Maglincer, The Bible is unique among religious books.
Not all sacred scriptures lay claim to divine authorship or ask to be widely distributed and made available to all peoples. For example, the Hindu Upanishads (meaning “sitting near”) came to be called such because religious teachers were accustomed to confiding secret doctrines to their best and favorite pupils, to those “sitting near.” “The term upani?ad thus connotes an element of esotericism,” explains The Encyclopedia of Religion, adding: “In fact, the Upani?ads state explicitly that such lessons are not intended for the general population . . . [but] were to be heard by only select ears.” Likewise, the Arabic Koran was considered by Muhammad to be a book intended solely for the Arabs. This was despite the fact that the one represented as speaking is almost exclusively God himself, the Creator of all peoples. Translating the Koran into other languages is considered unfitting; therefore, only the Arabic text can be recited and used for ritual purposes. This may remind some Catholics that prior to the Second Vatican Council, held in the 1960’s, only Latin could be used in Roman Catholic liturgy. The Bible, on the other hand, makes clear that its message is not to be restricted to any one group. This is in keeping with its claim that it is not “the word of men, but . . . the word of God.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) Its proponents strive to distribute it widely, reasoning that every individual has equal right to benefit from his Creator’s words of wisdom.
If the Bible really is from God, we should expect it to be the most outstanding book ever written. Is it? Yes, and for many reasons. First, it is very old; you would not expect God’s Word to all mankind to have been written a short time ago, would you? The writing of it began some 3,500 years ago in the Hebrew language. Then, over 2,200 years ago, it began to be translated into other languages. Today almost everybody on earth can read the Bible in his own language. Also, no other book comes close to the Bible in the number of copies that have been made. A book may be called a “best-seller” when only thousands of copies are produced. Yet every year many millions of Bibles are printed. And over the centuries thousands of millions have been made! There is hardly a place on earth, regardless of how isolated it may be, where you cannot find a Bible. Is this not what you would expect of a book that really is from God?
What makes this great distribution of the Bible even more outstanding is the fact that enemies have tried to destroy it. But should we not expect that a book from God would come under attack by agents of the Devil? This has happened. Bible burnings once were common, and those who were caught reading the Bible were often punished with death.
You would expect a book from God to discuss important matters that all of us should want to know. ‘Where did life come from?’ ‘Why are we here?’ ‘What will the future bring?’ are some of the questions it answers. And it plainly says that the information it contains is from Jehovah God. One Bible writer said: “The spirit of Jehovah it was that spoke by me, and his word was upon my tongue.” (2 Samuel 23:2) Another wrote: “All Scripture is inspired of God.” (2 Timothy 3:16) Since the Bible so definitely states that it is the Word of God, would it not be wise to examine it to see if it is?
