THE CHRISTIAN'S BOOK

5. What is the sacred book of Christianity?

The sacred book of Christianity is the Holy Bible, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments.

6. How was the message of the Bible given?

We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures by which we understand that the Bible was given by divine inspiration (Manual, page 26 [4]). "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:15, 16). "For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 1:21).

7. What do the Scriptures reveal?

The Scriptures inerrantly reveal the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation; so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith (Manual, page 26 [4]). "... the holy scriptures ... are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (II Timothy 3:15). "Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me (John 5:39). "These were written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20:31).

8. What general proof may be given for the divine inspiration of the Bible?

The statements of the men of God that in their writings they were giving the word of God; its fulfilled prophecies; the recognized unexcelled moral quality and the inherent spiritual worth of the Bible; the completeness and unity of its redemptive message; and the fact that the Holy Spirit brings through it the message of light and power to all men today, provide a general proof of its divine inspiration. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel" (Exodus 34:27). "And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21). "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" (Heb. 1:1, 2) "The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).