Why We Want to Believe the Bible

Why We Want to Believe the Bible

Recently, I asked a college friend if he believed the Bible. "Why should a fellow want to believe the Bible?" he answered. "What difference does it make anyway?" This, I am persuaded, is the attitude of many, so I give attention to his question.

1. I want to believe the Bible because it teaches that I will live after death. With other books death is the end of man. With the Bible it is a beginning. Millions of books are in the great libraries of the world. None save the Bible teach that man as the same conscious personality the same individual lives after death. Others have said that man’s goodness lives on, or that his spirit is reincarnated and becomes a rock, an insect, a cow or a donkey but the Bible alone advances the idea that the same individual lives again (John 5:28-29).

Every sane individual wants to live beyond death. No man wants to go down into the darkness of the tomb to come up no more. Therefore, every normal individual should want to believe the Bible.

2. I want to believe the Bible because I want to go to a better home than this.

Many books have told of utopias. Only one book has ever seriously told man that he might dwell at last in an ideal abode. That book is the Bible.

We live in a wonderful world. Its joys and friendships grow sweeter as the years go drifting by. Yet, who has not seen poverty, crime, sin, suffering and distress on every hand? Who has not wished that he might dwell where all such is banished? The Bible teaches that in that fairest of summerlands there will be no death, no pain and no sorrow for "the former things are passed away."

Yes, I want to believe the Bible!

3. I want to believe the Bible because I want to meet my friends who’ve gone before.

I have known and loved some of earth’s finest friends. Some have passed on. I would like to see them again. To me, seeing them again is no more unreasonable than meeting them the first time. I want to see again the friendly smile and clasp again the friendly hand. The Bible is the one book that teaches I may do this.

Ah yes, I want to believe the Bible. It does make a difference!

4. I want to believe the Bible because I have always been taught that it is the truth.

One should not believe something just because he has always been taught that it is the truth. Yet, when one has been taught something so long and so earnestly that it has become a part of his very being, he should not give it up without good and sufficient reason. I have always believed that the Bible is God’s word. I have found neither good nor sufficient reason for giving up that faith.

5. I want to believe the Bible because the greatest scientists, outstanding philosophers and best men of all ages past have accepted it as God’s word. By the preponderance of evidence we determine the validity of questioned legal documents, settle disputed dates, and ascertain the facts of science. Should we use this method in dealing with the Bible, we would be driven to the irresistible conclusion that it is God’s word. A few notable examples will show us what others have thought of the Bible:

Dr. William Lyon Phelps, noted educator,

"...I thoroughly believe in a university education for both men and women; but I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college education is more valuable than a college course without the Bible."

Sir Walter Scott, on his deathbed, "Bring me the Book!" When asked what book he replied, "There is but one Book!"

Dr. Schurman, President of Cornell University,

"The Bible is the most valuable document in English literature. No man can be called an uneducated man who knows his Bible and no man can be called an educated man who does not know his Bible."

Andrew Jackson, "That Book is the rock on which this republic rests."

Thomas Jefferson,

"I have always said, and will always say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better homes, better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands."

Abraham Lincoln,

"I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this book upon reason that you can and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man.

John Quincy Adams,

’The first and almost the only book deserving of universal distinction is the Bible. I speak as a man of the world to the men of the world and I say to you, ’Search the Scriptures’."

Daniel Webster,

"If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible our country will go on prospering, but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury us and our glory in profound obscurity."

Theodore Roosevelt,

"Almost every man who has by his life work added to the sum of human achievements of which the race is proud, almost every such man has based his life work largely upon the teachings of the Bible."

Woodrow Wilson,

"A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of a knowledge of the Bible."

Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France,

"Behold it upon the table. I never fail to read it, and every day with the same pleasure....Not only is one’s mind absorbed, it is controlled and the same can never go astray with this book for its guide."

Lord Roberts,

"You will find in this book guidance when you are in health, comfort when you are in sickness and strength when you are in adversity."

Isaac Walton, English author, "Every hour I read you it kills a sin or lets a virtue in to fight it."

Jean Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher and author,

"I must confess to you that the majesty of the scriptures astonishes me;...if it had been the invention of man, the invention would have been greater than the greatest heroes."

Charles A. Dana, American journalist,

"Of all books the most indispensable and the most useful, the one whose knowledge is the most effective is the Bible. There is no book like the Bible. In every controversy the Bible contains the right answer and pleads for the right policy."

John Ruskin,

"Read your Bible. Make it your daily business to obey it in all you understand. To my early knowledge of the Bible I owe the best part of my tests for literature."

Immanuel Kant, German metaphysician,

"The existence of the Bible as a book for the people is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced."

David J. Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court,

"This American nation from its first settlement at Jamestown to this hour is based on and permeated by the principles of the Bible."

Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist,

"The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and oppressed; down to modern times no state has a constitution in which the interests of the people are so largely taken into account; in which the duties so much more than the privileges of the rulers are insisted on....Nowhere is the fundamental truth that the welfare of the state in the lone rim depends on the welfare of the citizens so strongly laid down."

Isaac Newton, "I account the scriptures of God the most sublime philosophy."

Patrick Henry, "There is a Book worth all other books in the world!"

I want to agree with the great and good men who have said, "The Bible is God’s word." The human mind is so constituted that it believes only when sufficient evidence is brought to bear upon it. We must, therefore, have some reason for believing the Bible, some evidence upon which to base our faith. As we search for that evidence much will depend on whether we do it with a pro-religious bias, an irreligious bias, or with an open mind. To be open-minded does not mean to open the doors and windows of your mind so that all of the trash in the country may blow in. It does mean to examine carefully the evidence found.

There is abundant reason why one should want to believe the Bible. Let us search, therefore, for evidence which will lead us to believe it.