The Christian Bible places itself in the attitude of a witness at the court of human reason by asserting its own inspiration. This claim, like that provided by any respectable witness in regard to significant matters, deserves examination and challenges attention.
The Bible is as much a fact as the phenomenal testimony of the heavens and of the earth, while the inferences which are derived from it are of significantly greater consequence than those which are deduced from the facts of physical nature. It is completely unscientific to treat the Bible with contempt.
The Bible claims to authoritatively handle all the questions of morality and religion. Indeed, it claims to be the universe of religious and moral truth. No scientific inquirer can pass by its astonishing assertions, as the mere offspring of zealotry and the result of delusion, without violating the spirit and method of science itself.
Serious thinkers in every age have directed their attention to the question of its inspiration, and they will continue to do so.
It has been the uniform testimony of the church universal that the Bible is inspired of God. This undeniable fact demands scrutiny. This has been the position of both Jews and Christians. Granted that this fact does not afford irrefragable proof of the inspiration of the Scriptures, it merits consideration.
It would ill comport with the candor and modesty of philosophy and science to treat this mass of testimony with scorn, to look upon this innumerable host of witnesses as having been misguided enthusiasts, the victims of imposture and fraud.
It were a superfluous task to show that the divine inspiration of the Bible has been the faith of scholars, philosophers and scientific men, and not alone of a countless multitude who have adorned the ordinary walks of life with every noble virtue, and illuminated the gloom of death by the splendor of a triumphant exultation.
The questions this issue has developed have given rise to a more voluminous body of literature than any other particular subject which has occupied the energies of the human mind, and this history is greater than that of any secular empire that has ever thrived on the earth. In this respect, we are compelled to face the question of inspiration. (Adapted from "Discussions of Theological Questions" by John Girardeau.)
The Bible is as much a fact as the phenomenal testimony of the heavens and of the earth, while the inferences which are derived from it are of significantly greater consequence than those which are deduced from the facts of physical nature. It is completely unscientific to treat the Bible with contempt.
The Bible claims to authoritatively handle all the questions of morality and religion. Indeed, it claims to be the universe of religious and moral truth. No scientific inquirer can pass by its astonishing assertions, as the mere offspring of zealotry and the result of delusion, without violating the spirit and method of science itself.
Serious thinkers in every age have directed their attention to the question of its inspiration, and they will continue to do so.
It has been the uniform testimony of the church universal that the Bible is inspired of God. This undeniable fact demands scrutiny. This has been the position of both Jews and Christians. Granted that this fact does not afford irrefragable proof of the inspiration of the Scriptures, it merits consideration.
It would ill comport with the candor and modesty of philosophy and science to treat this mass of testimony with scorn, to look upon this innumerable host of witnesses as having been misguided enthusiasts, the victims of imposture and fraud.
It were a superfluous task to show that the divine inspiration of the Bible has been the faith of scholars, philosophers and scientific men, and not alone of a countless multitude who have adorned the ordinary walks of life with every noble virtue, and illuminated the gloom of death by the splendor of a triumphant exultation.
The questions this issue has developed have given rise to a more voluminous body of literature than any other particular subject which has occupied the energies of the human mind, and this history is greater than that of any secular empire that has ever thrived on the earth. In this respect, we are compelled to face the question of inspiration. (Adapted from "Discussions of Theological Questions" by John Girardeau.)
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For further information about the importance of the Bible and/or Church History, please visit PuritanDownloads.com. There are many faithful Reformed theology materials at that site.
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