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| Vol. 14 No. 6 June 2012 | Page 6 |
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| Vol. 14 No. 6 June 2012 | Page 6 |
Donald R. Fox
I believe we are all familiar with signs that warn us of some dangers. I was raised very near the Atlantic Ocean. As a youngster, I spent many a day on the beach. At one time, my grandparents lived within walking distance to Coney Island Beach. As a teenager the Jacob Riis Park, Far Rockaway, NY was about five miles from where we lived. These beaches had warning signs for swimmers to beware of rip currents/riptides. These dangerous ocean currents can drag one into deeper waters. We are informed that more than 100 deaths annually are caused by riptides. Further, rip currents cause about 80% of rescues by brave beach lifeguards. Years ago and in our current times as Americans, we have been warned of approaching socialism or to be more accurate communism. We, as a nation, have winked at the obvious encroachments of socialistic thinking. Consider the following quote, “We are at war with communism and the sooner every red-blooded American realizes this the safer we will be” (Speech by the late FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover, New York City, December 14, 1963).
Another fast-moving intrusion to the American way of life is orthodox Islam with its pushing, now demanding of Sharia law to be used in our courts. “If Sharia law is being introduced in the courtroom, if your kid’s schoolbooks whitewash bloody Islamic history, if a mega-mosque is going up in a place not zoned for such things and the supremacists need laws changed to accommodate them, fight back.” “Each and every one of us is a general in this war,” says Pamela Geller, author of Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance (Extracted portion of WND Alerts, Thursday, August 25, 2011 7:26 AM).
Who would have even thought of such when J. Edgar Hoover spoke of the threat of communism in 1963? Militant atheism is tearing down, destroying our Judaic/Christian heritage at an alarming pace. These are all warning signs of present un-American changes. Our founders’ and my earthly father’s generation, a veteran of WWI and WWII never dreamed of such fast moving changes. I use these illustrations only to bring to mind that we would be foolish to ignore warnings.
Warning! Our Christian Nation Is in Peril!
“…if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great” (A warning from Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political philosopher). “To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it” (Jeremiah 6:10 ASV). “Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).
The Apostle Paul Warned of a Falling Away of the Church
“Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Wherefore watch ye, remembering that by the space of three years I ceased not to admonish every one night and day with tears. And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.” (Acts 20:28-32)
Is the Bible a Revelation from God?
D. Gene West
There are many people in the western world, the part of the world most influenced by the Bible, who would immediately answer, “No,” to the question making up our title. We refer not only to atheists who reject the very idea of a book coming from God, since they do not believe there is a God, but to others, some of whom claim to be Christians, who would agree with the atheists that the Bible is not a revelation from God. Many refer to the Bible as “the good book,” and to them that is all it is! However, the Bible is the most unique book in all the world, and it is either what it claims to be or it is not. If it is, all people everywhere are amenable to it and subject to its precious teachings. If it is not, it is the most remarkable hoax that has ever been foisted on the minds of unsuspecting humanity. There is no compromise position on this important issue, for the Bible either is, or is not, not only a revelation from God, but the final and complete one.
Firstly, let it be pointed out that the Bible itself claims to be the revelation of the mind of God to man. Paul made this claim in 1 Corinthians 2:1-14. To this statement of the revelation and inspiration of the Sacred Volume, the apostle Peter added these words, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19‑21 NKJV).
Someone might suggest that this is to be expected since the claim is made for its being revealed by God. However, there is a difference between what is claimed for something and what it claims for itself. What reason does the Bible have for being self-serving? It is a book! It is unable to force anyone to do anything! Whoever heard of such a thing as a self-serving book? Yet, it may be argued that there are other books for which the “special revelation” claim is made. That is true. However, do these books make the claim for themselves, or do some men make the claim for them? The Qur’an in 26:192-193 makes a claim to be “a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.” It claims to have been revealed by the Faithful Spirit, who in a footnote is identified as the angel Gabriel. However, will it stand the test of time, proving to be a revelation from God? We think not, for the New Testament was completed six hundred years before the Qur’an was ever written. The Bible does not claim to be a revelation of an angel, but the revelation of God’s own mind, as it was searched and made known by the Holy Spirit, one of the three personalities of Elohim.
Secondly, one can demonstrate that the Scriptures are revealed from God by the very unity which they possess. One can read the Sacred Book from beginning to end and he will never find one contradiction, or even an apparent one, that cannot be easily explained. There is an amazing unity in the story of God’s dealings with mankind from the time we were first created until the Bible was completed. When Jesus met the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he expounded to them what the Scriptures taught concerning him, from Moses and all the prophets (Luke 24:27). Every prophet of the Old Testament, who speaks of Christ at all, tells us something that would happen to our Lord while he was on earth, even right down to what would happen to his Galilean robe at the time of his death. The prophets spoke of the price that was to be paid for his betrayal, and of the shamelessly cruel way in which he would be treated before finally being put to death on the cross. There is no portion of the New Testament narration regarding Christ and His mission that was not spoken of before by the holy prophets. If the Bible is not a revelation from God, how does one go about explaining that?