THE WONDERFUL UNITY OF THE BIBLE ATTESTS ITS
DIVINE AUTHORSHIP
The manner in which the Bible has
been produced argues against its unity.
The Bible was penned on two continents, written in three languages, and
its composition and compilation extended through the slow progress of sixteen centuries. The various parts of the Bible were
written at different times and under the most varying circumstances. Parts of
it were written in tents, deserts, cities, palaces and dungeons; in times of
imminent danger and in seasons of ecstatic joy. Among its writers were judges,
kings, priests, prophets, patriarchs, prime ministers, herdsmen, scribes,
soldiers, physicians and fishermen. Yet despite these varying circumstances,
conditions and workmen, the Bible is one Book, behind its
many parts there is an unmistakable organic unity. It contains one system
of doctrine, one code of ethics, one plan of salvation and one
rule of faith.
Now if forty different men were
selected today from such varying stations and callings of life as to include
clerks, rulers, politicians, judges, clergy, doctors, farm
laborers and fishermen, and each was asked to contribute a chapter for some
book on theology or church government, when their several contributions were
collected and bound together, would there be any unity about them, could that
book truly be said to be one book; or would not their different
productions vary so much in literary value, diction and matter as to be merely
a heterogeneous mass, a miscellaneous collection? Yet we do not find this to be the case in connection with God’s Book.
Although the Bible is a volume of sixty-six Books, written by forty different
men, treating of such a large variety of themes as to cover nearly the whole
range of human inquiry, we find it is one Book, the Book (not the books),
the Bible.
Further; if we were to select
specimens of literature from the third, fifth, tenth,
fifteenth and twentieth centuries of the Christian era and were to bind them
together, what unity and harmony should we find in such a collection? Human
writers reflect the spirit of their own day and generation and the compositions
of men living amid widely differing influences and separated by centuries of
time have little or nothing in common with each other. Yet although the
earliest portions of the Sacred Canon date back to at
least the fifteenth century, B. C., while the writings of John were not
completed till the close of the first century, A. D., nevertheless, we find a
perfect harmony throughout the Scriptures from the first verse in Genesis to
the last verse in Revelation. The great ethical and spiritual lessons presented
in the Bible, by whoever taught, agree.
The more one really studies the
Bible the more one is convinced that behind the many human mouths there is One
overruling, controlling Mind. Imagine
forty persons of different nationalities, possessing various degrees of musical
culture visiting the organ of some cathedral and at long intervals of time, and
without any collusion whatever, striking sixty-six different notes, which when
combined yielded the theme of the grandest oratorio ever
heard: would it not show that behind these forty different men there was one
presiding mind, one great Tone master? As we listen to some great orchestra,
with an immense variety of instruments playing their different parts, but
producing melody and harmony, we realize that at the back of these many
musicians there is the personality and genius of the composer. And when we
enter the halls of the Divine Academy and listen to the heavenly
choirs singing the Song of Redemption, all in perfect accord and unison, we
know that it is God Himself who has written the music and put this song into
their mouths.
We now submit two illustrations
which demonstrate the unity of the Holy Scriptures. Certain grand conceptions
run through the entire Bible like a cord on which are
strung so many precious pearls. First and foremost among them is the Divine
Plan of Redemption. Just as the scarlet thread runs through all the cordage of
the British Navy, so a crimson aura surrounds every page of God’s Word.
In the Scriptures the Plan of
Redemption is central and fundamental. In Genesis we have
recorded the Creation and Fall of man to show that he has the capacity for and
is in need of redemption. Next we find the Promise of the Redeemer, for man
requires to have before him the hope and expectation of a Saviour. Then follows
an elaborate system of sacrifices and offerings and these represent pictorially
the nature of redemption and the condition under which salvation is realized.
At the commencement of the New Testament we have the four
Gospels and they set forth the Basis of Redemption, namely, the Incarnation,
Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Redeemer. Next comes the Book of
the Acts which illustrates again and again the Power of Redemption, showing
that it is adequate to work its great results in the salvation of both Jew and
Gentile. Finally, in the Revelation, we
are shown the ultimate triumphs of redemption, the Goal of Salvation—the
redeemed dwelling with God in perfect union and communion.
Thus we see that though a large number of human media were employed in the
writing of the Bible, yet their productions are not independent of each other,
but are complementary and supplementary parts of one great whole; that one
sublime truth is common to them all, namely, man’s need of redemption and God’s
provision of a Redeemer. And the only explanation of this fact is, that “All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
Secondly; among all the many
personalities presented in the Bible, we find that one stands out above all
others, not merely prominent but preeminent.
Just as in the scene unveiled in the fifth chapter of the Revelation we
find the Lamb in the center of the heavenly throngs, so we find that in the
Scriptures also, the Lord Jesus Christ is accorded the
place which alone befits His unique Person. Considered from one standpoint the
Scriptures are really the biography of the Son of God.
In the Old Testament we have the
Promise of our Lord’s Incarnation and Mediatorial work. In the Gospels
we have the Proclamation of His Mission and the Proofs
of His Messianic claims and authority. In the Acts we have a demonstration
of His saving Power and the execution of His missionary Program.
In the Epistles we find an exposition and amplification of His Precepts for
the education of His People. While in the Apocalypse we behold the
unveiling or Presentation of His Person and the Preparation of
the earth for His Presence. The Bible is therefore seen to be peculiarly
the Book of Jesus Christ. Christ not only testified
to the Scriptures but each section of the Scriptures testify of Him. Every page
of the Holy Book has stamped upon it His photograph and every chapter bears His
autograph. He is its one great theme, and the only explanation of this fact is
that, the Holy Spirit superintended the work of each and every writer of the
Scriptures.
The unity of the Scriptures is
further to be seen on the fact that they are entirely free
from any real contradictions. Though different writers often described the same
incidents—as for example the four evangelists recording the facts relating to
our Lord’s ministry and redemptive work— and though there is considerable
variety in the narrations of these, yet there are no real discrepancies. The
harmony existing between them does not appear on the surface, but, often, is
only discovered by protracted study, though it is there
nevertheless. Moreover, there is perfect agreement of doctrine between all the
writers in the Bible. The teaching of the prophets and the teaching of the
Apostles on the great truths of God’s righteousness, the demands of His
holiness, the utter ruin of man, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the way
of salvation, is entirely harmonious. This might appear a thing easily
effected. But those who are acquainted with human nature, and have read widely
the writings of men, will acknowledge that nothing but the
inspiration of the writers can explain this fact. Nowhere can we find two
uninspired writers, however similar they may have been in their religious
sentiments, who agree in all points of doctrine. Nay, entire consistency of
sentiment is not to be found even in the writings of the same author at
different periods. In his later years Spurgeon’s statement of some doctrines
was much more modified than the utterances of his earlier
days. Increasing knowledge causes men to change their views upon many subjects.
But among the writers of Scripture there is the most perfect harmony, because
they obtained their knowledge of truth and duty not by the efforts of study,
but from inspiration by the Holy Spirit of God.
When therefore we find that in
the productions of forty different men there is perfect
accord and concord, unison and unity, harmony in all their teachings, and the same
conceptions pervading all their writings, the conclusion is irresistible that
behind their minds, and guiding their hands, there was the master-mind of God
Himself. Does not the unity of the Bible illustrate the Divine Inspiration of
the Bible and demonstrate the truth of its own assertion that
“God (who) at sundry
times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets” (Hebrews 1:1)?