“Of making many books there is no end,” said the wise man. (Eccl 12:12) Nobody knows how many books have been published throughout history, but the Library of Congress houses over 32 million titles, and the number keeps growing.
Only one, however, is so unique that it’s simply called The Book. “Bible” is just the anglicized form of the Greek word biblia, meaning “books,” referring to the 66 books written over 1,600 years, with at least 40 human writers, most of whom didn’t know each other.
In spite of composing their works in three languages on three continents, and covering a myriad of controversial subjects, one harmonious message flows through this whole collection. Amazing!
The Anglican Church, recently in the news, began with a schism when Henry VIII of England broke from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534. The pope refused to grant Henry an annulment from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry Anne Boleyn.
Now there’s been another schism. But why all these denominational divisions? In the first century, Paul wrote, “There must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized.” (1 Cor 11:19, NLT)
Those who go by the Book are approved by God. Those who are “blown here and there by every wind of teaching” (Eph 4:14, NIV) are found wanting. In other cases, both factions treat the Bible as irrelevant.
The majority in the Anglican Communion have lost confidence in the present leadership who, they say, have “abandoned the inerrant Word of God as the final authority.”
On their official website (gafcon.org), they explained their decision: “We declare that the Anglican Communion will be reordered, with only one foundation of communion, namely the Holy Bible.”
When I was a babe in arms, the future queen, then Princess Elizabeth, visited our fair city on her first official tour of Canada. My grandfather’s brother was then mayor, and we still have grainy black-and-white movies of the day he received her. It was October 15.
She became queen less than four months later following the death of her father, King George VI. Rulers from around the world gathered at Westminster Abbey for the lavish coronation ceremony.
After being invested with various bejeweled baubles worth a king’s ransom, she was given a Bible, and heard the following words:
“Our gracious Queen: to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the gospel of God as the rule for the whole life and government of Christian princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords.”
I realize I’m from the 1900s and this is ancient history now, but a whole generation of children are growing up completely ignorant of the Bible’s message. We are sending them out like little boats into a wild storm with no chart or compass.
The Bible is the only book that tells us that we came not from a puddle but from the hand and heart of God, the only book that introduces us to the world’s only Savior. If it isn’t true, nothing really matters. If it is, nothing else matters.
“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.…How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? (Heb 2:1, 3, NIV)
Jabe Nicholson of Starkville visits four prisons each week with heaven’s life-changing message. Write [email protected] or visit www.uplook.tv
Posted in Columns
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