The Bible - The Basis for Belief
The Bible is a wonderful book, altogether too wonderful to be the work of unaided mortal men. It tells of the origin and destiny of mankind. It delves into men's hearts and reveals the source of evil. It gives us lessons from history and prophecies about the future. It can speak of the future because it is God's word and only He can see the beginning from the end of time. It was written down by men who were inspired by God and it was David the Psalmist who wrote:
"The spirit of the Lord speaks by me; His word is upon my tongue",
and we could not count the number of times that the Old Testament prophets declared:
"thus saith the Lord".
We have only to read the New Testament to see that its writers really believed what they were writing. They believed Jesus when he said to them that he would send them "the spirit of truth". And the apostle Paul declared:
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God"2
Some people believe parts of the Bible but not all of it. But there are problems with this type of approach, for if you reject parts of scripture, and your friend other parts, what are you left with? And what right have we to edit God's message?
It is far better, and much more reasonable, to believe that ALL that God has caused to be preserved in the Bible is reliable and that any parts that we find difficult are likely to be due to our own misunderstandings.
The important thing is that we should read it, that we should accept that it is God's word, and that it is of great value to us.
The Bible is a wonderful book, altogether too wonderful to be the work of unaided mortal men. It tells of the origin and destiny of mankind. It delves into men's hearts and reveals the source of evil. It gives us lessons from history and prophecies about the future. It can speak of the future because it is God's word and only He can see the beginning from the end of time. It was written down by men who were inspired by God and it was David the Psalmist who wrote:
"The spirit of the Lord speaks by me; His word is upon my tongue",
and we could not count the number of times that the Old Testament prophets declared:
"thus saith the Lord".
We have only to read the New Testament to see that its writers really believed what they were writing. They believed Jesus when he said to them that he would send them "the spirit of truth". And the apostle Paul declared:
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God"2
Some people believe parts of the Bible but not all of it. But there are problems with this type of approach, for if you reject parts of scripture, and your friend other parts, what are you left with? And what right have we to edit God's message?
It is far better, and much more reasonable, to believe that ALL that God has caused to be preserved in the Bible is reliable and that any parts that we find difficult are likely to be due to our own misunderstandings.
The important thing is that we should read it, that we should accept that it is God's word, and that it is of great value to us.