Bible

The Bible as a book stands alone. The vast majority of all the books that has ever been published have been Bibles. It has been translated into more languages than any other book. In addition there have been countless thousands of books about the Bible, seeking either to explain and enforce it, or to discredit it. Men have thought to destroy the Bible, and thousands of copies have been burned. Men have been persecuted, even put to death, for translating it, for putting it within the reach of the common man; and multitudes have suffered even for reading it. But the Bible lives on.

In the interest of a better understanding of the Bible and its influence on America , past, present and future, it is proposed in this introduction to discuss some matters of importance about which there is more or less ignorance or confusion.

The chief value of the Bible is found in two things: It teaches individual men and women the way of life, and it provides the principles of the kingdom of God . It at once carries a message both individual and social. The men who wrote it, and those whose story it tells, had learned how to know God; how to have His help in their daily lives; how to be rid of their sense of guilt; how to endure sorrow and suffering with joy; how to live victoriously whatever befel, and then meet death triumphantly. When Biblical writers talk on these subjects they speak infallibly, because they speak out of personal experience. And he who desires proof of Biblical truth, in such matters, may demonstrate its teachings by testing them out in his own life. And then, the Bible, and especially the Four Gospels, give us the great principles of the kingdom of God , which is destined, in the Providence of God, to rule the world. Jesus never made a move, taught a principle or preached a sermon, until He was certain that he had his Father's will in the matter; He, therefore, becomes the supreme authority in Christianity. We measure all others by Him, his spirit and his teachings. Teachings of the Bible that fall below the standard of his character, teaching and spirit, are freely considered to represent the passing and temporary, and not the permanent in Christianity.

Unfortunately the influence of the Bible has not always been good. A misconception of what the Bible is, and a misinterpretation and misapplication of parts of it, have sometimes resulted in evil. It is not claimed that the Bible and historic Christianity are the only influences for good in the world. The great religions of the world have not developed unwatched by Him; he has been with all nations, seeking to lead them into the truth. The Hebrews and Jews only proved better pupils, and so became the religious teachers of the world. As such they gave us the highest truths of God, the capstone of His revelation; that which is necessary for the highest spiritual development of mankind.

Many influences, material, moral and intellectual, have had their effect on the slow advancement and development of the race. Part of the problem of this book is to estimate the influence of the Bible in this development. Every man has a bias where religion is concerned. This is equally true of the anti-religious, as of the most devoted Christian.

The books that make up the Old and New Testaments were selected and made a part of the Sacred Volume by a perfectly natural process. Stories of miraculous interference and help in determining the canon of the Bible are pure fiction. The books of the Bible won their place on their own intrinsic merits. They carried their own attestation then, as now. Both Testaments were selections from a larger literature that circulated among the pious. But in some peculiar way the books of the Bible ministered to, and satisfied man's religious needs, as no other books did. Because of this fact they came in time to be considered sacred.