M. E. STEWARD by M. E. Steward

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 26, 1910

M. E. STEWARD

By M. E. Steward

Bible Studies—No. 1

M. E. STEWARD

The Bible

WITHOUT the Bible we should know nothing about the early history of the world, the fall of man, or the flood; nothing of the one true God, of redemption, or eternal life in a world to come. “Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Ps. 138:2.

Three witnesses, entirely separate from, and independent of, the Sacred Volume, substantiate it:—

1. The Week.—The week has been known by all nations from the beginning. Its origin can not be found except in the creation week. The fact of its existence proves the first chapter of Genesis a literal record. The Bible so regards it. Ex. 20:11.

2. The Dates of the Years.—Before the birth of Christ, the basis of reckoning was A. U. C.—Anno Urbis Conditæ—in the year of the building of the city of Rome. All historians the world over have written B. C. and A. D. since the birth of Christ. This confirms the Biblical claim that there was such a person as Jesus Christ.

3. The Monuments.—No one could read the hieroglyphics on the Egyptian monuments. When the time came that God had set to vindicate the Bible, 1798, a stone was discovered at Rosetta, near the mouth of the Nile, bearing an inscription in three languages,—Greek, common Egyptian, and the sacred language of Egypt. By comparing this writing with the hieroglyphics, they were read, and lo! they corroborated Scripture narrative. The clay tablets of Assyria do the same.

Three internal evidences that the Bible is genuine:—

1. Its Ideas of Perfection.—“The law of the Lord is perfect.” Ps. 19:7. Worldly legislators concur in this statement. The character of Christ is also perfect. Heb. 7:26. The human mind can not form a conception of anything that is absolutely perfect. Consequently, man could not have originated the Bible.

2. The Harmony of the Bible.—It was written during a period of fifteen hundred years, in different places,—amid the pomp of royalty, in lonely exile, and from a Roman prison,—by learned and unlearned men and those of different temperaments. All agree in sentiment, in simple dignity, in pure, humble reverence and wisdom.

3. Prophecy, the Ability to Know the Future. Isa. 41:23.—Not a prophecy relating to the past or present has failed of exact fulfilment. None but a divine Being can know the future.

Three conclusive statements are given in 2 Tim. 3:16, 17:—

1. The Origin of the Bible.—“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

2. Its Office Work.—“Is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

3. The Effects of That Work.—“That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” That the Bible is a power for good in men's lives is demonstrated in the lives of those who reject, as well as in the lives of all who receive and obey, its teachings. Mark the changes in the whole character of a man who gives up the Bible, and in a degraded being who accepts and obeys it. “The tree is known by his fruit.”

“Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Ps. 138:2. “Holy and reverend is his name.” Ps. 111:9. With what profound reverence, then, should the Word of God, the Bible, be regarded!

A Warning

It is said that a man was lost in the woods. Later he was found dead. He had a compass with him, but had tried to make it point toward what he supposed was north. Had he obeyed its directions, instead of tampering with it, he would have reached home safely. Had God intended his Word to be understood differently from other books, he would have given rules for its interpretation.

Sanitarium, Cal.