The Bible--God's Revelation to Man

Down through the centuries since it has been written, there have been varied reactions to the Bible. Let us consider three basic attitudes toward the Bible. Some have hated it. Others have been indifferent to it. And still others have loved it and have tried diligently to live by its teaching.

   First, some men have hated the Bible because it condemns their false teaching and their wicked lives. In the Bible itself is found the story of a king who so hated the Word of God that he both cut and burned it (Jeremiah 36:1-23). In later centuries, various men have paid with their lives for the hatred which others had for the Bible. Even today, in the [twenty-first] century, there are those who hate the Bible. They hate it, as did men of old, because of its condemnation of their wickedness and because of its demand that men submit themselves to the will of God (1 Thessalonians 1:7-9).

   Second, other men have been indifferent to the Bible. They simply do not care what it teaches. Some contend that the Bible may have been of value to people of the first century but that it is a “back number” (out-of-date) so far as men of the [twenty-first] century are concerned. Such people usually contend that the Bible was written to meet situations which prevailed during the first century but that the current world situation is so different from the first century on what the Bible has to say is not “relevant” to the problems which people of the [twenty-first] century face in day by day living.

   Third, still other men love the Bible and believe with all of their hearts that it is the inspired Word of God (2 Peter 1:20-21). Such people believe that even though times have changed from the first century, the Bible is still the Divine guide in which man can find the answers to the most profound questions which face him. These people are firmly convinced that the Bible has the same power to save he souls of lost men which it had in the first century (Romans 1:16) and is just as relevant to the problems of daily living as it was when it was first written. They believe that it furnishes man unto every good work, and heartly disagree with the view that the Bible is a “back number.” Rather, they are certain that it provides man with God’s answer to the most important questions of human life because it is the one and only authoritative, infallible, and all-sufficient guide in all things that pertain to salvation and godly living (2 Timothy 3:16-17).