This discussion considers the Bible as the only inspired revelation of God's will to man. In western civilization, the Bible is probably considered by most people as God's word in some way.

Some of the other great religions of the world have a set of writings which may compete with the Bible in today's world, but only the Quran, among the non-Biblical religious writings claims to be inspired. For those who know both the Bible and the Quran, the Bible, without contest, stands out for its spiritual excellence.

The real competition for the Bible comes in Western thought, where we find that many philosophies seek to replace it. Deism denies revelation, in favor of natural law and scientific discovery. Liberal theology denies any supernatural, inspired word revelation in favor of human experience, learned by education and scientific discovery. Schleiermacher held for the learning of the truth of God's will through "feelings". Existential theology, which has flourished greatly within our own century, denies prepositional, word revelation in favor of an "irrationalism", or non-reasoned knowledge of religious truth, which comes in a private existential "encounter", but which contains no prepositional, cognitive information or message that can be communicated to someone else. It is totally subjective. A related theology, called Salvation-History holds that real, factual revelation from God has been given in the events of history, but that the Bible is only a fallible, errant, human record of those revelatory historical events. It is not to be trusted in its statements and concepts, and the meaning of the events is learned through existential, subjective insights.

Some religious views today argue in favor of the Bible as God's word, but in fact hold it to be powerless and inert, in and of itself. For them there must be some additional supernatural power to accompany the Bible, else it cannot be understood and cannot communicate God's message to man. Some believe, for example, that the ordinary man cannot understand or interpret the Bible for himself, but that this must be done by a specially appointed religious leader, upon whom special powers have been conferred. Others accept the Bible as God's word, but say that it is incomprehensible until the Holy Spirit confers a special illuminating power upon the individual in a private, elect way. Though he can understand ideas in science and history and other fields without this special impact of the Holy Spirit, he cannot do so in religion. Once he received the impact, however, it all comes clear to him.

In spite of all these theories, the Bible itself claims that the gospel itself is "the power of God unto salvation" Romans 1:16; the word is the "seed of the kingdom" Matthew 13: 1-9; 19): and "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ" Romans 10:17. Only from the Bible do we learn what we know of Jesus the Christ. From it we learn of him both in prophecy and fulfillment, which, when fully evaluated, offers proof "quite convincing" of the supernatural influence in the production of the Bible. It could not have been produced by only natural powers, for no man knows the future by himself. The Bible furnishes the highest moral demands known to man. It has had a salutary influence on western civilization, and under its outlook, science has been approved and has prospered. In-spite of critics in all generations it has thrived, and archaeology has confirmed its truths of historical facts in manifold ways. Its alleged "contradictions" are fading out, one by one, as scholars delve into history and fact. The story of how the Bible came into existence and has prospered through the ages is a confirmation of faith. The four separate accounts of the Life of Jesus in its pages demand a supernatural control in the choice of materials included. Not only can we say of Jesus, "Never man spake like this man", but we can say, "Never men wrote like these men". The Bible speaks to the yearnings of the human heart. It puts God in the center of the universe and gives man a purpose for living and a meaning to life. It has the answer for what we wonder about. There is, therefore, no need for additional modern-day revelations since, as far as religious matters are concerned, the inspired apostles have already been guided into "all truths" (John 16: 13), and since God has already given us "all things that pertain to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3).

John Hurt

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