Advocacy of the Bible
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[edit] Advocates of the Bible
Christian apologists advocate a high view of the Bible and sometimes advocate the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. Conservative Christians also have a high view of the Bible and Christian scholar Bernard Ramm is often quoted by conservative Christians for writing the following in his work Protestant Christian Evidences:
"Jews preserved it as no other manuscript has ever been preserved. With their massora they kept tabs on every letter, syllable, word and paragraph. They had special classes of men within their culture whose sole duty was to preserve and transmit these documents with practically perfect fidelity – scribes, lawyers, massorettes.
In regard to the New Testament, there are about 13,000 manuscripts, complete and incomplete, in Greek and other languages, that have survived from antiquity.
A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put. No other book has been so chopped, knifed, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified. What book on philosophy or religion or psychology or belles lettres of classical or modern times has been subject to such a mass attack as the Bible? With such venom and skepticism? With such thoroughness and erudition? Upon every chapter, line and tenet?
The Bible is still loved by millions, read by millions, and studied by millions." (Bernard Ramm, "Protestant Christian Evidences," Chicago: Moody Press, 1957 pp.232-233)
[edit] Bible is unique in regards to its translation and circulation
Main article: Bible translations
- See also: International Bible Society, Bible Society, and Wycliffe Bible Translators
The Bible is the most translated book in the world. [1] The following numbers are estimates. As of 2005, at least one book of the bible has been translated into 2,400 of the 6,900 languages listed by SIL,[2] including 680 languages in Africa, followed by 590 in Asia, 420 in Oceania, 420 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 210 in Europe, and 75 in North America. The United Bible Societies are currently assisting in over 600 Bible translation projects. The Bible is currently available in whole or in part to some 98 percent of the world's population in a language in which they are fluent.[3]
Norman Geisler and William Nix cite S. L. Greenslade in the "The Cambridge History of the Bible, "No other book has known anything approaching this constant circulation" (Geisler, Norman L. and Nix, William E., "A General Introduction to the Bible", p.122).
"The Bible at first sight, appears to be a collection of literature - mainly Jewish. If we inquire into the circumstances under which the various biblical documents were written, we find that they were written at intervals over a space of nearly 1400 years. The writer wrote in various lands, from Italy in the west, to Mesopotamia and possibly Persia in the east.
The writers themselves were a diverse group of people, not only separated from each other by hundreds of years and hundreds of miles, but belonging to the most different walks of life. In their ranks we have kings, herdsmen, soldiers, legislators, fishermen, statesmen, courtiers, priests, prophets, a tentmaker, a gentile physician, not to speak of others of whom we know nothing, apart from the writings they have left us.
The writings themselves belong to a great variety of literary types. They include history, law (civil, criminal, ethical, ritual, sanitary), religious poetry, didactic treatises, lyric poetry, parable and allegory, biography, personal correspondence, personal memoirs and diaries, in addition to the distinctively biblical types of prophecy and apocalyptic. For all that, the Bible is not simply a collection of writings, or anthology; there is a unity which binds the whole together. An anthology is compiled by an anthologist, but no anthologist compiled the Bible" F.F. Bruce.[citation needed]
[edit] Bible and its effect on surrounding literature
Cleland McAfee writes in the "Greatest English Classic": "If every Bible in any considerable city were destroyed, the Book could be restored in all its essential parts from the quotations on the shelves of the city public library. There are works, covering almost all the great literary writers, devoted especially to showing how much the Bible has influenced them" (McAfee, Cleland B., "The Greatest English Classic," New York: n. p., 1912).
"An inspired work, the Bible is also a source of inspiration. Its impact has no equal, wheather on the social and ethical plane or of literary creation.... Its characters are dramatic, their dramas timeless, their triumphs and defeats overwhelming. Each cry touches us, each call penetrates us. Texts of another age, the biblical poems are themselves ageless. They call out to us collectively and individually, across and beyond the centuries" Elie Wiesel - Novelist and Nobel peace prize winner (in 'Epilogue of Liptzen' p.293).
"The influence of the Bible and its teaching in western world is clear for all who study history. And the influential role of the west in the course of world events is equally clear. Civilisation has been influenced more by the Judeo-Christian scriptures than by any other book or series of books in the world. Indeed, no great moral or religious work in the world exceeds the depth of morality in the principal of christian love, and none has a more lofty spiritual concept than the biblical view of God. The Bible presents the highest ideals known to man, ideals that have molded civilisation" - Norman Geisler.[citation needed]
[edit] Bible and its effect on Western civilization
Dr. James Kennedy argues that Jesus and the Bible had a profoundly beneficial effect upon Western civilization. [4] In addition, so astounded was the anti-Christian pagan emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363 AD), with the benevolence Christian philanthropy compared to pagan philanthropy that he was forced to admit "These godless Galileans (ie. Christians) feed not only their own poor but ours: our poor lack our care" (Ep. Sozom. 5:16). [5] The New Testament has Jesus saying, "...I was hungry and you fed me, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, when I was a stranger you took me in, when naked you clothed me, when I was ill you came to my help, when in prison you visited me... I tell you this anything you did for one of my brothers here, however humble, you did it for me." (Matt 25:35-36, 40).
Creationist Christians advocate the Bible as providing an accurate and morally positive account of the origins of the universe and humanity. They commonly criticize evolution as encouraging immorality[6].
[edit] Bible and the birth of modern science
It is argued that the Bible influenced many of the great Western scientists. [7] In addition, Dr. Michael Bumbulis in his article Christianity and the Birth of Science argues that "The founders/fathers of modern science were shaped by a culture that was predominantly Christian." [8]
[edit] Bible and inspiration and prophecy
Those who believe in Biblical inspiration believe the Bible contains remarkable Bible prophecy. For example, Professor Peter Stoner wrote about how he believed the Bible had detailed and remarkable prophecies.[9]
