The Scriptures
(Editor's note: Some five years ago Brother Herschel Patton gave a careful study of the Baptist Manual in a series of radio talks in Russellville, Alabama. These nineteen sermons have been printed, and are available in an attractively bound book of 100 pages (see advertisement on back page). We print the first of the lessons here, and will follow with others from time to time.)
I have been requested, more than once, to discuss or review in the light of scripture nineteen articles of faith, believed and taught by a great segment of today's religious world, and recorded in the Standard Manual for those of this faith. In making this study, it is not our aim to make an attack upon any religious body, but to study these articles of faith to see if they are truly scripturally founded. If these be Bible truths, then all should know them and conform their lives thereto.
Men, across the years, have been prone to set down in writing their beliefs. This is not wrong within itself; but if these beliefs when set down are formulated into a creed to which others must submit in order to fellowship, then, man has assumed a prerogative which belongs only to Christ and his Word. Whatever men, therefore, have written must be considered carefully in the light of the scriptures; and if it is found true, it is so, not because some man wrote it, but because the Word of God teaches it. With these considerations before us, let us now consider these articles.
Article No. I
"We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried."
Bible Written By Inspired Men
The first statement in this article is `We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired." Is this what the scriptures teach? If so, this should be the faith of all. It cannot be denied, even by the rankest infidel, that the scriptures themselves contain statements to this effect. The prophets of Old Testament times claimed to be inspired of God: we never find them saying "I think," "I believe," "I feel," or "It is my opinion." They confirmed what they wrote with "Thus saith the Lord." Now, they were telling the truth or they were not. If they were not telling the truth, then how can we explain their great knowledge — the ability to reveal things in detail before it happened?
In the New Testament we are confronted with such statements as "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). John begins the Book of Revelation like this, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw." In these verses we have three apostles affirming that not one particle of that which had been written came by the will of man, but that ALL of the scriptures were given by inspiration — that all "spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit." Were these writers telling the truth? If not, then they condemned themselves, for throughout their writing they condemned those who lie, those who misrepresent the truth, and those who deceive. How could anyone conceive of their writing such bitter denunciations of those who misrepresent the truth, and then doing that very thing? The faith that the Bible was written by men divinely inspired is a Bible faith because the Bible so teaches.
A Treasure Of Heavenly Instruction
The statement that the Bible is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction and that it has God for its author could not be successfully denied in view of its being written by inspired men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. God is the author of the scriptures in the sense he dictated what the writers said. This is what is called "verbal inspiration." Some people believe that God simply placed the thought in their minds and let the writers express the thought in their own words; however, if the men, being human, had been permitted to choose their own words, then the Bible would contain numerous errors, and it would be impossible to harmonize all the different books. Some ask, "how do you explain the peculiar style of each writer?" We should not think God is so limited in power and wisdom that He cannot make use of the personality and individuality of different types of men to express His will, and yet protect them from any errors. Certainly, the Bible was written by men divinely inspired of God and everything in it is heavenly instruction. This is so, not because it is a part of some manual, discipline, or confession of faith, but because it is what the Bible declares.
Salvation, Its End: Truth, Its Matter
Article No. 1 further declares that the Bible has salvation for its end. That the revelation of God's will in the Bible has for its end the salvation of man no one who believes the Bible could deny. The apostle Paul declared "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith unto faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith" (Rom. 1:16-17). The gospel is the same as "the truth" or "the Word"; even the Old Testament economy was filled with types and figures of that which was to come, and Paul declares the gospel — the truth — to be God's power to save the believer. Jesus called the Word the "seed of the kingdom" (Luke 8:11). James spoke of it as the "implanted word" (James 1:21) "which is able to save your souls." Let us keep in mind, though that while the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, this word or seed must be implanted or sown in the heart before there can be any salvation. It is further declared that the Bible has for its matter, truth without any mixture of error. This would have to be the case if it has God for its author and was written by inspired men. This would make impossible the creeping in of error.
Principles Of Judgment
The next declaration in article No. 1 is "that it (the Bible) reveals the principles by which God will judge us." The Bible not only reveals the principles by which we are to be judged, but many other things concerning the judgment — who will do the judging — who will be judged — what will take place at the judgment, etc. There are numerous passages which show that the Lord's judgment will be righteous — in line with the light one has had. In Romans 2:12 Paul said "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." Paul here had in mind both Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles were never under the Law; however in Romans 1:20-21 the apostle shows they sinned against the light they had. The Jews were under the law, and sinned — broke it — and were to be judged by it. Jesus said "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day." The woes pronounced by Jesus upon Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because they repented not, even though mighty works had been done there, show that the brighter the light against which one sins, the more aggravated becomes the guilt. The same lesson is taught about the unfaithful servant in Luke 12:47-48. Because of these verses, we may safely and assuredly say that the Bible reveals the principles by which we will be judged.
Lasting Center Of Christian Union
In view of these previous considerations, it is further affirmed that the Bible shall remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union. Logically and scripturally the believer is forced to the conclusion that the Bible is the only basis of unity for the religious world. I have constantly preached that the divided religious world can never be united upon any of the creeds, manuals, disciplines, confessions of faith, etc., found among the various sects. True, all of these contain some truth; in fact, they may contain many truths yet, so long as there is found in any of them things which others regard to be wrong and unscriptural there can be no unity. The religious world can never be united upon the nineteen articles of faith we are reviewing now for some of them can be shown to be unscriptural. We may be able to unite upon some of them, but only because they are in line with the scriptures. This first article which we are reviewing now would be accepted by most of the religious bodies in so called Christendom. Aside from the modernists who deny the virgin birth, verbal inspiration, miracles, etc., there is no division in the religious world over what is stated in article No. 1. Why is there no division here? Because the Bible clearly teaches what is there stated, and we all believe the Bible. If every thing we believe and practice is supported by the Bible, there can be no division. Division exists when people speculate, theorize, and go contrary to the Bible. Since the Bible is the true center of Christian union, nothing else is needed by religious people to state their faith and practice. The presence of creeds, manuals, disciplines, etc., indicates there are things to be believed which one would not learn from the Bible; hence the need for the extra work. Written creeds and the like are responsible for much of the division which now exists in the religious world. If all written creeds, manuals, etc., were destroyed and everyone went to the Bible for his faith and practice, division would diminish as people did this. The Bible plus a certain creed will produce a certain kind of Christian; the Bible plus another creed will produce a second kind of Christian; the Bible plus a certain manual will produce a third kind of Christian; the Bible plus the catechism, the Bible plus the book of Mormon, the Bible plus — the Bible plus — equals many different kinds of Christians. But the Bible, without these aids, will produce a Christian, and that is enough. Indeed, the Bible is the true center of Christian unity.
The Standard Rule
The last affirmation in this first article is, the Bible is the "supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried." Certainly the Bible is the divine measuring rod. Jesus taught that the value of John's baptism was determined by whether it was "from heaven or from men." That which is taught in the Bible is from heaven, but whatever is not found in the scriptures is from men. John said in I John 4:1, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world." The people of Berea were called "noble" because they "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, where those things were so." (Acts 17:11.) In Revelation 11:1 John says, "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." Notice John is to measure the temple, altar, and worshippers. In this symbol is meant that when the time arrived that this vision applied to the church, the worship and the worshippers were to be measured. Measurements to be correct and valuable must be made by standard and accurate implements. Here John was given a reed like a rod — notice it was given him, not something he made. Since the purpose of measuring, according to verse two, was to determine what was approved or accepted of God, the measuring instrument had to be of divine make. This was nothing other than the word of God, already given by the apostles. Most people will affirm that the Bible is the divine measuring rod, but getting them to make the measurement is something else. Many true statements are made in this first article — true because supported by the scriptures.