A Tribute to the Bible

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.

It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end.

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

Winston Churchill and the Bible

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician, best known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, he served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States. The following shows the very high regard he had for the Scriptures:

"We reject with scorn all those learned and laboured myths that Moses was but a legendary figure upon whom the priesthood and the people hung their essential social, moral, and religious ordinances. We believe that the most scientific view, the most up-to-date and rationalistic conception, will find its fullest satisfaction in taking the Bible story literally, and in identifying one of the greatest human beings with the most decisive leap forward ever discernible in the human story. We remain unmoved by the tomes [scholarly writings] of Professor Gradgrind and Dr. Dryasdust (see notes below). We may be sure that all these things happened just as they are set out according to Holy Writ. We may believe that they happened to people not so very different from ourselves, and that the impressions those people received were faithfully recorded and have been transmitted across the centuries with far more accuracy than many of the telegraphed accounts we read of goings on of today. In the words of a forgotten work of Mr. Gladstone, we rest with assurance upon ‘The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture.’ Let the men of science and learning expand their knowledge and probe with their researches every detail of the records which have been preserved to us from these dim ages. All they will do is to fortify the grand simplicity and essential accuracy of the recorded truths which have lighted so far the pilgrimage of man" (Winston Churchill, cited in Our Hope, Aug. 1944, pages 123-124).

Notes: 1) Professor Gradgrind refers to Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, the notorious headmaster in Dickens's novel Hard Times who is dedicated to the pursuit of profitable enterprise. His name is now used generically to refer to someone who is hard and only concerned with cold facts and numbers. 2) Dr. Dryasdust was an imaginary and tediously thorough literary authority cited by Sir Walter Scott to present background information in his novels; thereafter, a derisory term for anyone who presents historical facts with no feeling for the personalities involved, that is, a dull, pedantic speaker or writer, one who parades his knowledge by presenting detailed minutiae.

The Bible and the Cell Phone

Do you ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone? What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets? What if we flipped through it several times a day? What if it were so important to us that we turned back to go get it if we forgot it? What if we used it, not to receive text messages, but to receive messages from the sacred text? What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it? (Matthew 4:4) What if we gave it to young people as valued gifts? What if we used it when we traveled? What if we used it in case of emergency? What if we consulted it often to find special guidance for each day? Have we forgotten that prayer is the greatest wireless connection? And there are no dropped calls because "the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and His ears are open unto their prayers" (1 Pet. 3:12). Also the Bible never loses its charge, because it’s power does not depend upon anything on earth. It is living and powerful, just like its Author (Heb. 4:12). Don’t let the electronic age rob you of these wonderful spiritual realities!