In one of the texts I use in my Philosophy of Education class there is the following sentence. “As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined.” Last week I mentioned Will Durant’s list of 100 books we need to read and how ignorant I felt having only read eight of them. So I must say this sentence jumped off the page at me. How could it be? Durant’s list contained the works of Aristotle, Shakespeare, Whitman, Thoreau and Emerson. How could it possibly be that the Bible is not only better than any one of them but all of them combined?
Granted Moses was a brilliantly educated man. Solomon was given the gift of wisdom. Paul was extremely well learned. But Peter and John had minimal schooling. Most of the Old Testament prophets were simple men. Then of course the answer came. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” II Peter 1:21. While God did not whisper words in their ears He did inspire them with ideas. Each wrote out of the culture and background that made them who they were, yet they were filled with insights that God wanted so much to share with us.
When we spend time studying Scripture we are not reading the masterful sentences of Shakespeare or the philosophies of the ancient Greeks. We are instead feeding our minds from the fountainhead of all truth. The very same Spirit that attended the writers of Scripture attends us. When we struggle with a passage He is there to infuse our minds with knowledge far beyond that of mortal men, no matter how brilliant they were.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 5, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org