The Literary Superiority of the Bible
The Bible is superior in many ways to what is written by uninspired people whose books and articles fill libraries, magazines, and newspapers that the world may read. Since literary superiority is in some ways subjective, it is appropriate to note what some of the great figures and writers of history have to say about it. “Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French writer and skeptic, admitted: ‘I must confess to you that the majesty of the Scriptures astonishes me . . .’” (qtd. in Dickson 393). Charles Dickens said, “The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world” (qtd. in Halley 19). Daniel Webster said, “If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures” (Halley 18). In similar vein, John Ruskin wrote, “Whatever merit there is in anything that I have written is simply due to the fact that when I was a child my mother daily read me a part of the Bible and daily made me learn a part of it by heart” ( 18). John Quincy Adams wrote in his diary, “I have made it a practice for several years to read the Bible through in the course of every year” (September 26, 1810). Patrick Henry said of the Bible, “This is a Book worth all other books which were ever printed” (qtd. in Kimball 82). Robert E. Lee said, “The Bible is a book in comparison [to] which all others are of minor importance” (qtd. in Kimball 82). Woodrow Wilson wrote, “A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of this, a knowledge of the Bible” (83). And Sir William Jones said, “the Bible contains more true sensibility, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from other books in whatever age or language they may be written” (83).
Similar praise could be cited from many other writers, but perhaps the greatest testimony to the Bible’s literary superiority lies in the fact that it is and has long been the world’s best seller and has been translated in whole or in part into well over 1,000 languages. When the printing press was invented, the Bible was the first book to be printed on it. The first book to be printed in America was a translation of 1638 (cf. Thorp 6.41).
In the eyes of many literature experts, one of the most important qualities of superior writing is its timelessness—its universal applicability to people of all time with themes that are relevant to the lives of people of other times and places. Great literature not only describes and deals with the problems of a certain people or of a specific era, but to those of other times and places as well. It would be hard to imagine a book more relevant than the Bible to people of all times and places, because people’s major needs have not changed over the centuries. We all would acknowledge the need for food, clothing, shelter, and safety—basic physiological needs outlined by Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of physiological and psychological needs, and most would agree on the necessity of companionship, love, and self-actualization. The necessities of life have not changed much physically and psychologically, but it is fashionable today for many to deny mankind’s spiritual wants, which the Bible addresses plainly. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible identifies clearly the fact of sin, our need for forgiveness, and the necessity of Christ’s death on the cross as the only way to fulfill our need. In all these things the Bible is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. The fact that many now deny their sins are not new, nor is the Bible’s solution for sin, so the Bible is far from “a dead letter” or “an answer to questions people are not asking.” They need to be asking them, for they need to apply the Bible’s answers to the reality of sin.
The experts say that the best writing is parsimonious—it says the most with the fewest words—and one can see in many Bible passages just such brevity and conciseness. “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8a); “He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15); “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). Most speakers and writers would have taken pages to elucidate on each of these concise statements that briefly describe historical events of that day.
Good writing involves consistency; several books on my shelves have been written to show that the Bible is consistent—that it does not contradict itself as do other writings. It is often said by its opponents that the Bible is full of errors and contradictions, but those same foes come up short when asked to get specific and name one. Most writers contradict themselves and historical or scientific facts at some point(s), but the Bible’s supposed problems melt away when all the facts are known and a disputed passage is studied in context.
Objectivity about the flaws and faults of its heroes and other characters is a mark of good historical writing; most writers either gloss over their subjects’ errors and faulty characters or emphasize them excessively. The Bible does not dwell on the flawed lives of the people it describes, but it does not ignore them, either. King David’s neglecting of his sons Absalom and Adonijah and his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband are the kinds of things human authors would try to avoid, but these things are recorded frankly by the prophets who wrote Kings and Chronicles. Peter was a chosen apostle of Christ, but his denial of Jesus is chronicled by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and his bitter repentance by all but John. Saul of Tarsus arrested and murdered Christians before he became the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 8-9), and Saul (Paul) himself admitted that he “was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man” the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:13-15).
In his Essay on Poetry, John Sheffield said, “Of all those arts in which the wise excel, Nature’s chief masterpiece is writing well” (qtd. in Zimmerman 132). Though they were not all polished authors the men who wrote the books of the Bible by inspiration produced 66 books that were written well. In the ways listed here, among others, the Bible has literary superiority.
Works Cited
Adams, John Quincy. Diary. Ed. Allan Nevins. Ungar, 1969.
Dickson, Roger E. The Fall of Unbelief. Choate, 1982.
Halley, Henry H. Halley’s Bible Handbook. Halley’s Bible Handbook, Inc., ed., 1965.
Kimball, William R. The Book of Books. CEI. n.d. c. 1988.
Zimmerman, Gertrude. Concise Treasury of Popular Quotations. Supplement to The New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language. Consolidated, 1971.
Charles J. Aebi (1931-2020) received the MA from Abilene Christian College (University) and the Ph.D. from Ohio University. He taught Bible for 34 years at Ohio Valley College (University), served 15 years as Academic Dean, 6 years as Chairman of the Bible Department, and taught at West Virginia School of Preaching. He served as staff writer for Sufficient Evidence: A Journal of Christian Evidences published by WCAC and was a supporter of the Warren Center.