[Rev. W. Grayson Birch, as quoted in the Times, Los Angeles, California]

Nations groping about in darkness, seeking a way out of their perplexing problems, would find the light they need if they would turn to the pages of Holy Writ.

The Bible holds a remedy for the world's needs today. Whatever course may be determined upon by nations and individuals, they may learn from the Bible the ultimate end of their choice. Will world leaders seek the counsel of that Book of books and heed its warnings?

The Bible is a book for all ages because it deals with problems that confront humanity in all ages. That Book . . . unveils, to the eye of faith, our eternal destinies.

The Bible is not a textbook on modern sciences, but it is in harmony with all true Science. Where sciences that deal with physical facts must stop, the Bible continues on to deal with spiritual facts. The spade of the archaeologist is continually bringing to light evidences of the accuracy of the Bible where it has spoken of the past. This argues for the reliability of the Bible where it speaks of the present and future.

The Bible is the most valuable book in any of the nine hundred and forty languages and dialects into which it has been translated, in whole or in part. . . . The translation most needed today is a translation of the Bible into living epistles read and known to all men.

[Rev. E. Roy Myers, in the Evening Times, Buffalo, New York]

No great literature can be understood without some knowledge of the life of the people who produced it. . . .

One thing such a study will teach us is that the people who produced the materials contained in the Bible were in dead earnest about life in all its phases. They were eager to discover God, they were eager to discover their duty toward Him and toward one another. They were eager to discover God, they were eager to discover their duty toward Him and toward one another. They were eager to discover the deeper meaning of life. They had aspirations, successes, and failures. . . . They were frail humans like all of us.

Out of that struggle they, the Hebrew people, developed some great truths. The Bible as we have it today quite clearly sets forth those truths.

No one need be at all confused as to what they are. Every story, every allegory, every poem, every account of every event that transpired in their national life was presented for the purpose of setting forth a truth which they had discovered.

Now, truth is truth everywhere and always. . . . No element of time or sophistication can alter truth. And the Bible from cover to cover sets forth certain major truths. It is for this that we reverence it. . . .

One of these fundamental truths is that behind all creation there is an intelligence, a creative power, personal, accessible, closely related in a vital way to all life and essential to its fullest development.

The Hebrews first made this startling discovery and called that personality Jaweh or Jehovah—the same personality, power, reality which we call God. Another of these truths is that God is the author and enforcer of certain inexorable laws. If we obey them we shall live. If we transgress them we shall . . . suffer for our offenses. Continued disobedience to them can result only in death.

Another of these great truths is that Love is the great redemptive force in life. . . . Another of the great truths contained in the Holy Bible is that Life is endless. . . . Now, whatever is contained in the Bible . . . does . . . set forth one or all of these truths. There are some passages which seem to be of little value for the immediate understanding of these truths; often, however, closer study shows where they do contribute to that end.

Such a passage as that which describes the creation of the world clearly sets forth the truth, "In the beginning, God;" while the story of Jonah shows us quite clearly that he who disobeys the commands of God shall fall into evil ways, and that if he escape at all it will be through repentance and final conformity to God's will concerning him. The power of Love is finely set forth in the story of Ruth and reaches its climax in the record of Jesus' life of good deeds and valuable instruction, and his demonstration of love upon the cross. In Job and the resurrection story in the New Testament we have the supreme argument for immortality.

Everything in the Bible is intended to promote these great truths as well as others unmentioned here. The greater intelligence and the more prayer we bring to the reading and study of this wonderful book, the less trouble we will have with the matter of literalism and the more benefit we will derive from its pages.

[From Advance, Boston, Massachusetts]

In a letter to the New York Times Dr. John Haynes Holmes recently offered a timely protest at the representation of the discovery of porcelain archives, almost three thousand years old, as "of vast importance in corroboration of Bible stories." "Are we never to learn," asks Dr. Holmes, "that the Bible is itself a first-class historical document, or collection of documents, which no more needs confirmation than Thucydides or Tacitus? . . . Instead of saying that these archaeological deposits in Palestine confirm the Bible, why not say that the Bible confirms these deposits? It is the 'porcelain archives' just unearthed that need authentication, not the Biblical text. I count it high time that we drop our subconscious suspicion of the Bible and accept it without reserve for what it is—one of the most precious and trustworthy records of human history now in possession of the race."

[Edwin Lewis, in the Adult Bible Class Monthly, Cincinnati, Ohio]

The Bible grew out of great experiences, and unless it is used as a means to fostering similar experiences in others, it fails of its real mission. Nothing will more help toward a true understanding of the Bible than for us to realize that before any part of it was written down, something had already happened in human experience. What is chiefly important in this great Book is what it shows you actually taking place in the lives of men and women—yes, and in the lives of nations. No great statement about life is true just because it is in the Bible; rather must we say that it is in the Bible because it had already been learned in the school of experience. . . . Are we seeking for ourselves the experience of God which lies behind the Bible and which produced it? This is the question of questions. It is not enough that we read what others say about God.

We frequently hear it said that meditation is a lost art. Few of us would deny that the art is one to which our age is not friendly. We are too much like busy Martha and too little like Mary, who took time to sit at the Master's feet. If the meditations of the heart are to be acceptable to God, it can be only as they are concerned with worthy objects; but much of the time of every day has to be concerned with things of the earth. Our danger is in becoming so absorbed in them that we forget to lift our eyes to the heights above.

Our only hope is in deliberately taking the time to meditate on the things of the Spirit, and for this purpose the Bible is all-important.

[Dr. Robert Scott Inglis, as quoted in the Star-Eagle, Newark, New Jersey]

Simple words are the most beautiful and effective form of expression. By constantly reading and studying the Bible, Lincoln made simple language beautiful. Our greatest orator, he quoted the Scriptures to a larger extent than any other man in all American political life.

[From the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch, Scotland]

Instead of futile quarrelings over the "interpretation" of certain passages in the New Testament, would it not be more to the point to open our hearts and understanding to the teachings and guidance of that Christian spirit which, down through the centuries and more especially in these latter days, has been influencing men and women towards higher ideals of human brotherhood? And under this beneficent influence we cannot but realize how the savage butcheries of war are diametrically opposed to the teachings of the divine Spirit.

[From the Evening Democrat, Fort Madison, Iowa]

A couple of men were talking on various subjects this week. Finally one of them, wanting to look up something in the Bible, said to the other, "Got a Bible in your desk?" The man opened his desk, produced a Bible and handed it to his friend, who looked up the desired citation.

The incident is significant. More than the world at large realizes, business men recognize the value of the Bible. They are using it. They keep it close at hand in order that they may avail themselves of its uplifting and inspiring teachings. No great hullabaloo accompanies the fact, but these business men, without public ado, keep this "wellspring of life" near at hand where it may be used as needed.

The Bible has ever been recognized as the Book of books, but, after going through the harassing experiences of the past five years, during which countless material standards have failed us, men and women in all walks of life today are realizing, more than ever before, the outstanding value of the Bible. As long as a nation is leaning on the Word of God for inspiration, it is not going to travel far in the wrong direction.

[From the Daily News, Santa Barbara, California]

Spiritual truth, to be of much value to us, must be incorporated in our lives. . . . The fact is, being a spiritual or religious truth, it can amount to little to us or to the world until we live it. The reason it is written, the reason it is in the Bible, the reason it is preached, is that we may make it a part of ourselves.

[From the Albany Evening News, New York]

The Bible remains the "best seller" of all books, as it deserves to be. It ought to be more generally read. Its wealth of wisdom, its beauty, its truth, its ever-present aid in time of trouble make it the greatest of all books.