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Garner Ted Armstrong
.
The Fashionable Ignorance
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f you had to admit to friends that you
knew absolutely nothing about poli–
líes, nothing about the economy,
nothing about health or die!, nothing
about world affairs or anything else
that people are apt to discuss, it would
probably prove somewhat embarrass–
ing to you. But it isn't a bit embarrass–
ing for most people to openly confess
their complete ignorance of the Bible.
In fact , it's almos! a badge of re–
spectability to say, " Me? l'm no Bible
scholar" or "l've never really looked
into the Bible."
Have you ever noticed, as 1 have,
that when you stay in a motel or hotel
while traveling, there is invariably a
copy of the Bible in the upper drawer
of a dresser or bedside stand? 11 you
will experiment by paging through that
book you will, in nine cases out of ten,
find absolutely no signs of use at all. lt
will be one of the most careful ly pre–
served items in the room. The bed, the
couch, the chair, the dresser, every–
thing else may be beat up. The towels
may have holes in them, the plumbing
may be in disrepair-but that Gideon
Bible looks absolutely brand-spanking
new, with the possible exception of
rings on its cover from coffee cups or
beer cans.
This is not to say, of course, that
people don't occasionally sil around
and talk about the Bible. But so often
their conversatíon revolves around
what they've
heard
about the Bible,
what they've
read
about the Bible, or
what others have
said
about the Bible,
rather than about what they have found
from reading the Bible themselves.
Moreover, many have totally rejected
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1978
the Bible on the basis of what they
think
it says, never having looked into it
for themselves to ascertain whether , in
fact, it really says what they've been
told it says. Many scientists, for ex–
ample, have rejected the Bible be–
cause they have heard that it claims
the earth is only 6,000 years old. (lt
makes no such claim. Write for our free
booklet
Answers from Genesis
tor
de–
tails.)
Others, seeing the sad state ot the
world today, have rejected the Bible–
or belief in God altogether-because
they think the Scriptures claim God is
trying desperately to save the world
now,
and obviously is failing miserably
in the process. The Bible, however, re–
veals a totally difieren! master plan for
humankind. (Request our free article
"ls This the Only Day of Salvation?")
Still others fi nd it hard to reconc ile
t he concep t of a 1o vi ng, com–
passionate, merciful God with the
specter of the eterna! torment of mil–
lions in an ever burning hell. But one
can search the Bible from cover to
cover without turning up any mention
of such a place. (Write for our free
booklet /s
There a Real Hellfire?)
A major part of this problem of bibli–
cal illiteracy is that people think they
must leave the Bible's understanding
or interpretation to the relígious profes–
sionals, meaning those people who
wear the frocks and collars that identify
them as members of the priesthood or
the clergy. In other words, if you want
to sell a house, you go to a realtor . lf
you want to buy stocks, you go to a
broker. And if you want to find out
about heaven, hell, the meaning of lile,
or how you ought to live, you simply go
toa priest, minister. or rabbi.
The trouble with this is that some of
these Bible "specialists" are not as
professional as you might think. Many
will merely learn certarn portions of the
Bible. certain favorite texts they like to
quote and preach from each week. As
a result , many of these clergymen be–
come like some of the guides l've
heard about in the Amazon region of
Brazil. As long as they stick to the trails
and streams they are familiar with, they
are sale. But if they wander out into a
huge rain forest-such as the tractless
Mato Grosso of Brazil that seems to
stretch endlessly rn all directions-they
quickly become hopelessly lost.
Biblical illiteracy can be as prevalen!
among theclergyasamong laymen. Sur–
veys have shown that some clergymen
cannot even correctl yname the books
ot
!he Bible, much less tell you what's in
them! And other surveys have revealed
that many clergymen believe in the Bible
toa lar lesser degree than do their par–
ishioners-but they seldom pass this fact
on to their congregations.
lt can be an interesting and illuminat–
ing experiment to personally read
through the Bible to see what it does
say and what it does not say. Write for
our two free booklets
How lo Study the
Bible
and
Read the Book
to learn how
to gel the most out of your study. And
be sure lo enroll in our twelve-lesson
Bible Correspondence Course, also
sent free and without any obligation.
Why not get started
now
in your per–
sonal study of the Bible to see for your–
self what it really says. You may be in
for a few surprises! o
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