The National “Tradition” of Belief in the Bible

   The national tradition of belief in God has been affirmed by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the book On Faith published posthumously in early 2019. In this article I am affirming a second national tradition that historically manifests public religiousness. It is belief in the Bible.

   The Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World describes the Bible in the following: “One Book stands out from all the rest because in our tradition it is—as the use of ‘Bible’ for its proper name implies—the book about God and men” (2. 558, emp. added). Additionally, the same source characterizes the Bible as having “unparalleled” influence upon western culture (3. 589). More recently, during this decade, David Berlinski, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, and author of The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions, during an interview said the following: “The Old Testament is the greatest repository of human knowledge and wisdom in the history of civilization, anytime, any place . . . [an] enormously complex, rich, and dramatic piece of work.” Coming from one who claims to be a secular Jew, such a statement is of no little significance. Somewhat parallel to Berlinski’s assessment of the Old Testament is the description of the New Testament by the late McGeorge Bundy. A former Harvard academic dean and special assistant for national affairs to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, Bundy called the New Testament “the most powerful single volume you encounter” (Books that Made the Difference 62).

   I have read where the late Wilbur M. Smith had a personal library of well over 25,000 volumes. Smith often wrote books about books. Writing about the history and influence of the Bible, he referenced the “remarkable acknowledgment of the supremacy of the Scriptures over all world literature by the distinguished apologete, Alan Richardson, when he [Richardson] says, ‘The Bible is different from all other books even from the great Christian classics’” (The Minister in His Study 79). Such reminds me of the often repeated statement of Dr. Warren that “the Bible is in a league by itself.”

   Some years ago, while shopping for books in Pittsburgh, PA, I happened across a book, The Bible in New York. It is an historical look at the work of the New York Bible Society from 1809-1948. Included in the book is a chapter titled “At the Century Mark.” This chapter is a report of a Commemoration Meeting of the Bible society, which marked its 100th anniversary. The meeting was held in the famous Carnegie Hall on the evening of December 3, 1909. Admission was by ticket only and the attendance for the event was large. The program ran almost to midnight. The principal address was delivered by the Honorable John Franklin Fort who was Governor of New Jersey. It was a powerful presentation addressing and celebrating belief in the Bible as a hallmark of the public landscape in the U.S.A. Among the observations of Governor Fort were the following:

 . . . This nation is what it is because of the Bible. No people who had ever before created an independent government were such universal believers in the Bible and Bible truths as the founders of the republic of the United States. . . .
   The Pilgrims and the Puritans were truly biblical. Washington’s faith in the Bible was the guiding star of the Revolutionary War. . . . The Declaration of Independence breathed through its every line reverence for divine things.
   As we gather to celebrate the Bible work of the century past, we will do well to take account of the place of the Bible in our growth and civilization. . . .
   The leaven of The gospel in the affairs of men and nations gives the greatest assurance of future protection and personal and political safety. To preach and teach the Bible means everything to the civilization of the future. To make this most effective, every man must find it possible to read the Bible in his own tongue and his own home. . . .
   Every great world movement for good has had the Bible as its base and the spirit of the Man of God as its forerunner.

    The Bible is the one book that historically has been declared by the world to be the masterpiece. There is nothing to take its place. The ultimate welfare of our country depends on the national tradition of belief in the Bible.

Charles C. Pugh III
Executive Director

See also:
- The National “Tradition” of Belief in God
- The National “Tradition” of Belief in Jesus Christ