• Brandon Leonard •
• Originally published January 16, 2009 at 5:04 p.m., updated January 16, 2009 at 5:04 p.m.

For the serious searcher for God, the Bible is the only authoritative guidebook. Let's take a look at why. First, it is necessary. Because God has chosen to hide His face from us, He has provided the next best way for us to learn about Him and what He expects from us. Next, the total honesty of its personalities is a testimony. No other book is so full of human frailties and failure, testifying to the need for divine help. The book relates how so many Bible characters found God and how He met their need.

No other book gives such a clear, sublime and exalted description of the character of the God who created this world. A character which relates to us in many ways since we are created in His image. He loves, He scolds, He forgives. By knowing Him, we can come before Him with confidence. This book is self-validating through a description of the many prophecies made and the fulfillments of those prophecies.

The book is validated also by the hundreds of archaeological finds of the last century that have fixed the dates of the reigns of Biblical kings. Stone monuments, pottery shards, and clay tablets from Egypt, Syria, Babylon and Assyria all confirm the accuracy of the Bible. The moral code established by the Bible is the highest and noblest known to man. It addresses the deepest needs of men and women in a most practical sense, lifting any civilization to its highest plane and bringing peace and harmony. Even the rules of cleanliness laid down in the book of Deuteronomy are remarkable for their time in light of what we now know. During the cholera outbreaks in Europe, the Jews largely escaped that disease because they obeyed those cleanliness rules. The remarkable unity of the Bible attests to its authenticity. Written by many writers from all walks of life, there is a remarkable consistency in all their messages. It contains one cohesive system of doctrine, one code of ethics, one plan of salvation and one rule of faith.

Many years ago a missionary hurriedly visited the Okinawa village of Shimmabuke and converted to Christianity Shosei Kina and his brother Mojon. He left a Bible with them and departed. For 30 years they had no contact with other Christians, but undertook to teach the Bible to the whole village. When American GI's advanced on the village, two old men stepped forth and welcomed the soldiers as fellow Christians. A jeep tour of the village revealed clean, neat homes and gentle people. Other villages had been filthy and the people ignorant and poverty stricken.

St. Augustine said, "I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and very beautiful; but I have never read in either of them: come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden."

The Bible has survived the centuries by men who risked their necks to preserve it. It is a precious possession and we need to honor it by reading it.

Raymond F. Smith is a deacon at Fellowship Bible Church in Victoria and President of Strong Families of Victoria.

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