Is the Bible True? Seven Addresses

Steauss says in his Preface to the Life of Jesus, “AVhat we especially want to know is this: — is the Gospel history true and reliable as a whole, and in its details, or is it notf This is indeed precisely what we want to know, and what it greatly concerns us to know, for if the Gospel history is true and reliable, not as a whole, but in its details, it is obvious that the destiny of the soul turns upon our acceptance or rejection of its testimony.” He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him;”” Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye can not come. Then said the Jews, will he kill himself! because he saith. Whither I go, ye can not come. And he said unto them. Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins:

for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins,” (John iii. 36; viii. 21-24).

Let us, then, with all the interest which the momentous importance of the subject demands, and with all the fairness of a calm and dispassionate examination, take u) the question j)resented by Strauss. If it can be shown that the Gospel history has a divine and imperative claim upon our belief, no honest man will reject that claim, however humbling to his i)ride of intellect, however sharp the conviction it brings that he needs a mighty Saviour to deliver him from ruin, however complete the revolution it demands of his opinions, habits, and associations. If, on the other hand, an impartial and thorough investigation of the subject l)roves that the New Testament narrative is not worthy of credit, as a whole, or in its details, we must dismiss all thought of a revelation from God other than the displays of His greatness and glory in the works of creation, and be guided by the dim glimmerings of the human mind through the labyrinth of life, or resign ourselves to our dark and inexplicable fate. Nothing more is asked now than a response to the reasonable request of Joshua and of Elijah: “If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, rhoose you this day whom ye will serve:” “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him,” (Josh. xxiv. 15; 1 Kings xviii. 21).

None will deny that it is proper to begin our research with the inquiry, what does the Bible say of itself, or what do its writers affirm of its authority? Of course no attempt will be made to prove to a skeptic its inspiration by its own testimony; but even the skeptic will wish to know with what pretensions it comes to us, and whether it asserts that it is only of human origin, or insists that it contains the very word of God. We find that it embraces sixty-six separate books, written at various intervals during a period of about sixteen hundred years, or, as some modern infidels think, a still longer period. It professes to treat of the entire term of man’s existence upon the earth, from his creation to the judgment of the great white throne at the close of a thousand years of millennial peace and righteousness. Its authors were of various occupations, as lawgivers, generals, judges, kings, priests, governors, farmers, shepherds, herdmen, fishermen, soldiers, physicians, and tax-gatherers; including every variety of intellectual endowment, and literary attainment, and social position.

Opening this remarkable volume, so unlike any other, we read the equally remarkable statement, “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 Tim. iii. 16, 17). The scripture to which reference is here made, as shown in the j)receding verse, is contained in the Old Testament, known by Timothy from his childhood, and able, it is added, to make him wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. The scripture is literally writing, and a writing consists of letters and words, not merely of thoughts. What is WRITTEN, therefore, is declared to be inspired of God, and that which is inspired of God is “all SCRIPTURE,” embracing all that is written. Or if the sentence should be rendered, as some prefer, “every scripture inspired of God is profitable,” this only imparts stronger force to the declaration; for it then links itself to the sacred writings mentioned just before, and affirms of every one of these that it is given by inspiration of God.

“For the prophecy came not in old time [or at any time, as it is in the margin] by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” (2 Pet. i. 21). A careful examination of the terms yrophccy and ‘prophet as employed in the Bible will show that they are not to be limited to the prediction of future events, but prophecy is the revelation of the mind of God in human language, and a prophet is one who utters the words of God, whether they refer to that which is past or yet to come, to doctrine or to duty. Here then it is distinctly asserted that the revelation of God’s pleasure and purpose concerning Himself, or concerning His people, or concerning the world at large, came not of old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake, not thought simply, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Turning to these men of old time we find David, for example, testifying on his dying bed, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word [not His thought only] was in my tongue,” (2 Sam.

xxiii. 2). Isaiah opens his prophecy by saying, “Hear the word of the Lord,” (Isa. i. 10), and twenty times does he declare that his writing was the WORD, not the thought simply, of the Lord. Jeremiah begins by saying, “The word of the Lord came unto me,” (Jer. i. 4), and nearly one hundred times does he use this form of expression, or declare that he was uttering the word of the Lord, and the word of the living God. Ezekiel begins by saying, “The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest,” (Ezek. i. 3); “Son of man all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart — and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God,” (Ezek. iii. 10, 11); and about sixty times in his prophecy he repeats the assertion or its equivalent, announcing that his statements, both as a whole, and in all their details, were to be accepted as the very words of God.

Daniel says, “I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the proi3het, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem,” (Dan. ix. 8); “and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face to the ground,” (Dan. x. 9). Hosea says, “The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea,” (Hosea i. 1); Joel says, “The word of the Lord that came to Joel,” (Joel i. 1); Amos says, “Hear this word that the Lord hath spoken against you,” (Amos iii. I); Obadiah says, “Thus saith the Lord God,” (Oba. i. 1); Jonah says, “The word of the Lord came unto Jonah,” (Jon. i. 1); Micah says, “The word of the Lord that came to Micah,” (Mic. i. 1); Nahum says, “Thus saith the Lord,” (Na. i. 12); Habakkuk says, “The Lord answered me, and said,” (Hab. ii. 2); Zephaniah says, “The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah,” (Zep. i. 1); Haggai says, “In the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet,” (Hag. i. 1); Zechariah says, “In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah,” (Zee. i. 1); Malachi says, “The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi,” (Mai. i. 1).

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