One of our most important tasks whether in public lectures or private conversation is to show the complete trustworthiness and reliability of the Bible in every respect. Upon this foundation faith can be built, faith in the salvation promised.
This book collects together under five main headings the relevant facts to be considered. Indeed these headings with their sub-headings would provide a good basis for discussion and suitable titles for addresses. The main headings are:
- Basic Principles;
- The Bible as God’s word;
- Alleged Errors;
- Belief in the Bible;
and included in the sub-headings are:
- Is the Bible Ethically Sound?
- Are the Prophecies of the Bible True?
- Are the Books of the Bible Authentic?
- What about Alleged Discrepancies?
There are some places where we should have reservations. On answered prayer the author quotes examples from the lives of Wesley and a number of missionaries which include physical healing. We can bear in mind that godliness is profitable unto all things, even if the understanding is incomplete or faulty. Later on, he confuses Papal Rome with the literal Babylon the Great, and assumes that the preaching of the Gospel under present conditions will eventually convert the world. The usual blind spot is of course the doctrine of the immortality of the soul which is fortunately only mentioned once.
A few quotations will help to illustrate the treatment of the subject. Under basic principles he makes it quite clear that Bible Truth has different meanings to different people. To quote his words,
“In these days of existentialism and so called neo-orthodoxy there is much confusing talk about the truth of the Bible. Scholars talk about the Bible as true in the sense that it has a meaningful spiritual message for the reader. The stories of the plagues preceding the exodus, of Jesus’s miracle at Cana, of his crucifixion and resurrection, they say are ‘true’ for one who profits by the exalted ideals or concepts embodied therein … We reject this concept of truth.”
Later he adds,
“This claim goes beyond the idea that the Bible merely contains the Word of God. It is much more than a matter of the Divine message peeping out here and there from a mass of materials which are basically of human origin. The Bible claims that it is the Word of God … It means that only those individuals who accept the Bible as the Word of God and who act upon it have any hope of salvation; those who refuse to believe it, plus those who give it mere intellectual assent but refuse to obey its teachings, are lost. A tremendous spiritual implication is present.”
Dealing with the subject of creation he writes,
“Yes, it took a miracle to originate matter and energy and life. Thinking in terms of the supernatural is repugnant to the unbelieving scholar. This is the fundamental reason for his insistence that any story involving the miraculous is a myth, and for the ridicule directed against the Bible in many a University classroom.”
Later he adds,
“The great obstacle to men’s acceptance of the Bible is not intellectual. It is spiritual. It is not that the Bible is unreasonable. It is that men do not want Christ. They choose to reject God’s way in order to follow their own way.”
After dealing with the subject of copyists’ errors he concludes,
“None of these errors affects any vital teaching of the Bible”.
He refers to the Dead Sea Scrolls, and remarks,
“The discovery of the scrolls makes possible a still more accurate version of the Old Testament but no major changes are indicated. The net result is a strengthening of our conviction that the Bible has come down to us without serious errors”.
The value of various translations is considered and the conclusion drawn,
“Is it not clear that the best translations are a valuable help to the Bible student, and that they are by no means to be ignored? Weakness in a translation by no means indicates weakness in the Bible itself”.
“Patient impartial examination of supposed contradictions is essential. Jumping to conclusions about them is never profitable. It is especially important to suspend judgement when full evidence is not available. It is a mistake to conclude that because we cannot solve a given problem, the problem is insoluble—at best our information is spotty. The available evidence points strongly to the conclusion that if our knowledge were complete, the consistency of the Word of God would be apparent throughout.”
Finally we have a challenge to every reader of The Testimony:
“What is needed in our day is an unhesitating, enthusiastic, selfless commitment to Bible truth on the part of every professed follower of Christ … The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are unchangeable … Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveller’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed … It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greater labour, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)