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THEBIBLE–
Myth or Authority?
by
Herman
L.
Hoeh
No other question is more fundamental.
W:
H AT
is the Bible?
Does it have a
purpose? Can it
be proved that the Bible is
an inspired revelation from
God for man of essential
knowledge man could not
otherwise discover
by
him–
self?
How can you be sure-if
there be an original inspired
revelation , given directly by
God to his prophets and apos–
tles-that it has been accurate–
ly preserved?
Theologians, Too, Have Erred
Today, theologians have joined
ranks with atheists and agnosties
in pronouncing the Bible as myth.
Why? What are their motives?
The Bible is, in today's philos–
ophy, the in spi r ing record of
man's
search for a concept of
God- not the
inspired
record of
God's revelation to man of essen–
tial knowledge man needs to know
but would not otherwise be able to
obtain!
The world's foremost theolo–
gians assume- without demon–
strable proof- that the Bible has
an essentially natural origin in
human traditions! This conclusion
subtly implies it is without gen–
uine authority.
To acknowledge the authority
of the Bible would mean preach–
ing what it says!
It
would require
one to reject the traditions inher–
ited from pagans. lt would mean
letting the Bible correct where he
or she is wrong. That goes against
human nature!
December 1981
What the Bible Really ls
The Bible authoritatively claims to
be the written revelation of the
Creator God for mankind. In it the
Creator God speaks of absolutely
vital knowledge that everyone
needs to understand- but which
would be inaccessible by any natu–
ral means.
ln the Bible, God speaks with
authority through its writers. The
Bibie, whether one wants to believe
it or not, possesses supreme authori–
ty over our lives, since it comes from
the Supreme Creator. The Bible
repeats hundreds of times: "Thus
saith the Lord." ln Scripture, God
speaks in the first person-"1"-and
challenges us to test him to prove
whether he speaks the truth (Isa.
44:6-9).
Without the Bible we can never
fully understand the lessons of the
past, the meaning of the present and
the goals of the future!
Scripture, when rightly under–
stood, g ives a rational meaning for
man's being here and the causes
of this world's ills.
lt
explains
exactly why this world has wars,
sicknesses and suffering. These
are the penalties of a wrong way
of life. There are hundreds of reli–
gious, political and economic
cures in the world, but none of
them touches upon the true causes
of earth's problems. Only God's
mind is great enough to know the
answers to today's troubles. No
book but his Bible can explain the
laws that eternal ly regulate human
life and human affairs- laws that ;
when violated, bring the penalties
of sickness, war and death.
Only the Bible is able to point
the way out· of impending chaos!
Yet men reject its solutions as
out-of-date. Its truth they do not
want to grasp. That's why "the
Lord has a controversy with the
nations" (Jer. 25:31). Ever since
the beginning of human life, God
has had a contr oversy wirh
humanity. Humans reason that
their ways are better. Man
assumes that he knows more than
God. Yes, "there is a way which
seemeth right unto a man, but the
end thereof are the ways of death"
(Prov. 14:12). For nearly 6,000
years humans have wanted to
avoid acknowledging God as
Supreme Ruler. And they hide
their eyes from plain evidence in
arder to label Scripture as myth
and tradition.
God ls Able to Preserve
Hls Book
Sorne critics challenge the accura–
cy of copies of the Bible in the
original Hebrew and Greek lan–
guages. Can we be sure that the
Bible has not been so corrupted so
that it no Ionger is the revelation
of God to man? Has it been so
cbanged and corrupted by myth
since tbe original writing as to be
highly doubtful, if not altogether
al tered? Of course, tbe very idea
is preposterous if there is a God
who reveals himself in the written
word.
Let the facts speak for them–
selves. For years the critics claimed
tbe Hebrew Bible was of no author–
ity. "A late and altered form of
earlier Hebrew writings," they
insisted.
Then carne the year 1947.
In the summer of 1947 a sheer
coincidence led to the discovery of
the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of
the Bible so far known . Among a
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