Signs of the Times

Topic: Worth of the Bible

with contributions from Ambrose Fleming, Paul E. Hinkamp

[Sir Ambrose Fleming, as quoted in the Yorkshire Post, Leeds, Yorkshire, England]

If the church speaks with an uncertain voice on fundamental facts or condones or permits irreconcilable opinions to be uttered, it thereby loses power to arrest the attention of the careless or the ungodly, and its message tends to be reduced to the mere inculcation of philanthropy and what are called the social implications of the gospel....

The Bible contains, besides its spiritual teaching, much history, biography, prophecy, and accounts of events we call miracles. We may then ask, In which of these departments has modern knowledge discovered error?

On the contrary, we can now say with confidence that the archaeological explorations in the Near East in recent times have confirmed in general the truth of much of the Bible history, and disproved some of the confident assertions of the so-called higher criticism formerly made.

The Old Testament contains predictions of the downfall of great empires and cities made when they were at the height of their power, and this could not have been done by the light of any merely human knowledge.

The suggestions in the report of possible inaccuracy or imperfection in our Gospels of our Lord's sayings give a very one-sided view of the facts, and do not sufficiently emphasize the truth, for the sake of unlearned readers of the report, that there is the highest probability that we do possess in our English Bible a substantially correct record of our Lord's teaching on all important matters concerning human conduct and salvation....

As regards the supreme miracle of the resurrection, there is a vast amount of direct and indirect proof as to the literal truth of the account of it in the New Testament.

[Rev. Paul E. Hinkamp, in the Evening Sentinel, Holland, Michigan]

There has just come to my desk one of the most remarkable books ever printed. It is large in size, eight and one quarter by ten and one half inches. It has two hundred and eighty-six pages. If I could not buy another copy it would require a big sum to make me part with this book. And yet I can read but a small part of it. Why then do I prize it so highly? Because it represents an achievement which is of more value to the world than any invention or scientific discovery that man has made....

I refer to "The Book of a Thousand Tongues, being some account of the translation and publication of all or part of the Holy Scriptures into more than a thousand languages and dialects, with over one thousand one hundred examples from the text." The American Bible Society has announced to the world that the Bible, in whole or in part, is now available in one thousand of the languages of mankind, one hundred and seventy-three of them in Europe, two hundred and twelve in Asia, three hundred and fortyfour in Africa, eighty-nine in the Americas, and one hundred and eighty-nine in Oceania....

Pause a moment, Christian brother, and contemplate what this achievement means, and thank God for it. In these days of confusion, fear, and discouragement, here is a ray of hope! The Word of God contains the only answer to the problems which face us. And it is now possible for the great majority of men to read it in their own tongue. Thank God for the patient labors of the many faithful workers who have had a part in this remarkable achievement!

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