Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site scgvaxd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!pesnta!pertec!scgvaxd!dan From: dan@scgvaxd.UUCP (Dan Boskovich) Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Re: Evidences for Religion Message-ID: <326@scgvaxd.UUCP> Date: Thu, 30-May-85 14:49:56 EDT Article-I.D.: scgvaxd.326 Posted: Thu May 30 14:49:56 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 1-Jun-85 01:39:55 EDT References: <2006@decwrl.UUCP> <749@rayssd.UUCP> <323@scgvaxd.UUCP> <324@scgvaxd.UUCP> <325@scgvaxd.UUCP> Reply-To: dan@scgvaxd.UUCP (PUT YOUR NAME HERE) Organization: Hughes Aircraft Co., El Segundo, CA Lines: 109 Summary: The Uniqueness of The Bible Unique in its continuity: Written over a 1500 year span; 40 generations. Written by over 40 authors from every walk of life (Kings, peasants, poets, fisherman, herdsman, doctor, tax collector etc.) Written in different places: In the wilderness, in dungeons, in a palace, in prisons etc. Written during different moods: Written in war time, peace time, heights of joy, depths of sorrow. Written on three continents; Asia, Africa, Europe. Written in three languages; Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek. Its subject matter includes hundreds of controversial subjects which would normally create oppossing opinions when discussed, yet biblical writers spoke on these issues with harmony and continuity. There is one unfolding story: God's Redemption of Man. The message is one great drama in which all parts fit together! Such a work, encompassing the lives of generations of individuals, can only be accounted for by a common author, the Spirit of God. Unique in its Teachings: Historical accounts found to be tremendously accurate. Confirmed by other historians, by archealogy, by geography. Teaches contrary to human thought. Records the sins and failures of its own characters and own country. Even the greatest of the Heroes are shown at their worst. King David commits adultry, Moses loses his temper and disobeys God, Elijah falls into self-pity, Jonah disobeys God out of prejudice, Peter denies Christ, Paul condemns himself for persecuting the church, Jacob deceives his brother out of his birth right. The great prophets of Isreal and the Apostles accuse their country of disobedience, wickedness, and apostasy. Who would paint such a picture of man as we find in scripture. Man's tendency is to either exalt himself above what he is or reduce himself below his true nature. Man also has a tendency to avoid responsibility for his own actions. This attribute of secular humanism, blaming our environment, genes, and other people for our behaviour is nothing new. It all began when God questioned Adam, "Did you eat of the fruit that I told you not to eat?" Adam's irresponsible reply, "The WOMAN that YOU GAVE ME gave me the fruit and I ate it!" The writer's of scripture could only have portrayed such an accurate picture of man, writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The bible is unique in its teaching about salvation. All religions of the world have one thing in common. They all portray salvation as attainable through human effort. The natural desire of man to earn merit is completely absent in the writers of scripture as they, one by one, from Genesis to Revelation, illustrate the inadequecy of man and the Gracious gift of God: Salvation! The teaching of Christ attest to the bible's uniqueness! The very restrained portrait of Christ testifies to their inspiration. One only has to read the mythologies of various cultures to see the propensity of man to embellish the truth with fantastic imagination. Even the non-biblical writings of Jesus, portray him as a childhood prodigy instructing His schoolteachers with hidden mysteries in the alphabet and astounding His family and playmates with miraculous works. One story has Jesus, age 5, fashioning 12 sparrows out of clay on the Sabbath. When questioned by His father about such activity, Jesus clapped His hands and the sparrows flew away chirping! In total contrast, the Bible portrays the miracles of Christ with straight forward simplicity. The biblical writers purpose is not to entertain or to sensationalize, but to demonstrate the power, authority, and glory of Christ. The bible has survived various attacks and attempts to destroy it. Some powerful men in history have tried to rid the world of the holy Scriptures, as others have predicted its demise. The French humanist, Voltaire, boastfully proclaimed, "Fifty years from now the world will hear no more of the Bible." In that year, the British Museum purchased one manuscript of the Greek New Testament from the Russian government for $500,000 while a copy of his own book was selling for eight cents a copy! Fifty years after his death, bibles were being printed by the Geneva Bible Society in the very house where Voltaire had lived and on his presses! The Bible, is the only religious book in which there has never been found a legitimate error. The Koran, the Book of Mormon, and many other "sacred" books contain gross errors and inconsistencies. The bible is accurate in history, science, and most importantly, in human nature. The hope of mankind is not in our world leaders, not in science, but in the intervention of God in human history, in the person of Jesus Christ. One need only examine the content of the sacred scriptures for a clear, accurate description of the world today. Mankind, in his rejection of the creator/redeemer, has vainly attempted to recapture his lost dominion over nature and mortality, destroying everything in his path in the process. All the while the Saviour waits, hands outstretched, longing to restore man to his God-given image. The most unique book the world has ever known, Gods loveletter to the human race, contains the solutions to the worlds problems and the remedy for the human paradox. A book as unique as the bible could only be supernatural in origin!