No book has ever achieved the exalted status of the Bible down the centuries. It is also true to say that no other book has been subjected to such critical analysis. The fact that the Scriptures have survived their critics is centralised in their Divinely-inspired origin. They were framed and proclaimed by the express fiat of the Almighty.
Current literature is inundated with books devoted to Bible criticism, with an almost complete disregard for the compelling chain of evidence that vindicates God’s Word. The Bible answer is couched in the plainest language for all to understand: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The Apostle Paul repeats the tenor of his words in his Epistle to the Thessalonians: “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 . . . “
The word “inspiration” derives from the Greek word ”Theopneustos” (God-breathed), and occurs twice in the Bible: once in the quotation given above, and then again in Job, “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.”
Peter expressed himself in similar lofty strain. He asserts that the Scriptures derived from God: “For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
In order to formulate a proper understanding of inspiration we must draw a veil across the finite, and turn in faith to the Infinite for the infallible answer. God gives the assured answer in His most Holy Word.
Irenaeus, who was Bishop of Lyons in A.D. 177, and who had been a follower of Polycarp, who, it is said, had sat at the feet of the Apostle John, speaks of the Scriptures as “spoken by God’s Word and His Spirit”.
Origen describes the Evangelists, through the aid of the Spirit, as “incapable of error or lapse of memory”.
Webster, in the first edition of his Dictionary, defines inspiration as, “The supernatural influence of the Spirit of God on the human mind, by which prophets, apostles and sacred writers were qualified to set forth Divine truth without any mixture of error”.
Pearson, in his book “On the Creed”, writes of the Scriptures as “certain and infallible truth revealed by God, who by reason of His infinite knowledge cannot be deceived, and by reason of His transcendent holiness cannot deceive”.
The prophets and holy men of old ascribed the source of their message to God. The words, “Thus saith the Lord”, occur many times in the Bible.
David, without a doubt, considered himself to have been visited by the inspiration of God: “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.”
Isaiah speaks with deep conviction that clearly demonstrates his belief in the power of the Holy Spirit: “For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand and instructed me”.
In his book, “How God inspired the Bible”, J. Paterson Smyth writes concerning Amos, the herdsman. He says, “Hear Amos, the poor herdsman, when the priest of Bethel attempted to silence him: ‘I was no prophet, neither a prophet’s son, but a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel’.”
Ezekiel, a great prophet of God, writes: “The Spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of the Lord was strong upon me”.
Christ endorsed the Old Testament Scriptures with his challenging words, “Is it not written . .” and “Have ye not read . . .” He was the bridge that linked the Testaments. He was the fulfilment of the Law. He testified to the inspiration of the Scriptures: “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me”. The Lord Jesus was ever aware that the inspiration of the Spirit-Word of God was the motivating force of his life on earth. In the most sublime prayer ever uttered he beseeched: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”.
The Scriptures have left us in no doubt as to their Divine origin. They are presented as the Word of God, and are variously described as Scripture, the Scriptures, the Oracles of God or the Living Oracles.
Scripture endorses Scripture and never ceases to be its own witness and interpreter: “Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus”.
The apostle Paul in writing to the Romans says: “Which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures . . . concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh”.
Peter, a great pillar in the first century Church, follows the example of Christ and Paul in endorsing the Old Testament Scriptures: “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction”.
Divine inspiration eliminates the margin of human fallibility, and this incontrovertible fact commends itself after a careful study of the pages of the Bible. Its conception is Divine. Its expression is Divinely endorsed. Every aspect of proclamation was under Divine surveillance.
Modern Gnostics
Higher criticism is defined as a scientific investigation of authorship, dates, sources and composition of the books of the Bible, and into the special circumstances, if any, which called them forth”. The definition is that of J. Paterson Smyth. He points out that many of these critics hold extravagant assumptions of their own concerning the inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures. They talk about the “established results of criticism”, just as the evolutionists speak of the “positive results of transmutation!” They all end in the intellectual desert where everything is to be doubted. A morass of hypotheses and academic speculation can only obscure and stultify, whereas inspiration offers us certitude and infallibility.
The modernist’s view can only be described as hopeless. He not only questions the inspiration of the Bible, but he impugns the Genesis account, miracles in the Old and New Testaments, the resurrection of Christ, the return of Christ, etc. Many modernists incorporate something of gnosticism in their outlook, which is nothing more than a nebulous compound of “Christianity”, Greek philosophy and Oriental beliefs. The gnostics didn’t believe that Christ came in the flesh. Let the apostle Paul give the Bible answer: “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an anti-Christ”.
Bible criticism has reached the proportions of a flood. Much publicity has been given to the so-called “discrepancies” in the Scriptures, without a full and intelligent investigation. And yet the Bible has risen above its detractors, and it does so exclusively upon the Divine principle of inspiration. It is unquestionably God’s Word.
The late Bro. F. Bilton, in his excellent book “Apocalypse and Gospels”, deals effectively with some of the alleged discrepancies. The Bible has anticipated its critics and gives an astonishing reply: “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”.
Scientific Support
Positive science has been able to examine the claims of Scripture, and does not find itself in conflict with the revealed Word of God. Nowhere is this more true than in the field of archaeology, a branch of science that deals only in precisely known facts. The only evidence that it is prepared to consider is that achieved in a hard, painstaking way—with the spade.
…Archaeologists, in their collated evidence, are unanimous in their endorsement of the Bible. Their confirmation of the Flood, the cuneiform discoveries at Kish and Ras Shamra, evidence from Ur, Gaza, Jericho, Lachish, etc., all represent irrefutable testimony of the prophetic word. The proof is overwhelming, and the evidence from men like Sir Charles Marston; Leonard Woolley, Prof. Garstang, Flinders Petrie, Prof. Sayce, Prof. Allbright, John Starkie and others is accepted as of the highest scientific importance. It all means that the Inspired Word of God can be scientifically proved to be true.
In his book, “How firm a Foundation”, Prof. Juritz affirms that there is no established fact of science that is in conflict with the Word of God. His analytical mind is full of praise and wonder at the minute accuracy of the Bible.
The proof of a divinely-inspired Bible lies in the first chapter of Genesis, where the order of creation as recorded by Moses is regarded as being correct by the highest scientific opinion. Moses could have been wrong nearly forty million times! The fact that the order is absolutely correct is attributable to the wonder of inspiration.
From Genesis to Revelation the Word is God-breathed; a divinely appointed harmony of indivisible truth. How could a book with such divers authors and written at such divers periods be of perfect co-ordination except .upon the principle of Divine Inspiration?
The late Sir J. William Dawson, President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, wrote: “It is true that a tide of criticism, hostile to the integrity of Genesis, has been rising for some years; but it seems to beat vainly against a solid rock”. Such oppositions of false science were alluded to by the apostle Paul: “0 Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called”.
Lord Kelvin, perhaps the most eminent scientist of the nineteenth century, said: “We are absolutely forced by science to believe with perfect confidence in a Directive Power”.
Regarding the Flood narrative, Prof. L. T. Townsend, in his book, “The Deluge History or Myth”, provides some interesting information. On page 43 he writes: “Sir Henry Howarth, Sir William Dawson, Dana, Nordenskield, Dawkins, Cope, and the French geologists Christy and Larter have all concluded . . . that the first age of humanity on earth was brought to its close by a flood, and that the mammoth, mastodon, and other large animals and man (to employ the exact words of these scientists) were destroyed by a tremendous destructive inundation.” . .
Leonard Woolley, the great archaeologist, supplied incontrovertible evidence in support of a gigantic flood. His findings were submitted only after the most scientific exploration over a period of time.
In I 885 Mr. Gladstone, thrice Prime Minister of England, debated with Huxley, the great evolutionist, whether or not the creation story of Genesis was in accord with the findings of modern science. When they had laid their arguments before each other they agreed to hand them over to Dana, the greatest living geologist of their time, and his decision can be found in the Nineteenth Century Magazine of August, 1886. Dana there says, “I agree in all essential points with Mr. Gladstone, and I believe that the first chapter of Genesis and science are in accord”. This extract was taken from the book “The Bible: Christ and Modernism”, by T. J. McCrossan.
There is an abundance of fulfilled prophecy in support of the inspiration of God’s Word. Let us cite some of these fulfilled prophecies:
- Desolation of Babylon predicted by Isaiah.
- Re-building of Temple under Cyrus prophesied by Isaiah.
- Four world empires predicted by Daniel.
- Destruction of Tyre forecast by Ezekiel.
- Birth of Jesus, his mission, his sacrifice forecast by Isaiah.
- Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem prophesied by Micah.
- Jesus entering Jerusalem on an ass predicted by Zechariah.
- Punishment of Jews prophesied by the Prophets.
- Regathering of Jews predicted by Ezekiel.
The counsel of the Scriptures has survived through the ages. Even though the inspired writers were in many cases martyred, and though millions of believers in its message have been martyred, yet the Word of God has endured because Inspiration is eternal It is Divine.
Church leaders, while professing to advance the cause of Christianity, have not remained immune to higher criticism; so much so, that many features of the creation narrative in Genesis are now described as allegorical. Latitudinarians are well represented in the voice of the church around us and “free thinking” is evident on every hand.
In the next few years, if Christ be not returned, it is anticipated that very little of the tenets of Scripture taught by the Prophets, the Lord Jesus and the Apostles will be propounded by Christendom.
How great, then, is the responsibility of the Brotherhood to hold fast to the truth of Bible precept and to defend every doctrinal principle with unshakable conviction and faith. It is a challenge that we must meet!
The Sabbath and Israel and Jesus’ work on the Sabbath