Argument from the Character of the Bible
·
The unity of the Bible
o
66 books by 44 authors of all ranks over 17
centuries and yet the former are not contradicted by the latter.
o
Hindu, Persian & Chinese religious books
have no such consistent system of faith.
The Bible is progressive in revelation but it is not through successive
steps of falsehood; rather it is progress from a less to a more clear and full
unfolding of the truth.
·
The Bible's "adaptation" to the soul.
o
The Bible knows the human soul; it judges the
soul; it meets the deepest needs of the soul.
o
It's infinite depth and inexhaustible reach of
meaning make it different that all other books and compel us to believe it's
author is divine.
·
The Bible's moral teaching.
o
The Bible, esp. the NT, teaches a moral system
generally acknowledged as second to none in comprehensiveness, spirituality,
simplicity and practicality.
o
Heathen systems of morality are in general
defective, in that they furnish for man's moral action no sufficient example,
rule, motive or end...they practically identify God with nature, and know of no
clear revelation of his holy will. Man
is left to the law of his own being, and since he is not conceived of as wholly
responsible and free, the lower impulses are allowed sway as well as the
higher, and selfishness is not regarded as sin.
As heathendom does not recognize man's depravity, so it does not
recognize his dependence upon divine
grace, and its virtue is self-righteousness.
Heathenism is man's vain effort to life himself to God; Christianity is
God's coming down to man to save him. (Strong, p86 published in 1896)
·
The person and character of Christ.
o
Christ is the principle figure in the Bible and
is of impeccable character, far beyond any other principle figure in the
religions of the world.
o
Neither Confucius nor Buddha claimed to be
divine or the organs of divine revelation, though both were moral teachers and
reformers. Zoroaster and Pythagoras believed
themselves charged with a divine mission, though their earliest biographers
wrote centuries after their death.
Socrates claimed nothing for himself which was beyond the power of any other. Mohammed believed his extraordinary states of
body and soul to be due to the action of celestial beings. For (any of these) to claim all power in
heaven and earth would show insanity or moral perversion. But this is what Jesus claimed. He was either mentally and morally unsound,
or his testimony is true.
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