Christian Conservation by Wilbert W. White

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 1, 1912

Christian Conservation

By Wilbert W. White

The mountains of Holy Scripture are being divested of their forests. Floods of infidelity and arid wastes in spiritual life must follow. We need a Christian conservation movement.

I have just read my friend Dr. David G. Wylie's article on “Essential Doctrines of Christianity.” He enumerates the following as such:—

The divine authority of the Scriptures.
The virgin birth of Jesus.
The sacrificial death of Christ.
The bodily resurrection of Christ.
The supernatural in the Bible and the life of Jesus.

The Bible as a Whole

Passing by any comment upon the above, it appears to me that there must soon come a return to new study of the evidences that the Bible as a whole is true, for if there is not good and sufficient reason for accepting the message of the Bible as a whole as supernatural, I, for one, have no particular interest in studying or teaching it. Let its trees be cut down. If, I say, its message in its entirety as the Bible itself interprets itself, and, if you please, corrects itself,—if, I say, there is not good and sufficient reason for accepting the message of the Bible as a whole as a unique revelation from God himself, then there is no future for us. Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, if the dead are not raised. Life and immortality are brought to light in the gospel, which I insist is the Bible as a whole, or the quest is vain. The church of Christ has accepted the apostolic teaching concerning God and Christ; and this as a whole is true, or as a whole it is false.

Let Not the Issue Be Obscured

Let not the issue be obscured. It is the message as a whole with which we must deal. We always lose vantage-ground when we allow the adversary to limit us to this miracle or that, to this doctrine or that, in our defense of the gospel. Each part is to be defended in its setting. Reasons which might appear cogent against a doctrine or a statement in isolation may not be weighty in the light of the context. The context here is Genesis to Revelation.

In passing, one might refer to the short-cut argument of Wesley about the Bible. Wesley said: “The Bible was written either by good men or by bad men. It could not have been written by bad men because its message condemns such. It was therefore written by good men, and is true.”

Again I say, Let us not allow any one to confuse us as to the issue to-day. It is not, Is this doctrine or that doctrine true? It is this: Is the Bible as a whole true, or is it not true? Has God given a special, unique, supernatural, divine revelation, or has he not done so? That is the question. If God has given such a revelation, it is in the Bible, and I repeat, The Bible as a whole is true, or it is false as a whole.

The Bible Studied Brings About Belief That It Is of Supernatural Origin

Let me explain exactly what I mean. In doing so, I proceed in the direction of doing what I am continually advocating to be the thing to do to bring about belief that the Bible is of distinctly supernatural origin according to its own repeated allegation,—I proceed to study the Bible itself. It is its own best defender. What is the Bible?—It is a collection of threescore and six booklets, each of which is distinct and unique; each coming from a specific situation and having a distinct aim and message. What do these sixty-six booklets, which, “by a happy solecism,” since the thirteenth century have been called the Bible,—what do they teach? They “principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” To elucidate this and interpret it, we say, The Bible teaches that God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, through Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, is the redeemer from sin and destruction, and that therefore man is under obligation to love the Lord his God with all his heart and mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself. Recall the words of Exodus 20: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

How Account for the System of Truth Which the Bible Presents

This article will become too long if I give more than a hint further. Ridicule it as many may, the Bible presents a system of truth which, considering the various sources of parts of the Bible, is inexplicable except on the hypothesis of its supernatural origin. Acceptance of its message in obedience thereto proves the hypothesis.

With what has already been said about the Redeemer, note what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. Nowhere is he more positive in making the issue about the truth of the resurrection of our Lord. (Resurrection always meant bodily resurrection to the apostles.) “Your faith is vain,” said he, “if Christ be not risen.” “Ye are yet in your sins.”

Sins is the word I wish to note here. In the Bible as a whole the following ideas are inseparable: Man, sin, bondage, redemption, mercy, forgiveness, repentance, life, obedience. See if you can find in human thought or philosophy the two ideas—forgiveness and justice—together. But they are natural in the supernatural thought of the Bible. “He is faithful and just to forgive.” Men talk of God’s mercy when they think of forgiveness; God speaks of justice.

See how Paul begins his famous fifteenth chapter to the Corinthians. I paraphrase: You will remember that when I was with you, the first thing I told you was that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he rose again according to the Scriptures. Later in the chapter he speaks of the Lord’s return to earth.

I return to the thesis, The Bible as a whole is true, or as a whole it is false.

The Bible Does the Business for Which It Was Made

I am on a fast express as I write. This train is doing the business for which it was made. There are some scratches on the woodwork, and some dust is on the windows; and if we should stop the train and take it to pieces, I should not wonder if more or less fault could be found with it. We may be sure that if we were all off here in the country critically examining the wheels and bolts of this train, as some theological seminaries are now examining the joints and curves of the Bible, it would be late next week before we could reach Nashville. The Bible is doing the business for which it was made whenever it is given half a chance, and the Bible as a whole is true.

I add, only those who take the Bible as a whole as true, and faithfully follow its prescription for a holy life, are properly accredited as its critics. What is the verdict of such critics?—It is that the Bible is true.—Wilbert W. White, in the Bible Record, June, 1911.