THE MARVELOUS INFLUENCE
OF THE BIBLE DECLARES ITS
SUPER-HUMAN CHARACTER
The influence of the Bible is
world-wide. Its mighty power has affected every department of human activity.
The contents of the Scriptures have supplied themes for
the greatest poets, artists and musicians which the world has yet produced, and
have been the mightiest factor of all in shaping the moral progress of the
race. Let us consider a few examples of the Bible’s influence as displayed in
the various realms of human enterprise.
Take away such sublime oratorios
as “Elijah” and “The Messiah,” and you have taken out of
the realm of music something which can never be duplicated; destroy the
countless hymns which have drawn their inspiration from the Scriptures and you
have left us little else worth singing.
Eliminate from the compositions
of Tennyson, Wordsworth and Carlisle every reference to the moral and spiritual
truths taught in God’s Word and you have stripped them of their
beauty and robbed them of their fragrance.
Take down from off the walls of our best Art Galleries those pictures
which portray scenes and incidents in the history of Israel and the life of our
Lord and you have removed the richest gems from the crown of human genius.
Remove from our statute books every law which is founded upon the ethical
conceptions of the Bible and you have annihilated the greatest factor in modern civilization. Rob our libraries of every book which is
devoted to the work of elaborating and disseminating the precepts and concepts
of Holy Writ and you have taken from us that which cannot be valued in dollars
and cents.
The Bible has done more for the
emancipation and civilization of the heathen than all the forces which the
human arm can wield, put together. Someone has said, “Draw a line around the
nations which have the Bible and you will then have divided between barbarism
and civilization, between thrift and poverty, between selfishness and charity,
between oppression and freedom, between life and the shadow of death.” Even
Darwin had to concede the miraculous element in the triumphs of the
missionaries of the cross.
Here are two or three men who
land on a savage island. Its inhabitants posses no literature and have no
written language. They regard the white man as their enemy and have no desire
to be shown “the error of their ways.” They are cannibals by instinct and
little better than the brute beasts in their habits of life. The missionaries
who have entered their midst have no money with which to buy their friendship,
no army to compel their obedience and no merchandise to
stir their avarice. Their only weapon is “the Sword of the Spirit,” their only
capital “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” their only offer the invitation of
the Gospel. Yet somehow they succeed, and without the shedding of any blood
gain the victory. In a few short years naked savagery is changed to the garb of
civilization, lust is transformed into purity, cruelty is now kindness, avarice
has become unselfishness, and where before vindictiveness
existed there is now to be seen meekness and the spirit of loving
self-sacrifice. And this has been accomplished by the Bible! This miracle is
still being repeated in every part of the earth! What other book, or library of
books, could work such a result? Is it not evident to all that the Book which
does exert such a unique and unrivaled influence must be vitalized by the life
of God Himself?
This wonderful characteristic,
namely the unique influence of the Bible, is rendered the more remarkable when
we take into account the antiquity of the Scriptures! The last Books
which were added to the Sacred Canon are now more than eighteen hundred years
old, yet the workings of the Bible are as mighty in their effects today as they
were in the first century of the Christian era.
The power of man’s books soon
wane and disappear. With but few exceptions the productions of the human
intellect enjoy a brief existence. As a general rule the writings of man within
fifty years of their first public appearance lie untouched on the top shelves
of our libraries. Man’s writings are like himself—dying creatures. Man comes onto the age of this world, plays his part in
the drama of life, influences the audience while he is acting, but is forgotten
as soon as the curtain falls upon his brief career; so it is with his writings.
While they are fresh and new they amuse, interest or instruct as the wise may
be, and then die a natural death. Even the few exceptions to this rule only
exert a very limited influence, their power is circumscribed; they are unread
by the great majority, yea, are unknown to the biggest
portion of our race. But how different with God’s Book! The written Word, like
the Living Word, is “The same yesterday, and today, and for ever,” and unlike
any other book it has made its way into all countries and speaks with equal
clearness, directness and force to all men in their mother tongue. The Bible
never becomes antiquated, its vitality never diminishes and its influence is more
irresistible and universal today than it was two thousands
years ago. Such facts as these declare with no uncertain voice that the Bible
is endued with the same Divine life and energy as its Author, for in no other
way can we account for its marvelous influence through the centuries and its
mighty power upon the world.