one carefully considers the subject of inspiration, he is led to the following nine conclusions:
1. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not teach that all parts of the Bible are equally important, but only that they are equally inspired. For example, Judges 3:16 is obviously not as important as John 3:16, but both these verses were inspired by God.
“But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh” (Jdg. 3:16).
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).
2. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not guarantee the inspiration of any modern or ancient translation of the Bible, but deals only with the original Hebrew and Greek languages.
3. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not allow for any false teaching, but it does on occasion record the lie of someone. For example, Satan distorts the truth and lies to Eve (Gen. 3:4). Therefore we have an accurate record of the devil’s words. As one reads the Bible, he must carefully distinguish between what God records and what he sanctions. Thus, while lying, murder, adultery, and polygamy are to be found in the Word of God, they are never approved by the God of the Word.
4. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not permit any historical, scientific, or prophetical error whatsoever. While it is admitted that the Bible is not a textbook on science, it is nevertheless held that every scientific statement in the Scriptures is absolutely true.
5. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not prohibit personal research. The New Testament writer Luke begins his Gospel account with the following words:
“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word have handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out…” (Lk. 1:1-3, nasb).
6. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not deny the use of extra-biblical sources. Here several examples come to mind.
a. On at least two occasions, Paul quotes from heathen authors (Acts 17:28; Titus 1:12).
b. Jude quotes from an ancient Hebrew book, one not included in the Bible (Jude 14, 15).
7. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not overwhelm the personality of the human author. The Bible writers experienced no coma-like trances as do some mediums during a séance, but on the contrary, always retained their physical, mental, and emotional powers. Various passages testify to this. See Isaiah 6:1-11; Daniel 12.
8. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not exclude the usage of pictorial and symbolic language. This is to say the Holy Spirit does not demand we accept every word in the Bible in a wooden and legalistic way. For example, a case could not be made that God has feathers like a bird, by referring to Psalm 91:4. Here the thought is simply that the persecuted believer can flee to his heavenly Father for protection and warmth.
9. Plenary-verbal inspiration does not mean uniformity in all details given in describing the same event. Here an Old Testament and a New Testament example come to mind.
a. Old Testament example: The wicked reign of King Manasseh is vividly described for us in two separate chapters. These are 2 Kings 21:1-18 and 2 Chronicles 33:1-20. In 2 Kings we read only of his sinful ways, but in 2 Chronicles we are told of his eventual prayers of forgiveness and subsequent salvation. The reason for this may be that God allowed the author of 2 Kings to describe the reign of Manasseh from an earthly standpoint (even though he inspired the pen of the author), while he guided the pen of the author of 2 Chronicles to record Manasseh’s reign from a heavenly viewpoint. God alone, of course, knows true repentance when he sees it coming from the human heart.
b. New Testament example: There are four different accounts concerning the superscription on the cross at Calvary.
(1) Matthew says—“This is Jesus the King of the Jews” (Mt. 27:37).
(2) Mark says—“The King of the Jews” (Mk. 15:26).
(3) Luke says—“This is the King of the Jews” (Lk. 23:38).
(4) John says—“Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews” (Jn. 19:19).
The entire title probably read, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
10. Plenary-verbal inspiration assures us that God included all the necessary things he wanted us to know, and excluded everything else (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
D. Importance of inspiration.
Of the three tools involved in the making of our Bible, inspiration is the most important. This is true because:
1. One may have inspiration without revelation. We have already seen how Luke carefully checked out certain facts concerning the life of Christ and was then led to write them on paper (Lk. 1:1-4; 1 Jn. 1:1-4).
2. One may have inspiration without illumination. Peter tells us the Old Testament prophets did not always understand everything they wrote about (1 Pet. 1:11). But without inspiration, the Bible falls.
E. Completion of inspiration.
Is inspiration still going on today? Has God inspired the writing (or will he someday) of a sixty-seventh book of the Bible? For nearly twenty centuries now, evangelical Christians everywhere have held to the belief that when John the apostle wrote Revelation 22:21 and wiped his pen, inspiration stopped. Furthermore, it is generally believed his warning not to add to or subtract from his book included not only the book of Revelation, but the entire Bible. (See Rev. 22:18, 19.) It is of utmost importance that this is clearly understood, else the following tragic conclusions take place. If inspiration is still going on today, then one is forced to admit that:
1. God could have inspired the weird and wicked writings of a Joseph Smith, or a Mary Baker Eddy, or a Charles Russell, or a Herbert W. Armstrong.
2. Perhaps we still do not possess all the details concerning the plan of salvation, details vital to escape hell and enter heaven.
3. God has allowed millions of devoted and faithful Christians to believe a horrible lie for some 2000 years.
III. Illumination. We have already stated that, without inspiration, no Scripture ever would have been written. We may now claim that without illumination, no sinner ever would have been saved! Illumination, then, is that method used by the Holy Spirit to shed divine light upon all seeking men as they look into the Word of God. Illumination is from the written word to the human heart.
A. Reasons for illumination.
Why is this third step necessary? Why cannot sinful man simply read and heed the biblical message without divine aid?
1. It is necessary because of natural blindness. Paul writes of this:
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).
Our Lord also commented on this during his earthly ministry:
“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Mt. 16:16, 17).
2. It is necessary because of satanic blindness. Again we note the sober words of Paul:
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not…” (2 Cor. 4:3, 4).
3. It is necessary because of carnal blindness (1 Cor. 3; Heb. 5:12-14; 2 Pet. 1).
B. Results of illumination.
1. Sinners are saved.
“The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind…” (Ps. 146:8).
“The entrance of thy words giveth light…” (Ps. 119:130).
2. Christians are strengthened.
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).
“But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit…” (1 Cor. 2:10).
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of knowledge…” (2 Cor. 4:6).
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105).
C. Implications of illumination.
1. The Holy Spirit looks for a certain amount of sincerity before he illuminates any human heart. We are quick to point out sincerity is not enough to save anyone. However, it should also be noted that it is equally impossible for an insincere person to be saved. This first implication is brought out in several passages.
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6).
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24).
Furthermore, it should be stated here that no Christian should ever look upon illumination as automatic. That is to say, God has never promised to reveal precious and profound biblical truths to any believer who will not search the Scriptures for himself.
Note the following admonitions:
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4).
“But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…” (Jn. 20:31).
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily...” (Acts 17:11).
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye might grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).
2. The Holy Spirit often seeks out the aid of a believer in performing his task of illuminating the hearts of others. This is seen:
a. In the ministry of Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch.
“And Philip ran hither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me.…Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:30, 31, 35).
b. In the ministry of Paul to the Jews at Thessalonica.
“And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures” (Acts 17:2).
c. In the ministry of Aquila and Priscilla to Apollos.
“And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly” (Acts 18:26).
d. In the ministry of Apollos to the Jews at Corinth.
“For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ” (Acts 18:28).
Part Two: Views on the Bible
I. The Position of Israel. In spite of her sin and sorrows, Old Testament Israel held steadfast in the belief that her thirty-nine holy books were indeed the very Word of God. Even though one of her kings would attempt to burn it (Jer. 36), the nation as a whole would continue to believe it. The following words of Moses beautifully summarize Israel’s position concerning the Word of God:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deut. 6:4-9).
II. The Position of the Early Church. During the third, fourth, and fifth centuries the church held no less than 184 councils, not to deal with civil rights, ecology problems, or political ills, but to deal with any and all heresy that would dare tamper with the pure Word of God.
III. The Position of Agnosticism. In the book, A Guide to the Religions of America, Dr. Bertrand Russell makes the following statement:
“An agnostic regards the Bible exactly as enlightened clerics regard it. He does not think that it is divinely inspired; he thinks its early history legendary, and no more exactly true than that in Homer; he thinks its moral teaching sometimes good, but sometimes very bad. For example: Samuel ordered Saul, in a war, to kill not only every man, woman, and child of the enemy, but also all the sheep and cattle. Saul, however, let the sheep and cattle live, and for this we are told to condemn him. I have never been able to admire Elisha for cursing the children who laughed at him, or to believe (what the Bible asserts) that a benevolent Deity would send two she-bears to kill the children.”
IV. The Position of Liberalism. Probably the most famous liberal of the twentieth century was the late Harry Emerson Fosdick. He has written the following words which typify the liberal attitude:
“When one moves back to the Scriptures with a mind accustomed to work in modern ways he finds himself in a strange world.…Knowing modern astronomy he turns to the Bible to find the sun and the moon standing still on the shadow retreating on a sundial. Knowing modern biology he hears that when Elisha had been so long dead that only his bones were left, another dead body, thrown into the cave where he was buried, touched his skeleton and sprang to life again, or that after our Lord’s resurrection many of the saints long deceased arose and appeared in Jerusalem. Knowing modern physics he turns to the Bible to read that light was created three days before the sun and that an axe-head floated when Elisha threw a stick into the water. Knowing modern medicine he finds in the Scripture many familiar ailments, epilepsy, deafness, dumbness, blindness, insanity, ascribed to the visitation of demons.…We live in a new world. We have not kept the forms of thought and categories of explanation in astronomy, geology, biology, which the Bible contains. We have definitely and irrevocably gotten new ones.…”
V. The Position of the Cults. In general it may be said that the major cults and sects of Christianity give lip service to the Bible; nevertheless they look upon the writings of their various founders as equal if not superior to the Scriptures. For example:
A. Christian Scientist (founded by Mary Baker Eddy; 1821-1910). George Channing, an international Christian Science lecturer and practitioner, writes the following:
“Each person, of any religion, can find what is satisfying to him as the spiritual meaning in the Bible. But Christian Scientists feel that Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy’s Book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, offers the complete spiritual meaning of the Bible. They believe that this full meaning would not have been available to them without Mrs. Eddy’s discovery.”
B. Jehovah’s Witnesses (founded by Charles Taze Russell; 1851-1916). Mr. Russell calmly announces in the opening pages of his Studies in the Scriptures that it would be far better to leave the Bible unread but read his comments on it than to omit his writings and read the Bible.
C. Mormonism (founded by Joseph Smith; 1805-1844). This cult teaches that the Book of Mormon, first printed in 1830, must be regarded on an equal basis with the Bible.
VI. The Position of Romanism. Rome believes that the church is the divinely appointed custodian of the Bible and has the final word on what is meant in any specific passage. It accepts the apocryphal books as a part of the inspired Scriptures. Rome’s position on the Bible could be diagrammed as a triangle, with the Pope at the top, and the Bible and church tradition at the bottom.
VII. The Position of Mysticism. Those holding this view lean heavily upon that divine “inner light” to reveal and guide them into all truth. Thus the personal experiences, feelings, etc., of an individual are looked upon as vital to discovering divine truth along with the Word of God itself.
VIII. The Position of Neo-Orthodoxy (popularized by Karl Barth in his Epistle to the Romans, first published in 1918). This position holds that the Bible may well contain the Word of God, but that, until it becomes such, it is as dead and uninspired as any other ancient or modern historical book might be. Thus the Bible is not to be viewed as objective, but subjective in nature. It is only the Word of God as it becomes the Word of God to me. Neo-orthodoxy would thus view the first eleven chapters as “religious myths.” This term is defined as a “conveyer of theological truth in a historical garb, but which theological truth is not dependent upon the historicity of the garb itself for its validity.”
IX. The Position of Neo-Evangelicalism. In the latter part of 1957, one of the leaders of this position wrote the following:
“The New Evangelicalism in the latest dress of orthodoxy or Neo-orthodoxy is the latest expression of theological liberalism. The New Evangelicalism differs from Fundamentalism in its willingness to handle the social problems which Fundamentalism evaded. There need be no dichotomy between the personal gospel and the social gospel.…The New Evangelicalism has changed its strategy from one of separation to one of infiltration.…The evangelical believes that Christianity is intellectually defensible but the Christian cannot be obscurantist in scientific questions pertaining to the Creation, the age of man, the Universality of the flood and other moot biblical questions.”
X. The Position of Orthodoxy. This view holds that the Bible alone is the illuminated, inspired revelation of God and is therefore the sole ground of authority for believers. Orthodoxy claims the Bible is objective in nature and proclaims not a social gospel, but a sinner gospel. According to this view, whenever there is a clear contradiction between the Bible and any assumed “fact” of history or science, it is that “fact” which must give way to the Bible, and not the reverse.
A. This was the view of the Old Testament writers concerning the Old Testament.
1. Moses (Ex. 4:10-12)
2. Samuel (1 Sam. 8:10)
3. Joshua (Josh. 23:14)
4. David (2 Sam. 23:2, 3)
5. Isaiah (Isa. 1:10)
6. Jeremiah (Jer. 1:6-9)
7. Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:10-12)
8. Daniel (Dan. 10:9-12)
9. Joel (Joel 1:1)
10. Amos (Amos 3:1)
11. Obadiah (Obad. 1:1)
12. Jonah (Jonah 1:1)
13. Micah (Micah 1:1)
14. Nahum (Nahum 1:1)
15. Habakkuk (Hab. 2:2)
16. Zephaniah (Zeph. 1:1)
17. Haggai (Hag. 1:1)
18. Zechariah (Zech. 1:1)
19. Malachi (Mal. 1:1)
Here it should be kept in mind that the Old Testament refers to itself as the Word of God some 3,808 times.
B. This was the view of the New Testament writers concerning the Old Testament. The New Testament writers refer to at least 161 Old Testament events and quote from over 246 Old Testament passages. Some of these events and passages are as follows:
1. Old Testament events referred to in the New Testament (from the 161 events, twenty-two of the more important ones are listed here):
a. creation (Gen. 1:1; Heb. 11:3)
b. man made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26; 1 Cor. 11:7)
c. God resting (Gen. 2:2, 3; Heb. 4:4)
d. the institution of marriage (Gen. 2:24; Mt. 19:4-6)
e. the fall (Gen. 3:6-8; Rom. 5:12-19)
f. the murder of Abel (Gen. 4:8; 1 Jn. 3:12)
g. Enoch’s translation (Gen. 5:21-24; Heb. 11:5)
h. the ark of Noah (Gen. 6:14-16; 7:1-12; Lk. 17:26, 27; 2 Pet. 3:6)
i. the call of Abraham (Gen. 12:1; Heb. 11:8)
j. the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-20; Heb. 7:1-4)
k. the destruction of Sodom (Gen. 19; Mt. 11:24; Lk. 17:32)
l. Isaac’s birth (Gen. 19:20; Gal. 4:23)
m. the offering up of Isaac (Gen. 22:10; Heb. 11:17-19)
n. the burning bush (Ex. 3:2; Lk. 20:37; Acts 7:30)
o. the Exodus (Ex. 12-14; Acts 7:36; Heb. 11:29; 1 Cor. 10:1)
p. the giving of manna (Ex. 16:15; Jn. 6:31)
q. the giving of the law (Ex. 20; Gal. 3:19)
r. the serpent of brass (Num. 21:8, 9; Jn. 3:14)
s. Elijah and the drought (1 Ki. 17; Lk. 4:25; Jas. 5:17)
t. the healing of Naaman (2 Ki. 5:14; Lk. 4:27)
u. Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:22; Heb. 11:33)
v. Jonah in the belly of the fish (Jonah 1:17; Mt. 12:40; 16:4)
2. Old Testament passages referred to in the New Testament:
a. Be ye holy, for I am holy (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:16).
b. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee (Josh. 1:5; Heb. 13:5).
c. Be ye angry and sin not (Ps. 4:4; Eph. 4:26).
d. There is none righteous, no not one (Ps. 14:1; Rom. 3:10).
e. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth (Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6).
f. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes (Isa. 25:8; Rev. 21:4).
g. Death is swallowed up in victory (Hosea 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:54).
h. I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17).
i. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:32; Rom. 10:13).
j. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof (Ps. 24:1; 1 Cor. 10:26).
k. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord (Prov. 3:11; Heb. 12:5).
l. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord (Ps. 118:26; Mt. 21:9).
m. Charity covereth a multitude of sins (Prov. 10:12; 1 Pet. 4:8).
n. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel (Isa. 52:7; Rom. 10:15).
C. This was the view of the New Testament writers concerning the New Testament.
1. Peter’s testimony (2 Pet. 3:2).
2. Paul’s testimony (1 Cor. 2:4, 13; 15:3; 1 Thess. 2:13; 4:15).
3. John’s testimony (Rev. 22:18, 19).
4. James’ testimony (Jas. 1:21; 4:5).
5. Jude’s testimony (Jude 3).
D. This was the view of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning the entire Bible.
1. Our Lord began his ministry by quoting from the Old Testament. Compare Matthew 4:4, 7, 10 with Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:13, 16.
2. Our Lord ended his ministry by quoting from the Old Testament. Five of his last seven statements on the cross were lifted from the pages of the Old Testament. Compare:
a. Luke 23:34 with Isaiah 53:12
b. Luke 23:43 with Isaiah 53:10, 11
c. Matthew 27:46 with Psalms 22:1
d. John 19:28 with Psalms 69:21
e. Luke 23:46 with Psalms 31:5
3. Our Lord preached one of his first public messages from an Old Testament text. Compare Luke 4:16-19 with Isaiah 61:1, 2.
4. Our Lord informed the Pharisees they erred, “not knowing the scriptures” (Mt. 22:29).
5. Our Lord justified his own actions by referring to the Old Testament:
a. when he ate on the Sabbath (Mt. 12:1-8).
b. when he healed on the Sabbath (Mt. 12:10-21).
c. when he cleansed the Temple (Mt. 21:13).
d. when he accepted the praise of the crowds at his triumphal entry (Mt. 21:16).
6. Our Lord believed in the history of the Old Testament. He referred to—
a. creation (Mk. 10:6).
b. Noah’s ark (Mt. 24:38).
c. Lot’s wife (Lk. 17:32).
d. destruction of Sodom (Lk. 17:29).
e. Jonah and the fish (Mt. 12:40).
f. the Queen of Sheba and Solomon (Mt. 12:42).
g. the repentance of Nineveh (Mt. 12:41).
h. Naaman the leper (Lk. 4:27).
i. Elijah and the widow (Lk. 4:25, 26).
j. Moses and the serpent (Jn. 3:14).
k. the first marriage (Mt. 19:5-7).
l. the blood of Abel (Lk. 11:51).
m. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Mt. 22:31, 32).
n. the burning bush (Lk. 20:37).
o. the wilderness manna (Jn. 6:31).
p. the murder of Zacharias (Mt. 23:35).
7. Our Lord said the law would be fulfilled (Mt. 5:18) and the Scriptures could not be broken (Jn. 10:35).
It has been estimated that over one tenth of Jesus’ recorded New Testament words were taken from the Old Testament. In the four Gospels, 180 of the 1,800 verses which report his discourses are either Old Testament quotes or Old Testament allusions.
In concluding this section it may be said that every single Old Testament book is either directly or indirectly referred to in the New Testament (with the possible exception of the Song of Solomon). About half the great sermons in the book of Acts are composed of verses taken from the Old Testament. Peter’s twenty-three-verse sermon at Pentecost takes twelve of these verses from the Old Testament (Acts 2:14-36). Stephen’s forty-eight-verse message is completely Old Testament in nature (Acts 7:2-50). Paul’s first recorded sermon occurring in Acts 13:16-41 is twenty-six verses long and, of these, fifteen are from the Old Testament.
Part Three: What Great Personalities Have Said about the Bible
I. United States Presidents.
A. George Washington (First): “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without the Bible.”
B. John Adams (Second): “The Bible is the best book in the world. It contains more…than all the libraries I have seen.”
C. Thomas Jefferson (Third): “The Bible makes the best people in the world.”
D. John Quincy Adams (Sixth): “It is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue.”
E. Andrew Jackson (Seventh): “That book, sir, is the rock on which our Republic rests.”
F. Zachary Taylor (Twelfth): “It was for the love of the truths of this great book that our fathers abandoned their native shore for the wilderness.”
G. Abraham Lincoln (Sixteenth): “But for this Book we could not know right from wrong. I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man.”
H. Ulysses S. Grant (Eighteenth): “The Bible is the Anchor of our liberties.”
I. Rutherford B. Hayes (Nineteenth): “The best religion the world has ever known is the religion of the Bible. It builds up all that is good.”
J. Benjamin Harrison (Twenty-third): “It is out of the Word of God that a system has come to make life sweet.”
K. William McKinley (Twenty-fifth): “The more profoundly we study this wonderful Book…the better citizens we will become.”
L. Theodore Roosevelt (Twenty-sixth): “No educated man can afford to be ignorant of the Bible.”
M. Woodrow Wilson (Twenty-eighth): “The Bible is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life.”
N. Herbert Hoover (Thirty-first): “The whole of the inspirations of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ…to read the Bible…is a necessity of American life.”
O. Franklin D. Roosevelt (Thirty-second): “It is a fountain of strength.…I feel that a comprehensive study of the Bible is a liberal education for anyone.”
P. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Thirty-fourth): “In the highest sense the Bible is to us the unique repository of eternal spiritual truths.”
II. World Leaders.
A. William Gladstone: “I have known ninety-five great men of the world in my time, and of these, eighty-seven were followers of the Bible.”
B. Winston Churchill: “We rest with assurance upon the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture.”
C. Chiang Kai-Shek: “The Bible is the voice of the Holy Spirit.”
D. Haile Selassie: “The Bible is not only a great book of historical reference, but it also is a guide for daily life, and for this reason I respect it and I love it.”
E. Syngman Rhee: “Fellow prisoners held the Bible and turned the pages for me because my fingers were so crushed that I could not use them. I read the Bible, and I have read it the rest of my life.”
III. Generals.
A. Douglas MacArthur: “Believe me, sir, never a night goes by, be I ever so tired, but I read the Word of God before I go to bed.”
B. William K. Harrison: “The Bible is the Word of God, given by His inspiration for our use and benefit.”
C. Robert E. Lee: “The Bible is a book in comparison with which all others in my eyes are of minor importance, and in which in all my perplexities and distresses has never failed to give me light and strength.”
D. Stonewall Jackson: “God’s promises change not…let us endeavor to adorn the doctrine of Christ in all things.”
E. Oliver Cromwell (upon hearing Phil. 4:11-13 read as he lay dying): “He that was Paul’s Christ is my Christ too.”
IV. Scientists.
A. Sir Isaac Newton: “We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever.”
B. Sir Francis Bacon: “The volume of Scriptures.…reveal the will of God.”
C. Sir John Herschel: “All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths come from on high and contained in the sacred writings.…”
D. Michael Faraday: “Why will people go astray when they have this blessed Book to guide them?”
E. James Dwight Dana: “Young men, as you go forth, remember that I, an old man, who has known only science all his life, say unto you that there are no truer facts than the facts found within the Holy Scriptures.”
V. Historians.
A. Arnold J. Toynbee: “It pierces through the Intellect and plays directly upon the heart.”
B. H. G. Wells: “The Bible has been the Book that held together the fabric of Western civilization.…The civilization we possess could not come into existence and could not have been sustained without it.”
C. Thomas Carlyle: “A Noble book! All men’s book! …grand in its sincerity, in its simplicity, and in its epic melody.”
VI. Physicians.
A. Mark Hopkins: “Thus we have every conceivable species of historical proof, both external and internal. Thus do the very stones cry out.”
B. Charles W. Mayo: “In sickness or in health, one can find comfort and constructive advice in the Bible.”
VII. Lawyers.
A. Daniel Webster: “I believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the will and the Word of God.”
B. Benjamin Franklin: “Young men, my advice to you is that you cultivate an acquaintance with, and a firm belief in, the Holy Scriptures.”
C. Patrick Henry: “This is a Book worth more than all the others that were ever printed.”
VIII. Educators.
A. Timothy Dwight: “The Bible is a window in this prison-world through which we may look into eternity.”
B. William Lyon Phelps: “Everyone who has a thorough knowledge of the Bible may truly be called educated.…I believe knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible.”
C. Henry Van Dyke: “No other book in the world has had such a strange vitality, such an outgoing power of influence and inspiration.…No man is poor or desolate who has this treasure for his own.”
IX. Philosophers and Writers.
A. Charles Dana: “Of all the books, the most indispensable and the most useful, the one whose knowledge is the most effective, is the Bible.”
B. Horace Greeley: “It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people.”
C. Immanuel Kant: “The existence of the Bible as a book for the people is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced.”
D. John Locke: “It has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter: it is all pure, sincere, nothing too much, nothing wanting.”
E. Count Leo Tolstoy: “Without the Bible the education of a child in the present state of society is impossible.”
F. John Ruskin: “All I have taught in art, everything I have written, whatever greatness there has been in any thought of mine, whatever I have done in my life, has simply been due to the fact that, when I was a child, my mother daily read with me a part of the Bible, and daily made me learn a part of it by heart.”
G. John Milton: “There are no songs like the songs of the Scriptures, no orations like the orations of the prophets.”
H. William Cowper: “A Glory gilds the sacred page, Majestic like the sun: it gives a light to every age—it gives, but borrows none.…”
I. John Dryden: “It speaks no less than God in every line; Commanding words whose force is still the same.…”
J. Sir Walter Scott: “Within this awful volume lies the Mystery of mysteries.”
K. Charles Dickens: “It is the best Book that ever was or ever will be in the world.…”
X. People from Various Fields.
A. J. Edgar Hoover: “The Bible is the unfailing guide which points the way for men to the perfect life.”
B. Bernard Baruch: “I have always placed the Bible as number one among the four books I think everyone should read and study. Therein one will find all the problems that beset mankind.”
C. Helen Keller: “In the Bible I find a confidence mightier than the utmost evil.…”
D. Lowell Thomas: “The Bible is of vital importance in teaching freedom.…”
E. King George V: “The English Bible is... the most valuable thing that this world affords.”
XI. The Church Fathers.
A. Augustine: “Let us give in and yield our assent to the authority of Holy Scripture, which knows not how either to be deceived or to deceive.…”
B. John Chrysostom: “It is a great thing, this reading of the Scriptures! For it is not possible, I say, not possible ever to exhaust the minds of the Scriptures. It is a well which has no bottom.”
C. Athanasius: “They were spoken and written by God through men who spoke of God.…Let no man add to these, neither let him take aught from these.”
D. Origen: “For my part, I believe that not one jot or tittle of the divine instruction is in vain. We are never to say that there is anything impertinent or superfluous in the Scriptures of the Holy Spirit.…”
E. Jerome: “Give ear for a moment that I may tell you how you are to walk in the Holy Scriptures. All that we read in the Divine Book, while glistening and shining without, is yet far sweeter within.”
F. Luther: “It cannot be otherwise, for the Scriptures are Divine; in them God speaks, and they are His Word. To hear or to read the Scriptures is nothing else than to hear God.”
G. Calvin: “The Scriptures is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which, as nothing necessary and useful to be known is omitted, so nothing is taught which is not beneficial to know.”
In concluding this section it may be necessary to stop here and consider some anticipated objections about all these “pious commercials” for the Bible. Some have felt the statements made by political persons, such as U.S. presidents, were made solely for election purposes, for, it is claimed, no atheist could ever be voted into the White House. But to say this is to deny the integrity of almost every American president. It should also be pointed out that many of these statements were made at a time when either the man was not a candidate for reelection, or had already moved out of the White House.
Furthermore, while history shows many famous “Bible haters” who later became “Bible lovers,” it never records the opposite. To take this a step further, it can be shown that no evil and murderous dictator or tyrant in history was ever a friend of the Bible and that no good and wise leader was ever an enemy of God’s Word. Thus to deny the authority of the Bible is to set oneself against practically every great leader in Western civilization. While it is true that this in itself constitutes no absolute proof of the Scriptures, it does, nevertheless, lend itself to Abraham Lincoln’s famous proverb:
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time!”
Part Four: Symbols for the Bible
I. A Mirror.
“For if a person just listens and doesn’t obey, he is like a man looking at his face in a mirror; as soon as he walks away, he can’t see himself anymore or remember what he looks like. But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God’s law for free men, he will not only remember it but he will do what it says, and God will greatly bless him in everything he does” (Jas. 1:23-25, tlb).
It is called a mirror because it reflects the mind of God and the true condition of man.
II. A Seed.
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Pet. 1:23).
“Of his own will begat he us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (Jas. 1:18).
“Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Mt. 13:18-23).
It is called a seed because, once properly planted, it brings forth life, growth, and fruit.
III. Water.
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27).
It is called water because of its cleansing, quenching, and refreshing qualities. (See Ps. 42:1; 119:9; Prov. 25:25; Isa. 55:10; Heb. 10:22; Rev. 22:17.)
IV. A Lamp.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105).
“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life” (Prov. 6:23).
“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19).
It is called a lamp because it shows us where we are now, it guides us in the next step, and it keeps us from falling.
V. A Sword.
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17).
It is called a sword because of its piercing ability, operating with equal; effectiveness upon sinners, saints, and Satan. Of the various armor pieces mentioned in Ephesians 6:11-17, all to be worn by the believer, the only offensive piece is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
VI. Precious Metals.
A. Gold (Ps. 19:10; 119:127).
B. Silver (Ps. 12:6).
“Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea above fine gold” (Ps. 119:127).
“The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Ps. 12:6).
It is referred to as precious metals because of its desirability, its preciousness, its beauty, and its value.
VII. Nourishing Food.
A. Milk.
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).
B. Meat.
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:12-14).
C. Bread.
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (Jn. 6:51).
D. Honey.
“More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Ps. 19:10).
It is referred to as nourishing food because of the strength it imparts.
VIII. A Hammer.
“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23:29).
It is referred to as a hammer because of its ability to both tear down and build up. (See Acts 9:4; Jude 20.)
IX. A Fire.
“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jer. 20:9).
“And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Lk. 24:32).
It is called a fire because of its judging, purifying, and consuming abilities.
Part Five: The Supreme Authority of the Bible
Perhaps the grandest and most conclusive description of the Bible was penned by the Apostle Paul in a letter to a young pastor. He wrote:
“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
In this remarkable passage Paul claims that the Bible is profitable—
1. For doctrine—that is, it may be used as the perfect textbook to present the systematic teachings of the great truths relating to God himself.
2. For reproof—that is, the Bible is to be used to convict us of the wrong in our lives.
3. For correction—that is, it will then show us the right way.
4. For instruction in righteousness—that is, God’s Word provides all the necessary details which will allow a Christian to become fully equipped for every good work.
Because of all this, the Bible rightly demands absolute and sole authority over any other source in the life of the child of God. This authority would exceed that of the following:
I. Human Reason. God gave us our minds and desires that we should use them! This is seen in two classic passages, one directed to the unsaved, the other to the saved.
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isa. 1:18).
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:1, 2).
However, there are times when God desires us to submit our human reasoning to him. Note the following admonition:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil” (Prov. 3:5-7).
Often our reasoning is as the thinking of Naaman, who when asked to take a sevenfold bath in Jordan’s muddy waters, angrily replied:
“Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper” (2 Ki. 5:11).
But Elisha did not do so. Often God’s ways are different from our ways.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8, 9).
II. The Church. The New Testament abounds with passages which declare Christ the Head of the Church. (See Eph. 1:22; 2:19, 20; 4:15, 16; 5:23-30; Col. 1:18; 2:9.) The Savior, it must be remembered, gave birth to the Church, and not the other way around. (See Mt. 16:18.) Thus the Christian must look to the Bible and not to any earthly church for final instruction. Sometimes even those local churches mentioned in the Bible itself were grievously wrong. Note the following description of New Testament churches, some of which were started by Paul himself.
A. The church at Ephesus.
“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (Rev. 2:4, 5).
B. The church at Pergamos.
“But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth” (Rev. 2:14-16).
C. The church at Thyatira.
“Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols” (Rev. 2:20).
D. The church at Sardis.
“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: For I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee” (Rev. 3:1-3).
E. The church at Laodicea.
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent” (Rev. 3:15-19).
III. Tradition. In this atomic and space age where change occurs at rocket speed, many have come to appreciate some of our beautiful traditions of the past. And rightly so! But traditions, like changes, can be wrong. If a thing was in error when it began, it is still in error regardless of the centuries that separate it from us today. Often in the past, hurtful “traditions of the fathers” had crept into the church of the living God. Our Savior himself was grieved over some harmful Jewish traditions. Note his words:
“And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition” (Mt. 15:6).
Later Paul would warn also of this.
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8).
IV. Popes and Preachers. Even the most godly pastors are, after all, only finite men fully capable (apart from God’s grace) of the vilest sins. This is true of popes as well.
V. Feelings and Experiences. At times Christians fall into error because they “feel led” to do or say certain things. However, we must learn that at times our feelings can be treacherous and totally untrustworthy. The psalmist often spoke of this:
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Ps. 27:13).
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Ps. 42:5).
“I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High” (Ps. 77:1-10).
“I said in my haste, All men are liars” (Ps. 116:11).
This is not only the case with our feelings, but also our experiences. One of Job’s three “friends,” Eliphaz, based all his advice to the suffering Job on experience (Job 4:12-16). He is later severely rebuked by God himself for doing this (Job 42:7).
Thus, as valuable as personal experience may be, it is no substitute for the revealed Word of God.
Listed below are the various functions of this authoritative book called the Bible.
A. It upholds (Ps. 119:116).
B. It orders steps (Ps. 119:133).
C. It produces joy (Ps. 119:162).
D. It strengthens (Ps. 119:28; 1 Jn. 2:14).
E. It gives hope (Ps. 119:74, 81).
F. It gives light (Ps. 119:105, 130).
G. It gives understanding (Ps. 119:169).
H. It shows God’s will (Isa. 55:11).
I. It builds up (Acts 20:32).
J. It produces fruit (Jn. 15:7).
K. It convicts of sin (Heb. 4:12).
L. It converts the soul (Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23).
M. It cleanses the conscience (Jn. 15:3).
N. It consecrates life (Jn. 17:17).
O. It corrects the wrong (2 Tim. 3:16).
P. It confirms the right (Jn. 8:31).
Q. It comforts the heart (Ps. 119:50, 54).
Because of this, the child of God is to respond to this authoritative book in the following ways:
Read it (Deut. 31:11; Isa. 34:16; Lk. 4:16; Eph. 3:4; Col. 3:16; 4:1; 1 Thess. 5:27; 2 Tim. 4:13; Rev. 1:3).
Heed it (Ps. 119:9; 1 Tim. 4:16).
Seed it (Mt. 28:19, 20).
Desire it (1 Pet. 2:2).
Preach it (2 Tim. 4:2).
Rightly divide it (2 Tim. 2:15).
Live by it (Mt. 4:4).
Use it (Eph. 6:17).
Suffer for it, and if need be, die for it (Rev. 1:9; 6:9; 20:4).
The child of God is to know it in his head, stow it in his heart, show it in his life, and sow it in the world.
See also the following Scripture verses: Deuteronomy 4:1-10; 12:32; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 33:6; Proverbs 30:5, 6; Mark 4:24; Luke 8:12; John 12:48-50; Romans 8:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 2:1-4; Revelation 1:1-3; 20:12; 22:18, 19.
Part Six: How the Sixty-Six Books of the Bible Were Collected and Preserved
I. The Writing Materials of the Bible. The Spirit of God moved upon the authors of the Bible to record their’ precious messages upon whatever object was in current use at the time of the writing. Thus once again we see the marvelous condescension of God. These writing materials would include:
A. Clay (Jer. 17:13; Ezek. 4:1).
B. Stone (Ex. 24:12; 13:18; 32:15, 16; 34:1, 28; Deut. 5:22; 27:2, 3; Josh. 8:31, 32).
C. Papyrus (made by pressing and gluing two layers of split papyrus reeds together in order to form a sheet) (2 Jn. 12; Rev. 5:1).
D. Vellum (calf skin), parchment (lamb skin), leather (cowhide) (2 Tim. 4:13).
E. Metal (Ex. 28:36; Job 19:24; Mt. 22:19, 20).
II. The Original Language of the Bible.
A. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, with the following exceptions appearing in Aramaic: Ezra 4:8–6:18; 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4–7:28. Why did God choose Hebrew? In their book A General Introduction to the Bible, authors Geisler and Nix note the following:
“It is a pictorial language, speaking with vivid, bold metaphors which challenge and dramatize the story. The Hebrew language possesses a facility to present ‘pictures’ of the events narrated. ‘The Hebrew thought in pictures, and consequently his nouns are concrete and vivid. There is no such thing as neuter gender; for the Semite everything is alive. Compound words are lacking.…There is no wealth of adjectives.…’ The language shows ‘vast powers of association and, therefore, of imagination.’ Some of this is lost in the English translation, but even so, ‘much of the vivid, concrete, and forthright character of our English Old Testament is really a carrying over into English of something of the genius of the Hebrew tongue.’ As a pictorial language, Hebrew presents a vivid picture of the acts of God among a people who became examples or illustrations for future generations (cf. 1 Cor. 10:11). The Old Testament was intended to be presented graphically in a ‘picture-language.’
Further, Hebrew is a personal language. It addresses itself to the heart and emotions rather than merely to the mind or reason. Sometimes even nations are given personalities (cf. Mal. 1:2, 3). Always the appeal is to the person in the concrete realities of life and not to the abstract or theoretical. Hebrew is a language through which the message is felt rather than thought. As such, the language was highly qualified to convey to the individual believer as well as to the worshiping community the personal relation of the living God in the events of the Jewish nation. It was much more qualified to record the realization of revelation in the life of a nation than to propositionalize that revelation for the propagation among all nations.” (pp. 219, 220)
B. The entire New Testament was written in Greek. Again, to quote from Geisler and Nix:
“Greek was an intellectual language. It was more a language of the mind than of the heart, a fact to which the great Greek philosophers gave abundant evidence. Greek was more suited to codifying a communication or reflection on a revelation of God in order to put it into simple communicable form. It was a language that could more easily render the credible into the intelligible than could Hebrew. It was for this reason that New Testament Greek was a most useful medium for expressing the propositional truth of the New Testament, as Hebrew was for expressing the biographical truth of the Old Testament. Since Greek possessed a technical precision not found in Hebrew, the theological truths which were more generally expressed in the Hebrew of the Old Testament were more precisely formulated in the Greek of the New Testament.
Furthermore, Greek was a nearly universal language. The truth of God in the Old Testament, which was initially revealed to one nation (Israel), was appropriately recorded in the language of the nation (Hebrew). But the fuller revelation given by God in the New Testament was not restricted in that way. In the words of Luke’s gospel, the message of Christ was to ‘be preached in his name to all nations’ (Lk. 24:47). The language most appropriate for the propagation of this message was naturally the one that was most widely spoken throughout the world. Such was the common (Koine) Greek, a thoroughly international language of the first century Mediterranean world.
It may be concluded, then, that God chose the very languages to communicate His truth which had, in His providence, been prepared to express most effectively the kind of truth He desired at that particular time, in the unfolding of His overall plan. Hebrew, with its pictorial and personal vividness, expressed well the biographical truth of the Old Testament. Greek, with its intellectual and universal potentialities, served well for the doctrinal and evangelistic demands of the New Testament.” (p. 221)
III. The Reason for the Writing of the Bible. Perhaps the one supreme difference between man and all other creatures (apart from his immortal soul, of course), is his God-given ability to express his thoughts on paper. It has been observed that while it was no doubt desirable to speak to the prophets “in divers manners” in time past, the best way to communicate with all men of all ages is through the written record. The advantages of the written method are many, of course.
A. Precision—one’s thoughts must be somewhat precise to be written.
B. Propagation—the most accurate way to communicate a message is usually through writing.
C. Preservation—men die, and memories fail, but the written record remains. It may be said that the New Testament especially was written for the following reasons:
1. Because of the demands of the early church (1 Thess. 5:27; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim. 3:16, 17).
2. Because of false doctrines (to counteract them).
3. Because of missionary endeavors (to propagate them).
4. Because of persecution and politics.
IV. The Old Testament.
A. The order of the books in the Hebrew Old Testament. The thirty-nine books in our English Old Testament appear somewhat differently in a present-day Hebrew Bible. They cover the identical material but number twenty-four and are arranged in a threefold division:
1. The Law (Torah).
a. Genesis
b. Exodus
c. Leviticus
d. Numbers
e. Deuteronomy
2. The Prophets (Nebhiim).
a. Former Prophets—four books:
(1) Joshua
(2) Judges
(3) Samuel
(4) Kings
b. Latter Prophets (major and minor):
Major Section
(1) Isaiah
(2) Jeremiah
(3) Ezekiel
Minor Section
(1) Hosea
(2) Joel
(3) Amos
(4) Obadiah
(5) Jonah
(6) Micah
(7) Nahum
(8) Habakkuk
(9) Zephaniah
(10) Haggai
(11) Zechariah
(12) Malachi
3. The Writings.
a. The poetical books (3)
(1) Psalms
(2) Proverbs
(3) Job
b. The Scrolls (5)
(1) Song of Solomon
(2) Ruth
(3) Lamentations
(4) Ecclesiastes
(5) Esther
c. Prophetic—historical (3)
(1) Daniel
(2) Ezra—Nehemiah
(3) Chronicles
B. The suggested order of the writings. Many believe the book of Job to be the oldest in the Word of God. It may well have been written as early as 2000 b.c. One of the earliest written parts was that section found in Exodus 17. This recording occurred on Israel’s route to Palestine. Joshua had just won a tremendous victory over a fierce desert tribe called the Amalekites. After the battle was over we read:
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and release it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven” (Ex. 17:14).
Other early sections of the Word of God would of course include the Law of Moses. (See Deut. 31:24-26.) The following is a mere suggestion of the time of the writing of the Old Testament books:
1. Job—2150 b.c.
2. Pentateuch—1402 b.c.
3. Joshua—before 1350 b.c.
4. Judges and Ruth—before 1050 b.c.
5. Psalms—before 965 b.c.
6. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon—before 926 b.c.
7. 1 and 2 Samuel—before 926 b.c.
8. 1 Kings and 1 Chronicles—before 848 b.c.
9. Obadiah—848 b.c.
10. Joel—835 b.c.
11. Jonah—780 b.c.
12. Amos—765 b.c.
13. Hosea—755 b.c.
14. Isaiah—750 b.c.
15. Micah—740 b.c.
16. Jeremiah and Lamentations—640 b.c.
17. Nahum—630 b.c.
18. Habakkuk and Zephaniah—625 b.c.
19. Ezekiel—593 b.c.
20. 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles—before 539 b.c.
21. Daniel—before 538 b.c.
22. Haggai and Zechariah—520 b.c.
23. Esther—after 476 b.c.
24. Ezra—after 458 b.c.
25. Nehemiah—after 445 b.c.
26. Malachi—432 b.c.
C. The location of the Old Testament books.
1. Before the Babylonian captivity. Prior to this period (606 b.c.) the Old Testament books were apparently laid beside the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple. This is indicated in the following passages:
“And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.…And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient” (Ex. 24:3, 4, 7).
“And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deut. 31:24-26).
“And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king” (2 Ki. 22:8-10).
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord” (Josh. 24:25, 26).
“Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house” (1 Sam. 10:25).
2. During the Babylonian captivity. The books were probably carried to Babylon and later collected by Daniel. In 9:2 of his book, the prophet Daniel writes:
“In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
Here Daniel specifically states he was reading Jeremiah and “the books,” a reference no doubt to the other Old Testament books written up to that time.
3. After the Babylonian captivity. These books may have been taken back to Jerusalem by Ezra the prophet and kept in the newly completed Temple. (See Ezra 3:10, 11; 6:15-18; Neh. 8:1-8.)
V. The New Testament. The New Testament was written over a period of about fifty years (approximately a.d. 50-100), by eight separate human authors.
A. A suggested chronological order and possible dating of the New Testament books.
1. James—a.d. 49 (written from Jerusalem)
2. 1 and 2 Thessalonians—a.d. 52 (written from Corinth)
3. 1 Corinthians—a.d. 55 (written from Macedonia)
4. 2 Corinthians—a.d. 56 (written from Macedonia)
5. Galatians—a.d. 57 (written from Ephesus)
6. Romans—a.d. 58 (written from Corinth)
7. Luke—a.d. 59 (written from Caesarea)
8. Acts—a.d. 60 (written from Rome)
9. Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, Philemon—a.d. 61, 62 (written from Rome)
10. Matthew—a.d. 63 (written from Judea)
11. Mark—a.d. 63 (written from Rome)
12. Hebrews—a.d. 64 (written from Jerusalem)
13. 1 Timothy—a.d. 65 (written from Macedonia)
14. 1 Peter—a.d. 65 (written from Babylon)
15. 2 Peter—a.d. 66 (unknown)
16. Titus—a.d. 66 (written from Greece)
17. Jude—a.d. 67 (unknown)
18. 2 Timothy—a.d. 67 (written from Rome)
19. John—a.d. 85-90 (written from Ephesus)
20. 1 John—a.d. 90-95 (written from Judea)
21. 2 and 3 John—a.d. 90-95 (written from Ephesus)
22. Revelation—a.d. 90-95 (written from the Isle of Patmos)
B. The human writers.
1. Matthew—author of Matthew
2. Mark—author of Mark
3. Luke—author of Luke and Acts
4. John—author of John, 1, 2, 3 John, and Revelation
5. James—author of James
6. Jude—author of Jude
7. Peter—author of 1 and 2 Peter
8. Paul—author of the fourteen remaining New Testament epistles
VI. The Determination of the Canon.
A. The tests given to the biblical books. Various books of the Bible, especially those of the New Testament, were submitted to certain rigid tests by the early church. These tests included:
1. Authorship—who wrote the book or the epistle?
2. Local church acceptance—had it been read by the various churches? What was their opinion?
3. Church fathers’ recognition—had the pupils of the disciples quoted from the book? As an example, a man named Polycarp was a disciple of John the apostle. Therefore one test of a book might be, “What did Polycarp think of it?”
4. Book subject matter (content)—what did the book teach? Did it contradict other recognized books?
5. Personal edification—did the book have the ability to inspire, convict, and edify local congregations and individual believers?
In closing this section it should be stated that it was a combination of these five steps which helped determine whether a book was inspired or not. Canonicity was not determined at all by either the age or the language of a given book. For example, there were many ancient books mentioned in the Old Testament (see Num. 21:14; Josh. 10:3) which were not in the Old Testament canon. Also, some of the apocryphal books (such as Tobit) were written in Hebrew but were not included in the Old Testament, while some books (like portions of Daniel) written in Aramaic were included in the canon.
B. The writings that were unacceptable. After the Old Testament canon was recognized by the Jews as officially closed, and prior to the New Testament period, there arose a body of literature called the Apocrypha. This word literally means “that which is hidden” and consists of fourteen books.
1. The contents of the Old Testament Apocrypha.
a. 1 Esdras covers much of the material found in Ezra, Nehemiah, and 2 Chronicles. But it also includes a fanciful story concerning three Jewish servants in Persia. They were all asked a question by King Darius concerning what was the greatest thing in the world. One said wine, another replied women, while the third claimed it was truth. He won, and when offered a reward, suggested the king allow the Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
b. 2 Esdras contains certain visions given to Ezra dealing with God’s government of the world and the restoration of certain lost Scriptures.
c. Tobit is the story of a pious Jew (Tobit) who is accidentally blinded (by sparrow dung) and is later healed by an angel named Raphael, who applies a concoction of fish heart, liver, and gall to his eye.
d. Judith is the story of a beautiful and devout Jewish princess who saves Jerusalem from being destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s invading armies. This she does by beguiling the enemy general through her beauty, then returning to Jerusalem with his head in her handbag!
e. The remainder of Esther. There are additional inserts to this book to show the hand of God in the narrative by putting the word “God” in the text. The word God does not appear in the Old Testament book of Esther.
f. The Wisdom of Solomon has been called “The Gem of the Apocrypha,” and is one of the loftier books of the Apocrypha.
g. Ecclesiasticus, also called “the Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach,” resembles the book of Proverbs, and gives rules for personal conduct in all details of civil, religious, and domestic life.
h. 1 Maccabees, an historical account on the Maccabean period, relates events of the Jews’ heroic struggle for liberty (175-135 b.c.).
i. 2 Maccabees covers in part the same period as 1 Maccabees but is somewhat inferior content-wise.
j. Baruch was supposedly written by Jeremiah’s secretary, Baruch. It contains prayers and confessions of the Jews in exile, with promises of restoration.
k. The Song of the Three Children, inserted in the book of Daniel, right after the fiery furnace episode (Dan. 3:23), contains an eloquent prayer of Azariah, one of the three Hebrew men thrown into the fire.
l. The story of Susanna is a story relating how the godly wife of a wealthy Jew in Babylon, falsely accused of adultery, was cleared by the wisdom of Daniel.
m. Bel and the Dragon is also added to the book of Daniel. The book contains two stories:
(1) The first concerns how Daniel proves to the king that his great god Bel is a dead idol, and that the Bel priests are religious crooks.
(2) Unger’s Handbook describes the second story in the following words:
“The other legend concerns a dragon worshiped in Babylon. Daniel, summoned to do it homage, feeds it a mixture of pitch, hair, and fat, which causes it to explode. The enraged populace compels the King to throw Daniel in the den of lions where he is fed on the sixth day by the prophet Habakkuk, who is angelically transported to Babylon by the hair of his head while carrying food and drink to the reapers in Judea. On the seventh day the King rescues Daniel and throws his would-be destroyers to the hungry lions.” (p. 459)
n. The Prayer of Manasses is the supposed confessional prayer of wicked King Manasseh of Judah, after he was carried away prisoner to Babylon by the Assyrians.
2. Reasons for rejecting the Apocrypha. “Why don’t you Protestants have all the books of the Bible in your King James Version?” Often Christians and Bible lovers are confronted with this question by those who have accepted the Apocrypha into their translations of the Bible. Why indeed do we not include these fourteen books? There are many sound scriptural reasons.
a. The Apocrypha was never included in the Old Testament canon by such recognized authorities as the Pharisees, Ezra the prophet, etc.
b. It was never quoted by the Jews, by Jesus, or by any other New Testament writers.
c. The great Jewish historian Josephus excluded it.
d. The well-known Jewish philosopher Philo did not recognize it.
e. The early church fathers excluded it.
f. The Bible translator Jerome did not accept the books as inspired, although he was forced by the Pope to include them in the Latin Vulgate Bible.
g. None of the fourteen books claim divine inspiration; in fact, some actually disclaim it.
h. Some books contain historical and geographical errors.
i. Some books teach false doctrine, such as praying for the dead.
j. No Apocryphal book can be found in any catalogue list of canonical books composed during the first four centuries a.d. In fact, it was not until 1596 at the Council of Trent that the Roman Catholic Church officially recognized these books, basically in an attempt to strengthen their position, which had been grievously weakened by the great reformer Martin Luther.
C. Some canonical books were at first doubted but later fully accepted. During the first few years of early church history there were some twelve biblical books which were temporarily objected to for various reasons.
1. Old Testament books.
a. The Song of Solomon—because it seemed to some to be a mere poem on human love.
b. Ecclesiastes—because some felt it taught atheism. (See 9:5.)
c. Esther—because it did not mention the word “God” in the entire book.
d. Ezekiel—because it seemed to contradict the Mosaic Law.
e. Proverbs—because it seemed to contradict itself. (See 26:4, 5.)
2. New Testament books.
a. Hebrews—because of the uncertainty about the book’s authorship.
b. James—because it seemed to contradict the teachings of Paul. (Compare Jas. 2:20 with Eph. 2:8, 9.)
c. 2 and 3 John—because they seemed to be simply two personal letters.
d. Jude—because the author refers to an uncanonical Old Testament book, the book of Enoch.
e. Revelation—because of the uncertainty about the book’s authorship and because of its many mysterious symbols.
VI. The Determination of the Canon.
A. The tests given to the biblical books. Various books of the Bible, especially those of the New Testament, were submitted to certain rigid tests by the early church. These tests included:
1. Authorship—who wrote the book or the epistle?
2. Local church acceptance—had it been read by the various churches? What was their opinion?
3. Church fathers’ recognition—had the pupils of the disciples quoted from the book? As an example, a man named Polycarp was a disciple of John the apostle. Therefore one test of a book might be, “What did Polycarp think of it?”
4. Book subject matter (content)—what did the book teach? Did it contradict other recognized books?
5. Personal edification—did the book have the ability to inspire, convict, and edify local congregations and individual believers?
In closing this section it should be stated that it was a combination of these five steps which helped determine whether a book was inspired or not. Canonicity was not determined at all by either the age or the language of a given book. For example, there were many ancient books mentioned in the Old Testament (see Num. 21:14; Josh. 10:3) which were not in the Old Testament canon. Also, some of the apocryphal books (such as Tobit) were written in Hebrew but were not included in the Old Testament, while some books (like portions of Daniel) written in Aramaic were included in the canon.
B. The writings that were unacceptable. After the Old Testament canon was recognized by the Jews as officially closed, and prior to the New Testament period, there arose a body of literature called the Apocrypha. This word literally means “that which is hidden” and consists of fourteen books.
1. The contents of the Old Testament Apocrypha.
a. 1 Esdras covers much of the material found in Ezra, Nehemiah, and 2 Chronicles. But it also includes a fanciful story concerning three Jewish servants in Persia. They were all asked a question by King Darius concerning what was the greatest thing in the world. One said wine, another replied women, while the third claimed it was truth. He won, and when offered a reward, suggested the king allow the Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
b. 2 Esdras contains certain visions given to Ezra dealing with God’s government of the world and the restoration of certain lost Scriptures.
c. Tobit is the story of a pious Jew (Tobit) who is accidentally blinded (by sparrow dung) and is later healed by an angel named Raphael, who applies a concoction of fish heart, liver, and gall to his eye.
d. Judith is the story of a beautiful and devout Jewish princess who saves Jerusalem from being destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s invading armies. This she does by beguiling the enemy general through her beauty, then returning to Jerusalem with his head in her handbag!
e. The remainder of Esther. There are additional inserts to this book to show the hand of God in the narrative by putting the word “God” in the text. The word God does not appear in the Old Testament book of Esther.
f. The Wisdom of Solomon has been called “The Gem of the Apocrypha,” and is one of the loftier books of the Apocrypha.
g. Ecclesiasticus, also called “the Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach,” resembles the book of Proverbs, and gives rules for personal conduct in all details of civil, religious, and domestic life.
h. 1 Maccabees, an historical account on the Maccabean period, relates events of the Jews’ heroic struggle for liberty (175-135 b.c.).
i. 2 Maccabees covers in part the same period as 1 Maccabees but is somewhat inferior content-wise.
j. Baruch was supposedly written by Jeremiah’s secretary, Baruch. It contains prayers and confessions of the Jews in exile, with promises of restoration.
k. The Song of the Three Children, inserted in the book of Daniel, right after the fiery furnace episode (Dan. 3:23), contains an eloquent prayer of Azariah, one of the three Hebrew men thrown into the fire.
l. The story of Susanna is a story relating how the godly wife of a wealthy Jew in Babylon, falsely accused of adultery, was cleared by the wisdom of Daniel.
m. Bel and the Dragon is also added to the book of Daniel. The book contains two stories:
(1) The first concerns how Daniel proves to the king that his great god Bel is a dead idol, and that the Bel priests are religious crooks.
(2) Unger’s Handbook describes the second story in the following words:
“The other legend concerns a dragon worshiped in Babylon. Daniel, summoned to do it homage, feeds it a mixture of pitch, hair, and fat, which causes it to explode. The enraged populace compels the King to throw Daniel in the den of lions where he is fed on the sixth day by the prophet Habakkuk, who is angelically transported to Babylon by the hair of his head while carrying food and drink to the reapers in Judea. On the seventh day the King rescues Daniel and throws his would-be destroyers to the hungry lions.” (p. 459)
n. The Prayer of Manasses is the supposed confessional prayer of wicked King Manasseh of Judah, after he was carried away prisoner to Babylon by the Assyrians.
2. Reasons for rejecting the Apocrypha. “Why don’t you Protestants have all the books of the Bible in your King James Version?” Often Christians and Bible lovers are confronted with this question by those who have accepted the Apocrypha into their translations of the Bible. Why indeed do we not include these fourteen books? There are many sound scriptural reasons.
a. The Apocrypha was never included in the Old Testament canon by such recognized authorities as the Pharisees, Ezra the prophet, etc.
b. It was never quoted by the Jews, by Jesus, or by any other New Testament writers.
c. The great Jewish historian Josephus excluded it.
d. The well-known Jewish philosopher Philo did not recognize it.
e. The early church fathers excluded it.
f. The Bible translator Jerome did not accept the books as inspired, although he was forced by the Pope to include them in the Latin Vulgate Bible.
g. None of the fourteen books claim divine inspiration; in fact, some actually disclaim it.
h. Some books contain historical and geographical errors.
i. Some books teach false doctrine, such as praying for the dead.
j. No Apocryphal book can be found in any catalogue list of canonical books composed during the first four centuries a.d. In fact, it was not until 1596 at the Council of Trent that the Roman Catholic Church officially recognized these books, basically in an attempt to strengthen their position, which had been grievously weakened by the great reformer Martin Luther.
C. Some canonical books were at first doubted but later fully accepted. During the first few years of early church history there were some twelve biblical books which were temporarily objected to for various reasons.
1. Old Testament books.
a. The Song of Solomon—because it seemed to some to be a mere poem on human love.
b. Ecclesiastes—because some felt it taught atheism. (See 9:5.)
c. Esther—because it did not mention the word “God” in the entire book.
d. Ezekiel—because it seemed to contradict the Mosaic Law.
e. Proverbs—because it seemed to contradict itself. (See 26:4, 5.)
2. New Testament books.
a. Hebrews—because of the uncertainty about the book’s authorship.
b. James—because it seemed to contradict the teachings of Paul. (Compare Jas. 2:20 with Eph. 2:8, 9.)
c. 2 and 3 John—because they seemed to be simply two personal letters.
d. Jude—because the author refers to an uncanonical Old Testament book, the book of Enoch.
e. Revelation—because of the uncertainty about the book’s authorship and because of its many mysterious symbols.
Part Seven: Important Historical Translations of the Bible
Perhaps the most thrilling story in mankind’s history is the true account of the earnest (and sometimes agonizing) efforts to translate God’s precious Word into the language of a particular day. Literally billions of intensive man-hours have been spent doing this. We shall now briefly examine some of the better-known fruits of all this study.
I. Publications Up to the Time of Jesus.
A. The Dead Sea Scrolls. During 1947, in a series of caves near the Dead Sea, a discovery was made that would soon excite the entire religious world: the Dead Sea Scrolls. Dr. William F. Albright states this find was “the most important discovery ever made concerning the Old Testament manuscripts.” These scrolls were probably hidden there sometime during the second century b.c. by a Jewish group called the Essenes. They included fragments of every Old Testament book in the Hebrew Bible with the exception of the book of Esther.
Especially exciting was a complete scroll on the book of Isaiah. The reason this discovery was so important was that until this event, the earliest copy we had of Isaiah’s writings was made during the twelfth century a.d. Now scholars could move back over a thousand years closer to the time when the prophet actually wrote (around 700 b.c.). When a comparison was made between the Dead Sea copy and the twelfth century a.d. copy, they were found to be almost identical, once again reassuring us that our copy of God’s Word today is indeed accurate and reliable.
B. The Greek Septuagint. The Greek Septuagint is a translation of the Old Testament Hebrew into the Greek language. This was done around 280 b.c. at the request of some Jewish leaders. The reason was because many Jews had moved into Egypt and other places outside of Palestine, and as a result, were unable to read or speak Hebrew. So a translation was prepared in the common Greek language of the day. It was called the “Septuagint” (the Greek word for seventy) because, according to tradition, it was supposedly translated by seventy Jewish scholars in seventy days. The Septuagint was the Bible in Jesus’ day.
II. Publications up to the Seventh Century a.d.
A. The Papyri. This consisted of hundreds of sheets found in central Egypt in 1895. Some were stuffed in mummy cases and embalmed crocodile bodies. Among the various sheets was a 3½ x 2½-inch fragment containing John 18:31-38. Carbon-14 dating has shown this to have been written around a.d. 125. Thus the fragment is the oldest known Bible manuscript.
B. The Latin Vulgate. During the fourth century a.d. it was felt a new translation of the Bible was needed in Latin, which was then the common language in the Western world. Thus, in a.d. 382 the great scholar Jerome was appointed by Damascus, the Bishop of Rome, to begin doing this. For the next twenty-five years Jerome worked on this, going right to the Hebrew and Greek. The term “vulgate” comes from the Latin word which means “common.” Thus, until the King James Version in 1611, the Latin Vulgate became the recognized Bible for nearly 1200 years. In 1228 the Vulgate was divided into chapters by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was divided into verses by Robert Stephens in 1551, and these verses were numbered by Montanus around a.d. 1571. The Vulgate was also the first Bible to be printed by John Gutenburg in 1455. One of these printed copies now resides in the U.S. Library of Congress and is valued at $350,000.
C. Codex Sinaiticus. This was an ancient manuscript of the Greek Septuagint, written approximately a.d. 330. It was discovered by the German Bible scholar Tischendorf in the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai in 1844. He noticed in a wastebasket, waiting to be burned, vellum pages with Greek writings on them. The codex Sinaiticus contained 199 leaves of the Old Testament. On December 24, 1933, this codex which came so close to being burned was sold to the British government by the Russians for $510,000, making it the most expensive book purchase of all time.
D. Codex Vaticanus. Also written around a.d. 330, it has been in the Vatican Library in Rome since 1481. Roman Catholic popes had constantly refused to allow competent Bible scholars to study it until the nineteenth century. It is thought that both this codex and the Mt. Sinai copy are two of the original fifty copies ordered by Emperor Constantine shortly after he assumed power over the Roman Empire in a.d. 312. It is, however, incomplete, omitting the pastoral epistles, Philemon, Revelation, and the last few chapters of Hebrews.
E. Codex Alexandrinus. This is dated around a.d. 450 and was written in Egypt. In 1708 it was given to the Patriarch of Alexandria (where it got its name). In 1757 it was transferred to the British museum.
F. The Coptic Version. During the second century a new kind of language came into being which was sort of a cross between Greek and Egyptian. It became known as Coptic. Several translations of God’s Word were made at this time (around a.d. 350) from the Greek into Coptic.
G. The Ethiopic Version. Ethiopia was the land south of Egypt in Africa. The Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8:26-39 probably introduced Christianity there. This translation was a good verbal rendering of the Greek. It was fluent, readable, and helpful, and dates around a.d. 350.
H. The Gothic Version. The land of the Goths was located north of the Danube River and west of the Black Sea. The Goths were an extremely warlike people. During one of their raids in Asia Minor they captured a young man named Ulfilos. Ulfilos was a Christian and a scholar who later translated the Scriptures into Gothic—with the exception of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. The reason for this was due to the many wars recorded in these four Old Testament books. Ulfilos did not want to encourage the Goths along this line. The Gothic Version, dated about a.d. 350, thus became the first translation of the Bible into a barbarian language. One of Ulfilos’ versions still exists. It is called the Codex Argentus, and was written in gold and silver letters upon purple vellum. It now resides in the University Library at Upsala, Sweden.
I. The Armenian Version. Armenia is north of Mesopotamia. About a.d. 406 a great missionary and writer named Mesrob began translating the Bible into Armenian after reducing the language to an alphabet. The Armenian Version has been called “the most beautiful and accurate of all ancient versions—the Queen of Versions.”
III. Publications in English from the Seventh Century to the Present. Historians have classified the English language into three main periods.
A. Old English Period—from a.d. 450 to 1100.
B. Middle English Period—from a.d. 1100 to 1500.
C. Modern English Period—from a.d. 1500 to date.
Keeping this outline in mind we shall now consider some major attempts to publish the Bible in English.
A. Old English Period—a.d. 450 to 1100. There were at least ten known translators of the Bible during this period. The list would include a servant, two bishops, two monks, a king, two priests, an archbishop, and a hermit. Of these ten, we will examine the following three:
1. Caedmon (died in 680). This stable worker at a monastery in North England did not translate the Bible on paper but rather memorized great portions of it and sang it with his harp in short lines of beautiful Celtic-Saxon verse wherever he traveled. He sang the story of Genesis, Exodus, a part of Daniel, the doctrines of the resurrection, ascension, and the Second Coming of Christ, and of heaven and hell.
2. Bede (674-735). This godly monk, scholar, historian, and theologian is often called today by the title of “the Father of English History.” In his textbook, General Biblical Introduction, author H. S. Miller writes the following about Bede:
“His important work is the translation of the Gospel of John, which he finished just as he was breathing his last. All the day before Ascension Day, 735, the good old monk…had been dictating his translations, for he said, ‘I do not want my boys to read a lie, or to work to no purpose after I am gone.’
The next day he was very weak, and suffered much. His scribe said, ‘Dear master, there is yet one chapter to do, but it seems very hard for you to speak.’ Bede replied, ‘Nay, it is easy, take up thy pen and write quickly.’ In blinding tears the scribe wrote on. ‘And now father, there is just one sentence more.’ Bede dictated it and said, ‘Write quickly.’ The scribe said, ‘It is finished, master.’ ‘Ay, it is finished!’ echoed the dying saint, and with the Gloria chant upon his lips he passed to the great Master whom he had loved and served so long.” (p. 320)
3. Alfred (king of England, 871-901). Here Miller writes:
“Alfred loved…the Bible. He was King, lawgiver, teacher, writer, translator. His wish was ‘that all the freeborn youth of his kingdom should employ themselves on nothing till they could first read well the English scriptures.’ He translated the ten commandments and other Old Testament laws, placing them at the head of his laws for England. He also translated the Psalms and the Gospels.…” (p. 321)
B. Middle English Period—a.d. 1100 to 1500. Here we will examine but one name—that of John Wycliffe.
John Wycliffe (1320-1384) has often been called “The Morning Star of Reformation.” He was a great Oxford University teacher, preacher, reformer, and translator. Wycliffe was the first man to completely translate the entire Bible into the English language. By placing God’s Word in the common language he thus did for England what Martin Luther would later do for Germany. His was the only English Bible for 145 years. As a sample of his English, note the following translation of the Lord’s prayer:
“Our Fadir that art in hevenes, halewid be thi name; Thi kingdom comme to, Be thi wille done in heven so in erthe; Gyve to us this dai oure breed over other substance, and forgive to us oure dettis as we forgyven to oure detouris; and leede us not into tempacioun, but delyvere us fro yvel.”
Part Eight: Proofs That the Bible is the Word of God
I. First Supernatural Element—Its Amazing Unity. That the Bible is a unity is a fact no honest reader can deny. In the preface of most Bibles, the thirty-nine Old Testament and twenty-seven New Testament books are listed in two parallel columns down the page. But a more accurate way would be to place the entire sixty-six collection in a clock-like circle, with Genesis occupying the first minute past twelve, Exodus the second, Leviticus the third, and so on. Finally, the book of Revelation would be placed on the number twelve, right next to Genesis. It is simply thrilling how these two books, Genesis the first and Revelation the last, perfectly dovetail together in a unity only God could create. For example:
In Genesis we read: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (1:1).
In Revelation we read: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (21:1).
In Genesis we see described the first Adam and his wife Eve in the Garden of Eden, reigning over the earth (1:27, 28).
In Revelation we see described the last Adam and his wife, the Church, in the City of God, reigning over all the universe (21:9).
In Genesis, we are told: “and the gathering of the waters called the seas” (1:10).
In Revelation we are told: “and there was no more sea” (21:1).
In Genesis God created the day and the night, the sun and moon (1:5, 16).
In Revelation “there shall be no night there” (22:5). “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (21:23).
In Genesis the tree of life is denied to sinful man (3:22).
In Revelation the tree of life “yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (22:2).
In Genesis man hears God say: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake” (3:17).
In Revelation man will hear God say: “and there shall be no more curse” (22:3).
In Genesis Satan appears to torment man (3:1).
In Revelation Satan disappears, himself to be tormented forever (20:10).
In Genesis the old earth was punished through a flood (7:12).
In Revelation the new earth shall be purified through a fire (2 Pet. 3:6-12; Rev. 21:1).
In Genesis, man’s early home was beside a river (2:10).
In Revelation, man’s eternal home will be beside a river— “and he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (22:1).
In Genesis the patriarch Abraham weeps for Sarah (23:2).
In Revelation the children of Abraham will have God himself wipe away all tears from their eyes (21:4).
In Genesis God destroys an earthly city, wicked Sodom, from the sands (ch. 19).
In Revelation God presents a heavenly city, new Jerusalem, from the skies (21:1).
Genesis ends with a believer in Egypt, lying in a coffin (50:1-3).
Revelation ends with all believers in eternity, reigning forever (21:4).
A. This unity is achieved in spite of the long period of time involved in its writing.
1. More than fifteen centuries elapsed between the writing of Genesis and Revelation.
2. Nearly 400 years elapsed between the writing of Malachi and Matthew.
B. This unity is achieved in spite of the many authors (some forty) and their various occupations (approximately nineteen).
“The Lord gave the Word: great was the company of those who published it” (Ps. 68:11).
1. Moses was an Egyptian prince.
2. Joshua was a soldier.
3. Samuel was a priest.
4. David was a king.
5. Esther was a queen.
6. Ruth was a housewife.
7. Job was a rich farmer.
8. Amos was a poor farmer.
9. Ezra was a scribe.
10. Isaiah was a prophet.
11. Daniel was a prime minister.
12. Nehemiah was a cupbearer.
13. Matthew was a tax collector.
14. Mark was an evangelist.
15. Luke was a physician.
16. John was a wealthy fisherman.
17. Peter was a poor fisherman.
18. Jude and James probably were carpenters.
19. Paul was a tentmaker.
C. This unity is achieved in spite of the different geographical places where the Bible was written.
1. In the desert (Ex. 17).
2. On Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20).
3. In Palestine (most).
4. In Egypt (Jeremiah?).
5. On the Isle of Patmos (Revelation).
6. In Babylon (Daniel).
7. In Persia (Esther).
8. In Corinth (1 and 2 Thessalonians).
9. In Ephesus (Galatians?).
10. In Caesarea (Luke?).
11. From Rome (2 Timothy).
D. This unity is achieved in spite of the many different styles of its writing.
1. As history.
2. As prophecy.
3. As biography.
4. As autobiography.
5. As poetry.
6. As law.
7. In letter form.
8. In symbolic form.
9. In proverb form.
10. In doctrinal form.
Let us imagine a religious novel of sixty-six chapters which was begun by a single writer around the sixth century a.d. After the author has completed but five chapters, he suddenly dies. But during the next 1000 years, up to the sixteenth century, around thirty amateur “free-lance” writers feel constrained to contribute to this unfinished religious novel. Few of these authors share anything in common. They speak different languages, live at different times in different countries, have totally different backgrounds and occupations, and write in different styles.
Let us furthermore imagine that at the completion of the thirty-ninth chapter, the writing for some reason suddenly stops. Not one word is therefore added from the sixteenth until the twentieth century. After this long delay it begins once again when eight new authors add the final twenty-seven chapters.
With all this in mind, what would be the chances of this religious novel becoming a moral, scientific, prophetic, and historical unity? The answer is obvious—not one in a million. And yet this is the story of the Bible.
II. Second Supernatural Element—Its Indestructibility. The story is told of a visitor who toured a blacksmith shop. Viewing heaps of discarded hammers but only one huge anvil, he asked: “How often do you replace your anvil?” With a smile the owner replied, “Never! It is the anvil that wears out the hammers, you know!”
So it is with the Word of God. The hammers of persecution, ridicule, higher criticism, liberalism, and atheism have for centuries pounded out their vicious blows upon the divine anvil, but all to no avail. There they lie, in rusting piles, while the mighty anvil of the Scriptures stands unbroken, unshaken, and unchipped.
A. Its indestructibility in spite of political persecutions (from the Roman Emperors).
In a.d. 303, Emperor Diocletian thought he had destroyed every hated Bible. After many tireless years of ruthless slaughter and destruction, he erected a column of victory over the embers of a burned Bible. The title on the column read: “Extinct is the Name of Christian.” Twenty years later, the new Emperor Constantine offered a reward for any remaining Bibles. Within twenty-four hours no less than fifty copies were brought out of hiding and presented to the king.
B. Its indestructibility in spite of religious persecutions.
1. As seen through the persecutions by Roman Catholic popes.
Almost without exception, the early popes opposed the reading and translating of the Bible. In 1199, Pope Innocent III ordered the burning of all Bibles.
2. As seen through the persecutions leveled against John Wycliffe and William Tyndale.
Of all the heroes in church history, no two other names are so closely associated with the Word of God as the names of Wycliffe and Tyndale. The very mention of these two men was no doubt sufficient to turn the devil livid with rage. It is therefore no surprise to read of the vicious attacks leveled against them.
a. John Wycliffe. Wycliffe lived at a time (the early part of the fourteenth century) when the burning question was: Who shall rule England, the king or the pope? Wycliffe believed the best way to break the grievous yoke of Romanism would be to place the Bible into the hands of the common people. This he did by translating (for the first time in history) the complete Bible into English. He then organized and sent forth a group of preachers (called the Lollards) to teach the Word of God all across England.
On December 28,1384, while conducting a service in the Lutterworth Church, he was suddenly stricken with paralysis and died three days later. After his death, those who hated his Bible translation activities said the following things about Wycliffe:
“‘John Wycliffe, the organ of the devil, the enemy of the Church, the confusion of the common people, the idol of heretics, the looking glass of hypocrites, the encourager of schism, the sower of hatred, the storehouse of lies, the sink of flattery, was suddenly struck by the judgment of God… that mouth which was to speak huge things against God and against His Saints or holy church, was miserably drawn aside… showing plainly that the curse which God had thundered forth against Cain was also inflicted upon him.’ [From the mouth of a Monk]
‘That pestilent wretch John Wycliffe, the son of the old serpent, the forerunner of Antichrist, who had completed his iniquity by inverting a new translation of the Scriptures.’” (H. S. Miller, Biblical Introduction, p. 329)
One would almost conclude the Savior had this in mind when he spoke the following words:
“These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me” (Jn. 16:1-3).
One final quotation from Miller’s book seems appropriate here:
“In 1415, the Council of Constance which consigned John Hus and Jerome of Prague to a cruel death, demanded that the bones of the notorious heretic Wycliffe…be taken out of the consecrated ground and scattered at a distance from the sepulchre. Thirteen years later (1428), 44 years after his death, Pope Clement VIII, ordered no further delay; the grave was torn up, the coffin and skeleton borne down to the bank of the River Swift, a fire was kindled, the bones were burned, and the ashes thrown into the river. In the words of Thomas Fuller, so often quoted: ‘The Swift conveyed them into the Avon, the Avon into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas; they into the main ocean; and thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which is now dispersed all the world over.’” (pp. 329, 330)
b. William Tyndale (1484-1536). Tyndale was one of the greatest translators of God’s Word who ever lived. He was born in England, and so skilled in seven languages (Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, English, and Dutch), that whichever he might be speaking one would believe that language was his native tongue. Our own King James Version is practically a fifth revision of Tyndale’s, and it retains many of the words and much of the character, form, and style of his version. In 1525, he printed the first copy ever produced of the New Testament in English. His overall goal in life was perhaps best expressed through a statement he made in 1521:
“I defy the Pope and all his laws; if God spares my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know…the Scripture.”
“In 1529, an amusing and thrilling event happened in England and Europe concerning the Word of God. Tyndale had been driven from England and had fled to Germany, but had continued producing New Testaments and slipping them back into England. One day, the Bishop of London (Bishop Tunstall) mentioned to a British merchant, a man named Packington and a secret friend of Tyndale, his desire to buy up all copies of the New Testament.
Said Packington, ‘My Lord, if it be your pleasure, I can buy them, for I know where they are sold, if it be in your Lord’s pleasure to pay for them. I will then assure you to have every book of them that is imprinted.’
Said the Bishop, ‘Gentle master Packington, do your diligence and get them; and with all my heart I will pay for them whatsoever they cost you, for the books are erroneous…and I intend to destroy them all, and burn them at St. Paul’s Cross.’
Packington then came to Tyndale and said, ‘William, I know that thou art a poor man, and hast a heap of New Testaments and books by thee, by the which thou hast endangered thy friends and beggared thyself; and I have now gotten thee a merchant, which with ready money shall dispatch thee of all that thou hast, if you think it so profitable to thyself.’
‘Who is the merchant?’ asked Tyndale.
‘The Bishop of London,’ answered Packington.
‘Oh, that is because he will burn them.’
‘Yes, marry, but what of that? The Bishop will burn them anyhow, and it is best that you should have the money for enabling you to imprint others instead.’
‘I shall do this,’ said Tyndale, ‘for these two benefits shall come thereof: First, I shall get money to bring myself out of debt, and the whole world will cry out against the burning of God’s Word; and Second, the overplus of the money that shall remain to me shall make me more studious to correct the said New Testament, and so newly to imprint the same once again, and I trust the second will be much better than ever was the first.’ So the bargain was made. The bishop had the books, Packington had the thanks, and Tyndale had the money. Later, a man named Constantine was being tried as a heretic, and the judge promised him favor if he would tell how Tyndale received so much help in printing so many Testaments.
He replied, ‘My Lord, I will tell you truly: It is the Bishop of London that hath helped, for he hath bestowed among us a great deal of money upon the New Testaments to burn them, and that hath been, and yet is, our chief help and comfort.’” (Biblical Introduction, p. 334)
Again, to quote from Miller’s textbook:
“On Friday, October 6, 1536, Tyndale was executed. By the Emperor’s laws, only Anabaptists were burned alive, so he escaped that fate. He was led out and permitted to engage in a few moments of prayer. With fervent zeal and a loud voice he cried, ‘Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!’ Then his feet were bound to the stake, the iron chain was fastened around his neck, with a hemp rope loosely tied in a noose, and fagots and straw were heaped around him. At a given signal the rope was tightened, and Tyndale was strangled to death. Then the torch was applied, and the body was quickly consumed.” (pp. 338, 339)
C. Its indestructibility in spite of philosophical persecution. Here several cases come to mind:
1. Voltaire. He once said, “Another century and there will be not a Bible on the earth.” The century is gone, and the circulation of the Bible is one of the marvels of the age. After he died, his old printing press and the very house where he lived was purchased by the Geneva Bible Society and made a depot for Bibles.
On December 24, 1933, the British Government bought the valuable Codex Sinaiticus from the Russians for half a million dollars. On that same day, a first edition of Voltaire’s work sold for eleven cents in Paris bookshops.
2. Thomas Paine. He once said, “I have gone through the Bible as a man would go through a forest with an axe to fell trees. I have cut down tree after tree; here they lie. They will never grow again.” Tom Paine thought he had demolished the Bible, but since he crawled into a drunkard’s grave in 1809, the Bible has leaped forward as never before.
3. Joseph Stalin. This bloody butcher took over all of Russia at the death of Lenin in the late twenties. From this point on until his death in the fifties, Stalin instituted a “ban the Bible” purge from the U.S.S.R. such as had never been witnessed before. This miserable man literally attempted to wipe the Word of God and the God of the Word from the Russian minds. Did he succeed? A recent poll taken in Russia shows that today more people than ever believe in God and his Word.
III. Third Supernatural Element—Its Historical Accuracy. Less than a century ago, the agnostic took great glee in sneeringly referring to the “hundreds of historical mistakes” in the Bible. But then came the science of archaeology and with each shovel full of dirt the sneers have become less visible, until today they scarcely can be seen. When one thinks of historical scholarship and the Bible, three brilliant scholars come to mind. These three are:
A. Sir William Ramsey. For many years Ramsey was professor of humanity at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He was, in his time, the world’s most eminent authority on the geography and history of ancient Asia Minor (Turkey today). In his zeal to study every available early document concerning that period and area, he undertook an intensive research of the New Testament book of Acts and also the Gospel of Luke. This study, however, was approached with much skepticism. At that time he penned the following description of the book of Acts: “…a highly imaginative and carefully colored account of primitive Christianity.”
But after many years of intensive study, this scholar, who began an unbeliever, became a staunch defender of the Word of God. The absolute historical accuracy of Luke’s writings, even in the most minute details, captured first his brain and then his heart. Ramsey authored many books, but one of his better known is entitled: The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament. Ramsey’s overall opinion of the Bible is perhaps best seen in the following quote:
“I take the view that Luke’s history is unsurpassed in regard to its trustworthiness…you may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian’s and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment.”
B. William F. Albright. One of the greatest and most respected oriental scholars who ever lived was William F. Albright. He writes the following concerning the Bible and his historical findings:
“The reader may rest assured: nothing has been found to disturb a reasonable faith, and nothing has been discovered which can disprove a single theological doctrine.…We no longer trouble ourselves with attempts to ‘harmonize’ religion and science, or to ‘prove’ the Bible. The Bible can stand for itself.” (Robert Young, Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, p. 51)
C. Robert Dick Wilson. Probably the most qualified Old Testament linguist of all time was Robert Dick Wilson. He was born in 1856 and took his undergraduate work at Princeton University, graduating in 1876. He then completed both the M.A. and the Ph.D. After this, he spent two years at the University of Berlin in further postgraduate studies. Wilson taught Old Testament courses at Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh and returned to Princeton where he received international fame as a Hebrew scholar without peer. He was perfectly at home in over forty ancient Semitic languages. Dr. Wilson writes the following about himself:
“If a man is called an expert, the first thing to be done is to establish the fact that he is such. One expert may be worth more than a million other witnesses that are not experts. Before a man has the right to speak about the history and the language…of the Old Testament, the Christian Church has the right to demand that a man should establish his ability to do so. For forty-five years continuously, since I left college, I have devoted myself to the one great study of the Old Testament, in all its languages, in all its archaeology, in all its translations, and as far as possible in everything bearing upon its text and history. I tell you this so that you may see why I can and do speak as an expert. I may add that the result of my forty-five years of study of the Bible has led me all the time to a firmer faith that in the Old Testament we have a true historical account of the history of the Israelite people; and I have a right to commend this to some of those bright men and women who think that they can laugh at the old-time Christian and believer in the Word of God.…I have claimed to be an expert. Have I the right to do so? Well, when I was in the Seminary I used to read my New Testament in nine different languages. I learned my Hebrew by heart, so that I could recite it without the intermission of a syllable…as soon as I graduated from the Seminary, I became a teacher of Hebrew for a year and then I went to Germany. When I got to Heidelburg, I made a decision. I decided—and did it with prayer—to consecrate my life to the study of the Old Testament. I was twenty-five then; and I judged from the life of my ancestors that I should live to be seventy; so that I should have forty-five years to work. I divided the period into three parts. The first fifteen years I would devote to the study of the languages necessary. For the second fifteen I was going to devote myself to the study of the text of the Old Testament; and I reserved the last fifteen years for the work of writing the results of my previous studies and investigations, so as to give them to the world. And the Lord has enabled me to carry out that plan almost to a year.” (David Otis Fuller, Which Bible? pp. 40, 41)
D. Authenticated by archaeology. Halley’s Bible Handbook lists some 112 examples. Unger’s Bible Handbook lists 96. A summary of both these lists would include the following, all given to prove the historical accuracy of the Bible.
1. The Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8-14). Archaeology has long established that the lower Tigris-Euphrates Valley in Mesopotamia (where Eden was located) was the cradle of civilization.
2. The Fall of man (Gen. 3:1-24). Many non-Hebrew cultures record this event. It is found in the Babylonian tablet called the Temptation Seal, in the Assyrian Archives, referred to as the Adam and Eve Seal, and in the Egyptian Library of Amenhotep III.
3. The longevity of early mankind (Gen. 5:1-32). The oldest known outline of world history is the Weld-Blumdell Prism, written around 2170 b.c. This outline includes a list of eight pre-flood rulers. The shortest reign was said to have been 18,600 years, while the longest covered a period of 43,200 years. Of course this was gross exaggeration, but the point is that the historical root for all this may be found in the Genesis account which does accurately state that Methuselah did indeed live to be 969 years of age. A common objection to this and other so-called legends would claim that early mankind simply invented myths of their ancestors doing things they wished they could have done. But the fallacy of this argument may be demonstrated by the fact that there is no ancient legend of a nation or tribe of flying men, in spite of the fact that all men everywhere have always longed to soar into the skies.
4. The universal flood (Gen. 6:1–9:29). There is so much evidence concerning the flood in Noah’s day that one scarcely knows where to start. It can be demonstrated that, without exception, every major human culture has a flood tradition. Especially is this true in the ancient Babylonian civilization, as seen by their Epic of Gilgamesh. If the author may be allowed a personal illustration here, I am acquainted with a New Tribes missionary named Rod Wallin. Some years ago Rod began his work among a primitive people in the highlands of New Guinea. He was the first white man ever to set foot in that area. Many years were spent learning their difficult language. He then discovered to his astonishment that these natives had a detailed flood tradition.
5. The Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). Over two dozen ancient temple towers in Mesopotamia called ziggurats have been excavated.
6. Abraham’s birthplace (Gen. 11:27-31). World-famous archaeologist C. L. Wooley’s excavation in 1922-34 in Mesopotamia has made Ur of the Chaldees one of, the best-known ancient sites of all times. When Abraham left Ur in 2000 b.c. the city was at the height of its splendor as a commercial and religious center. (See also Josh. 24:2.)
7. Abraham’s visit to Egypt (Gen. 12:10-20). Due to space problems, many of the following Old Testament events which have been authenticated by archaeology will simply be alluded to and not expanded upon.
8. Abraham’s battle with the kings in Genesis 14.
9. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19). William Albright found at the Southeast corner of the Dead Sea great quantities of relics of a period dating between 2500 and 2000 b.c., with evidence of a dense population which for some reason ceased abruptly around 2000 b.c. The evidence indicated an earthquake and an explosion.
10. Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39). There is an Egyptian story entitled “A Tale of Two Brothers” which may have for its foundation the events related in Genesis 39.
11. The Seven-year famine (Gen. 41:46-57).
12. Israel’s entrance into Egypt (Ex. 1:1-6).
13. The episode of the bricks without straw (Ex. 1:11; 5:7-19).
14. Moses’ birth (Ex. 2:10).
15. The death of Pharaoh’s firstborn (Ex. 12:29).
16. The Exodus (Ex. 12:1–14:31).
17. The fact of Rahab’s house located on Jericho’s wall (Josh. 2:15).
18. The fall of Jericho (Josh. 6:1-27). The archaeologist Garstang found evidence that Jericho was destroyed about 1400 b.c. (about the date given to Joshua) and that the walls had fallen flat, outward, and down the hillside. This was extremely unusual, for had the city been captured the usual way, its walls would have been pushed inward by the ramming weapons of that day. He also found the layer of ashes left by Joshua’s fire. (See Josh. 6:24.)
19. Deborah’s victory of the Canaanites (Jdg. 4:23, 24; 5:19).
20. Saul’s reign (1 Sam. 9:1–31:13).
21. David’s conquests (2 Sam. 1:1–24:25).
22. Solomon’s gold (1 Ki. 14:25, 26).
23. Solomon’s stables (1 Ki. 9:19; 10:26-29). The Oriental Institute has found the ruins of his stables with their stone hitching-poles and mangers.
24. Solomon’s copper furnaces (1 Ki. 7).
25. Solomon’s navy (1 Ki. 9).
26. Jeroboam’s calves (1 Ki. 12:25-33).
27. Shishak’s invasion (1 Ki. 14:25-28).
28. The building of Samaria by Omri (1 Ki. 16:24).
29. The rebuilding of Jericho (1 Ki. 16:34).
30. Ahab’s house of ivory (1 Ki. 22:39).
31. Jezebel’s cosmetic box (2 Ki. 9:30). The actual saucers in which she mixed her cosmetics have been found in Samaria among the ruins of Ahab’s ivory house.
32. The Assyrian captivity of northern Israel (2 Ki. 15:29).
33. The tunnel of Hezekiah (2 Ki. 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:3, 4).
34. Manasseh’s reign (2 Ki. 21:1-15).
35. Esther’s palace (Est. 1:2).
36. The Babylonian captivity of Judah (2 Ki. 25).
37. The reign of Belshazzar (Dan. 5).
38. The fall of Babylon (Dan. 5).
39. The edict of Cyrus (Ezra 1:2, 3; 2 Chron. 36:22, 23).
40. The repentance of Nineveh in Jonah’s day (Jonah 4). History has shown that during the reign of Shalmaneser II (the King of Nineveh in Jonah’s time), there was a sudden religious movement which resulted in a change from the worship of many gods to that of one God whom they called Nebo. Nebo was probably the Assyrian name for the Hebrew Elohim (Gen. 1:1). It would seem that in earlier days he had been worshiped as the supreme and only God. To the worship of this God the nation now returned.
IV. Fourth Supernatural Element—Its Scientific Accuracy. It has previously been discussed in this study that although the Bible is primarily a spiritual message from God and not specifically a scientific textbook, all scientific statements found in the Scriptures must nevertheless be taken literally and at face value. Actually the Bible contains far more specific scientific statements than one might realize. Some of these precepts would include:
A. The fact that the earth is spherical. Some seven centuries b.c. the Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote: “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth…” (Isa. 40:22).
While it is true that a few Greek philosophers did postulate this as early as 540 b.c., the common man held the earth to be flat until the introduction of the compass and the fifteenth-century voyages of Columbus and Magellan.
B. The fact that the earth is suspended in space. The book of Job is thought to be one of the oldest in the Bible, written perhaps earlier than 1500 b.c. At this time one of the most advanced “scientific” theories concerning the earth was that our planet was flat and rested securely upon the back of a gigantic turtle who was slowly plodding through a cosmic sea of some sort. But note the refreshing (and accurate) words of Job:
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7).
All this was not known by the scientists of the world until the writings of Sir Isaac Newton in a.d. 1687.
C. The fact that the stars are innumerable. Nearly twenty centuries b.c., God spoke to Abraham one night and said:
“Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be” (Gen. 15:5).
Abraham must have at first wondered about this. God was promising him to be the founder of a nation whose descendants would be as uncountable as the stars. But Abraham could count the stars. There they were—a little under 1200 visible to the naked eye. Was his future nation to be limited to this number? Although we are not told so, he must have reasoned that perhaps there were “a few more” up there that he couldn’t see. And he would not be disappointed, for today scientists tell us there are probably as many stars in the heavens as there are grains of sand on all the sea shores of the world. In fact, in a previous conversation with Abraham, God used this very comparison:
“And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered” (Gen. 13:16).
Thus does the Bible describe the heavens. (See also Jer. 33:22; Heb. 11:12.) But what about the scientific opinion of that day? As late as a.d. 150 the famous astronomer Ptolemy dogmatically declared the number of the stars to be exactly 1056.
D. The fact that there are mountains and canyons in the sea. As recently as a century or so ago, the ocean’s volume and size was viewed as a watery bowl, which sloped from the coastline gently downward toward the middle, where it was deepest. It then was thought to proceed upward to the other side. Of course we now know this to be totally untrue. Some of the highest mountains and deepest canyons are located on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. In fact, the deepest hole yet found is the Marianas Trench, just off the Philippines; it is over seven miles deep.
But long before ocean science discovered this, the Bible graphically described it. During one of his songs of deliverance, David spoke of the canyons of the sea (2 Sam. 22:16), and a backslidden prophet described the submerged mountains during the world’s first submarine trip. (See Jonah 2:6.)
E. The fact that there are springs and fountains in the sea. Shortly after World War II, research ships discovered many underwater volcanoes. The number is estimated today to be at least 10,000. Further research by Dr. William W. Rubey of the U.S. Geological Survey has shown the present rate of water increase from underwater volcanic outlets to be 430 million tons each year. The earth’s heat drives the entrapped water from underground molten rock and forces it out through one of these natural openings.
This interesting fact is vividly described in at least three Old Testament passages. (See Gen. 7:11; 8:2; Prov. 8:28.)
F. The fact that there are watery paths (ocean currents) in the sea. In his booklet Has God Spoken? author A. O. Schnabel writes the following:
“David said in Psalms 8:8 that God had subjected all things to men, including: ‘Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea.’ The Hebrew word ‘paths’ carries the literal meaning of ‘customary roads.’
Matthew Fountaine Maury is called ‘The Pathfinder of the Seas.’ This American is the father of today’s oceanography and responsible for the establishment of Annapolis Academy. A statue of Maury stands in Richmond, Virginia—charts of the sea in one hand, and Bible in the other. Until Maury’s efforts there were no charts or sailing lanes. One day during a temporary illness, his eldest son was reading to him from the Bible, and read Psalms 8:8. Maury stopped him and said, ‘Read that again.’ After hearing it again, he exclaimed, ‘It is enough—if the Word of God says there are paths in the sea, they must be there, and I am going to find them.’ Within a few years he had charted the sea lanes and currents. His Physical Geography of the Sea was the first textbook of modern oceanography.” (p. 38)
G. The fact of the hydrologic cycle. This would include precipitation, evaporation, cloud construction, movements of moisture by wind circuits, etc. (See Job 26:8; 36:27, 28; 37:16; 38:25-27; Ps. 135:7; Eccles. 1:6, 7.)
H. The fact that all living things are reproduced after their own kind.
“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:21).
“And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female” (Gen. 6:19).
For hundreds of years scientists followed the spontaneous generation theory of Aristotle (350 b.c.). They believed eggs of all lower animals (insects, etc.) were formed out of rotting substance. Frogs and other small sea life, they thought, had their origin in slime pools. In fact, it was not until 1862 that Louis Pasteur proved once for all that there was no such thing as spontaneous generation. Then, in 1865, a monk named Johann Mendel demonstrated even more forcibly the rigid laws of heredity. But one could learn all this in the first few chapters of the Bible.
I. The facts involved in health and sanitation. The great law was given in the Bible by Moses, of course, who established hundreds of rules to govern health and sanitation. Moses grew up in the court of Pharaoh, spending the first forty years of his life there. About this time a famous ancient medical book called The Papyrus Ebers was being written in Egypt. Because of Egypt’s role in the world at that time, this work soon achieved fame as the official standard for its day. Actually it was filled with quack cures, old wives’ tales, and practically every false superstition of its day. In his book None of These Diseases, author S. McMillen writes:
“Several hundred remedies for diseases are advised in the Papyrus Ebers. The drugs include ‘lizard’s blood, swine’s teeth, putrid meat, stinking fat, moisture from pig’s ears, milk goose grease, asses’ hoofs, animal fats from various sources, excreta from animals, including human beings, donkeys, antelopes, dogs, cats, and even flies.’” (p. 11)
The point of all the above is simply this—Moses was well acquainted with all the medical knowledge of his day. Yet in all his writings and proven remedies concerning health and sanitation, he never once even indirectly refers to the false “cures” found in the Papyrus Ebers. Let us now examine what he did prescribe for the health of marching Israel:
1. Concerning sickness. Moses gave comprehensive laws concerning sickness. These included laws for those having leprosy or cases with open sores. He thus laid down rules for the recognition of infected individuals, for quarantine or isolation, and concerning the uncleanness of anything touched by these people. In other words, Moses recorded laws comparable to modern health and sanitation practice in most civilized countries today. Again, to quote from None of These Diseases:
“For many hundreds of years the dreaded disease leprosy had killed countless millions of people in Europe. The extent of the horrible malady among Europeans is given by Dr. George Rosen, Columbia University professor of Public Health: ‘Leprosy cast the greatest blight that threw its shadow over the daily life of medieval humanity. Not even the Black Death in the fourteenth century…produced a similar state of fright.…’
What did the physicians offer to stop the ever-increasing ravages of leprosy? Some taught that it was brought on by eating hot food, pepper, garlic and the meat of diseased hogs. Other physicians said it was caused by malign conjunctions of the planets. Naturally, their suggestions for prevention were utterly worthless.…What [finally] brought the major plagues of the Dark Ages under control? George Rosen gives us the answer: ‘Leadership was taken by the church, as the physicians had nothing to offer. The church took as its guiding principle the concept of contagion as embodied in the Old Testament.…This idea and its practical consequences are defined with great clarity in the book of Leviticus… once the condition of leprosy had been established, the patient was to be segregated and excluded from the community. Following the precepts laid down in Leviticus the church undertook the task of combating leprosy.…It accomplished the first great feat…in methodical eradication of disease.’” (p. 13)
2. Concerning sanitation. Two quotes from Dr. McMillen are helpful here:
“Up to the close of the eighteenth century, hygenic provisions, even in the great capitals, were quite primitive. It was the rule for excrement to be dumped into the streets which were unpaved and filthy. Powerful stenches gripped villages and cities. It was a heyday for flies as they bred in the filth and spread intestinal disease that killed millions.
Such waste of human lives that could have been saved if people had only taken seriously God’s provision for freeing man of diseases! With one sentence the Book of books pointed the way to deliverance from the deadly epidemics of typhoid, cholera, and dysentery: ‘You shall set off a place outside the camp and, when you go out to use it, you must carry a spade among your gear and dig a hole, have easement, and turn to cover the excrement’ (Deut. 23:12, 13, Berkeley).” (p. 15)
Dr. McMillen goes on to say that until the beginning of this century there was a frightful mortality rate in the hospitals of the world due to infection caused by doctors not washing their hands. In the maternity ward alone of the world-famous Vienna Medical Center Hospital, one out of every six women died due to infection. McMillen then writes:
“Such mortality would not have occurred if surgeons had only followed the method God gave to Moses regarding the meticulous method of hand washing and changing of clothes after contact with infectious diseases.…The Scriptural method specified not merely washing in a basin, but repeated washings in running water, with time intervals allowed for drying and exposure to sun to kill bacteria not washed off.” (pp. 17, 18)
3. Concerning circumcision. Some final thoughts from McMillen are extremely appropriate here. In the third chapter of his book he discusses the astonishing scarcity of cervical cancer among Jewish women. Medical science has now attributed this blessing to the rite of circumcision practiced by Jewish males. This simple operation prevents the growth of cancer-producing Smegma bacillus which during physical relations can be transferred from the uncircumcised male to the female. McMillen then writes:
“There is one final but remarkably unique fact about the matter of circumcision. In November, 1946, an article in The Journal of The American Medical Association listed the reasons why circumcision of the newborn male is advisable. Three months later a letter from another specialist appeared in the same journal. He agreed heartily with the writer of the article on the advantages of circumcision, but he criticized him for failing to mention the safest time to perform the operation. This is a point well taken. L. Emmett Holt and Rustin Mcintosh report that a newborn infant has a peculiar susceptibility to bleeding between the second and fifth days of life.…It is felt that the tendency to hemorrhage is due to the fact that the important blood-clotting element, Vitamin K, is not formed until the fifth to the seventh day.…A second element which is also necessary for the normal clotting of blood is prothrombin.…It appears (based on data from the science of Pediatrics) that an eight-day old baby has more available prothrombin than on any other day in its entire life. Thus one observes that from a consideration of Vitamin K and prothrombin determinations the perfect day to perform a circumcision is the eighth day.” (pp. 21-23)
Keeping all this in mind, one simply marvels at the accuracy of the Book when the following passage is read:
“And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed” (Gen. 17:9-12).
V. Fifth Supernatural Element—Its Prophetical Accuracy. One of the acid tests of any religion is its ability to predict the future. In this area (as in all other areas) the Bible reigns supreme. One searches in vain through the pages of other sacred writings to find even a single line of accurate prophecy. Some seven centuries b.c. the Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote:
“Let them…shew us what shall happen…or declare us things for to come. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods…” (Isa. 41:22, 23).
So be it! We now consider the amazingly accurate prophecies under the following categories:
A. Prophecies dealing with the nation Israel.
1. Israel would become a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3).
2. Her kings would come out of the tribes of Judah (Gen. 49:10).
3. She would spend 400 years in Egypt (Gen. 15:13).
4. The nation would suffer a civil war (1 Ki. 11:31).
5. The nation would spend seventy years in Babylon (Jer. 25:11; 29:10).
6. She would return (in part) to Jerusalem after the seventy years (Dan. 9:1, 2).
7. Israel would eventually be scattered among the nations of the world (Deut. 28:25, 64; Lev. 26:33).
8. Israel would become a byword among these nations (Deut. 28:37).
9. Israel would loan to many nations, but borrow from none (Deut. 28:12).
10. She would be hounded and persecuted (Deut. 28:65-67).
11. Israel would nevertheless retain her identity (Lev. 26:44; Jer. 46:28).
12. She would remain alone and aloof among the nations (Num. 23:9).
13. Israel would reject her Messiah (Isa. 53).
14. Because of this, her enemies would dwell in her land (Lev. 26:32; Lk. 21:24).
15. Jerusalem would be destroyed (Lk. 19:41-44; 21:20).
16. Israel would, in spite of all these things, endure forever (Gen. 17:7; Isa. 66:22; Jer. 31:35, 36; Mt. 24:34).
17. Israel would return to Palestine in the latter days prior to the Second Coming of Christ (Deut. 30:3; Ezek. 36:24; 37:1-14; 38:1–39:29).
B. Prophecies dealing with various Gentile nations.
1. Edom. Esau, Jacob’s brother, was the founder of the nation Edom (see Gen. 36). Years after his death, Edom refused to help Israel, the nation founded by Jacob (see Num. 20) and actually delighted in persecuting God’s people. Because of this, God pronounced doom upon Edom. According to various biblical prophecies:
a. Their commerce was to cease.
b. Their race was to become extinct.
c. Their land was to be desolate (Jer. 49:17, 18; Ezek. 35:3-7; Obadiah; Mal. 1:4).
All this has taken place in spite of her unbelievably strong fortified capital, Petra. In a.d. 636 Petra was captured by Mohammed, and shortly after this Petra and Edom drop from the pages of history.
2. Babylon. Babylon was the first of four world powers mentioned in Daniel 2:31-43 and 7:1-8. Daniel prophesied the demise of mighty Babylon, as did Isaiah (13:17-19) and Jeremiah (51:11). This literally happened on the night of October 13, 539 b.c., when Darius the Median captured the city by diverting the course of the Euphrates River which had flowed under the walls of the city. (See Dan. 5.)
3. Media-Persia. One of the most remarkable passages on prophecy is found in Daniel 8:1-7, 20, 21, written beside a river in 551 b.c. In a vision Daniel is told of a series of battles that would not take place until some 217 years later. Here the prophet describes for us the crushing defeats of Darius III (here pictured as a ram) by the Greek Alexander the Great (symbolized as a he-goat). This took place in three derisive battles—Granicus, in 334 b.c.; Issus, in 333 b.c.; and Gaugamela, in 331 b.c.
4. Greece. In this same chapter, Daniel predicts the dissolution of the Greek empire (upon the death of Alexander) into four smaller and separate powers, each ruled over by one of his generals (Dan. 7:6; 8:8, 20, 21). This happened in exact detail in 301 b.c. after Alexander died of a raging fever at the age of thirty-three in Babylon.
5. Rome. In Daniel 2:40, 41 we read:
“And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter’s clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided.…”
Here Daniel rightly predicted that Rome, the fourth kingdom (which would come into power between the times of Nebuchadnezzar and Christ) should be “as strong as iron.”
And so Rome was. By 300 b.c. Rome had become a major power in the Mediterranean world. By 200 b.c., she had conquered Carthage, her archenemy. In 63 b.c., the Roman general Pompey entered Jerusalem. Daniel noted in his prophecy, however, that, “The kingdom shall be divided.” This, of course, happened in a.d. 364.
6. Egypt. Some 600 years before Christ, the prophet Ezekiel wrote:
“…The word of the Lord came unto me, saying… set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations” (Ezek. 29:1, 2, 15).
The history of Egypt is, of course, one of the oldest in recorded Western civilization. The country was united into a single kingdom about 3200 b.c. and was ruled by a succession of dynasties down to the time of Alexander the Great, who conquered Egypt in 332 b.c. We note that Ezekiel does not predict the disappearance of Egypt, as he did concerning Edom (35:3-7), but simply the demise of Egypt. The prophecy was that Egypt would be cut short and never again become a world power. This prophecy has been fulfilled to the last letter.
7. Russia. See Ezekiel 38–39. (Russia will be treated under that section dealing with prophecies concerning last-day conditions.)
C. Prophecies dealing with specific cities.
1. Tyre. Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapter 26 concerning the city of Tyre is surely one of the greatest in the entire Bible. Tyre was actually two cities, one on the coastline, some sixty miles northwest from Jerusalem, and the other on an island, a half mile out in the Mediterranean Sea. In this prophecy, Ezekiel predicts:
a. The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, was to capture the city.
b. Other nations would later participate in Tyre’s destruction.
c. The city was to be scrapped and made flat, like the top of a rock.
d. It was to become a place for the spreading of nets.
e. Its stones and timber were to be laid in the sea (Zech. 9:3, 4).
f. The city was never to be rebuilt.
Has all this taken place? Consider the following historical facts:
Ezekiel wrote all this around 590 b.c. Some four years later, 586 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar surrounded the city of Tyre. The siege lasted thirteen years and in 573 b.c. the coastal city was destroyed. But he could not capture the island city. During the next 241 years the island city of Tyre dwelt in safety and would have doubtless ridiculed Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning total destruction.
But in 332 b.c. Alexander the Great arrived upon the scene and the island city was doomed. Alexander built a bridge leading from the coastline to the island by throwing the debris of the old city into the water. In doing this he literally scraped the coastline clean. (Some years ago an American archaeologist named Edward Robinson discovered forty or fifty marble columns beneath the water along the shores of ancient Tyre.)
After a seven-month siege, Alexander took the island city and destroyed it. From this point on, the surrounding coastal area has been used by local fishermen to spread and dry their nets.
Tyre has never been rebuilt in spite of the well-known nearby freshwater springs of Roselain, which yield some 10,000 gallons of water daily.
2. Jericho. In the sixth chapter of Joshua we see described the fall of Jericho’s walls and the subsequent destruction of the city. Immediately after this, Joshua makes an amazing threefold prophecy about this fallen city:
a. That Jericho would be rebuilt again by one man.
b. That the builder’s oldest son would die when the work on the city had begun.
c. That the builder’s youngest son would die when the work was completed. (See Josh. 6:26.)
Joshua uttered those words around 1450 b.c. Did all this happen? Some five centuries after this, in 930 b.c., we are told:
That a man named Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho.
That as he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died.
That when he completed the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died. (See 1 Ki. 16:34.)
3. Nineveh (Nahum 1-3). During the time of Jonah, God had spared the wicked city of Nineveh by using that Hebrew prophet (after an unpleasant submarine trip) to preach repentance. But the city had soon returned to its evil ways. So around 650 b.c., another prophet, Nahum, predicted the complete overthrow of Nineveh.
At the time of this prophecy, Nineveh appeared to be impregnable; her walls were one hundred feet high and broad enough for chariots to drive upon. The city had a circumference of sixty miles and was adorned by more than 1,000 strong towers.
In spite of all this, the city fell, less than forty years after Nahum’s prophecy. An alliance of Medes and Babylonians broke through her walls during August of 612 b.c., after a two-month siege. The victory was due in part to the releasing of the city’s water supply by traitors within. The destruction was so total that Alexander the Great marched his troops over the desolate ground which had once given support to her mighty buildings, and never knew there had once been a city there.
4. Jerusalem (Mt. 24:1, 2; Lk. 19:41-44; 21:20-24). These sad words were uttered by Jesus himself. He predicted Jerusalem would be destroyed, her citizens would be slaughtered, and her Temple would be completely wrecked, with not one stone left upon another.
This all literally happened less than forty years later. In February of a.d. 70, the Roman general Titus surrounded Jerusalem with 80,000 men to crush a revolt that had begun some five years back. In April of that year he began the siege in earnest. Conditions soon became desperate within the city walls. Women ate their own children, and grown men fought to the death over a piece of bird’s dung for food! Finally, in September of the same year, the walls were battered down and the slaughter began. When the smoke had cleared, over a half-million Jews lay dead. A number of these had been crucified by Titus. Eventually the Temple was leveled and the ground under it plowed up, just as our Lord had predicted.
D. Prophecies dealing with particular individuals.
1. Josiah. The following incident concerns a wicked Israelite king named Jeroboam:
“As Jeroboam approached the altar to burn incense to the golden calf-idol, a prophet of the Lord from Judah walked up to him. Then, at the Lord’s command, the prophet shouted, ‘O altar, the Lord says that a child named Josiah shall be born into the family line of David, and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests from the shrines on the hills who come here to burn incense; and men’s bones shall be burned upon you’” (1 Ki. 13:1, 2, tlb).
This all took place in 975 b.c. Some 350 years went by; then in 624 b.c., we are told of the actions of a new king of Israel:
“He also tore down the altar and shrine at Bethel which Jeroboam I had made when he led Israel into sin. He crushed the stones to dust and burned the shameful idol of Asherah. As Josiah was looking around, he noticed several graves in the side of the mountain. He ordered his men to bring out the bones in them and to burn them there upon the altar at Bethel to defile it, just as the Lord’s prophet had declared would happen to Jeroboam’s altar” (2 Ki. 2.3:15, 16, tlb).
2. Cyrus. Perhaps the greatest Old Testament prophet was Isaiah. For some sixty-two years this eloquent and godly man wrote and preached. But even though Jerusalem was at rest when he ministered, Isaiah predicted her captivity (as did also Jeremiah; see Jer. 25:12; 29:10) and subsequent restoration.
“That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid” (Isa. 44:28).
Isaiah penned these words around 712 b.c. By 606 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, had captured Jerusalem and had led many captive Jews (see Ps. 137) into his capital. For seventy long years they remained here. This was all predicted, of course, by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:12; 29:10). Then, in 536 b.c., the miracle happened. The prophet Ezra tells us:
“…that the Word of the Lord…might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus…that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus…The Lord God of heaven hath… charged me to build an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah” (Ezra 1:1, 2).
So then, Isaiah rightly predicted that Cyrus would allow the Jews to return and rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem 176 years before it happened.
3. Alexander the Great. Although Daniel does not refer to him by name, there seems little doubt that Alexander is the “he-goat” mentioned in Daniel 8:3-8.
Alexander was the first real world conqueror. He crossed the Hellespont in the spring of 334 b.c. and soon met and crushed the Persian troops at the battle of Issus in 333 b.c. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that when Alexander approached Jerusalem, he was met at the gates by the high priest, who thereupon proceeded to show him that his victories over the Persians had all been prophesied by Daniel in 553, some 220 years in advance. The Greek warrior was reportedly so impressed at all this that he worshiped the high priest and spared Jerusalem.
4. Antiochus Epiphanes. Like Alexander, Antiochus is not mentioned by name, but is surely referred to in Daniel 8:9-14. Antiochus was a bloodthirsty, Jew-hating Syrian general who conquered Palestine in 167 b.c. He then entered the Temple Holy of Holies and horribly desecrated it by slaughtering a hog on the altar! Daniel foresaw this terrible event some 386 years before it happened.
5. John the Baptist. In Isaiah 40:3-5, the prophet correctly describes the future message of John the Baptist 700 years in advance. (See also Mt. 3:1-3.)
E. Prophecies fulfilled by our Lord during his earthly ministry. In the Old Testament there are some thirty-seven basic prophecies concerning the earthly ministry of the anticipated Savior. While upon this earth, Jesus Christ fulfilled every single prediction. Consider the following texts:
1. He would be born of a virgin (cf. Isa. 7:14 with Mt. 1:22, 23).
2. He would be given the throne of David (cf. 2 Sam. 7:12, 13 with Lk. 1:31).
3. He would be called Emmanuel (cf. Isa. 7:14 with Mt. 1:23).
4. He would be rejected by his own (cf. Isa. 53:3 with Jn. 1:11; 7:5).
5. He would have a forerunner (cf. Isa. 40:3-5; Mal. 3:1 with Mt. 3:1-3; Lk. 1:76-78; 3:3-6).
6. He would be born in Bethlehem (cf. Micah 5:2, 3 with Mt. 2:5, 6).
7. He would be visited by the magi and presented with gifts (cf. Isa. 60:3, 6, 9 with Mt. 2:11).
8. He would be in Egypt for a season (cf. Hosea 11:1 with Mt. 2:15).
9. His birthplace would suffer a massacre of infants (cf. Jer. 31:5 with Mt. 2:17, 18).
10. He would be called a Nazarene (cf. Isa. 11:1 with Mt. 2:23).
11. He would be zealous for his father (cf. Ps. 69:9 with Jn. 2:13-17).
12. He would be filled with God’s Spirit (cf. Isa. 61:1-3; 11:2 with Lk. 4:18, 19).
13. He would be a light to the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 42:1-3, 6, 7 with Mt. 4:13-16; 12:18-21).
14. He would heal many (cf. Isa. 53:4 with Mt. 8:16, 17).
15. He would deal gently with the Gentiles (cf. Isa. 9:1, 2; 42:1-3 with Mt. 12:17-21).
16. He would speak in parables (cf. Isa. 6:9, 10 with Mt. 13:10-15).
17. He would make a triumphal entry into Jerusalem (cf. Zech. 9:9 with Mt. 21:4, 5).
18. He would be praised by little children (cf. Ps. 8:2 with Mt. 21:16).
19. He would be the rejected cornerstone (cf. Ps. 118:22, 23 with Mt. 21:42).
20. His miracles would not be believed (cf. Isa. 53:1 with Jn. 12:37, 38).
21. His friend would betray him for thirty pieces of silver (cf. Ps. 41:9; 55:12-14; Zech. 11:12, 13 with Mt. 26:14-16, 21-25).
22. He would be a man of sorrows (cf. Isa. 53:3 with Mt. 26:37, 38).
23. He would be forsaken by his disciples (cf. Zech. 13:7 with Mt. 26:31, 56).
24. He would be scourged and spat upon (cf. Isa. 50:6 with Mt. 26:67; 27:26).
25. His price money would be used to buy a potter’s field (cf. Jer. 18:1-4; 19:1-3; Zech. 11:12, 13 with Mt. 27:9, 10).
26. He would be crucified between two thieves (cf. Isa. 53:12 with Mt. 27:38; Mk. 15:27, 28; Lk. 22:37).
27. He would be given vinegar to drink (cf. Ps. 69:21 with Mt. 27:34, 48).
28. He would suffer the piercing of his hands and feet (cf. Ps. 22:16; Zech. 12:10 with Mk. 15:25; Jn. 19:34, 37; 20:25-27).
29. His garments would be parted and gambled for (cf. Ps. 22:18 with Lk. 23:34; Jn. 19:23, 24).
30. He would be surrounded and ridiculed by his enemies (cf. Ps. 22:7, 8 with Mt. 27:39-44; Mk. 15:29-32).
31. He would thirst (cf. Ps. 22:15 with Jn. 19:28).
32. He would commend his spirit to the Father (cf. Ps. 31:5 with Lk. 23:46).
33. His bones would not be broken (cf. Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Ps. 34:20 with Jn. 19:33-36).
34. He would be stared at in death (cf. Zech. 12:10 with Mt. 27:36; Jn. 19:37).
35. He would be buried with the rich (cf. Isa. 59:9 with Mt. 27:57-60).
36. He would be raised from the dead (cf. Ps. 16:10 with Mt. 28:2-7).
37. He would ascend (cf. Ps. 24:7-10 with Mk. 16:19; Lk. 24:50).
VI. Sixth Supernatural Element—Its Universal Influence Upon Civilization.
A. Western civilization is founded directly upon the Bible and its teachings. Its very manner of life had its origin in Acts 16:9, when Paul, obedient to his heavenly vision, directed his second missionary journey toward Europe instead of Asia and the East.
B. The world’s calendar and most of its holidays stem from the Bible.
C. It was the Bible which elevated the blood-drinking savages of the British Isles to decency.
D. The Bible has influenced, if not directed, the advancement of all fine arts.
1. Literature. Ruskin quotes over 5,000 scriptural references in his writings. Milton’s greatest works are rooted in the Word of God, as are Shakespeare’s and those of others such as Coleridge, Scott, Pope, Bryant, Longfellow, Kipling, Carlyle, Macaulay, Hawthorne, Irving, and Thoreau, to name a few.
2. Art. Many world-famous paintings depicting well-known scenes in the Bible are preserved today. These paintings can be found in every important museum on earth. They have been done by the greatest and most talented artists of all time. These would include Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Raphael, Michelangelo, and others.
3. Music. The Bible has produced more inspiring music than all other combined books in the world.
Bach—History has concluded that Johann Sebastian Bach “anticipated every important [musical] idea that has been born since his day. He is the inspiration of the pianist, the organist, and the composer.” Bach was a zealous Lutheran who devoted most of his genius to church-centered music. Also consider
Mendelssohn—author of “St. Paul, Elijah”
Brahms—“Requiem”
Beethoven—“Mt. of Olives,” “Samson and Delilah”
Handel—“Messiah” (he quotes from fifteen books of the Bible) Haydn—“The Creation”
E. The Bible has produced the law of the Western world. Early attempts of governing forms such as the English common law, the Bill of Rights, the Magna Carta, and our own Constitution are all rooted in God’s gift to Moses on Mt. Sinai, the Ten Commandments.
VII. Seventh Supernatural Element—Its Care and Copy.
A. No book in history has been copied as many times with as much care as has been the Word of God. The Talmud lists the following rules for copying the Old Testament:
1. The parchment had to be made from the skin of a clean animal, prepared by a Jew only, and was to be fastened by strings from clean animals.
2. Each column must have no less than forty-eight or more than sixty lines.
3. The ink must be of no other color than black, and had to be prepared according to a special recipe.
4. No word nor letter could be written from memory; the scribe must have an authentic copy before him, and he had to read and pronounce aloud each word before writing it.
5. He had to reverently wipe his pen each time before writing the Word of God, and had to wash his whole body before writing the sacred name Jehovah.
6. One mistake on a sheet condemned the sheet; if three mistakes were found on any page, the entire manuscript was condemned.
7. Every word and every letter was counted, and if a letter were omitted, an extra letter inserted, or if one letter touched another, the manuscript was condemned and destroyed at once.
The old rabbi gave the solemn warning to each young scribe: “Take heed how thou dost do thy work, for thy work is the work of heaven; lest thou drop or add a letter of a manuscript and so become a destroyer of the world!”
The scribe was also told that while he was writing if even a king would enter the room and speak with him, the scribe was to ignore him until he finished the page he was working on, lest he make a mistake. In fact, some texts were actually annotated—that is, each letter was individually counted. Thus in copying the Old Testament they would note that the letter aleph (first letter in the Hebrew alphabet) occurred 42,377 times, and so on.
According to Westcott and Hort, the points in which we cannot be sure of the original words are insignificant in proportion to the bulk of the whole, some 1/1000. Thus only one letter out of 1,580 in the Old Testament is open to question, and none of these uncertainties would change in the slightest any doctrinal teaching.
B. Today there are almost 5,000 ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. This perhaps does not seem like many, until one considers that:
1. Fifteen hundred years after Herodotus wrote his history there was only one copy in the entire world.
2. Twelve hundred years after Plato wrote his classic, there was only one manuscript.
3. Today there exist but a few manuscripts of Sophocles, Euripedes, Virgil, and Cicero.
VIII. Eighth Supernatural Element—Its Amazing Circulation. When David Hume said, “I see the twilight of Christianity and the Bible,” he was much confused, for he could not tell the sunrise from the sunset!
A. Only one-half of one percent of all books published survive seven years. Eighty percent of all books are forgotten in one year. For example, let us imagine that during this year, 200 new books are published in America. Statistics show that by next year only forty of these 200 will remain. At the end of the seventh year, of the original 200, only one lonely book will survive.
What other ancient religious book can even remotely be compared to the Bible? Where could one go today to purchase a copy of Zen Vedas, or the Egyptian Book of the Dead? In fact, dozens of religions which once flourished have simply disappeared from the face of the earth without leaving the slightest trace. But the smallest child can walk into almost any bookstore in America and pick up a copy of the Word of God.
IX. Ninth Supernatural Element—Its Absolute Honesty. Perhaps no other single statement so completely summarizes the Bible as does the following: “The Bible is not a book that man could write if he would, or would write if he could.” Let us analyze this one section at a time.
“Man could not write the Bible if he would.” Even if a man had all the necessary spirituality he could not know the facts involved in the historical, scientific, and prophetical statements we have previously seen in the Bible. Thus, without God’s direction the Bible is not a book that man could write if he would.
“Man would not write the Bible if he could.” Suppose God would give sinful man all the necessary facts and abilities to write the Bible. What then? Man still would not write it correctly if he could. Note the following reasons:
A. Because of the bad things God writes about some of his friends. Here five men immediately come to mind. Most of these individuals are mentioned in the Faith Hall of Fame (Hebrews 11).
1. Noah—indeed a man of God. He walked with God, he was a just man (Gen. 6:9), and he obeyed God (Heb. 11:7). Yet after the flood this great hero of the faith gets dead drunk and exposes his nakedness and shame to his entire family (Gen. 9:20-24). Surely a mere human author would not have written all this.
2. Moses—the meekest man in all the earth during his time (Num. 12:3), and a leader who single-handedly led an entire nation of enslaved Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt. But en route to Palestine we read of his anger and direct disobedience to the clearly revealed Word of God. (See Num. 20:7-12.) Surely man would have eliminated this part of Moses’ record.
3. David—without exception the grandest human king who ever sat upon a throne. God himself would testify that here was a man after his own heart. (See 1 Sam. 13:14; 16:7, 12, 13.) David’s fearlessness (1 Sam. 17:34-36, 49), love for God (Ps. 18, 103, etc.), and kindness (1 Sam. 24:6, 7) were universally known. But in 2 Samuel 11 this same king is accurately accused of lust, adultery, lying, and cold-blooded murder. Who but God would write in such a manner?
4. Elijah—few other Old Testament prophets are as colorful and exciting as Elijah the Tishbite. In 1 Kings 18, he champions the cause of God against 450 priests of Satan, but in the very next chapter he is pictured as running for his very life from a mere woman.
5. Peter—self-appointed spokesman for Christ who so confidently assured the Savior that, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended” (Mt. 26:33). But in the hour of Jesus’ great need we read of Peter: “Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man” (Mt. 26:74).
B. Because of the good things God writes about some of his enemies. As we have already seen, on many occasions God records bad things about his friends, and he often mentions good things about his enemies. This can be seen in the accounts of Esau (Gen. 33); Artaxerxes (Neh. 2); Darius (Dan. 6); Gamaliel (Acts 5:34-39); Julius (Acts 27:1-3); etc.
The point of all the above is simply this—the Bible is not an edited book. God literally “tells it like it is.”
Human authors, however sincere, simply do not consistently write this way.
C. Because of certain doctrines repugnant to the natural mind. Many examples could be listed here, but the following three will demonstrate this:
1. The doctrine of eternal hell. (See Rev. 14:10, 11.)
2. The doctrine of man’s total helplessness. (See Rom. 7:18; Eph. 2:8, 9.)
3. The doctrine of final judgment upon saved and unsaved. (See 1 Cor. 3:9-15; Rev. 20:11-15.)
X. Tenth Supernatural Element—Its Life-Transforming Power. According to an ancient proverb—“The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” So it is. Undoubtedly the greatest proof of all that the Bible is indeed God’s Word is its amazing ability to change corrupt humanity.
The Bible is a beautiful palace built of sixty-six blocks of solid marble—the sixty-six books. In the first chapter of Genesis we enter the vestibule, filled with the mighty acts of creation.
The vestibule gives access to the law courts—the five books of Moses—passing through which we come to the picture gallery of the historical books. Here we find hung upon the walls scenes of battlefields, representations of heroic deeds, and portraits of eminent men belonging to the early days of the world’s history.
Beyond the picture gallery we find the philosopher’s chamber—the book of Job—passing through which we enter the music room—the book of Psalms—where we listen to the grandest strains that ever fell on human ears.
Then we come to the business office—the book of Proverbs—where right in the center of the room, stands facing us the motto, “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
From the business office we pass into the chapel—Ecclesiastes, or the Song of Solomon with the rose of sharon and the lily of the valley, and all manner of fine perfume and fruit and flowers and singing birds.
Finally we reach the observatory—the prophets, with their telescopes fixed on near and distant stars, and all directed toward “the Bright and Morning Star,” that was soon to arise.
Crossing the court we come to the audience chamber of the King—the Gospels—where we find four vivid lifelike portraits of the King himself. Next we enter the workroom of the Holy Spirit—the Acts of the Apostles—and beyond that the correspondence room—the epistles—where we see Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude busy at their desks.
Before leaving we stand a moment in the outside gallery-the Revelation—where we look upon some striking pictures of the judgments to come, and the glories to be revealed, concluding with an awe-inspiring picture of the throne room of the King.
Source: Willmington's Guide to the Bible
