Our Unique Bible

By John Stallings

Unique… “One and only, different from all others, having no like or equal.”

A prominent Christian minister stood in the pulpit recently and his message focused on how Christianity was like no other religion.

His actual words were;-“I’m here to tell you that Islam isn’t just as good as Christianity. Islam was founded by Muhammad, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives and his last one was a 9 year old girl.”

Those words hit like a thunderbolt causing the Council of American Islamic Relations to say in response;

“It’s unfortunate that a top leader of the Christian church would use such hate-filled and bigoted language in describing the faith of 1/5 of the world’s population.” Then they asked the minister for an apology. They didn’t get it.

But how do you apologize for telling the truth? How do you apologize for saying that there’s a big difference in what a Christian believes and what a Muslim believes?

We’ve gone in our society from saying everyone has a right to their opinion to the absurd notion that every opinion has equal merit.

Christianity refuses to take its place alongside other religions. The reason for this isn’t—because I say so, or someone is trying to be stubborn. The reason is---Our Bible! Yes, our Bible is, as regards this question, “The Problem.”

Why? Our Bible sets Christianity apart from everything else. When you know the truth about this book you can clearly see why Christianity is very different from every other religion.

A. HERE IS A BOOK THAT WAS WRITTEN...

1. Over a long period of time
a. About 1500 years
b. A span of 40 generations
2. By approximately 40 authors from every walk of life
a. Moses, political leader trained in the universities of Egypt
b. Peter, fisherman
c. Amos, herdsman
d. Joshua, military general
e. Nehemiah, cup bearer to the king of Persia
f. Daniel, prime minister in the courts of Babylon
g. Luke, physician
h. Solomon, philosopher king
i. Matthew, tax collector
j. Paul, rabbi and tent maker
3. In different places
a. Moses in the wilderness
b. Jeremiah in a dungeon
c. Daniel on a hillside, and in a palace
d. Paul inside prison walls
e. Luke while traveling
f. John in exile on the isle of Patmos
g. Others in the rigors of a military campaign
4. At different times a. David in times of war
b. Solomon in times of peace
5. During different moods
a.Some writing from the heights of joy
b. Others from the depths of sorrow and despair

You might say, John, you can’t say the Bible is God’s Word simply because it claims to be. What does it matter what the Bible says about itself? After all, isn’t that “circular reasoning,” to try and prove the Bible is God’s Word simply because it claims to be God’s Word?”- Not really; hundreds of times the Bible claims to be recording the actual spoken words of God.

Exodus 7:1….And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron they brother shall be thy prophet.

Exodus 20:1-3…And God spake all these things, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

There are many other times where the Bible say’s its recording God’s actual words. For instance it records some of God’s spoken words with Adam and Eve. It records conversations God had with Abram; it records God talking with Moses at the burning bush. Human language according to the Bible is not a barrier for God and the Bible claims to be a record of some of His spoken words.

And the LORD said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. -- Duet. 18:17-18

Here the Bible says that God put His words in the mouth of His prophets and that a prophet’s words were God’s words. So not only does the Bible claim to have God’s words spoken, but it claims to have the prophet’s words which were God’s words. God took His spoken words through the prophets very seriously.

And Samuel said to Saul, thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever.

But now thy kingdom shall not continue; the LORD hath sought him a man after His own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be caption over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.—1 Samuel 13:13-14

Samuel here says that Saul has not kept the command that the Lord gave him. Who gave the command? The Lord didn’t speak to Saul directly. Samuel had told Saul God’s commands. When Saul broke Samuel’s commands he broke God’s commands because they were one and the same. That is only one of many times when a prophet said he spoke with the same authority as God.

If you were to take the books of the OT and look through them you would find that they all have the same claims to authority, they either record God’s words or someone speaking God’s words.

NEW TESTAMENT

When you come to the NT the Bible is just as explicit that its God’s words its recording.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.—2 Timothy 3:16-17

This is one of the clearest and best-known verses in the Bible about the origin of the scriptures. Many people think that the word “inspired” here means that after the Bible was written, God breathed into these books. The Greek word here literally means breathed out not breathed in. So Paul is saying that the words of the Bible are literally from the breath of God.

As also in all his epistles, speaking of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and some unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.—2 Peter 3:16

When Peter writes this letter he considers Paul’s letters as scripture. This is the same word for the OT scriptures. Peter says that Paul’s writing have the same authority as the OT scriptures.

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.—1 Thess. 2:13

Paul is claiming that his letter is the word of God, not the word of man. He realizes that his letter should have the same authority as the other scriptures.

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.—1 Peter 1:23

Peter quotes from Isaiah in the OT and tells those he’s writing to that the words that have been preached to them, the message that he has been telling them is the word of God that will endure forever. He’s fully aware that he’s writing God’s words and that those words would abide forever.

How many times do you think the Bible claims to be the very words of God or have the authority of the word of God? 50? 100? 200...Try over 1,500. It’s almost as if God made sure His signature is on every page of the Bible.

THE BIBLE DOESN’T LEAVE US WITH ANY OPTIONS!

Either the Bible is the very words of God as it claims to be or the Bible writers were deranged lunatics and the Bible is the most fraudulent book ever written. Furthermore, we’re just as crazy for thinking it contains morally worthy teachings and is the biggest pack of lies in the history of the world.

THE BOOK OF MORMON

You’ve most likely heard of the Book of Mormon. It’s the record of a lost civilization that existed in America. This book contains the details of coinages, descriptions of mountains, cities, rivers and intricate details of a past civilization.

BUT-The Mormons have a serious problem. To wit; not one geographic site that’s mentioned in the book has ever been discovered. Not one piece of archaeological evidence has ever been unearthed that substantiates the claims of the book of Mormon. Zero, Zip, Nada! Joseph Smith claimed to be speaking for God but there has never been a single prophet or man or woman of God of any era that has agreed with the book of Mormon. Incidentally, Mohammed’s writing of the Koran has as many problems being substantiated as the Book of Mormon.

The Bible is very different. Rather than being one individual’s testimony about God, the Bible is a book of 40 different authors over a period of 1,500 years. Find another book that took 1,500 years to write. The Bible was written in three different languages. During that time empires rose and fell, cultures came and went yet none of that affected the unity of the message of the Bible. There is no way there could have been some kind of general editor who trimmed it’s message or orchestrated it to insure that it would say things that were consistent over 1,500 years. It’s impossible.


What if we had a book of medicine that was written by 40 different authors over a period of 1,500 years, from all over the world, many of whom didn’t know one another yet when the book came together it was so up-to-date that it’s medical advice could still be used to heal the sick? Would that not be incredible? Yet the Bible talks about great lofty subjects such as man and his relationship with God, something even more controversial than medicine yet talks with intelligence, consistency and unity.

Admittedly in some cases the writers of the Bible knew what previous authors had written. For instance Malachi probably was acquainted with other books of the OT, but Daniel would have never known what Ezekiel had written. Paul didn’t know what John was writing, James didn’t know what Paul was writing, yet they wrote with agreement concerning things of God.

The Bible writers wrote on different topics but over all the diversity there is one central theme found in all of them and that’s man’s separation from God because of his sin and the restoration of that relationship that God provides through His Son. The Bible isn’t 66 different stories but ONE story developing in 66 books.

As one anonymous writer had said, “This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers ... It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.”

Jesus is the central figure in the Bible. In the OT He’s the one hoped for and looked forward to and in the NT He’s the model but in both He’s the center of everything.

Christ even said He was the theme of the Bible.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.—John 5:39

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.—John 5:46

Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.—Luke 24:25-27

In Genesis 1:1 the word used for God is Elohim. Elohim is a uni-plural noun denoting both oneness and plurality, meaning that God is revealed in Genesis 1:1 as existing in three persons. From verse one in the Bible the trinity is exposed to our thinking yet it’s much later on that he’s presented as a trinity; the father, the Son and The Holy Spirit.

It’s no wonder to me that many die-hard skeptics have been converted as they read the Bible because of its unparalleled unity. It’s as if God was building one cathedral with 40 different architects from all corners of the world who did their work separately over 1,500 years and when the pieces were all eventually shipped to one location and assembled, they fit perfectly.

THE PRINTING PRESS WAS INVENTED TO PRINT MORE BIBLES

The Bible has been on the best seller list for over 300 years. The famous atheist Voltaire who died in 1778 said that within 100 years the only copy of the Bible still in existence would be in a dusty glass cabinet in some old relic museum.

Less than 50 years after Voltaire’s death the Geneva Bible society purchased his house in Paris so they could use his printing press to print Bibles because of the high demand in for them in Europe.

The Bible is the only book in existence that is actually alive. Cut it anywhere and it bleeds. It pulsates with a divine power to change lives. I believe many Christians are weak and spiritually shriveled because they simply won’t read, study or care about this book.

In A. Z. Conrad’s delightful poem, “There It Stands,” are these impressive words spoken about the Bible:

Century follows century ... There it stands.
Empires rise and fall and are forgotten ... There it stands.
Atheists rail against it ... There it stands.
Agnostics smile cynically ... There it stands.
Profane prayerless punsters caricature it ... There it stands.
Unbelief abandons it ... There it stands.
Higher critics deny its claim to inspiration ... There it stands.
The flames are kindled against it ... There it stands.
The tooth of time gnaws but makes no dent in it ... There it stands.
Infidels predict its abandonment ... There it stands.
Modernists try to explain it away ... There it stands.The Bible is the word that lives forever, because it deals with eternal issues. The Bible is never out of date, or old-fashioned. It tells us where man is from, where he is going, why he is here, and how he should live while here on the earth. It deals with the greatest principles of ethics: love, justice, righteousness, truth, beauty and self-disciplined obedience to God.

When John Lennon of The Beatles boasted of his group’s popularity as exceeding that of Christ--the eclipse and ultimate demise of his group had already begun. And today as their inconsequential words move toward Oblivion, the influence and power of the words of Jesus will continue. He alone, of all men of all time, could say, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matt. 28:20).

As we read the New Testament we see mirrored therein the likeness of those around us. If we are completely honest we also see ourselves. The word of God is the mirror of the soul. If we would see ourselves not as we see or even as others see us, but as God sees us, we have but to look into this mirror fashioned by God. If we do not like what we see either in ourselves or in the world about us, and the chances are that we will not, the book contains the remedy. Its God’s inspired word that provides the hope of the future of mankind.

The salvation of the individual soul and the salvation of society in general rest upon an acceptance of the truths in this book. It was James who said,

“He that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall he blessed in his doing.” (James 1:25).

As mentioned by the apostle Peter, “The word of God, liveth and abideth forever.

The sixty-six books of the Bible have a unity of theme and purpose unmatched in any other book. On occasion we hear the derogatory statement that the Bible is merely one of many allegedly inspired books. Yet man’s investigation and time’s ravages have proved the Bible to stand alone as the one, truly inspired book of ages.

Only the Bible pleads for the universal brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God. Admittedly, other books have been influential; other books have made certain contributions toward the betterment of mankind. But only the Bible points the way from earth to heaven.

Most books are for the old or the young, the rich or the poor, the educated or the unschooled, but the Bible is for everyone. While meaningful to a child, it is even more challenging to the mature man. It can be compared to the ocean. At its edge it is shallow enough for a child to wade in perfect safety.

Yet farther out man cannot cope with its great depth which defies man’s finest intellectual abilities. Such names as Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Priestly, and Kelvin grace the list of men of science who were noted for their implicit faith in the Bible as the inspired word of God.

When the world renowned chemist-physicist, Michael Faraday, lay dying he was asked, “Faraday, what are your speculations now?”

“Speculations,” he replied, “I have none! Thank God I am not resting my dying head upon speculations.” Then he quoted the words of
the apostle Paul,

“I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (II Tim. 1:12).

Pastor James has further advice for us;

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted WORD which is able to save your souls.Jesus said;


“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass a way.”

Blessings,


John