3642 — Of Equal Authority
By Editor
A correspondent refers to different parts of the Bible as the writings of Moses, and Paul, and David, the prophets, etc., and says, "Are all these persons of equal character and authority?" F. No, and yes. All are not of equal character. The one great character of the Bible is Jesus Christ. Another great character is Moses; another, Paul; another, Elijah, who left us no writings whatever. So it was with another—John the Baptist. Samuel was a great prophet. We have quite an extended record of his doings, but very little of what he said or wrote. And so it is with other mighty men of God. All certainly are not of equal character; but the writings which make up the Holy Scriptures, are quite another thing. While in style and in matter character has its bearing, so far as truth is concerned, it has no bearing. In the light of the words which God has given us through the apostle Paul, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [literally, is God-breathed], and is profitable." This, we understand, pertains to the original Scripture. Mistakes have been made, doubtless, in copying. Sometimes we find things hard to harmonize. Sometimes numbers seem to be wrong. This in some cases may be easily accounted for in the mistake of some copyist; but granted that we have the right original, all the Scriptures are inspired and all equally inspired. That does not mean that all are equally important. Some are of greater importance than others. The holy law of God as given in the 20th chapter of Exodus is much more important to us than the ceremonial law as given in Leviticus. Our inquirer speaks of the words of Christ; but what proof has he that he has the words of Christ if he denies the inspiration of the writers of the Gospels? Mark was not even one of the twelve apostles; neither was Luke. But it is only by believing in the inspiration of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John that we know that we have the real words of Jesus. David was certainly a man of very questionable conduct at times in his life, and yet twice over in the New Testament we have his words quoted and attributed to the Spirit of God, "As the Holy Ghost saith." Caiaphas, the skeptical Sadducean high priest, said, "It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people." And John tells us that he said that not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied. There is very much more which can be said, but if the Scriptures are not inspired, and equally inspired, we are left simply to the whims and opinions of men. 3643 — D. R. M. — Matt. 11:11 — The text in question simply means this,— that the fact that John the Baptist was the immediate precursor, or herald, of Christ Jesus the Lord, gave him a more honorable position than that of any of the other prophets who had lived. The message made the man, and the message which he bore was of tremendous importance to that time, and people, and generation. He had, too, a message to bear that would bring no glory whatever to himself. His prestige and fame would grow dim in the greater work and greater glory of Jesus Christ. He was content to be a voice for God, and rejoiced in fulfilling his work, tho he decreased and the Master's power and influence increased. See John 1.