S. 57 Reasons Why We Know That the Bible is the Word of God
57 REASONS WHY WE KNOW THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD (Second edition; total published, 15,000) By Fred John Meldau Little Bible Blue Books, No. 1 Published and Copyrighted by The Christian Victory Publishing Co.
2909 Umatilla St., Denver, Colorado
"ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."— 2 Timothy 3:16.
INTRODUCTION The judge was much provoked that a certain man did not appear in court at his summons. Finally, the man’s son came; and the judge thundered at him, "What’s the reason your father isn’t here, young man? He should have been here two weeks ago."
"There are seventeen reasons, your honor, why my father is not here."
"What are they?" roared the Judge.
"The first is, my father died a little over two weeks ago," said the youth.
"Well," said the judge after a moment’s hesitation, "that reason is sufficient, we don’t need the other sixteen."
We are presenting herewith Fifty-seven Reasons Why WE know that the Bible is the Word of God.
Any one of them, especially the first, or the last, is enough. But we present "57" because some reasons appeal more to some individuals than others. If a man is alive there are many proofs of it: the light in his eye, the smile on his face, words which he speaks, and gestures with his hands. So the Bible is a living Book, .and presents many infallible proofs that it is alive.
Atheism, abetted by Modernism and Evolution, is sweeping the world with its faith-wrecking literature. The enemies of Christianity are pricking out the eye of faith, leaving men in the Labyrinth of Darkness! We present the truth about the Divine Inspiration of the Bible NOT to defend the Bible (for the Bible needs no defense. It is, as Gladstone said, the Impregnable Rock of Scripture;) but to defend men from infidelity and its lethal consequences. Men’s souls are at stake: their eternal welfare depends on their attitude toward Christ as He is revealed in God’s Word. At a time of wide-spread skepticism and Deism, Mr. Finney, while in Eochester, removed the Bible from the sacred desk and declared, "I will never replace it until I have proven by fair arguments in ’the eyes of all the world that this is the Word of God." And the great man made good abundantly. THE STUDENT’S QUESTION A senior in a certain university asked the question, "Why is infidelity getting such a grip upon young people?" A missionary answered by saying, "Young-people are NOT FURNISHED WITH AN ADEQUATE ANSWER." The missionary bemoaned the fact that even Theological Seminaries do not usually teach Evidences of Christianity. It is not that there is no answer to rationalism, but often the PEOPLE ARE NOT GIVEN THE ANSWER. The call of A. T. Pierson for men of faith to "grapple with the giants of rationalism" must be repeated to our generation. He asks that a "new body of theses" be nailed on the door of "Skeptics’ Synagogue," that will state "propositions so clear and indisputable that no opponent will dare attack them or dare answer." Here are such "theses" in these "57 Reasons."
ATHEISM OR THE BIBLE
"It is almost universally admitted," said Harold St. John, "that there is no serious rival to the Bible in our days; scholars have examined the classics of the ancients and the sacred books of the East, and by men inside and outside of the Church they are confessed to be spiritually sterile," "The Koran of Mohamet consists of a vast amount of chaff within which lies hidden a few grains of wholesome wheat borrowed from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures." The Veda of the Hindus (1000 B.C.), the Zendavesta of the Parsees (500 B.C.), the Jripitaka of the Buddhists (500 B. C.), and the Confucian Classics of the Chinese (500 B. C.) contain "Unreadable masses of lumber, a wearisome, confused jumble," and excite no general interest whatever. So we are driven to this: The Bible or Atheism, one of the two will eventually rule the world. We are presenting here proof, SHOWING THAT THE BIBLE IS A REVELATION FROM GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.
We trust that God will use this testimony to strengthen the faith of many, so that their confidence in the integrity and inspiration of His Word will become, by intimate knowledge of FACTS, an over-powering conviction.
We trust that all true defenders of the faith will give a wide circulation to "57 Reasons," putting it into the hands of students and youth especially that they might be furnished with "an adequate answer" to the cavilings of skepticism.
We trust that those who have not yet been convinced of the Divine, Infallible Inspiration of the Scripture will read the evidence herewith presented with an unprejudiced heart willing to know and follow God’s whole will, for He has pledged to reveal Truth to all such. "If any man willeth to do His will he shall know of the teaching." (John 7:17).
1. WE KNOW THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE CHRIST SAID IT IS
Imagine a courtroom scene. You are one of the jurymen. The Bible is being tried. On one side are the witnesses who speak against it. On the other side arises Christ, the Incomparable, unique in His Person, sinless in character, matchless in wisdom. He witnesses FOR the Bible. The value of testimony in court depends on three things: the witness’ character (is he honest? can his testimony be depended upon?), his intelligence, and his knowledge of the facts in the particular case before the court.
Put on the stand the best representative of Atheism the world has to offer. Who knows best whether the Bible is God’s Word, Christ or the Atheist? Who would you rather believe? Remember, Christ the Son of God is the greatest "Specialist" of all time on the question of religion. His sinless life, His miraculous power, His resurrection from the dead, prove Him to be what He claimed to be, the Second Person of the Trinity. Men are finite and earthy; Christ is the Eternal One who came down from Heaven. He KNOWS whether the Bible is a God-given Book. And Christ emphatically, repeatedly, unequivocally testified that the Bible is God’s Word. He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled," Matthew 5:18. "The Scripture cannot be broken," John 10:35. And there are scores of other utterances from the Son of God, revealing clearly that the Bible is an infallible, inspired Book from God.
Reader, who will you believe? Will you depend for your eternal welfare on the word of a fellow-creature, sinful, who knows no more about it than you do, or will you depend on the testimony of Him who is the Image of the Invisible God?
2. WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE THE HUMAN AUTHORS OF IT TESTIFIED THAT THEY RECEIVED IT FROM GOD The prophets and apostles who wrote the Bible uniformly testify, in effect, that they were merely the stenographers, that God gave them the words to write. They take their stand in the court next to Christ and testify FOR the Bible. They were holy, intelligent men; many of them sealed their testimony with their blood. If they had been false witnesses they would have recanted under persecution.
John Wesley stated the argument in words something like this: The Bible was written either by God, good men, or bad men. Bad men could not have written it, for the Bible is a good Book, and fresh waters do not come from a salt fountain; bad men would not have written it, for the Bible strongly condemns sin and sinners, and wicked would not condemn themselves to hell. Good men could not have written it, and then deliberately said God wrote it: they would no longer have been good; good men would not have written it for the definite purpose of deception, for good men do not deceive. Hence, the only One left who could have written it is God. Dr. Haldeman aptly said, "Man could not have written the Bible if he would, and would not have written it if he could."
Over 2500 times the Old Testament claims to be the Ford of God; and the New Testament makes the sameclaim 500 times. Prophets and Apostles both witnessed to the Divine inspiration of Scripture in such words as these, "The Word of the Lord came unto me saying," "And the Lord said," etc. The testimony of Scripture to itself is summed up in 2 Peter 1:21, "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
Reader, will you believe the testimony of such men as John who said, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, . . . declare we unto you." (1 John 1:1-3). Or will you believe the testimony of an infidel, born centuries later, a creature of habits and sin, who lectured against the Bible at $200 a night; or of another, an atheist who grovelled into a drunkard’s grave?
3. THE BEST AND THE WISEST PEOPLE OF THE WORLD HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IT To put the proposition bluntly before our jurymen: the active criminal and gangster is not known as a Christian; the best Citizen is. And so it has always been. It is men with a blunted moral sense who reject the Bible. A pagan African was once brought to England. After several months residence there, he asked of his own accord if he might become a Christian, and this is the reason he gave: "I have watched the white man, and I have seen that the good people believe the Bible and the wicked ones don’t. I want to become a Christian."
Note, we say the "good" people and the "wise" people; not necessarily the "intelligent" people, for intelligence is divided on both sides of the question, for intelligence may be wicked. But the Bible is not lacking today, nor has it in any past age, from testimony from top-notch intelligence. Lord Bacon was said by competent judges to have had the greatest mind given man, with the possible exception of Aristotle. Bacon said, "I believe the Bible is the Word of God whereby His will is revealed." Gladstone, "possessor of one of the greatest brains Europe ever produced" once said, "I have spent 70 years of my life studying that Book to satisfy my heart; it is the Word of God. I bank my life on the statement that I believe this Book to be the solid rock of Holy Scripture." Locke, who has been termed "the most acute thinker and reasoner of the past two centuries" spent the last fourteen years of his life in the constant study of the Bible, and then gave this decision: "It has God for its Author, salvation for its end, and truth without mixture of error for its matter." These testimonies might be multiplied ad infinitum.
Jurymen, will you believe the people BEST acquainted with God or will you believe the people LEAST acquainted with God?
4. THE BIBLE GIVES US A PRE-WRITTEN HISTORY OF A NATION—THE JEWS
Next, men of the jury, I want to call your attention to this phenomenon: the Book tells accurately, BEFOREHAND, the hectic history of the children of Israel. Their Egyptian bondage, their conquest of Canaan, the outcome of all their wars, the division of the kingdom after the reign of Solomon, the Babylonian captivity, the partial restoration to Palestine with the rebuilding of the Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the world-wide dispersion, ARE ALL PREDICTED. (See Genesis 15:13-16; Exodus chapters 1-12; 1 Kings 11:30-33; Jeremiah 25:1-14; Daniel 9:24-27; etc.) The strange thing about many of these predictions is they speak of MISFORTUNE for the very nation that gave them, and because of that the very nation to whom they were delivered REJECTED THE PROPHET WHO GAVE THEM, AND HIS PROPHECIES. (One reading of the book of Jeremiah will demonstrate this fact to the average reader.)
None but God could write an accurate history of a nation years, and in some cases, hundreds of years, before the events happened. Men of the jury, the logic is inescapable; we are FORCED to the conclusion THAT GOD WROTE THE BOOK.
5. THE BIBLE (written and completed over 1800 years ago, when the British Empire was still unborn, and when the European races were still in the swaddling clothes of savagery) DESCRIBES EXACTLY, PRECISELY, WITH UNCANNY EXACTITUDE, THE JEWISH PEOPLE AS THEY ARE TODAY
Jurymen, let me ask you this question. How many times have you yourself used this (or similar) expressions—"He tried to Jew me down." Each time you did so, you were, wittingly or unwittingly, establishing the truthfulness of God’s Word for the Bible said millenniums ago that, because of disobedience, Israel should be cast out from their land of Palestine and be "a proverb and a byword among the people." (1 Kings 9:7). And is it not an astonishing thing that the word "Sheeny" comes from the Hebrew word translated "byword" in the passage in Deuteronomy 28:37: "And thou (Israel) shalt be an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee." The Bible further predicted that the Jews would be "scattered among all nations" (Deuteronomy 28:37, Deuteronomy 28:64)f and that they should be "wanderers among the nations" (Hosea 9:17), to which fact the common proverb, "the wandering Jew" bears abundant testimony.
Note the marvelous predictions in Hosea 3:4-5: "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without a image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: AFTERWARD shall the children of Israel RETURN, and seek the Lord their God ... IN THE LATTER DAYS." This passage predicts these facts: the continuance of the Jewish people as a race (1) WITHOUT a government of their own; (2) WITHOUT the central rite of their religion (the daily "sacrifice" in the temple); (3) WITHOUT the house for the public worship—their meeting place, the temple—("pillar," i.e. the temple pillars); (4) and WITHOUT even idolatry, to which they invariably turned when they departed from the living God ("teraphim," i.e., images); and (5) WITHOUT the High Priesthood (ephod, a garment of the High Priest); and, mark you, that persistence as a race should keep on despite the fact that they were to be SCATTERED among all nations. So here we have the miracle of history: that a scattered, persecuted peoples, deprived of their own government and the central facts and customs of their religion should not be assimilated and lose their national identity. That passage in Hosea reads like HISTORY, as though some one were describing the past experience of the Jews for the last 2,000 years; but the fact is, universally acknowledged, that it was written 2,500 years ago! We challenge any one to produce a historic parallel to that: scattering, loss of government, but AGE-LONG CONTINUANCE AS A SEPARATE RACE. Note also, that IN THE LATTER DAYS the children of Israel are scheduled to RETURN to Palestine, and eventually to return to God. And the marvelous fact is that this return (to be accomplished gradually—in stages—according to Ezekiel 38:1-23 and 39) has already begun, under the Zionist movement, organized in 1897.
Furthermore, men of the jury, the New Testament distinctly teaches that Israel as a nation would be blinded (judicially, because they rejected Christ) and NOT believe His gospel; but that there would be a believing-remnant (Romans 11:1-10). Today we witness that phenomenon too: the vast majority of Jews do NOT accept the New Testament; but there are some—here a few and there a few—that DO.
Well might the late Lord Chancellor Erskine say: "The universal dispersion of the Jews throughout the world, their unexampled sufferings, and their wondrous preservation, would be sufficient to establish the truth of the Scriptures if all other testimony were sunk to the bottom of the sea."
6. THE BIBLE GIVES A PRE-WRITTEN LIFE OF CHRIST
Gentlemen of the jury, this phenomenon is most amazing. It is a fact unparalleled in the profane and other so-called "sacred" literature of the world! Who could have written the principle facts of the life of George Washington from 400 to 1500 years before he was born? BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE OLD TESTAMENT DOES WITH THE LIFE OF CHRIST. Over 250 distinct, definite prophecies tell WHERE, HOW and WHEN He was to be born; the visitors (shepherds and wise men) He was to have at His birth; the tribe (Judah) and the family (David) that He was to come from; the return from the flight into Egypt; His public ministry; His forerunner (John the Baptist) and scores of other events. (See Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14; Daniel 9:24; Psalms 72:10, Psalms 72:15; Psalms 89:4, Psalms 89:36; Genesis 49:10; Hosea 11:1; etc., etc.) His death is given in great detail, in the Old Testament prophecies. Read the 22nd Psalm, written 1000 years before Christ came, as a description of His death by crucifixion. When it is remembered that the Jewish method of capital punishment was by STONING, and they knew nothing about death by crucifixion (which was a Roman institution) until centuries after this prophecy was written, one is compelled to .admit that the chapter HAD to be written by inspiration of God. As an illustration of the MINUTE DETAIL that prophecy deals with, thus marking it genuine and fool-proof, note Psalms 22:18. "They parted my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture." This was literally fulfilled, but unconsciously, by the Roman soldiers who crucified Christ. Here is the New Testament record, "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be." (John 19:23-24). How amazing! There were four soldiers, and each of them took one of His five garments; there remained the fifth: Christ’s seamless robe. How should they divide that? They did not care to spoil it by cutting it, so they threw dice for it! To think, that this insignificant action of throwing dice should find its way to the prophetic page, and be revealed 1000 years before ever it happened! Where is the possibility of guess work in that? Even a moron would not accuse such detailed prophecies of being "shrewd guesses." The above, as well as scores of other predictions, fully demonstrate two things: That the God who knows all things is the God who dictated the Bible, and that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah, for all the predictions were fulfilled in Him. The Old Testament gives a PHOTOGRAPH of the Coming Messiah; when the Messiah came He had to answer EXACTLY to that photograph. Jesus did. None but God could write a Book, using a score of men, during several centuries of time, containing a puzzle like that! None but God could give the solution to the puzzle and present the Individual who perfectly fulfilled ALL the predictions!
7. THE BIBLE PRESENTS THE ONLY PERFECT CHARACTER KNOWN TO HISTORY AND TO LITERATURE
All the literature of the world, historical, biographical, dramatic, fictional, or any other kind, has not been able to- portray a perfect man—real or fictitious. But, gentlemen of the jury, the Bible contains that phenomenon too —the depiction of THE PERFECT CHARACTER, Christ Jesus. Here is One. who is wiser than Solomon, more patient than Job, meeker than Moses, more courageous than David; here is One who never made a mistake in act or judgment, never apologized, never changed His opinions or teachings, never retracted a statement; here is One who was never late, was never in a hurry, never lost control of Himself in argument so that His voice was heard in the street; here is One who PRACTICED every teaching He ever gave, who could have had the highest place among men but took the lowest; here is One who had the tenderness of a mother, the love of a bride, the courage of a king, the sternness of a judge, the dignity of an autocrat; and marvel of marvels—ALL OF THE SO-CALLED OPPOSING VIRTUES BLENDED PERFECTLY IN HIM, He was not lopsided. The moral glory of Christ is a most fascinating subject: we could easily fill this booklet with a treatise on it.
Now here is the argument: No man, or combination of men could ever invent such a Character. Rosseau states the case very well in these words, "It is more inconceivable that a number of persons should agree to write such a history (the Gospels), than that One should be the author of it, for the inventor would be a more remarkable character than the Hero." In other words "It would take a Jesus to forge a Jesus."
Mr. Simon Greenleaf, £he greatest authority in the world on "Evidence," whose books on "Evidence" student lawyers study, has written a book on The Four Gospels. In this book he examines the Gospels minutely, and concludes they are absolutely authentic. He says in substance, "The character of Jesus was either that of a person who actually lived, or the invention of the imaginations of the writers of the Gospels. If such a character was the product of four men’s imaginations, then you have the most marvelous display of genius ever struck from the pen of men. For .four men, unknown as authors before or after, achieve the portrayal of ,a character so perfect that it can claim to be Deity one moment and the next stoop to wash dirty feet, one day raise the dead, next day be hung on a gibbet, and these without loss of dignity. And in addition, these men attain such heights of literary genius that they portray this character without any description or explanation but simply by recounting His words and actions. Words so matchless in wisdom as to mark their author as having wisdom from God.
There is bat one conclusion to the matter. The Man, whom the Gospels present as Jesus, is the promised Christ—"God manifest in the flesh."
8. THE BIBLE GIVES A PRE-WRITTEN HISTORY OF THE WORLD, in so far as the history of the world is related to the plan and purpose of God as revealed in Scripture This history is given, in broad outline, and in symbolic language, in the book of Daniel. The chronological order, and the character, of the four great world empires from Daniel’s time to the Roman Empire, and even up to our times and beyond, are given under the figure of A Great Image in Daniel 2:31-45, and under the figure of Four Beasts in Daniel 7:1-28. These four world Empires—Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome have come and gone. The last phase of the Revived Roman Empire is being developed right now in Europe.
Fifty years ago, critical students of Daniel tried to show that Daniel was written AFTER the predicted events had happened. But recent archeological findings have established the early date of Daniel, so that its predictions stand as true prophecies: proof of the fact, dear friends, that GOD HAS SPOKEN!
9. THE BIBLE PERFECTLY WORLD DESCRIBES THE WORLD AS IT IS TODAY
Honored gentlemen of the jury, I wish to present this fact to you, which you have, no doubt, already sensed: Any man of ordinary learning and intelligence can prove or disprove the Bible without spending years of time in study and research to do so. It isn’t even necessary for him to be able to read the Bible in the original languages. All he must have, to perform the test, is two things: (1) A statement of the prophecies of the Bible that deal with the world, or with the Jews, or with the Church, as they exist today; and (2) a look around at the world in which we live. For more than eighteen centuries the Bible has been in the world in its completed form—so enough time has elapsed to absolutely preclude guessing, and to reveal forgery if there is any. Our task then is this: EXAMINE the predictions of the Book that claims to foreknow the future; EXAMINE the world as it is today and SEE for ourselves whether or not the Bible predictions are true; if they are we have all the proof we need that the Bible is God’s Book. The apostle Paul presents a picture of the world of "the last days" from the moral viewpoint in 2 Timothy 3:1-7. This passage presents the non-Christian world, in essence, as (1) "lovers of themselves," i.e., selfishness; (2) "lovers of money," i.e., covetousness; (3) "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God," i.e. pleasure-seeking at the expense of spiritual responsibility. I ask you, gentlemen, does this not describe our generation? The Lord Jesus presents a picture of the world from the spiritual viewpoint in Luke 17:26-31, which clearly shows that the people will be worldly, commercial and material, at the expense of spiritual interests. Is it not true to fact? The Saviour presents another picture of the world "in the latter days" from the international viewpoint, in Luke 21:1-38 and Matthew 24:1-51. He features the five international terrors: "wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places." The world today, viewed as a whole, certainly verifies His predictions. "Wars and rumors of wars" are with us; the severity of earthquakes, according to seismographic records, is steadily increasing. The World War was followed by many famines and pestilences in many lands. All major wars are. Our Lord’s prediction is scientifically accurate.
These predictions, coming from Christ and Paul, are all the more remarkable for one would expect, had they been misguided zealots, that they would picture the world soon to be conquered by their Gospel. Both teach that the world will get "worse and worse" (morally and spiritually) and ripen for judgment; and that Christ will come personally, at the end of the age, to set the world right and reign as King of kings Himself. The prophet Daniel presents a picture of the world, very compact, from the cultural viewpoint. Daniel 12:4, speaking of the "time of the end," says: "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." The widespread travel and popular education of our day certainly place the mantle of truth over the shoulders of the prophet, and indicates we are nearing that time.
10. THE BIBLE GIVES A PREWRITTEN HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
Honored sirs, the Church of Christ is on earth today— the largest institution known to man. It can be traced back, historically, to the first century. You cannot account for the existence of the church save on the basis of the fact that IT WAS STARTED BY CHRIST. The Bible has been the visible tie that has bound it together, and the nursing bottle that has sustained it, through the centuries. A little thought should convince the most skeptical, if his mind be not closed to the truth, that it takes a SUPERNATURAL FORCE to originate and keep going, without power of sword or gold, and in the face, frequently, of most violent persecution, an institution like the church.
Christ foretold the birth of the church and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 1:8; Acts 2:1-4). The fact that the church should be an "assembly of called out ones"—a few saved from among the many, rather than the conversion of whole nations—is revealed in Acts 15:13-15. This is true historically and at the present time. The fact that the church should be made up of both Jew’s and Gentiles, with their natural animosity dissolved in the brotherhood of Christ, is true historically, and true today. (Ephesians 2:14-18). The endurance of the church, despite terrible persecutions, and age-long conflicts, is foretold by Christ in John 16:2 and Matthew 16:20, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The eventual, worldwide preaching of the gospel as a witness to all nations is declared in Matthew 24:14. And that fact is being accomplished today. The various eras of church history can be traced accurately in Revelation 2:1-29 and Revelation 3:1-22.
It is easy to be seen, gentlemen, that none but an all-wise God could foretell the birth and future of such a cosmopolitan institution as the church.
11. THE BIBLE PERFECTLY DESCRIBES THE CHURCH AS IT IS TODAY And let me say, in the very outset, honorable sirs, that the Bible description of the church of Christ in the latter days is anything but complimentary. BUT IT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE TO FACT. The departure from orthodox doctrine, on the part of some, in the latter days, is stated in 1 Timothy 4:1: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith." The prediction is abundantly verified by the rise, during the last 75 years, of a host of sects, cults and isms that have departed from "sound doctrine." The apathy, wealth, and spiritual lukewarmness of the professing church as a whole, with the presence in the church of a minority of earnest Christians, EXACTLY DESCRIBES CONDITIONS IN PROTESTANTISM TODAY, and is clearly foretold in Revelation 3:14-17, Revelation 7:13. The prophesied rise, "in the last days" of scoffers saying, "Where is the promise of His coming" (2 Peter 3:3-4) is being witnessed today.
12. THE HUNDREDS OF OTHER DEFINITE, DETAILED PROPHECIES THAT HAVE BEEN FULFILLED, WITHOUT ONE FAILING, PROVE CONCLUSIVELY THAT THE BIBLE IS OF DIVINE ORIGIN
Fellow citizens and honored jurymen, we are going to call on two witnesses—HISTORY and THE WORLD TODAY—to testify as to the truthfulness or error of ancient Bible prophecies. The amazing fact is this: Whenever careful examination is made History and The World Today absolutely, invariably verify Ancient Bible Prophecies. The prophet declared that Jerusalem should "be plowed as a field and the mountain of the house (should be) as high places of a forest." (Micah 3:12). Urquhart informs us that the "mountain of the house," the place where the Temple was built, a limited space of about 350 feet in extent, was for generations "covered with lofty cypresses and other trees." The other half of the prediction also has a remarkable fulfillment. Much of the level portion of what was ancient Zion, part of which is outside of the modern walls of Jerusalem, HAS LITERALLY BECOME A PLOWED FIELD. "Prophecy" said that Palestine was to be made "desolate" (Leviticus 26:32)—and it was; Palestine was to become a mecca for pilgrims and travelers of all countries (Deuteronomy 29:22, Deuteronomy 29:24)—and it has been, and is; Egypt was to be humbled, continue as a "base" kingdom, never again to be ruled over by a native prince (Ezekiel 29:14; Ezekiel 30:13)—and these prophecies have all been literally fulfilled; the Cherethites (Philistines) were to be destroyed as a nation (Zephaniah 2:5)—and they have been; Askelon was scheduled to become a "desolation" (Zephaniah 2:4)—and it is to this day; Tyre was to be destroyed and become as bare as the top of a rock, a place for fishermen to spread their nets (Ezekiel 26:12-15)—and all of these predictions have been most amazingly fulfilled, as any visitor to the ancient site of Tyre can testify. And this list of fulfilled prophecies, did space permit, could be lengthened into hundreds of definite examples. And the remarkable fact is that NOT ONE BIBLE PROPHECY HAS EVER FAILED. This marvelous fact has "stopped the mouths of scoffers and changed the heart of infidels." The Bible of all books in the world is unique in this respect. "Under the Christian religion," said Pascal, noted French mathematician, "I find actual prophecy, and I find it in no other." (About 40 years ago Dr. A. T. Pier-son investigated the so-called "Mother Shipton’s Prophecy," a prophetic hoax describing modern life, which claimed to have been written in 1448. He found that it was written in 1862 by a Charles Hindley, and palmed off on a credulous public!) We challenge the world to produce any other book of true prophecies as the Bible, or to demonstrate a single failure in the hundreds of Bible prophecies! It can’t be done.
13. THE FACT THAT THE BIBLE HAS A UNIFIED TESTIMONY DESPITE THE GREAT DIVERSITY OF ITS HUMAN AUTHORSHIP PROVES THAT THERE IS ONE MASTER MIND—THE REAL AUTHOR OF THE BOOK—BEHIND ALL THE HUMAN WRITERS The Bible is composed of 66 different books, written during 16 centuries of time, by about 40 different authors who were of different stations in life and who came from totally different environments. Each one of these men added a few pieces to the Structure of God’s building—the Bible—and when it was completed it was found to be symmetrical and architectural—A UNIFIED WHOLE! Genesis and Daniel of the Old Testament dove tail exactly into Revelation of the New Testament; and Leviticus into Hebrews. The 66 books of the Bible present a unified PROGRAM for the ages of the world’s history; both Testaments are centered in the same PERSON Christ; and the teachings are never contradictory, when rightly understood. To show the force of this amazing fact—the unity of the Bible—let me ask what unity of thought would there be in a symposium of medicine, written by 40 different authors, each expressing his own ideas of the subject? You would have 40 different schools of thought represented, giving a hodge-podge of "incongruous incompatibility!"
"Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:21).
14. THE BIBLE PROVES ITSELF TO BE THE WORD OF GOD BY ITS POWER IN THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS TO MAKE THEM HOLY
Let us apply a Bible test to the Bible itself: "By then-fruits ye shall know them." Gentlemen of the jury, I can take you to scores of Rescue Missions in our country and show you reclaimed drunkards, libertines, and women of the street that have been saved, and lifted from filth and sin, by the Gospel of the Bible! I can take you into thousands of Protestant Churches of all denominations where the true Gospel is preached and show you happy Christians who have been saved and KEPT from ever falling into the grosser sins. I can take you to Africa and other pagan countries and show you sober and humanized men who were formerly bloodthirsty cannibals, WON TO A HOLY LIFE BY THE BOOK! And what victorious testimonies they give! And we don’t need to go to a past generation either, for our own age has multitudes of such living witnesses, won from a thousand and one sins that fallen man is heir to, BY BELIEVING AND OBEYING THE BOOK!
Marcus Aurelius, Confucius and other philosophers wrote some good moral and ethical maxims, but no one is won to a life of holiness by reading them. They present an ideal, but lack the vital power that the Bible alone has to lift the soul to that ideal. The Bible accomplishes this by leading us to direct contact with GOD, by regeneration through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Biblical answer to the needs of a fallen race is spiritual regeneration of the individuals who repent and believe His gospel. Then, as the Christian yields his life and heart and will to Christ, he grows in grace and becomes daily more like his Redeemer. (See 2 Peter 3:18).
15. THE BIBLE DEMONSTRATES ITSELF TO BE THE WORD OF GOD BY ITS POWER TO MAKE MEN HAPPY
Tens of thousands have found the promise true, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST." (Matthew 11:28). What the pursuit of money, fame and pleasure FAILS to do, God’s Word does for those who come humbly, sincerely, believing its promises.
Said a world traveler, "The happiest people I have met are the Christian missionaries."
How often we read in the Gospels that those who came, believing, to Christ during His earthly ministry, were blessed, and went on their way rejoicing. And it has been so from that day to this. This writer, in common with thousands of others, can testify, truly, that he has received from reading and believing God’s Word the greatest blessing to be experienced in this life—inward peace of heart and mind.
Gentlemen of the jury, I submit to you this fact that any Book that makes men both righteous and happy MUST come from the Supreme Being of Love who wants His creatures to be both holy and happy.
16. THE BIBLE NOT ONLY MAKES LIVING BETTER BUT IT MAKES DYING EASIER
"Christians die easy," remarked the executioner who had put to death a number of Christian martyrs. Hundreds of testimonies, like the following, from dying Christians, could be given:
"Eternity rolls up before me like a sea of glory," said Margaret Prior, while dying. Lord Shaftesbury’s last words were, "I am touching the hem of His garment!" Frances E. Willard cried, "How beautiful to die and be with God." Multitudes have been sustained in the hour of death by such precious promises as Psalms 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me."
Atheism and heathenism know nothing of victorious dying; rather, a Christless death, leading to a Christless eternity, forecasts the shadow of coming doom.
17. THE BIBLE PRESENTS THE WAY OF VICTORY OVER EVERY KNOWN FOE OF MAN And the solution that the Bible provides to all of man’s problems WORKS! What are man’s foes? Is one the haunting ghost of past sins? Here is God’s solution and answer to the one who will accept the gospel of the Bible: "The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’.’ (1 John 1:7). Is the foe the present power of sin. and habit over one’s life? The apostle Paul found that, through Grace, he could say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me." (Php 4:13). Is the enemy FEAR, casting a pall over life, keeping out both light and song? The believer can say with David, "I will fear no evil, for THOU art with me." (Psalms 23:1-6). The child of God, resting on the precious promises of the Bible, is enabled to "GLORY" in tribulation (Romans 5:3); to "REJOICE" when persecuted (Matthew 5:9-12) because he will be amply compensated for it; when "tempted and tried" he can "COUNT IT ALL JOY" for the "trial of faith" leads to- patience, discipline, and other precious virtues (James 1:2-4). Are his circumstances apparently against the believer? Why, the God of the Bible is able to arrange circumstances so that "all things work together for GOOD to-them that love God" (Romans 8:28). And affliction, before whom so many wilt and faint? Affliction actually becomes a SERVANT to the believer, WORKING for him: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, WORKETH for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Is one harassed by poverty? The Bible tells those who are poor in this world’s goods but rich in faith: "All things are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s." (1 Corinthians 3:22-23). "My God shall supply ALL your needs." (Php 4:19).
18. THE BIBLE PROVES ITSELF TO BE THE WORD OF GOD BY ITS POWER IN SOCIETY Not only individuals, but society as a whole is lifted and immeasurably blessed whenever the Bible is read, believed and followed. Charles Darwin once visited Patagonia; he was so impressed with the results of missionary labor among the natives that he became a lifelong" contributor to the missionary society doing work among them. Great Britain, as Queen Victoria admitted, owes her greatness to the open Bible. Pagan Africa is pagan because they have not the Word of God; as missionaries bring them the message of the Bible they are lifted out of their miserable state in direct proportion to their acceptance of the Bible. European nations were won from savagery by the Bible. And now, some of these nations are turning back to savagery because they are rejecting; the Bible. Lack of Bible reading in our own nation is producing an alarming harvest of crime and loose living.
"The Holiest among the mighty and the Mightiest among the holy, lifted, with His pierced hands, empires off their hinges, turned the stream of civilization out of its channel, and still governs the ages."—Jean Richter.
19. THE BIBLE IS THE SOURCE AND INSPIRATION OF MAN’S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS.
"It is inspiring because inspired; it is inspired because inspiring." It is inseparably woven into the very warp and woof of our civilization. It is not a book on legislation, and yet Daniel Webster said, "A great jurist must go to school to the Book; lying back of Blackstone and the Habeas Corpus Act and the Roman Institutes are the statutes of the Mosaic code."
"It has breathed inspiration into the heart of almost every genius." The world’s greatest Art, Sculpture, Music, Literature, as well as Morality and Law, have been inspired by the Bible. Milton’s "Paradise Lost;" Bunyan’s "Pilgrim’s Progress;" Michaelangelo’s "David;" the masterpieces of Raphael, Rembrandt, Mozart, and innumerable others of the world’s works of genius were inspired by the Bible. To get rid of the Bible and its influence one would have to wipe out practically all libraries, art galleries, music conservatories, as well as all churches, and practically all humanitarian institutions.
Ruskin expressed what is true of thousands of earth’s great men when he said, "All that I have thought of art, everything that 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." And another has said, "The finest ideals of .art and the finest inspirations of music are borrowed from the Book."
20. IT PRESENTS THE HIGHEST MORAL STANDARD KNOWN TO MAN
Here is a supernatural system of morality that tells us to "love our enemies," and do good to them that hate us and persecute us; it tells us that the lustful look is adultery and that hatred is murder; it enjoins love to God and love to man as the supreme duties; it exalts the virtues of faith, meekness, patience, long-suffering—characteristics that many men despise. The Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, Paul’s great Love Hymn in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, and the practical precepts of the New Testament Epistles, as well as other sections of the Bible dealing with moral precepts, never came from the heart of fallen, sinful man!
All other ancient religious writings are immoral in the extreme. Prof. Max Muller dared not translate the Hindoo books literally, lest he should be arrested for circulating obscene literature. There is an impassable chasm between the Bible and man-made religious books; the difference can be accounted for only by recognizing the fact that God dictated the Bible. NO MAN YET EVER LIVED UP TO THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE, EXCEPT THE CHRIST WHO GAVE IT. This one fact alone offers a sufficient proof that God gave the Book with its higher-than-man standard. The God of the Bible says to His people: "As He who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living" (1 Peter 1:15, R.V.). "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Corinthians 7:1).
21. MOREOVER, THE FRANK, UNASHAMED TESTIMONY OF THE BIBLE ON MORAL SUBJECTS, AND AGAINST IMMORALITY, IS PROOF POSITIVE THAT THE SUPREME ONE WROTE THE BOOK The tendency of man, when speaking or writing on sex subjects, is to be either prudish or prurient. The Bible calls black black and white white; adultery is labeled adultery. The sins of Sodom are recorded, but SO IS ITS PUNISHMENT. And how could it be otherwise in God’s Book? God, who holds man accountable, and punishes him for default, must clearly define what constitutes sin.
Some, with lamentable ignorance, have accused the Bible of being an immoral book, because it speaks so frankly against sin, and records the exact sin of many of its characters. The absurdity of this is seen by the fact that the Old Testament DEMANDED STONING for sex sins, Deuteronomy 22:21, and the New Testament is even more austere in its condemnation, when the sin is unrepented of; Revelation 22:15. Being the Word of a holy God, the Bible is holy in its teachings; being the Word of a God to whom "all things are naked and open," it is a Book that unbares sin and reveals its awfulness, that all might shudder, and fear, and flee from the loathsome sight.
22. IT HAS PASSED THE SUPREME TEST OF ENDURANCE. If the Bible had been built on a corrupt foundation of fraud, it would have disintegrated long ago.
"It is the only Book in the world that has stood age after age of ferocious and incessant persecution," Cannon Dyson Hague reminds us; and yet, "it is here today stronger than ever. It stands, and it will stand." Innumerable times man has lifted his sword against the granite Rock of God’s Word; he has hacked away ferociously— and has managed to destroy his sword and himself, but the Rock remains uninjured.
"The adversaries have done their worst. They have charged their heaviest charge. Whatever unexpected adversaries appear in the future, no more destructive trios than Julian, Celsus and Porphyry, than Voltaire, Strauss and Renan, than Eichhorn, Wellhausen and Kuenen, will confederate against it."
Man has attacked it with fire, sword, pen, spade, test tube and microscope; he has examined its claims, minutely, in the light of all positively ascertained facts of science, archeology, history, morality and every other branch of human learning, AND INSTEAD OF OVERTHROWING THE BIBLE HE HAS REVEALED HOW FIRMLY IT IS ESTABLISHED IN THE COUNSELS OF INFINITE WISDOM.
Gentlemen of the jury, I submit to you this fact, THAT ONLY TRUTH can run the gauntlet of the fiercest fires of persecution—venomous, hell-born hatred and antagonism, satanic spleen, weapons of intellect, government, and wealth; fires that have raged intensely for the past nineteen centuries and more—AND COME FORTH UNSCATHED FROM THE FLAME, as did the Hebrew young men of old (Daniel 3:1-30). And the reason for the miraculous escape is the same in both cases: The God of Heaven, who is ever on the side of righteousness and truth, has simply protected His own.
MODERN scholarship (when true), MODERN criticism (when just), MODERN research (when unbiased), have universally taken their stand as witnesses FOR the Bible.
23. NOT ONLY HAS THE BIBLE ENDURED, BUT IT IS A GROWING BOOK, showing that it is not sterile, but alive with the very life from God.
More Bibles are published today than ever before in the history of the world. In whole or in part, Scripture has been published in over 1,000 tongues and dialects, and it reaches the fabulous world wide circulation of close to 30,000,000 copies (Bibles, Testaments and portions) a year! Consider what this means, in view of the fact that very few "best sellers" ever reach a circulation of 100,000 for their entire lifetime.
It is true the Bible tells us that just before the return of Christ professed Christianity will be largely formal; there will be a departure from vital godliness; but on the other hand the gospel is to be given to all nations as a witness; and then, after the second coining of Christ, it is to be universally accepted. The day is not far off when its dominion, in fact as well as in name, will be "from the river to the ends of the earth."
Honored sirs, the only way you can account for the marvelous growth and spread of the Bible, over the entire world, is THE BIBLE IS A LIVING BOOK. It throbs with the message of the love of God for man; it is alive with regenerating and lifting power; through its arteries, carrying life and peace to the world, is the message of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. God has promised, "My Word shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11).
24. THE BIBLE IS A SUPERNATURAL BOOK, BECAUSE IT AND THE CHRIST OF THE BIBLE WIN AND HOLD THE DEVOTED LOVE OF MEN AND WOMEN TODAY SUCH AS NO OTHER CAUSE CAN In the latter part of his life, Napoleon said, "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I myself, founded great empires . . . upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love. I tell you all these were men; none else is like Him. Jesus Christ was more than man. He asks for the human heart; He demands it unconditionally, and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! All who sincerely believe in Him experience that remarkable supernatural love towards Him. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame . . . This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the divinity (deity) of Jesus Christ." This supernatural love has impelled hundreds of thousands to "forsake all and follow Him"—multitudes are willing to die for Him. I ask you, respected jurymen, for what other Book would an intelligent American or European sacrifice all, even life itself? Only a God-given Book can do that!
25. AND STRANGE PARADOX, IT IS NOT ONLY THE BEST LOVED BOOK IN THE WORLD, BUT THE MOST HATED AS WELL
It is hated and fought by evil men. Now it is quite evident that evil men would not hate an evil, fraudulent (hence harmless to them) book! They hate it for .the same reason that the incorrigible criminal hates the righteous arm of the law that punishes him. But, as was Christ, so is the Bible today, "hated without a cause." (John 15:25).
26. THOUGH THE BIBLE IS AN ANCIENT ORIENTAL BOOK, YET IT IS WITHOUT MISTAKE, CONTRADICTION, AND DEMONSTRABLE ERROR, and it is HISTORICALLY ACCURATE
We speak, not of the various translations of the Bible (for men may err in translating), but of the Bible as. originally given; though both the Authorized and the Revised translations are conceded to be remarkably accurate translations, on the whole.
"Nor has the widest learning and acutest ingenuity of skepticism," said Archdeacon Farrar, "ever pointed to one complete and demonstrable error of fact or doctrine in the Old or New Testament." Thomas Newberry, a devout English student, spent fifty years studying the Bible. He said, "I accept the . . . plenary inspiration of the Scriptures. I have studied every ’jot and title’ of the Word of God, and after these fifty years I see no reason for changing my position." Hundreds of Bible scholars, of the highest rank intellectually, can testify to the same conclusion.
We are well aware of the fact that infidels claim that "the Bible is full of contradictions." But these so-called "contradictions" exist solely in the mind of the infidel! Every supposed discrepancy has been fully and satisfactorily explained by reverent scholarship. We would expect the perfect God to produce a perfect Book, and SO IT IS. We challenge the world to point to a single, demonstrable error or bona fide contradiction in the Bible in the original languages. The Bible mentions thousands of historical incidents persons and places; consider how staggering is the fact that there is NOT ONE demonstrable historical inaccuracy in it. Surely, God wrote the Book!
27. Though the Bible was written by a nation not scientifically inclined and in an age of gross ignorance of scientific subjects, THE BIBLE IS SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE, and thousands of years ahead of its time When one considers that the Jews were "without telescopes, microscopes, or the faintest interest in experimental science" and then wrote a book that, whenever it touches the realm of science, speaks with ABSOLUTE ACCURACY, we are confronted by a literary miracle of the first magnitude.
"The Bible is not a book of science, but it is a scientific book. When the Bible does speak on a question of science it speaks with the same absolute infallibility it possesses when it speaks on history or faith." (Rimmer.) "I have searched the Bible from beginning to end for scientific error and have found none," says Mr. Harry Rimmer, President of the Science Research Bureau. (Mr. Rimmer will give $100 to any person who can demonstrate one scientific fallacy in the Bible.) The Bible taught, long before man discovered it, the countless number of the stars (Genesis 22:17; Jeremiah 33:22), and this at a time when man thought there were about 3,000 stars!; the immensity of space (Job 22:12; Isaiah 55:9); the universal law of motion (Job 38:7); the refraction of light (Job 38:12-13); the weight of atmosphere (Job 28:25); the sphericity of the earth (Isaiah 40:22); the circuits of the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:6); that light is vocal (Psalms 65:8; Psalms 19:2) ; the heavens are built on circuits—or, orbits—(Job 22:14); man’s body has the same chemical analysis as the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7); and many, many more such facts. Where did the authors of Scripture get their scientific information, and who protected them from making the foolish mistakes that the other ancient writers made (like teaching that the world was supported on the back of an elephant, etc.)? The only possible answer is, GOD IS THE REAL AUTHOR OF THE BOOK!
28. THE BIBLE CONTAINS THE ONLY REASONABLE COSMOGONY KNOWN TO MAN
Most every truly great scientist alive today admits the FIRST CAUSE—A Supreme Creative Intelligence—as the Originator of the Universe. That is exactly what Moses said, "In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1.) Dr. I. W. Dawson, the distinguished scientist, said, "The order o-f creation as stated in Genesis is faultless in the light of modern science."
Some misinformed people say the Bible teaches that God created the heavens and the earth 6,000 years ago. It says no such thing. It does say, "IN THE BEGINNING God created the heavens and the earth;" and that may have been millions of years ago. The second verse of Genesis 1:1-31, "And the earth became without form and void," etc., refers to a time long after the original creation spoken of in the first verse. The rest of Genesis 1:1-31 teaches the steps in the process of RE-CREATING THE WORLD AND MAKING IT HABITABLE FOR MAN. The Bible does teach that MAN was created about 6 to 8 thousand years ago; and there is no historical proof to the contrary. The only thing that conflicts with that teaching is man’s unscientific, unprovable, absurd theory of Evolution. Man’s authentic dated history (ascertained dates) does not go back further than 6,000 years,
29. THE BIBLE TEACHES THE ONLY RATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE: Man’s Origin and Destiny and the Purpose of his Creation; the Origin and Destiny of Evil, and Reason and Cure for Sin With majestic simplicity the Bible reveals to us that •"God CREATED man in His own image" (Genesis 1:26). lit further reveals that man was created to serve God, enjoy Him, and glorify Him forever. What higher philosophy of life than that—the divine origin, and intended divine end, for man? Man alone is able to frustrate the benevolent purposes of his Creator when he deliberately chooses sin and refuses to submit to His plan of blessing. As to the presence of evil in the world, man either denies it, tries to explain it away, or worships it (to protect himself from it). The Bible teaches that evil emanates originally from a created intelligence, a free moral agent, that once was perfect but introduced evil into the Universe by starting a rebellion against God—a rebellion inspired by pride and envy (See Isaiah 14:1-32; Ezekiel 28:1-26). The name of this being is Satan, or the Devil. In the end, all evil will be subjugated and segregated, and God will create a NEW universe in which dwelleth absolute righteousness (Revelation 21:1-27 and Revelation 22:1-20). The universe is ruled by a faithful God who punishes sin and rewards faith and obedience. The vicarious suffering of Christ on the cross is God’s remedy for man’s sin. Those who repent and trust Christ are saved from sin and its consequences. "Christ died for our sins . . . and rose again." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
All man’s philosophies are dismal failures. Frederick Nietzsche taught that "might is right" and plunged civilization into the catastrophe of the World War; the Epicurean philosophy of "eat, drink, and be merry" makes beasts of men; the Stoic philosophy makes cruel, unfeeling monsters out of men; the Marxian philosophy of socialism and "collectivism" rules God out, makes "religion the opium of the people" and ends in a selfish, degrading materialism. But the Bible, when accepted, lifts and ennobles man, and makes him altruistic and Christ-like.
"The Bible is the one Book," says Ruskin, "to which anyone can go with life’s great questions to find God’s answer."
ONLY GOD could have made the revelations, about man and evil and the origin and destiny of things, found in the Bible!
30. ARCHEOLOGY BEARS FAITHFUL TESTIMONY TO THE INFINITESIMAL ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE
Professor G. W. Wright has said, "All history is fragmentary. Each particular fact is the center of an infinite complex of circumstances. No man has intelligence enough to insert a suppositious fact into circumstances not belonging to it, and make it fit exactly. This only Infinite Intelligence could do. A successful forgery, therefore, is impossible if only we have a sufficient number of the original circumstances with which to compare it." This principle is what makes it possible to discover literary forgeries claiming to be history. Very little cross examination is necessary to reveal the historical truthfulness or falsity of a book.
Eager bloodhounds of truth have tested the Bible, on thousands of points, by the findings of Archeology—recently unearthed monuments, tablets, tombs, manuscripts, papyri and inscriptions and the Bible has been abundantly vindicated! The late Dr. Melvin G. Kyle, one of the greatest archeologists, said, "There has never been found anything that discredits statements of facts in the Bible." And here is the amazing thing: almost the entire list of names, places and events of the Bible have been corroborated by the findings of archeology! (Kyle.)
Sir William Ramsay, famous Oxford scholar, was con-Averted from the critical view to the conservative view of the Bible by his own archeological research work. He says, "I set out to look for truth on the borderland where Greece and Asia meet, and I found it there . . . the words of Luke stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment." And again, he said, "The longer I study the New Testament, the more convinced I become of its absolute trustworthiness . . . Christianity is the religion of truth; it is founded on truth, absolute and perfect truth."
Dear sirs, the very stones, unearthed by diligent archeologists, are crying out in defense of God’s Word!
31. THE REMARKABLE, ACCURATE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BIBLE PROVES ITS INSPIRATION In his scholarly book, "The Corning Prince," Sir Robert Anderson presents amazing proof of the accuracy of the prophetic chronology in Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27. Here is a part of the passage: "Seventy weeks (sevens of years) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city . . . Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks." Sir Anderson says, commenting on this passage; In March, 445 B. C., the Persian ruler Artaxerxes Longimanus issued the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. The prophecy states that from this commandment (445 B.C.) to "Messiah the Prince" shall be 69 "weeks" ("seven weeks and threescore and two> weeks"). A "week" here means seven years; the 69 "weeks" would make 483 prophetic years; (a prophetic-year, the "year" used in the Bible, is 360 days—the-mean, between a lunar year of 355 days and the solar-year of 365 days).
Appealing to the Astronomer Royal of Great Britain; Sir Robert Anderson found the date of the Jewish New Year of that year to be March 14. Taking the Triumphal" Entry of Christ into Jerusalem as the event that best sat satisfies the words, "Messiah the Prince," which was on; Sunday, April 6, 32 A. D., he found that the interval: between—from March 14, 445 B.C. to April 6, 32 A.D. contained exactly, and to the very day, 173,880 days, or seven times 69 prophetic years of 360 days each, the first 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy of "Seventy Weeks." The only possible explanation for this chronological and prophetic wonder is GOD WROTE THE BOOK’!
32. ITS TEACHINGS ABOUT THE PERSON AND CHARACTER OF GOD PROVE IT TO BE GOD’S REVELATION OF HIMSELF
Man, left to his own bent, turns to idolatry and polytheism, as may be seen in every heathen land today. While all surrounding nations worshipped idols, and gods many, Israel was taught the Unity and essential Spirit-Being of God. The Bible further reveals God as being a Trinity in Unity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19); this is a conception of Deity entirely contrary to the natural conclusions of man, as may be seen by the fact that today, the very nation that, gave us the Bible, rejects that teaching. The Sovereignty of God (Romans 9:1-33), His Omnipresence (Psalms 138:6-8), the fact that He is Spirit and yet has a form (John 4:24; Php 2:6), are conceptions of Deity that did not originate in the mind of man. He is presented in Scripture as All-powerful, All-wise, absolutely Just, infinitely Loving, Eternal and Unchangeable —the only true conception of God ever presented to the human race. All literature everywhere fails to any where near approach the Bible revelation of the Person and Character of God. Hence we are forced to this dual conclusion: God must have written the Book; and if it be argued that the Bible is not God’s Word, then we are forced to the conclusion that God is unknown and unknowable.
33. THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE ABOUT MAN PROVE IT TO BE OF DIVINE ORIGIN The Bible, like Christ, "knows what is in man!" (John 2:25.) Many a man, in reading the Bible, has come to the same conclusion that the Chinese did, as expressed in his words, "He that made this Book made me!" If man had written the Bible, he would have exalted himself more than Romans 3:10-23 does, and he would never have told on himself, how easily he had been victimized by the devil (Genesis 3:1-6). Man would not care to condemn a portion of the race to hell because of sin and unbelief (Matthew 25:41) and he would not dare to lift a portion of the race, the repentant and believing, to eternal partnership in the very glory of God Himself. (1 John 3:1-2) The doctrine of the creation of man in God’s image, (Genesis 1:26), his fall, (Genesis 3:1-6), his present state of separation from God (Luke 19:10), his insignificance in the sight of the Almighty and yet his eternal importance (Psalms 8:1-9), .are teachings that COULD NOT HAVE COME FROM UNINSPIRED MAN.
34. THE TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE ON SIN AND SALVATION PROVE IT TO BE A REVELATION FROM GOD
Man’s tendency is to make light of sin: he calls it a mistake, or a habit, or a fault; but God describes it as REBELLION against His righteous government, an insult to Him, a heinous, loathsome disease.
Man always seeks salvation and favor from God as a reward for his "goodness." His doctrine is "salvation by character." But this idea is entirely foreign to the Bible, God reveals, in the Bible, that salvation is by GRACE; that man is a hopelessly lost and condemned sinner and can do NOTHING to save himself, except trust Christ, let Christ save him. (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:5.)
Furthermore, the Bible teaches that .most unusual doctrine THAT GOD HIMSELF, IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON, SUFFERED THE JUST PUNISHMENT FOR SIN THAT .SHOULD HAVE FALLEN ON SINFUL MAN. (See 2 Corinthians 5:20-21; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 2:24) Therefore, because Christ died for our sins, and made full atonement for us on the cross, God offers full pardon and everlasting life to all who will come to Christ, in repentance and faith. (John 3:16; Acts 16:31.)
Gentlemen of the jury, the doctrines of the exceeding sinfulness of sin (Romans 7:13), the substitutionary work of Christ on the Cross, and salvation by grace, DID NOT ORIGINATE IN THE DARKENED MIND OF MAN.
35. THE BIBLE TEACHING ON A HOST OF OTHER SUBJECTS PROVES IT TO BE FROM GOD Who among men could or would invent the doctrine of the Holy Spirit? of the Unpardonable Sin (Matthew 12:31-32)? or the Separation of Church and State (Matthew 22:21) ? or the judgments described in the book of Revelation (Revelation 16:1-10)? The Bible teaches men NOT to seek after money and material gain (Matthew 6:25-34); NOT to seek revenge; NOT to take the highest place, but the lowest (Matthew 20:26-27).
Such teachings are SUPERNATURAL, as far above man’s thoughts as the heavens are above the earth.
36. VIEWED MERELY AS LITERATURE, WE MUST CONCLUDE THAT IT IS INSPIRED BY GOD
Gladstone said in awe, "All the wonders of Greek civilization were not as wonderful as this single book of Psalms." And ,Sir Walter Scott said, when dying, "Give me THE Book."
"It is the finest bit of literature ever written by the pen of man," was Thomas Carlyle’s estimate of the Bible, and he should have been a good judge, for he was no mean .master of the quill himself. Though not a Christian, Mr. Proude, the eminent English historian, once said, "The Bible thoroughly known is a literature of itself— "the rarest and the richest in all departments of thought."
"All the great men I have met during the course of my thirty years’ world wanderings," said Sir Harry Lauder, "have told me that they loved the Bible not simply for its moral precepts, not solely as the spiritual foundation on which they had tried to build their lives and guide their actions, but because it is the greatest book that exists, containing within its pages all the romance, all the poetry, all the literature, all the hopes and fears of mankind, now and hereafter."
Sir William Jones, "one of the most accomplished linguists and oriental scholars that England has ever produced" (Encyclopedia Britannica) expressed the following opinion which he records on the last leaf of his Bible: "I have regularly and attentively read these Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion that this volume . . . contains more sublimity and beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence than can be found in all other books, in whatever age or language that may have been written."
Though not a believer, the late Arthur Brisbane said, "Job and Isaiah could do more to correct the deplorable weakness and carelessness of newspaper English than all other teachers combined." The Bible contains "supreme examples of every form of great literature: Lyric poetry—the Psalms; epic poetry—Genesis; dramatic poetry—Job; historical narrative—the books of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles; pastoral idyl— Ruth; patriotic appeal—Esther and Daniel; practical wisdom—Proverbs; philosophical reflections—Ecclesiastes; impassioned oratory—Isaiah; short stories—the Gospels; letters—the various epistles of the New Testament; mystical exaltation—the Apocalypse."
"How certain it is that ’God spake all these Words’!" "Forever, 0 Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven" (Psalms 119:89).
37. THE FACT THAT THE BIBLE SUBJECTS ALL TO GOD AND HIS GLORY PROVES IT TO BE HIS BOOK
If man had written the Bible, it would have sprung from man, be centered in man, and ended in man; but the Bible is CHRIST-CENTERED. "The message of the Old Testament is CHRIST; the message of the New Testament is JESUS; the message of the entire Bible is JESUS CHRIST." He is presented in type, in symbol, in prophecy, in history, as Savior and Lord of all.
God, in Christ, is presented as the Source of every blessing man can ever have, the Source of Salvation from sin and every foe of man, the peace and happiness of His people and their one Object of hope, praise and worship. (See Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 2:8-9; Psalms 16:8-11.) In Eternity God will be "all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28), and Father and Son will be upon the throne—the Center and Source of all things (Revelation 21:1-27 and Revelation 22:1-20).
Man, self-centered, haughty, bigoted, would never write a book so honoring to the Creator.
38. THE RETICENCE OF THE BIBLE ON SOME SUBJECTS PROVES ITS DIVINE ORIGIN
"The secret, things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever" (Deuteronomy 29:29).
Uninspired man attempts to write up the account of the early years of Christ, on which subject the Bible is silent; the result is a most fantastic and impossible narrative, describing odd "miracles" of His boyhood, etc. Many details about the future life are left unrevealed, points on which man’s curiosity is very great (for example, the question "will babies grow up in heaven?"). Had man written the Book, he would have supplied all those details (from his imagination) and would have produced a most absurd volume.
39. THE INCLUSION IN THE BIBLE OF MANY PARTS THAT MAN CONSIDERS "UNNECESSARY" PROVE IT TO BE OF DIVINE ORIGIN For example, man would have left out "those long, dry lists of genealogies" in the Old Testament. And yet, they are an invaluable part of the Bible, for without them the Messiahship of Jesus could never have been established. These lists of names also have proven invaluable in establishing the historical accuracy of the Bible, through the findings of archeologists.
Man, probably, would have left out the book of Leviticus, which many consider "dry and uninteresting." But rightly studied this book is one of the most interesting and instructive in the entire Bible, for it teaches spiritual’ truth by TYPES. No doubt, man would have written only one life of Christ, instead of the four Gospels as we’ now have them. But that would have been a calamity., for as it is we have Christ presented from four viewpoints by four independent witnesses, proving its genuineness and authenticity, as well as giving us a rounded-out view of the Son of God who became the Son of man. The repetitions of the Bible might be likened to the duplications in the body of man: man has TWO feet^ TWO hands, TWO eyes, to make him more efficient as a man; the Bible is a living organism—its repetitions make it more efficient, and are all necessary.
40. THE BIBLE SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY— (Matthew 7:29)
"Scribes" and "scientists" do NOT speak with authority, but rather with such expressions as, "We believe," "it might well be," "in all probability," "quite likely," etc. But the Bible comes out flat-footedly with a "Thus saith the Lord," and that is the end of all argument. The Bible is conclusive and definite in its message. Christ did not say, "Come unto me . . . and I will do my best to give you rest;" far be it from such. He said, "I WILL give you rest." His promises are "yea and amen." He said He was "THE truth, THE way (not "a way"— one among many), THE life." (John 14:6.) Christ claimed ALL power and ALL authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18); and a little study of the words "all," "everywhere," "whosoever" and "eternal" will convince anyone of the finality and all-inclusiveness of the Bible. "The Bible is the eternal Book. It is the Voice; all others are merely echoes."
Truth is the most dogmatic, uncompromising thing in the universe; light can admit of no darkness, purified gold dare not be mixed with dross, truth cannot endure error. The Bible, absolute and eternal truth, never compromises, never changes, never apologizes. And its truths, "spoken with authority" HAVE NEVER BEEN GAINSAID.
41. IT FEARLESSLY EXPOSES THE SINS, AS WELL AS PRAISES THE VIRTUES, OF ITS WRITERS AND GREATEST HEROES
Hero-worship is an innate characteristic of man. The great men of every country are presented to posterity in nigh flawless perfection by their compatriot biographers. A magazine article reminds us that "George Washington’s portrait-painters gave no hint that his face was deeply pitted by smallpox, and his biographers—Parson Weems and the rest—made him so flawless that he ceased to be human." An effectual antidote is to read his recently published diary, we are told.
Contrast the Word of God which faithfully presents all the pockmarks of sin, the evil as well as the good, in its greatest characters. The mighty David’s sin of murder and adultery is laid bare (2 Samuel 11:1-27) Abraham’s subtle lying is exposed, (Genesis 12:1-20), and Peter’s cowardly denial is recorded, (Matthew 26:69-75). Did uninfluenced man write this? Psychologically impossible! The sheer truthfulness, and ultra-human exactitude of Scripture proves that the Bible is God-given.
42. THE SINS, PUNISHMENT AND DEFEATS OF THE VERY NATION THAT GAVE US THE BIBLE ARE GIVEN WITH UNBIASED TRUTHFULNESS The Bible presents the history of Israel as "an almost continual and humiliating record of ingratitude, pride, unbelief, rebellion, and willful departure from God."
Note the humiliating frankness of this, in Deuteronomy 9:6-8, "Thou art a stiff-necked people. Remember and forget not how thou provokest the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord." Had the historical sections of Scripture that describe their experiences sprung from the heart of the Jewish nation, instead of from the heart of God, they never would have kept the uncensored record of absolute fact as it exists today.
43. IN MANY INSTANCES, THE WRITERS DID NOT UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN MESSAGE, NEITHER DID THE PEOPLE OF THEIR AGE, BUT THE MEANING OF IT WAS REVEALED AT A FUTURE DATE, TO OTHER GENERATIONS
Gentlemen of the jury, this is a most amazing fact. Men were constrained to write things which they did not understand, but which were found, generations later, to "bear a necessary and perfectly coherent and intelligible message.
Here is a definite example of what we mean: "And I (Daniel) heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: FOR THE WORDS ARE CLOSED UP AND SEALED TILL THE TIME OF THE END" (Daniel 12:8-9). Habakkuk 2:3 states the same fact in these words, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie." Peter presents the same fact in 1 Peter 1:10-11. The prophets of the Old Testament were puzzled by the messages which the Holy Spirit moved them to give; now that those messages have been fulfilled, or partially fulfilled (for some await a complete fulfillment at the second coming of Christ) in Christ, we readily understand them. The 22nd Psalm and Isaiah 53:1-12 illustrate this. Neither chapter was clear till its fulfillment in the crucifixion of Christ clarified it. This one fact, duly considered, will persuade any thinking man who wants to know and obey the truth, THAT THE BIBLE IS A DIVINELY GIVEN BOOK.
44. THE BIBLE IS WRITTEN IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT IS INTELLIGIBLE TO ONE GROUP AND UNINTELLIGIBLE TO ANOTHER; that is to say, it reveals truth to willingness and humility, and conceals truth from pride and stubbornness
Two men were looking at the same picture—a picture of a horse running. One admired it, and the other laughed at it. The difference lay in the fact that one man looked at the picture right side up, and it was a masterpiece; the other looked at it upside down, and the horse seemed to be sprawling grotesquely. So all men are divided into two groups, relative to the Bible: some see it as God’s masterpiece, and others laugh at it as a ridiculous hodge podge. And that unique characteristic lies inherent in the Bible: it was written largely in parabolic and symbolic form, so that to some (willing searchers for truth) "it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" and to others (unwilling ones) "it is not given." And that explains why an uneducated, though sincere, person can believe and rejoice in God’s Word, while a lettered University professor may fail entirely to see the beauty and inspiration of it. That leads us to state this vitally important proposition: The primary difficulties which stand in the way of accepting the Bible as God’s Word are MORAL, not intellectual. The battleground between faith and unbelief is the HEART and not the head. The Bible is never unreasonable, it is ABOVE reason; it is discerned by the spirit and not by the mind, though the mind is the gateway that allows convincing facts to reach the heart. "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 Corinthians 2:14).
Pascal said, "There is light enough for those who "WISH to see." The evidence, in the final analysis has "been so ordained that only those who are "WILLING TO DO GOD’S WILL" see it as convincing proof. And the reason for this is plain: The Bible is not merely a collection of biographies and a history, IT IS GOD’S GUIDEBOOK TO ETERNAL LIFE FOR LOST MANKIND.
None but God could write a Book like that!
45. A CAREFUL STUDY OF THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE PROVES IT TO BE INSPIRED
Bishop Wescott, than whom there has been no greater student of the Greek New Testament, said, "The whole force of the revelation of the Bible is contained in just two letters—the Greek preposition for ’in.’ The little Greek word en is found in the New Testament 2,700 times, and without inspiration, it would have been impossible for the writers, most of whom were ’unlearned and ignorant men’ (Acts 4:13) to use the word with the unanimous and accurate precision that they did." — (Brookes). In Galatians 3:16 Paul propounds an important doctrine on a quotation from the Old Testament, noting* especially that the Old Testament used the SINGULAR and not the PLURAL, that is, "seed," not "seeds."
Dr. Robert Dick Wilson, one of the world’s greatest Hebrew scholars, (and master and student of 44 other languages) after an exhaustive study of the words of the Old Testament (in one case he examined 100,000 citations from extant literature of the period to determine1 the accurate meaning of one word) was a devout believer in the literal inspiration of the Bible. He said, "I have come to the conviction that no man knows enough to assail the truthfulness of the Old Testament."
46. THE SUPERNATURAL COMPACTNESS OF THE BIBLE PROVES IT TO BE GOD-GIVEN As an illustration of this fact, consider the first verse-in the Bible, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That verse goes back to the far reaches of" the dim past, to the very dawn of all physical creation,,. "In the beginning." It reaches up to the very Throne room of the universe, to the greatest Being of all, "God." It tells, simply, grandly, of the greatest display of physical power ever expended, "God created." It includes the billions of stars, "the heavens." And it settles down on our world, "the earth." With one stroke of the pen, the false ideas of pantheism, atheism, polytheism, evolution, and idolatry are swept aside, "God created." Without; difficulty we could fill the remaining pages of this booklet with further EXPOSITION OF THAT ONE VERSE.
Hundreds of ministers have preached as high as 25 different sermons from ONE TEXT, like John 3:16;. There is no other book in the world like that.
47. THE SIMPLICITY AND PROFUNDITY OF THE BIBLE PROVE IT TO BE OF DIVINE ORIGIN
God’s works are characterized by being both simple and profound. With the simple, primary colors of the rainbow God can paint an exquisite sunset. God has provided the race with ten simple numbers, yet how profound are the mathematical problems that can be devised from them!
C. H. Spurgeon, "the prince of preachers," says in his preface to the fifth volume of his "Treasury of David," "We can but express our sense of the superficiality of the best and most laborious of comments, when compared with the bottomless depths of the Sacred Word."
Several years ago a man in Toronto was entertaining’ Sir William Dawson, foremost Canadian scholar and scientist. One morning he was studying and enjoying the first chapters of Genesis; in another room, at the same time, the nurse was reading the story of Joseph from this same book of Genesis to one of the small children, and the child, excited, wanted her "to go on with it" when an interruption came. Here is a phenomenon: a child and a scientist BOTH enjoy a Book written 3,500 years ago.
Every book written by man can be fathomed by man; but no man yet has fathomed the Bible in all its parts and completely mastered it! GOD WROTE THE BOOK!
48. THE BIBLE IS A BOOK THAT FITS THE NEEDS OF EVERY AGE—IT IS PERPETUALLY UP TO DATE
Infinite Wisdom that dictated the Bible produced a Book that is adapted to every age of the world’s history. Whether it be an age of war, or an age of peace; whether it be the "dark ages" or our modern industrial age, the people of God have fed. upon it, leaned upon it, been guided and comforted by it. The advance of inventions, the accumulation of a vast scientific nomenclature, the widespread education of our times have not banished the Word of God from the stage of the world; contrariwise, it has become more precious, if anything, because more needed. It is still the daily food to those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness." For world news, the Bible (though it is the oldest book-in the world) anticipates the newspapers. It is perpetually fresh and refreshing; each reading brings out new-thoughts and blessing’. Daniel Webster was asked, "What part of the Bible do you like the best?" and he answered, "The part that I read last."
49. THE BIBLE IS THE UNIVERSAL BOOK THAT FITS THE NEEDS OF ALL PEOPLES
It is the one true international Book as may be seen by the fact that during the World War the British government allowed the British and Foreign Bible Society to send $1,000 a month to Berlin to maintain the supplies of German Scriptures. It is a Book for the cultured Oxford’ scholar as well as for the newly converted raw African cannibal. And it is TRANSLATABLE, for it has the universal appeal. Americans, Chinese, Eskimos, Indians— believers of all nationalities the world over—can claim the Book as their very own. Very, very few books overleap national boundaries and become international.
It presents the only solution to the problems of patriotism, caste, internationalism, and the dividing powers of wealth, sex, age, color, race, birth and environment. In. its full New Testament development it establishes the only real international brotherhood of man possible, "ali! one in Christ Jesus,"—so wiping out all differences in an eternal union of love, "in Christ."
"Hidden, treasured, ineradicable and forever secure, the Bible and its possession is ubiquitous. It has its place.’ on the judge’s bench, within the soldier’s knapsack, the merchant’s desk, the salesman’s suitcase, the sailor’s bunk, the schoolgirl’s satchel. It is the one Book for all. Oh, when I see there is no spot, or condition, or circumstance, or individual for which the Bible is not adapted, I am convinced that only God could have written a Book so marvelous in its suitability."—(Evangeline Booth).
50. THE TYPES OF THE BIBLE PROVE IT TO BE A SUPERNATURAL BOOK The persons, things and events of the Old Testament are all "types" (illustrations or foreshadowing-s) of Spiritual Truth. For example, the Passover Lamb, described in Exodus 12:1-51, is a "type" of Christ the "Lamb of God." (1 Corinthians 5:7.) The lamb had to be "without blemish" (Exodus 12:5) representing the sinlessness of Christ; it had to be killed (v. 6)—so Christ was put to death on the cross for the sins of the people; the blood of the lamb had to be sprinkled (v. 7)—picturing the need of personal faith, the individual applying, by faith, the merit’s of Calvary to his own need; those protected by the "sprinkled blood" were "passed over" on that night of judgment, while death of ’the first born passed upon every home where no blood was sprinkled—in like manner at the judgment day those who have trusted in Christ for salvation will be spared, and those who have not will be condemned (John 3:36).
Dr. A. J. Gordon said, "The types of the Old Testament are as accurate as mathematics." THIS IS A LITERARY MIRACLE THAT FINDS NO PARALLEL IN ALL THE LITERATURE OF THE WORLD. And the amazing fact is, the types are found inherent in the regular narrative of the Old Testament, and are not written especially as parables or types. EVERY step in Israel’s history, whether good or bad, is a TYPE. The thousands of volumes that have been written on the subject of the typical meaning of Scripture have not begun to exhaust it. This ONE FACT, duly considered and carefully investigated is proof enough to any fair-minded inquirer that ONLY GOD COULD WRITE A BOOK LIKE THAT.
51. THE MIRACLES OF THE BIBLE PROVE ITS DIVINE INSPIRATION
He who makes a watch can press on the stem and turn the watch BACKWARDS—contrary to its normal law of going forward. This "miracle" is performed by the direct intervention of a "higher power" than the regular operation of the watch springs. So, the God who made nature can intervene and put in operation a HIGHER POWER and produce a result superior to natural law. But, it is self-evident that only One greater than nature can do that. The miracles of the Bible prove two things: that the God who is superior to nature is the God of the Bible., and that the Bible is His "Voice"—His medium of expression—to give His message to the world. The miracles of the Bible are well-attested, being witnessed by scores, and in some instances, by hundreds of individuals. The Miracles of the Bible are never absurd (as are the "miracles" of .mythology) nor are they for vain display, but always to ACCOMPLISH GOOD. And here is the marvelous fact: every miracle of the Bible is PARABOLIC—it teaches a lesson. As we expect the king to wear a crown, but ONLY the king; so we expect the Bible to contain the record of true miracles, and it is the only Book in the world that does.
52. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST PROVES THE BIBLE TRUE AND CHRISTIANITY THE GOD-GIVEN RELIGION
Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby, the philosophical historian of England, writes of the Resurrection of Christ as follows: "Thousands and tens of thousands of persons have gone through it (the Bible) piece by piece •as carefully as ever judge summed up a most important case. I have myself done it many times over, not to per-.suade others, but to satisfy myself. I have been used for many years to study the history of other times, and to •examine and weight the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history •of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence •of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God hath given-us, that Christ died and rose again from the dead."
Greenleaf, of Harvard, authority on "evidence," said that according to the legal evidence in the highest courts of Europe and America, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are genuine and authentic, that Christ’s claims are true, and that He rose from the dead. He subjected the witnesses to the severest cross-examination, and then published a book in which he announced that THE EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST CANNOT BE OVERTHROWN. The fact that the world faces ONLY ONE EMPTY TOMB greatly simplifies the problem of search for religious truth. For the Resurrection of Christ is God’s approval on, and seal to, His claims to be God the ,Son and Savior of the world; for, if His claims had been false the righteous God of Heaven would have allowed Him to stay in the grave, in common with all pretenders. But Christ was raised from the dead, "declaring Him to be the Son of God with power." (Romans 1:4.) A RESURRECTED CHRIST MEANS A VINDICATED BIBLE FOR THE BIBLE IS HIS MESSAGE.
53. THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE ABOUT WOMEN PROVE IT TO BE GOD’S WORD
Man’s tendency is either to degrade woman to the level of a beast, or (in some few instances) glorify her into a useless ornament. The Bible does neither, but presents her as man’s equal spiritually and morally, his inferior physically (1 Peter 3:7), his help meet socially (Genesis 2:18), the object (in married life) of his solicitous love and care and protection (Ephesians 5:25-29). Man is placed as the head of the home and of the church, with woman acting under his direction as his lieutenant (1 Corinthians 11:3; Genesis 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:12), and when man is prompted by love, as the Bible says he should be, the results of her subjection to him are most happy. The husband is to "honor" his wife and "praise her in the gates." In the Bible the rights of women are guarded with respect to inheritance, to marriage, to divorce. The Bible teaches monogamy, and so does away with the curse of polygamy and the harem. The Bible places the wife and mother as queen of the home (she is to "guide the house"), thus giving her one of the greatest responsibilities of life. "A virtuous woman?" Her price is "far above rubies." (Proverbs 31:1-31.) In many heathen nations woman is a soulless animal, to be bought and sold, used and abused, kicked and cuffed about. It is quite evident, men of the jury, that the God of both men and women wrote the Bible.
54, WHAT THE BIBLE HAS DONE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN, AND WEAK AND DESPISED GROUPS, PROVES IT TO BE GOD’S WORD
"In the history of humanity," says Herbert Spencer, "the saddest part concerns the treatment of women, and had we before us its unwritten history we should find this part still sadder." The Hindu woman echoed the heart cry of millions of her sisters when she prayed, "Oh God, let no more women be born in India."
CHRIST IS THE GREATEST BENEFACTOR WOMANHOOD HAS EVER HAD; and the same might be said about children whom He took in His arms and blessed. The influence of the Bible has led to the building of innumerable hospitals, orphanages, charitable institutions and asylums. Only in Christian lands are women, and their rights, honored, respected and protected.
"By the study of no other book can children be so humanized." Surely, God gave the Book!
55. THE BIBLE IS UNIMPROVEABLE; THIS SHOWS THAT IT MUST BE GOD’S WORK
Man’s work is never perfect. His automobiles of today will be improved on by the next generation. The scientific textbooks of the past generation are the joke books of the present. The Bible has no statement in it that has ever required correction. There is as much difference between the Bible and other books as there is between a rose and an artificial rose. One is nature—the work of God—and the other is art—the work of man. To try to improve the Bible is "gilding the lily." There is something about the style of the Bible which makes it INIMITABLE. And who would be foolish enough to even attempt to improve on the 23rd Psalm? or the Sermon on the Mount? or the book of Eomans? (which some one has termed "the greatest piece of logic ever penned by man"). A book that has been in the world for a score of centuries—before, ages before, our modern era of learning—and is unimprovable in any way MUST BE "THE WORK OF GOD!
56. THE BIBLE IS A CHRIST-CENTERED BOOK The types of the Old Testament point to CHRIST; the prophecies of both Testaments point to CHRIST; the Gospels tell of CHRIST in the flesh; the Acts tells of the ministry of the risen CHRIST; the epistles unfold the Person and work of CHRIST; the Revelation is the "unveiling" of CHRIST in His post-resurrection glory and majesty. Jesus is "the fullness, the center and the fascination of the Bible." Other religions have ethics but not a SAVIOR. The charm of the Bible lies in its tender, loving Redeemer, who suffered for us, who cares for us, who is our Mediator, our Shepherd, our Great High Priest, our Bread and Water of Life, our Bridegroom, our All and in All, the One Altogether Lovely, the irresistible Son of God! Oh how you’ll love Him when you know Him! A man gave a friend a woodland scene, telling him that in the picture he would find the profile of Napoleon. The recipient of the gift looked at the picture many, many times without finding the profile; but eventually it dawned on him—THERE IT WAS, just as plain as day! Why hadn’t he seen it before! Ever after, when he looked at that picture, he saw the profile of Napoleon, and the woodland scene was secondary. SO IT IS WITH THE BIBLE: it contains the picture of CHRIST, and when once the devout student finds HIM there he can see but very little beside. Only a literary artist like God could write a Book like that.
57. THE "SELF-AUTHENTICATINGNESS" OF THE BIBLE PROVES ITS INSPIRATION In a sense (as Bettex pointed out) the Bible is not in need of proof, because it does not treat of that which is relative, but establishes that which is absolute. The relative must be proved, the absolute not. This is illustrated in Spurgeon’s story of the woman who was confronted by an agnostic who asked her what she was reading. She .replied, "The Word of God." "The Word of God. Who told you it was the Word of God?" "He told me so Him-,self." "He told you so; how can you prove that?" Looking skyward the trusting soul said, "Can you prove to me that there is a sun up in the sky?" "Why of course; the best proof is it warms me and I can see its light." "That’s it," she said joyously, "The best proof that this Book is God’s Word is that it warms and enlightens my soul." It .is the light" of the world, spiritually, just as much as the sun is the light of the world physically. As mother love can be sensed, as beauty is engraved on the face of a lovely maiden, so the Bible has that very real but indefinable something that assures the heart it is God’s Voice. When a man steps up to us we know he is not a robot; there is an apparent, difference between a glass and a real diamond; a painted moon could never be hung up in the air and deceive the people of earth; truth always .has inherent characteristics that are unmistakable, though (Often they are difficult to describe and define; SO IT IS WITH THE BIBLE. IT POSSESSES THE LIFE AND NATURALNESS THAT PERSUADE THE HEART THAT IT IS GOD’S WORD, and not an imitation.
* * *
Let the reader not think that these "57 Reasons" have exhausted the subject. Many more reasons could be given, but we must stop somewhere. Let us now return, again, to our court room scene. We will line up the witnesses—57 of them—on the stand, and ALL OF THEM GIVE THEIR UNIMPEACHABLE TESTIMONY THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD. We conclude, with Dean Burgon (famous Oxford scholar), "The Bible none other but the WORD OF GOD, the utterance of Tim that sitteth upon the Throne, absolute, faultless, un-ring, supreme—’the witness of God which He hath testified of His Son.’ " The tragedy of modern life is, people do not READ the Bible enough and give it a chance to speak for itself. While standing on the front steps of his residence, the thought suddenly flashed into the mind of Alexander Hamilton, "What, after all, if the Bible is true?" He had never examined the Book with the attention he would have given an ordinary civil case, in return for the most meager of retaining fees. The next morning he began the study of the Holy Scriptures with the result stated by himself: "I believe the religion of Christians to be the truth; that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that He made an atonement for our sins by His death; and that He rose for our justification."
Read the Bible prayerfully, carefully, and with heart and mind open to know and follow the Truth, for God reveals truth only to those who are willing to know and do His will; "If any man willeth to do His will, HE SHALL KNOW OF THE TEACHING." (John 7:17.) To those who have hitherto read the Bible but little, we urge them to start now by reading FIRST, carefully and repeatedly, the Gospel of John in the New Testament, (see John 20:31); .SECOND, start at the beginning of the New Testament, and read it through repeatedly; THIRD, start at Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament and read the whole Bible through.
Because the Bible is the Word of God we know that man’s eternal destiny depends on what he does with the Christ of whom the Bible testifies. Reader, if you haven’t already done so, will you right here and now accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, and depend on Him for the salvation of your eternal soul? Here is His promise, "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," John 3:16. "Christ died for our sins . . . and He rose again the third day." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4.)
Because faith is the key to eternal blessing, we urge all Christians to cooperate to the fullest extent in the dissemination of the vitally important truths presented in "57 REASONS."
Let us take a renewed interest in the study and dissemination of God’s Word; let there be much prayer for a revival of true and vital faith and godliness among men.
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"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."—1 Peter 1:23. THE ANVIL OF GOD’S WORD I paused one day beside the blacksmith’s door, And listened to the Anvil ring the evening’s chime, And looking in, I saw upon the floor, Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
How many Anvils have you had, said I, To wear and batter out these hammers so?
Just one, he answered, with a twinkling eye, The Anvil wears the hammers out, you know. And so, I thought, the Anvil of God’s Word, For ages skeptic blows, have beat upon, Yet, though the noise of infidel was heard, The Anvil is unworn—the hammers, gone.
_______________________ THE BIBLE
"It is in truth, the Word of God; nay, more, the living Word of the living God; supernatural in origin, eternal in duration; inexpressible in value; infinite in scope; divine in authorship; human in penmanship; regenerative in power; infallible in authority; universal in interest; personal in application; and as St. Paul declares, inspired in totality."—Canon Hague.