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| Beliefs - Bible Studies The Divinely Inspired Word of God |
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The Holy Bible, which has been translated into over fifteen hundred languages,
remains the number one bestseller, and continues to be an inspiration, comfort
and help to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The Bible is
irrevocably the divinely inspired Word of the living God, whose authorship can
be proven by its miraculous content. Our journey to understand the true
authorship thorough the miraculous contents of this wonderful book will help
reveal the truly uniqueness of the Bible.
The Bible is a unique book because of its authorship. The Bible is a product of
over forty authors, with the authorship ranging from fishermen, shepherds,
prophets, priests and even kings. The very elite to the least fortunate was used
in penning the greatest Book written. Covering a span of sixteen hundred
years, the Bible is a product of God inspiring, through plenary inspiration, men
and women to write as God breathed upon them. In reading this book, you can
feel the rushing wind and water on your face as you kneel with Moses at the
parting of the Red Sea or taste the victory of Joshua as he watches the mighty
walls of Jericho crash nosily to the ground. Stand on a hillside with Mary as she
watches the Son of God die for men’s sins or stand in awe as the pages of the
Book of Revelation unfold with the revealing of the majesty and eternal reign of
the Son of God.
The authors of the Bible state they simply recorded what they saw and heard
from the mouth of God. These words, that could condemn on one hand and yet
purchase the victory of life on the other, claimed divine authorship with absolute
harmony in thought and objective with the purpose of revealing God to man.
Is this book, as is emphatically claimed in over two hundred places, derived from
divine authorship and thus unique in its entirety? This claim, if true, must be
substantiated by content that is above the writer’s comprehension and
understanding at the time of writing. The following, I believe, substantiates this
claim and is a clarion testimony that the Bible is definitely of divine authorship
and distinctly set apart from other books of origin. Read the following and
consider the uniqueness of the bible in relation to its divine authorship and
miraculous contents.
The process of the rain cycle. Today the average second grade student
understands the rain cycle, but for centuries rain was a hidden mystery to man,
with no clear understanding existing that detailed the rain cycle process. We
know today that air contained in a twelve hundred square foot room can hold
approximately two hundred and fifty gallons of water. However, in 935 B.C., the
writer of Ecclesiastes stated, “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not
full; unto the place from where the rivers come, there they return again”
(Ecclesiastes 1:7). How could Solomon have known the rain process in 935 B.C
when the rain cycle was completely unknown at that time?
The importance of blood in relation to life. In the 1700’s, the prevailing belief
was that by bloodletting, a process that bled the excess or contaminated blood
from one’s body, some illnesses could be cured. This procedure was used
thousands of times with mixed results. Because of this widely held belief, former
President George Washington, upon contracting pneumonia, was bled four
times (LaHaye 139). He, due to very little or no blood remaining in his system,
died. Mr. Washington could have overcome the illness and lived if the people
that performed this process would have consulted the Bible. The writer stated,
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). The people in Mr.
Washington’s time did not realize or understand that the blood sustains life. A
simple study of the Bible could have prevented our former President’s
premature death.
The helpful cure of contagious diseases. In our modern hospitals, no invasive
operation will take place without a good pre-scrub, the necessary covering of
the body parts by gowns and gauze and the sterilization of the rooms in which
the operation and subsequent hospital stay takes place. However, tens of
thousands had contracted infections and died before these simple procedures
were followed.
In Leviticus, chapters thirteen and fourteen, the writer, through the instruction of
God, clearly explained the use of these very same procedures. The house
where the contagious sick person stayed was to be scraped inside and out, and
the offending material cast outside of the gates of the city. The people entering
the house were to place cloth over their faces to protect themselves and the
patient. They were to pre-scrub over running water to prevent germs from
remaining on their bodies and hands and the patient was to be bathed in
running water frequently to wash away any accumulated germs. These two
chapters were written hundreds of years prior to the same types of processes
being understood and put in place in our local hospitals. This unique content of
the Bible demands that we consider the origin to be of divine authorship.
A previously unknown fact of nature is recorded in the Bible that declares its
uniqueness. The ant is a well-studied insect and today, by the use of the
microscope, we know that only the female ant actually survives any length of
time. This is because the male ants are born for one reason, that is, to mate with
the female. The male, which is much smaller than the female, never leaves the
home. At the time of maturity, the male immediately mates with a female and in
the subsequent separation, his organs are torn from his body and he dies. This
fact of nature was not known until the microscope was invented and in use.
However, hundreds of years before the microscope was invented, the writer
recorded in the book of Proverbs these words, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard,
and consider her ways and be wise” (Prov. 6:6). This verse was speaking of the
worker ants, which are made up entirely of females. Without the microscope, it
was impossible for anyone to tell that only females performed the work within a
colony of ants.
Astrology aided by a study of the Bible. We know today that the stars in heaven
number in the millions, however, that was not always the case. The Encarta
Encyclopedia-2002 records that in A. D. 131, Ptolemy, one of the most
influential astronomers of his time, posed the long accepted argument that the
earth was at the center of the universe and the sun and moon traveled in small
circles against a backdrop of unmoving stars. These stars, numbering exactly
one thousand one hundred and twenty-six per Ptolemy’s recorded account, are
completely misrepresented as the total amount of stars available. The 1,026
stars represented all the stars he could have possibly saw on a clear night and
due to the nonexistence of a telescope, all that he could conceive.
The Bible again should have been consulted. In 627 B.C., the writer of Jeremiah
stated, “As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the
sea measured“ (Jer. 33:22). A simple yet profound statement that was true
hundreds of years before it was believed.
Ptolemy’s argument also depended on the stars not moving. The Bible refuted
this, when in 1021 B.C, the writer of Judges stated, “…the stars in their
courses…” (Judges 5:20). There was no humanly way that Ptolemy, or anyone
before his time, could have even remotely known that the stars follow paths or
courses in heaven. The Bible is truly a divinely inspired book unlike any other in
existence.
Today, a first grade student realizes that the earth is round, however this was
not the belief of yesteryear. The prevalent belief was a flat world, to which a
seafaring man, if traveling to close to the edge, would fall off. One of
Christopher Columbus’s goals, in 1492, was to successfully sail around the
world thus disproving the widely held belief of a flat earth. This was not truly
accomplished until around the year of 1521, when Magellan finally sailed around
the world. The Bible calmly and completely refutes a flat earth when, in B.C. 600,
the writer of Isaiah stated, “It is he {God} that sits upon the circle of the earth”
(Isa. 40:22).
The above information is a small sprinkling of evidence that the Bible is a
divinely inspired, unique Book. I conclude with a caption from William J. Federer’
s, America’s God and Country. He related the following:
The Congress of the United States on October 4, 1982, in a Joint Resolution of
the 97th Congress signed by President Reagan, declared 1983 as the “Year of
the Bible”. Public Law 97-280 states:
WEREAS the Bible, the Word of God, has made a unique contribution in
shaping the United States as a distinctive and blessed nation and people;
WHEREAS deeply held religious convictions springing from the Holy Scriptures
led to an early settlement of our Nation; WHEREAS Biblical teachings inspired
concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of
Independence and Constitution of the United States…NOW, THEREFORE, be it
Resolved…to designate 1983 as a national “Year of the Bible” in recognition of
both the formative influence the Bible has been for our Nation, and our national
need to study and apply the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. (Federer 660)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Works Cited
Federer, William J. America’s God and Country Coppell, Texas: Fame
Publishing, 1994.
Halley, H.H. Halley’s Bible Handbook. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995
“Ptolemy.” Encarta Encyclopedia. Electronic ed., version 2002.
“Ants.” Encarta Encyclopedia. Electronic ed., version 2002.
The Open Bible. King James Version. New York: Thomas Nelson Publishers,
1991.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rudy Oakes
remains the number one bestseller, and continues to be an inspiration, comfort
and help to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The Bible is
irrevocably the divinely inspired Word of the living God, whose authorship can
be proven by its miraculous content. Our journey to understand the true
authorship thorough the miraculous contents of this wonderful book will help
reveal the truly uniqueness of the Bible.
The Bible is a unique book because of its authorship. The Bible is a product of
over forty authors, with the authorship ranging from fishermen, shepherds,
prophets, priests and even kings. The very elite to the least fortunate was used
in penning the greatest Book written. Covering a span of sixteen hundred
years, the Bible is a product of God inspiring, through plenary inspiration, men
and women to write as God breathed upon them. In reading this book, you can
feel the rushing wind and water on your face as you kneel with Moses at the
parting of the Red Sea or taste the victory of Joshua as he watches the mighty
walls of Jericho crash nosily to the ground. Stand on a hillside with Mary as she
watches the Son of God die for men’s sins or stand in awe as the pages of the
Book of Revelation unfold with the revealing of the majesty and eternal reign of
the Son of God.
The authors of the Bible state they simply recorded what they saw and heard
from the mouth of God. These words, that could condemn on one hand and yet
purchase the victory of life on the other, claimed divine authorship with absolute
harmony in thought and objective with the purpose of revealing God to man.
Is this book, as is emphatically claimed in over two hundred places, derived from
divine authorship and thus unique in its entirety? This claim, if true, must be
substantiated by content that is above the writer’s comprehension and
understanding at the time of writing. The following, I believe, substantiates this
claim and is a clarion testimony that the Bible is definitely of divine authorship
and distinctly set apart from other books of origin. Read the following and
consider the uniqueness of the bible in relation to its divine authorship and
miraculous contents.
The process of the rain cycle. Today the average second grade student
understands the rain cycle, but for centuries rain was a hidden mystery to man,
with no clear understanding existing that detailed the rain cycle process. We
know today that air contained in a twelve hundred square foot room can hold
approximately two hundred and fifty gallons of water. However, in 935 B.C., the
writer of Ecclesiastes stated, “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not
full; unto the place from where the rivers come, there they return again”
(Ecclesiastes 1:7). How could Solomon have known the rain process in 935 B.C
when the rain cycle was completely unknown at that time?
The importance of blood in relation to life. In the 1700’s, the prevailing belief
was that by bloodletting, a process that bled the excess or contaminated blood
from one’s body, some illnesses could be cured. This procedure was used
thousands of times with mixed results. Because of this widely held belief, former
President George Washington, upon contracting pneumonia, was bled four
times (LaHaye 139). He, due to very little or no blood remaining in his system,
died. Mr. Washington could have overcome the illness and lived if the people
that performed this process would have consulted the Bible. The writer stated,
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11). The people in Mr.
Washington’s time did not realize or understand that the blood sustains life. A
simple study of the Bible could have prevented our former President’s
premature death.
The helpful cure of contagious diseases. In our modern hospitals, no invasive
operation will take place without a good pre-scrub, the necessary covering of
the body parts by gowns and gauze and the sterilization of the rooms in which
the operation and subsequent hospital stay takes place. However, tens of
thousands had contracted infections and died before these simple procedures
were followed.
In Leviticus, chapters thirteen and fourteen, the writer, through the instruction of
God, clearly explained the use of these very same procedures. The house
where the contagious sick person stayed was to be scraped inside and out, and
the offending material cast outside of the gates of the city. The people entering
the house were to place cloth over their faces to protect themselves and the
patient. They were to pre-scrub over running water to prevent germs from
remaining on their bodies and hands and the patient was to be bathed in
running water frequently to wash away any accumulated germs. These two
chapters were written hundreds of years prior to the same types of processes
being understood and put in place in our local hospitals. This unique content of
the Bible demands that we consider the origin to be of divine authorship.
A previously unknown fact of nature is recorded in the Bible that declares its
uniqueness. The ant is a well-studied insect and today, by the use of the
microscope, we know that only the female ant actually survives any length of
time. This is because the male ants are born for one reason, that is, to mate with
the female. The male, which is much smaller than the female, never leaves the
home. At the time of maturity, the male immediately mates with a female and in
the subsequent separation, his organs are torn from his body and he dies. This
fact of nature was not known until the microscope was invented and in use.
However, hundreds of years before the microscope was invented, the writer
recorded in the book of Proverbs these words, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard,
and consider her ways and be wise” (Prov. 6:6). This verse was speaking of the
worker ants, which are made up entirely of females. Without the microscope, it
was impossible for anyone to tell that only females performed the work within a
colony of ants.
Astrology aided by a study of the Bible. We know today that the stars in heaven
number in the millions, however, that was not always the case. The Encarta
Encyclopedia-2002 records that in A. D. 131, Ptolemy, one of the most
influential astronomers of his time, posed the long accepted argument that the
earth was at the center of the universe and the sun and moon traveled in small
circles against a backdrop of unmoving stars. These stars, numbering exactly
one thousand one hundred and twenty-six per Ptolemy’s recorded account, are
completely misrepresented as the total amount of stars available. The 1,026
stars represented all the stars he could have possibly saw on a clear night and
due to the nonexistence of a telescope, all that he could conceive.
The Bible again should have been consulted. In 627 B.C., the writer of Jeremiah
stated, “As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the
sea measured“ (Jer. 33:22). A simple yet profound statement that was true
hundreds of years before it was believed.
Ptolemy’s argument also depended on the stars not moving. The Bible refuted
this, when in 1021 B.C, the writer of Judges stated, “…the stars in their
courses…” (Judges 5:20). There was no humanly way that Ptolemy, or anyone
before his time, could have even remotely known that the stars follow paths or
courses in heaven. The Bible is truly a divinely inspired book unlike any other in
existence.
Today, a first grade student realizes that the earth is round, however this was
not the belief of yesteryear. The prevalent belief was a flat world, to which a
seafaring man, if traveling to close to the edge, would fall off. One of
Christopher Columbus’s goals, in 1492, was to successfully sail around the
world thus disproving the widely held belief of a flat earth. This was not truly
accomplished until around the year of 1521, when Magellan finally sailed around
the world. The Bible calmly and completely refutes a flat earth when, in B.C. 600,
the writer of Isaiah stated, “It is he {God} that sits upon the circle of the earth”
(Isa. 40:22).
The above information is a small sprinkling of evidence that the Bible is a
divinely inspired, unique Book. I conclude with a caption from William J. Federer’
s, America’s God and Country. He related the following:
The Congress of the United States on October 4, 1982, in a Joint Resolution of
the 97th Congress signed by President Reagan, declared 1983 as the “Year of
the Bible”. Public Law 97-280 states:
WEREAS the Bible, the Word of God, has made a unique contribution in
shaping the United States as a distinctive and blessed nation and people;
WHEREAS deeply held religious convictions springing from the Holy Scriptures
led to an early settlement of our Nation; WHEREAS Biblical teachings inspired
concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of
Independence and Constitution of the United States…NOW, THEREFORE, be it
Resolved…to designate 1983 as a national “Year of the Bible” in recognition of
both the formative influence the Bible has been for our Nation, and our national
need to study and apply the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. (Federer 660)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Works Cited
Federer, William J. America’s God and Country Coppell, Texas: Fame
Publishing, 1994.
Halley, H.H. Halley’s Bible Handbook. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995
“Ptolemy.” Encarta Encyclopedia. Electronic ed., version 2002.
“Ants.” Encarta Encyclopedia. Electronic ed., version 2002.
The Open Bible. King James Version. New York: Thomas Nelson Publishers,
1991.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rudy Oakes