The Bible
The preservation of scripture amid the oblivion of vast empires
It is self-evident that nations come and nations go; that mighty empires hold sway and mighty empires crumble into dust.
Memorials are erected, inscriptions are carved and books are written; and yet despite this ceaseless activity the memory of the past is soon effaced. A few generations, perhaps a few centuries, and nothing more remains than relics and curiosities - quaint, but of value only to the historian.
Take the greatest of the nations of antiquity - Egypt, Assyria and Babylon.
Not only have their monarchies perished, so have the majority of their proud inscriptions which they confidently expected would preserve their name and their boastings. Their libraries were covered with desert sand and nothing but fragments could be reclaimed by the archaeologist. What a sad paradox when we contrast the passion that these monarchs had to preserve their memory.
It has been said, "Time sadly overcometh all things, and is now dominant and sitteth upon a sphinx and looketh unto Memphis and old Thebes; while his sister Oblivion reclineth semi-somnous on a pyramid, gloriously triumphing, making puzzles of titanian inscriptions, and turning old glories into dreams. History sinketh beneath her cloud. The traveller as he paceth amazedly through those deserts, asketh of her who builded them, and she mumbleth something, but what it is he heareth not."
How great is the paradox when amidst the devastation we find a nation, utterly insignificant in its arts or architecture, in wealth or population, in civilisation or refinement - we say how great is the paradox that this nation of Israel has handed down a record of their system of worship, moral and legal code and an outline of their history, from remote ages.
These records require no decipherment, no hieroglyphics to interpret, for they have been known and understood for thousands of years, transmitted century after century with amazing fidelity.
This little ark of Jewish literature still floats above the surges of time; while mere fragments of the wrecked archives of the huge oriental empires, as well as the lesser kingdoms that surrounded the tiny country of Canaan are, like mere flotsam and jetsam, cast on distant shores.
How then did this collection of writings triumph over time and oblivion?
Ponder the question well as you continue.
The Diversity Of The Writers
An overwhelming diversity, for although the word "Bible" means "book" it is not one book but a library of 66 books.
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Who then were the writers of this timeless collection. How did they come to contribute? Were they connected? Did they live together? Did they form a society which had as its aim the publication of such a set of books?
The answer to all these questions must be "no".
And further, not only was there no connection, the authors present an overwhelming diversity.
This is our next point.
The books were penned by king and shepherd, scribe and fisherman, priest and prophet, physician and tax collector.
The environment of its authors was cast in places as different as the court of Egypt with all that country's wisdom and learning, or the court of Babylon and its astrologers and wise men, or amongst Pharisees at the feet of Gamaliel steeped in Jewish legalism, or at the humble home of a carpenter in a village of Galilee.
This collection that we term "The book" is the product of some 40 different writers, writing under every conceivable diversity of circumstance at far distant dates.
The earliest is separated from the latest by at least a 1500 years, so they were incapable of acting in consort.
The Diversity Of The Writings
If the diversity of the writers be astonishing, do we then find that each had to assume some artificial style to enable his contribution to be accepted?
On the contrary - this book is beautiful in its variety, - and this is our next point, the diversity of the writings.
Some passages are historical, others poetical; some are chronological, others personal letters; some contain laws, others lyrics; some contain proverbs, others parables; some are prophetic, some are symbolic.
Here are celestial visions, there are the weaknesses of man unveiled; here are angels, there are sinners; here are prayers, there are profound truths; here are military conquests, there is the peace of God.
And yet, prayer, parable, prophecy and proverb; signs and symbols; laws and letters; mysteries and their manifestation combine to present a majestic whole.
In the immense variety there is unity and innumerable and profound harmonies.
Its Unity
As we now move to consider the unity of the Bible let the huge paradox of the diversity of its composition be at the forefront of our thoughts.
No other book was ever composed or compiled in circumstances so disadvantageous to a harmonious moral testimony and teaching.
Despite the wide intervals of time and space which separate the writers, often strangers to each other; despite differences in language, style and culture, despite that there is in them great difference in matter and manner of statement yet in not one respect are their doctrinal and ethical teaching in conflict.
Imagine another book, if it were merely the unaided work of man, compiled by as many authors scattered over as many centuries.
First Herodotus contributes an historic fragment on the origin of the world. Then a century later Aristotle adds a book on moral philosophy, 2 centuries pass and Cicero appends a work on law and government, another 100 years and Virgil contributes a poem on ethics, - need we go on?
May we draw your attention to the general and obstinate presumption that this collection of fragments is a unity - it is one book.
There seems no reason, if the Bible was simply the product of natural causes, like those which have developed the rest of the world's literature, why the idea of unity should have so decidedly attached to these books.
Should it be supposed that the Jews regarded nearly all their literature as sacred and so imagined it to have unity; this is contradicted by fact, for certainly they did not incorporate in the book all else they wrote, whether much or little.
Moreover the books that have been selected are full of matter which national vanity would vehemently resent. This is notoriously the case with the largest of them - where time and time again the Jews are reproached for their wickedness.
If the facts they record are not true, then they are the most cruel collection of libels with which any people were ever branded. Yet if not history, but the product of certain perverse minds among them; one can hardly imagine the patriotism of their country men wishing to find either sacredness or unity in these books - much less jealously watching over their inviolate preservation, meticulously copying them, lest one jot or one tittle should fall, and least of all to revere them as originating in nothing less than Divine inspiration.
Were it not for the fact that the Bible is a unity with a constant message then there could be no reason why, for instance, the book of Deuteronomy, the prophecies of Isaiah, the gospel of Mark and the epistle to the Romans should have been imagined to form parts of one book, than a score of fragments from any other source should be so considered.
The New Testament vs The Old Testament
Now it is unfortunate that the whole is so often ignored. The New Testament is frequently taken out of its context. Beautiful as its subject matter may be it is not self contained.
We can demonstrate this from the very first page of the New Testament. Please refer to Matthew chapter 1.
Here is a genealogy. It must be important as it is the very first page. If we know the Old Testament we shall realise at once the significance. One of the objectives of this lecture is to emphasise that if this book is a unity, then we can not ignore the Old Testament. Consider this the New Testament is full of quotations from the Old Testament and Jesus says that he came to full fill the Old Testament scriptures, moreover he says the Old Testament cannot be broken, and the apostle Paul says that form a child Timothy had known the Old Testament scriptures which were able to make him wise unto salvation coupled with a belief in Jesus Christ. Therefore we cannot ignore the Old Testament. If we do we shall make false deductions, draw false conclusions and misunderstand the Bible completely.