To copy the free artwork below, right click on the image and select "Save Picture as" or "Copy" to save the file on your computer.  (NOTE: if you're running an "accelerator" you may need to adjust the setting for high quality images.) After you've saved the image, close this web page and resize clip art to fit your project.

Clip Art Image: The Holy Bible (White Background)

Most of the people who argue that the Bible is nothing special (or worse, that it’s little more than a book of religious fiction) know little or nothing about the Book itself.  A great many of them speak and act from a deep desire to impress others with their "knowledge" and so they simply repeat the things that teachers, magazine articles, TV shows or even movies have said. 

In most cases, they have not singled out the Bible or the Christian faith, really.  They are just doing the same thing with Scripture and with the Gospel that they do with most of the "areas of study" in their lives.  People tend to repeat what other people have said.

When you think about it, even serious scholars do this sort of thing.  They will cite other better-known scholars in order to add weight to whatever they say. 

It makes sense to refer to "authoritative" works on a subject to show we've done our homework, I suppose. But most Bible critics today are not really doing their homework. They read some articles and maybe even a book or two on a subject, sit in on a couple of lectures or seminars, and then they consider themselves experts.  Far too many folks are doing this.  Such is not research or study at all, but merely a little background.  It hardly takes the place of any serious first-hand examination of a subject.

Reading books (or watching movies and documentaries) about the Bible is not the same thing as taking the time to know the Bible.  Listening to sermons or lectures about the Bible is not the same as getting to know the Word of God through first-hand study and personal application of the Scriptures.

The same principle applies to the whole of Christian faith and practice.  Reading a few books that talk about Jesus is not the same thing as knowing Jesus.  Taking a few courses in religious studies is not the same thing as knowing what it truly means to be a born-again Christian believer. 

One must know God through a real and living faith in  Jesus Christ in order to know what abundant and eternal life is all about.  And one must know the Scriptures in order to know the message and intent of the Bible.

I've listened to Jehovah's Witnesses and young Mormon "elders" as they try to explain what the Bible is all about.  And when I have questioned them just a little, we soon reach territory where their preparation falls short.  But I must be honest here.  It often takes less time to reach the same point of ignorance with many Baptists and Pentecostals and Presbyterians and other "orthodox" Christian believers.

God has given us His own beloved Son.  He has also provided every true follower of Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit — the earnest or pledge and seal of our eternal inheritance in Christ.  And the Lord of Hosts, the God of heaven and earth has given us a written record of His message to all people.  This faithful record is what we today call the Holy Bible.  It requires no college education to understand.  All a person needs to get the message is God's personal help.  And even that help is granted to anyone who asks with a trusting heart (see James 1:5-7, 16 & 17).

If you truly wish to know if the Bible really is God's Word, if it is as powerful and eternal and faithful as God says it is, you must put it to the test.  Take the time to really read it.  Don't just skim through it, looking for comments and statements you think are impossible or in error.  Read the Book and ask God to enable you to see what He is saying.  The Lord will give His wisdom to anyone truly desiring it.  That is His way.

I have read the Book.  I've been reading it since 1970.  I have not always believed everything I read in scripture.  I have struggled with certain passages many times.  But in the end, I have always found the Scriptures to be wholly true and never in error.  I do not say this because of some church doctrine but because I have witnessed the power and truth of God's Word.

Whatever God says, God does.  Every word of God proves trustworthy and true.  Critics come and go.  Fads come and go.  But the Bible remains true and good.
 

Jim Sutton