“We believe that the Bible, consisting of the books of Moses, the prophets, and the apostles, is the only source of knowledge concerning God and His purposes at present extant or available in the earth ; that the different sections were written by men inspired by God, and consequently are without error, except for such mistakes as may be due to errors of transcription or translation.”
The preceding paragraph is quoted from the Christadelphian Statement of Faith. We believe this unconditionally and consequently are opposed to anyone who would relegate any porton of the Bible to man made tradition, history or folklore.
The apostles confirm our stand in the following quotations :
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1 :21) .
From this testimony of Peter we are shown the way by which God reveals His plans and purposes to those who have an ear to hear.
Chosen men who were guided by His Spirit recorded God’s divine will for all mankind. Therefore in the prophets we read the words : “Thus saith the Lord God”, or “the Lord spake unto me, saying. . .”. David states in 2 Sam. 23:1, 2,: “Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Tee said, and the man who was raised up on high„ the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” That David spoke by the Spirit of God is confirmed by none other than the Son of God Himself; for the Lord Jesus said in Mark 12:36: “For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
It would take many pages to list all the convincing statements that could be brought forward to prove an inspired Word of God.
Therefore we will review only a few.
Generally speaking, we can say that there are three great witnesses to the divine origin of the Scriptures:
- The inherent evidence of the Bible itself.
- The fact that the things God declared through His prophets would come to pass, have done so. Jeremiah says ” . . . when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him” (Jeremiah 28:9).
- The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the most authentic proof of the inspiration of the ancient Scriptures. He who came expressly from the Father of Truth to bear witness to the Truth, in the last instructions He gave to His apostles, said:” . . . These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me” (Luke 24:44).
There is scarcely a book in the Old Testament that is not repeatedly quoted in the New Testament as being of divine authority. The Old Testament was written over a period of some fifteen hundred years through the instrumentality of forty different men, yet all relate the same story, and in complete harmony with one another. There are over one hundred and fifty prophecies in the Old Testament concerning the Lord Jesus Christ which have been fulfilled or will later be fulfilled by Him.
The Jews themselves are indisputable witnesses to the fact that the Bible is the Word of God. Let those who question the authenticity of the Bible endeavor to remove the hand of God from the history of Israel and explain this history along natural lines. “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, . . . . . . and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you : therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God” (Isaiah 43 :10-12).
As we have pointed out, the Bible revelation centers in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the greatest witness to its inspiration, and He has sanctioned every “jot and tittle” of it. As one writer states in a fitting figure: “He (Jesus) is like the water mark in paper, ,which cannot be destroyed without destroying the paper.”
The Bible can be translated with very little difficulty into all languages, east and west. In fact it is the most translatable of all books. There may not be the words to perfectly express the exact shade of meaning when translating into another language, but it has been discovered that the holy words of God can be successfully transplanted into any language, and will grow with surprising freshness and vigor in their new soil.
Thus we affirm that the Bible is not human and erring, but infallible and divine.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One