Not long before he died Sir Walter Scott called out, “Bring me the book.” “What book, Sir?” asked John Lockhart. “There is but one book,” replied the great Scotsman, “the Bible.” It is the Book and no other is like it in its appeal, its satisfying message, its gripping power. No other will stand such rereading and study; it is different.
But Scott lived long ago. Surely a book so popular then is out of date now. Yet this book is the oldest with which I am acquainted. I know very few books that are even four hundred years old, while this book is many centuries old.
The Bible must have something living and vital about it or we would not be so concerned about it. We do not kick a dead horse, nor criticize a worthless book. Robert Ingersoll, going into Denver in 1876, prophesied that in fifty years there would not be fifty Bible believers left in that city. Yet during recent years 100,000 Bibles have been sold annually in Denver. I wonder if the world is going to the bad as rapidly as we might think. Thirty million copies of the Bible or portions of it are sold every year. The Bible was the first book on the printing press and has never been off. More copies of it are bought each month than all the copies of Main Street ever sold.
It is never out of date, is always ahead calling, “Come on!” The scientific books of a few years ago are mostly superseded today, but this book on the unfolding revelation of God to man, this book on the Art of Noble Living, has been tried, is ever up to date and even ahead of the times. Age is in its favor as is true of no other book. Truly it has been tested enough to prove its value. It does not need to be defended; it is wholly competent to defend itself. It is intrinsically adequate to make its own way in every generation. As long as it can do these things it needs no press agents, no defense societies, no worry from me. Criticism reminds one of a pygmy trying to destroy Gibraltar.
Arthur Brisbane, the famous journalist, suggested: “A writer or editor should know the English language. The Bible is the best teacher of English. Job and Isaiah could do more to correct the deplorable weakness and carelessness of newspaper English than all other teachers combined. Read the Old Testament with its magnificent power for inspiration and the New Testament for consolation.”
The Bible pierces me, finds me in my deepest depths; it is a picture of human nature, reveals the best and the worst. In it we hear universal man as he prays and swears—similar language but opposite spirit—curses and hates, loves and adores. It is real; it does not whitewash nor make lame excuses for the faults of its characters; it cuts to the bone and reveals the dark secrets of the soul; it comforts and consoles, awakens and inspires, condemns and leads to forgiveness; it brings God to lives sunken in sin, implants hope in the hopeless, sheds light upon life’s darkest enigmas, and indeed puts a shout of triumph upon the lips of weakness.
In the Bible we see ourselves as we are—life’s blueprint. We see as in a mirror the innermost secrets of the soul: “Cleanse thou me from hidden faults, suffer them not to have dominion over me.” It finds us, discovers our real selves, condemns the unrighteous, beckons to the heights.
When reading the Bible we should be as wise as when eating a finely roasted fowl. Do not emphasize the bones, nor try to choke yourself, but enjoy the finely flavored meat, taste it, masticate it well, lay the bones aside that you cannot use. Take all you can of this book by reason and the rest by faith, and put the truth to work. Plant it in the soil of your heart, your mind, your intelligence, and your feelings. There it can grow. Place it in the memory. Like a great song it can sing itself all through the days, and life will tend to accommodate itself to the same high rhythm and noble melody. There will accrue uplifting, enriching emotion, carrying life higher and higher on the plane of choice and decision. It is sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Jeremiah was given a roll, the scroll of truth, and he ate it and found it palatable, sweet to his taste. It entered into his system of thought; it changed his outlook, transformed his attitudes and feelings, heightened his ideals, purified his loves, and encouraged him on to great spiritual service. Put this light, this guide, this chart into the mind and heart, and it will become no less than the power of God unto salvation.
Put it into the home of motive, where the affections are, where reason governs, where we feel, believe, and love—there it will become a spring of majestic action, a living power for righteousness. A biblical phrase, an incident, a verse of truth, is like a lighted torch falling into a heap of resinous wood; flames burst forth, the whole heap is alive.
If it is kept in the heart it will keep the heart, strengthen the nerves and spirit, and reveal the pathway of duty. It will make you strong, optimistic; it will ennoble, purify, and fortify. It will be a guard in the house of life, a sentinel in the City of Mansoul watching diligently against the attacks of temptation. Read, study it, digest it, muse upon its teachings, catch its wonderful spirit there set forth—and lo, the best in you is awakened.
I believe in the Bible because of the God there revealed, the truths set forth that are verifiable in daily experience, the leadership it gives to my soul, the hope held out, the spirit that pervades all. I believe in the Bible as I believe in the sun. It awakens me, it gives me light and health, it enables me to live and thrive, it helps me to see and to do and to achieve. I do not know enough to ask for anything better. It is enough. Forget not that it is composed of sixty-six books, written by thirty-six authors in three languages and over a period of 800 years. Many of the writers did not see the other writings; marvel of marvels, what a unity and what an agreement! Does this point to inspiration? Let us not seek to pick flaws in it while it picks so many flaws in us. We have committed much of it to memory—now let us commit it to life.
We can find in the Bible the old familiar things—sunrise and sunset, calm and storm, love and laughter, broken hearts and open graves lifted up against the skyline of eternity. It glorifies the commonplace, makes life endurable, dignifies every human creature, encourages every struggling soul, provides a blueprint for right living, plants our feet in the way of advance, leads to a blessed immortality.—GEORGE D. OWEN, retired Congregational minister, Tarrytown, New York.
