Love Jesus 13

Except from the Intro to the 1968 edition of The Westminster Study Edition of THE HOLY BIBLE.

THE BOOK that men most need to study is the book of which they know little and understand less. That book is the Bible. The Bible is the holy book of two religions: the Old Testament of Judaism and the Old and New Testaments of Christianity. It is literature’s greatest monument, the book that circulates most widely, that speaks its message in a thousand tongues. All this is true. Yet, amid the plaudits that greet the Bible when its name is mentioned, there is a sobering fact that tempers exultation: the Book of books is the great unknown among its kind. To make the Bible known by all people everywhere is the supreme cultural and religious task of our time.

What is the Bible essentially? It is the record of God’s revelation to mankind, the abiding witness to the fact that he has spoken. God has spoken. This is the message of the Bible. There is a word from the Lord, which makes known the very heart and mind of God in relation to the world and to man. Light has shone upon the mystery of man’s life. A divine answer has been given to the problem of his sin. The hid-den God has become manifest in redemptive activity, designed to re-create the life of mankind. The one stupendous fact with which the Bible deals is that God has spoken by saving deeds and enlightening words. The Book is the record of his self-communication at different times and through diverse agents. It is thereby, in a wholly unique sense, the Word of God.

The Bible is the record of God’s revelation to mankind, the abiding witness to the fact that he has spoken.