As given over the CBS Network  Church of the Air ; evidence that the Bible is the Word of God.https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/biola-radio-pubs/1027/thumbnail.jp

Sutherland, Samuel H.

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Biola University Digital Commons @ Biola Biola Radio Publications Biola Radio How We Know the Bible to be the Word of God Samuel H. Sutherland Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/biola-radio-pubs  Part of the Christianity Commons, and the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Sutherland, Samuel H., "How We Know the Bible to be the Word of God" (2017). Biola Radio Publications. 12. https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/biola-radio-pubs/12 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Biola Radio at Digital Commons @ Biola. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biola Radio Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Biola. For more information, please contact eileen.walraven@biola.edu. -How We Know tile Bible to he the Word of God As Given Over the CBS Network ''CHURCH OF THE AIR'' BY SAMUEL H. SUTHERLAND ... D.D., LL.D. President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, Inc. HOW WE KNOW THE BIBLE TO BE THE WORD OF GOD Opponents of Christianity under satanic influ-ence have done their very best in an effort to discredit the Bible. But it stands, today, firmly entrenched in the hearts of Christians everywhere as the Word of God. There are numbers of well-known reasons as to why we believe the Bible is God's Word. These reasons are not new; they have been used in its defense for generations, and they have never been successfully refuted by the opponents of Christianity. And so we take them and believe them and we accept these very reasons as pointing indisputably to the fact that the Bible is God's Word. We believe this is God's Word, in the first place, because of its unique formation. It is a library of sixty-six books, thirty-nine in the Old Testament, twenty-seven in the New Testament. It was orig-inally written in three different languages. It was written by approximately forty different writers. These men lived over a period of more than fifteen hundred years. The writers were not all of the same degree of learning or tempera-ment. Some were much more capable than others from the point of view of human qualifications. There were kings, princes and P.aUJ?e~ who made up the human writers. There were fis ermen and philosop ers w o--were used by God to write this precious Book. There were statesmen and ordinary men, there were dreamers and practical-minded individuals. Medical men were involved, business men; men of every degree and condition of life were used in writing the Book. Under normal circumstances, it would be expected that such a conglomerate group of writers, if they were merely giving their own ideas, would surely have conflicting opinions and ideas. This is true es-pecially in view of the fact that from a human point of view they were discussing matters of a most speculative type. There is more divergence of opinion concerning philosophical subjects than there is concerning scientific subjects, for the sim-ple reason that scientific subjects can be demon-strated and mathematically proven. However, philosophical subjects cannot be proven according to the laws of mathematics or any of the natural laws. Therefore men's personal opinions enter very decidedly into their thinking and speaking. Furthermore, these men wrote in six different countries. Dynasties waxed and waned during the writings of these men. Kings came and went; systems of philosophy changed very frequently and very radically. The sciences even changed in many ways during the time that the men were writing this Book. Keeping in mind, therefore, these facts, we move to the second reason for believing the Bible to be the Word of God-and that is its unity. ") f>I) Instead of finding a hopelessly contradictory and 5# unintelligible mass of material, we find a perfect · J~unity running throughout so that the statements ~ f"' made in Genesis find their ultimate fulfillment in the Revelation. In Genesis we find the origin of man; in Revelation his ultimate destiny; in Gene-sis the origin of sin, in Revelation the end of sin. In Genesis all things began; in Revelation all things find their consummation. In Genesis the first marriage was recorded; in Rev-elation the last marriage is recorded. In Genesis Babylon, the rebel city, was built; in Revelation Babylon, the harlot system of false religion, is destroyed. In Genesis judgment was pronounced upon Satan; in Revelation judgment is shown as being executed upon Satan. In Genesis man fell; in Revelation man is lifted up to his ultimate place of honor. In Genesis we find the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; in Revelation the tree of life. In Genesis man was expelled from the garden; in Revelation man finds abundant entrance into the city of God. And so, we could go on citing these contrasts, and all the way through Scripture they are elaborated upon and explained in more and more detail so that in it all there is a grand unity and a grand harmony that is utterly inexplicable apart from the fact that although there were many writers, there is only one Author, and that Author is God Himself. The next evidence that we could suggest is the fact of its age. We believe the very age of the Bible reveals its divine authorship. The greatest test of literature is time. 122_ you know of am.; popular book today which was written five liun-dred or a thousand years ago? ('.)f course ot. The es se ers o to ay are forgotten tomorrow. Other books which were written at the time the Bible was in the process of formation are forgotten, to be found only upon the shelves of ancient and unused libraries. But this is a book which has withstood the test of time so that today, instead of its being a book gathering dust in ancient libraries, it is still a lively and a living book and is the_best seller and has been the best seller consistently throughout the years. Another reason for believing the divine author-ship of the Bible is the test of persecution. No other book has undergone such intense pers~. There have been organized governmental efforts to destroy this book. Kings, emperors, entire armies have been used in the effort to exterminate the Bible, because they thought that in so doing they would exterminate the Christ of the Bible and those who were His followers. There has never been , - book in the history of the world which has suffered such intense persecution, and yet the Bible has emerged victorious over all such attempts and today it still ranks as the best seller. Yet another reason for believing the Bible to be God's Word is that it appeals to all types and to all a es. One may take a boor-;rl science or p 1 osop y and try to read it to a little iix or seven-year-old child, only to discover that the youngster is not in the least interested. But here is a book that is read to the little child and he loves it. It is read by the young person as he enters into life and he finds help in it. It is read by the old man as he totters upon the brink of the grave and he finds peace in it. It is read by all ages and all types. There is no other book which will answer the heart cry and longings of all mankind such as will God's Word. And this leads to yet another reason for be-lieving the Bible to be the Word of God, and that is the fact of its universality of appeal. Not only does the Bible appeal to all ages, but it appeals to all nationalities. Wherever the Bible has been read, there you find people speaking of it as "my book." The Hebrew Christian points to this Book with pride and says, "that is my Book"; the Eng-lishman who is a Christian points with pride and says, "that's my Bible." The Chinese Christian says, "that's my Book." The Christian of India looks upon this Book with reverence and says, "it is my Book," and the African Christian looks upon it and says, "that's my Book." Wherever the Bible is found, it belongs to the people into whose language it has been translated. No other book has such a tremendous influence upon the minds and hearts of people of every nationality. It is truly the only World Book. And another reason for believing the Bible to be the Word of God is that of fulfilled prophecy. There are numerous statements found in the Old Testament which are utterly inexplicable apart from the New Testament fulfillment. They are far too numerous to be merely coincidental. There is only one plausible explanation and that is that they were truly written by holy men of old who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Literally scores of prophetic statements are found in the Old Testament writings which were ful-filled during the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. These prophecies were not mere happenstances. It is inconceivable that men would be able to think hundreds of years ahead and pinpoint certain events, pinning them down to particular localities and places, especially in view of the fact that such places were not of geographical or historical significance in the least. And yet, the prophecies were made in detail and they were fulfilled in the minutest detail. They were fulfilled sometimes by the friends of the Word of God, but sometimes they were fulfilled by the very enemies of the Word of God, who sought to destroy it. In the light of all these external evidences for believing the Bible to be the Word of God, there is yet another line of evidence that should be mentioned and that is the internal evidence, or the claims that the Bible makes for itself. It is true that a writer might be able to make stu-pendous claims and of course they would mean absolutely nothing because the individual could not back up his claims. But in the light of all that has been said before, we must take into account the tremendous fact that the Bible claims unique inspiration for itself. Someone has said that in the Old Testament alone we find the phrase, "the word of the Lord came unto . . . saying . . . ", or its equivalent, over twenty-five hundred times. Furthermore, we discover that Jesus Christ Him-self accepted the Old Testament as we have it today, and it was to Him the Word of God. He quoted from it freely, He spoke of it in the high-est possible terms. He accepted it Himself and He urged that others might accept it also. He depended upon it as authority and proof for establishing His own identity and mission. The New Testament also claims inspiration for itself. Every one of the New Testament writers, in one way or another, establishes the fact that he believes the things he writes are the things which God would have him write. But the final evidence which is to be suggested is that of the character of those who accept it and those who reject it. And this is tremendously im-portant. Where is the stronghold of the Bible? It is to be found in the most decent, upright, honor-able places in the world. And where is the strong-hold of those who deny the Word of God? It is, among other places, found in the barroom, the brothel, the gambling hall, the saloon, the dens of iniquity and vice, filth and corruption. If a man would enter a saloon, walk up to the bar and lay a Bible down and order a drink, everyone would think there was a strange incongruity in his action. But, if he should lay down a book containing the writings of an infidel upon the bar and order a drink, no one would think anything about it. The Bible has changed lives and in every case it has changed men from worse to better, from bad to good. Men who live a most Christ-like, upright life are those who claim this is God's Word. These are men who believe it and act upon it as such. But among those who re-pudiate this Book there are men who are liars, murderers, drunkards, gamblers and thieves. Men who know the Book best believe the Book most. Whose testimony should we believe? The answer is obvious. The Holy Bible must have been Inspired of God and not of men. I could not, if I would, believe That good men wrote it to deceive; And bad men could not, if they would, Nor would not surely, if they could, Proceed to write a book so good. And certainly no crazy man Could e'er conceive its wondrous plan. Behold, what other kinds of men Than do these three groups comprehend? Hence it must be that God inspired The words which s'ouls of prophets fired. The Bible Institute of Los Angeles 558 S. Hope Street • Los Angeles 17, Calif. 

How We Know the Bible to be the Word of God

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How We Know the Bible to be the Word of God

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