Plain Truth 1978 (Prelim No 04) Apr - Herbert W. Armstrong

Why
Believe
the
Bible?
OPERATING
MANUAL
FOR
PLANET
EARTH
by John R. Schroeder
Man's survival capabilities are
now being weighed in the balance.
Many heads ofstate, scientists,
futurists, ecologists and
others ofthe intelligentsia have
already found them wanting.
Twentieth-century man is in a
state ofshipwreck and the prospects
for viable lifeboats are very
few indeed. But are we seek ing
answers in the wrong places?
Is there a long-forgotten formula
found in an ancient collection
ofdocuments that would assure
human survival? Are we trying
to operate the machine without
the manual?
Rcent surveys have shown tha t
a t least 95 per cent of the
American people claim they
believe in God. Similar polls in
other Western nations yield somewhat
lower percentages in the sixties,
seven ties and eight ies. Still, the
vast majority of mankind in the
Western world does appea r to believe
in some kind of God.
To some He is only a First Ca use
who wound things up like a clock
and then left the whole universe to
tick away its eons without inter-
32
vention. But by whatever method
this G od s ta r te d th e w hole
process in the first place, does it
make sense to us as ration al bein gs
that He would have left mankind
wi t hou t a ny b as ic ins tr uc tion
book?
A Prospective Manual?
T here is no sho rtage of " holy
books" wit h supposed messages
from heaven. However, it would be
only logical to begin our studies
wi th the Book up on which th e
dominant religion in the Western
world is based.
Despit e the fact that the Christian
Bible is a consistent best-seller, it is
not a document that world statesmen
and politicians habitually consult
as a handy probl em-solving
manual. Usually it occupies the traditional
spot on the family bookshelf
and is superficially reveredbut
virtua lly unt ouched.
Few would dispute the rather
sharp decline of biblical influence in
our daily lives. Our secular education
has generally precluded any ser
io us study of the Sc ript u res.
Religion is hardl y front-page news
tod ay, and the counsel of its lead ers
little valued. Even unskilled manual
laborers ea rn higher wages than the
ave rage clergyman.
A big barrier to widespread acceptance
of biblical teachings is the
very beginning of the Book itself.
Cha pter one, verse one of Genesis
simply states: "In the beginning
Go d created th e h e av en a n d
th e earth ." But th o s e polled
did not even rank crea tion among
the top five theories adva nced to expl
ain th e o rigin of the un iverse.
The Christian eva ngelist has no
sma ll problem on his hands. Co nvincing
the world that Christia nity
is really, after all, a religion of revelati
on is no easy task. Th e world's
secular viewpoint has alrea dy prejudiced
most agai nst the theologian 's
case . And of course the advoca tes of
th e Christ ian religion have not
presented a united front to the
world. There is not even any uni versal
agreement on what the Christian
Bible actually teaches.
So where do we begin in sorting
out the problem of revelation?
Where do we find the most
agreemen t? Upon what person
is the whole Christian religion
built?
Even those who belie ve much of
the Bible to be myth still acknow ledge
that God has manifested Himself
in a unique manner through the
person of Jesus Christ of Nazaret h.
It is He who is the aut hor and the
founder of the tru e Christian religion.
His view of the Bible must be
considered as decisive. We canno t
lightly lay as ide His sta te me nts
ab out crea tion.
Jesus and Creation
Was Jesus a *creati onist or a believer
in evolution? For the an swer,
not ice His description of world conditi
ons at the end of this age. "For
then there will be great tribul ati on,
such as has not been from the begin ­
ning ofthe world until now, no, and
never will be" (Matt. 24:2 1, RSV).
Mark 's Gos pel put s it this way:
"For in those days there will be such
tribulation as has not been from the
beginning of the creatio n which God
created until now, and never will
be" (Mark 13: 19).
Conside r too Jesus' own person al
lett er to the Laodicean Church in
the 90's A.D. Notice how He describes
Himself: "And to the angel
of the church in Laod icea write:
'The words of the Amen, the faithful
and tru e witness, the beginnin g of
God's creation' " (Rev. 3:14). Oth er
New Testam ent scriptures make it
plain that Christ is the originator
and source of all God's creation .
Paul described Jesus as "the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn
of all crea tion; for in him all
things were created, in heaven and
on ea rth, visible a nd invisibl e,
whether thrones or dominions or
princip al it ies or a uthorities-all
things were created through him
and for him" (CoL I: 15-16).
So if we accept the New Testament
record as authoritative, we can
come to no other conclusion tha n
that Jesus literally believed cha pter
one, verse one of the book of Genesis,
i.e., the simple statement that
"in the beginn ing God crea ted the
heaven and the earth." D
'The term " creationist" as used here refers
to bel ief in the literal interpretation of
Ge nesis I:1.
The PLAIN TRUTH April 1978