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Chapter 1: One of the World's Most Popular Books
One of the World's Most Popular Books
On March 16, 1985, journalist
Terry Anderson was kidnapped from the streets of Beirut, Lebanon. As a political
pawn he was held hostage for 2,454 days. During this excruciating ordeal Mr. Anderson
showed remarkable courage, although frequently stretched to near his breaking point.
On the first day of his confinement his abductors hustled him at gunpoint from his
car into theirs, then took him to a half-built apartment building. There they blindfolded
him and chained him to a cot.
During his first 24 days in chains, bound and restrained like an animal, he struggled
to find a way to maintain his sanity. Realizing the need to summon courage and strength
from somewhere, he asked his captors for a Bible.
In his memoirs Mr. Anderson related the result of that request: "The next day,
late in the afternoon, the English-speaking guard came in and threw a heavy object
on the bed. I reached for it, felt the smooth covers of a book. The guard came around
to the head of the bed. 'Good?' 'Yes, very good, thank you.'
"I cautiously pulled my blindfold up a bit, until I could see the book . . .
A Bible, the Revised Standard Version. I caressed it gently . . . I read
the title page, the publishing and © information, the notes of the editors,
slowly, carefully. Then: Genesis. 'In the beginning . . .' " (Terry
A. Anderson, Den of Lions, Crown, New York, 1993, pp. 14-15).
How often in crises have men and women turned to the Bible for help? The value of
the Word of God is acknowledged at such moments of unease, uncertainty and apprehension.
A perennial best-seller
The Holy Bible is regarded by millions as the written Word of the one and only true
God. Indeed, the Bible claims this distinction for itself. In the eyes of many others
it is highly regarded as a collection of some of the world's greatest literature.
The nonprofit American Bible Society has, in more than 180 years of its existence,
distributed approximately as many Bibles as there are people in the world-some five
billion.
Millions of Bibles, reflecting numerous translations, are sold every year. Translations
exist in more than 2,000 languages and dialects.
The Bible is especially popular wherever English is spoken. It is "the most
widely known book in the English-speaking world . . . No one in the English-speaking
world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible" (E.D.
Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett and James Trefil, The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy,
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1988, p. 1.). So within the English-speaking
world, even where religions other than Christianity dominate, a basic knowledge of
the Bible is essential if one is to be considered an educated citizen.
"Literate people in India, whose religious traditions are not based on the Bible
but whose common language is English, must know about the Bible to understand English
within their own country. All educated speakers of American English need to understand
what is meant when someone describes a contest between David and Goliath or whether
a person who has the 'wisdom of Solomon' is wise or foolish . . ."
(ibid.).
Americans in particular attribute great influence to the Bible. In a survey by the
Library of Congress and Book-of-the-Month Club, readers were asked what book had
most influenced their lives. The Bible topped the list. In a 1938 Gallup poll the
Bible was considered the most interesting of all books read that year. It was rated
by a majority as more-interesting reading than the 1930s novel Gone With the Wind.
However, in more secular Britain this is not the case. In a similar British survey
the Bible came in 35th in a field of 50 books.
Yet the Bible is quoted by statesmen, politicians, philosophers, poets and even orbiting
astronauts. People from all walks of life have found in its texts just the right
words for innumerable situations. Its insights often provide the right accompaniment
for moments of awe and inspiration, stress and anguish, confusion and doubt.
The Bible neglected
However, for all of the attention given to the Bible, its value is underestimated.
When we probe a little deeper we find the Bible being lauded, even revered, yet a
book whose contents are often little read and even less understood.
Much of the world is biblically illiterate. Anecdotes abound about the abysmally
low awareness of what the Bible says. This was illustrated in one quiz when some
respondents guessed that Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers and that the Epistles were
the wives of the apostles. Further, many people cannot name one, let alone all four,
of the Gospels. Others cannot identify Jesus Christ as the deliverer of the Sermon
on the Mount.
Far too many neglect to take the Bible seriously. They fail to recognize the Bible
for what it is: the handbook for humankind, provided by God for our journey through
life. It is a source to be consulted in every life situation, with guidelines for
triumph and adversity, joy and sorrow, prosperity and poverty, confidence and doubt.
The Bible itself asserts its divine authority; it claims to be the very Word of God.
It declares an understanding of mankind's purpose: to attain the awesome destiny
planned for us by our Creator. It offers guidance, encouragement and direction at
every turn.
But can the Bible withstand scrutiny? Is it true just because it claims to be true?
Can you-should you-believe it?
In the chapters that follow, we will see whether the Bible stands as the very Word
of God.
©1999 United Church of God, an International Associtaion
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