Page Title

TESTIMONIES

THE ORIGIN / SOURCE OF THE BIBLE

TESTIMONIES / OPINIONS / BELIEFS

Given below are 3 testimonies that illustrate a reality -- that the majority of people
on earth today believe / understand that the Bible is a 'book written by men'.

In the town of Ararat, Armenia there is a Baptist Church. The pastor's name is
Gregor. He was the champion weight lifter in his weight class for the Soviet
Union. Gregor was expecting to lift in the Olympics in Moscow in 1984, but
sustained injuries that prevented his participation. He has trophies, medallions
and pictures as evidence of his weight lifting accomplishments.

While in training at the Olympic village near Moscow, Gregor began, as lying in
bed one night, to wander if there is a God.   As he wandered his room mate came
in, went to bed and went to sleep -- as Gregor continued in his thoughts about
whether or not there was a God. He said that there no electricity and the room
was completely dark. Gregor said, as he lay there an audible voice said, 'Get the
book and put it in the window'.   He said that he got up -- felt all around the room --
could not find a book and so laid back in bed.

Gregor's words were, 'It was like looking for a black cat in a black room, when you
did not know there was a black cat in the black room.'

After a while the voice said again 'put the book in the window'.   Gregor explained
that there was a small table between the two beds. He reached over to the table --
his room mate had put his clothes on the table and under the clothes he felt a
book.   He took the book and put it in the window between the beds. He then
went to sleep.

The next morning as Gregor awoke, his room mate was dressing and said 'where
is that book I bought yesterday'. Grogor replied, 'I put it in the window'. His room
mate explained, 'That is a Bible -- I found it in a store yesterday and bought it just
to prove what they have taught us -- that it is just a book written by men.

His room mate left the room as Gregor remained lying on the bed.

Gregor said with great conviction, 'I thought -- a voice spoke to me -- told me twice
to put the book in the window -- that book is a Bible'.

Then Gregor said, 'THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD THAT COULD KEEP ME
FROM READING THAT BIBLE.'

Gregor returned to his home town, Ararat, Armenia as a Bible believing - believer
in God.

THE SECOND TESTIMONY ::

My family and I had returned to our home town, after being gone for some time in
ministry.   Our local pastor whom we knew and loved had organized a mission
with BGCT to take a team to Australia.   As we arrived the time was near for the
mission and our pastor decided not to go. He ask me to take his place as pastor /
leader of the group to fulfil the mission commitment.   I agreed -- the team became
2 men from the church whom I had known for many years, our second daughter
(20years old) and myself.

We were assigned to a very nice small church located in a Sydney suburb. In the
course of our mission we were taken to a local High School. We were informed
that their curriculum had a once a week 'scripture' class and that we would be
their 'scripture' class for that week. They brought the entire school into the
gymnasium.

We were introduced -- one of our team who worked for the railroad told about
Texas -- the other gentleman played guitar and sang a Christian song. My
daughter told about young people in USA. Then came my turn.

I quoted the 23rd Psalm. I began to speak about --- God our Creator giving to us
His word to teach us --. Immediately a young lady raised and waved her hand. I
acknowledged her --- she said, we believe that the Bible is a book written by
men. I began to explain that God our Creator had inspired different persons to
physically write His message. While I was speaking a young man stood up and
said quite loudly that -- we be in evolution.   I began to explain about evolution --
he strongly replied -- that there is proof of evolution. I replied -- no, evolution is by
its own description, a theory. The conversation became confrontational.

About that time I felt a tug on my jacket sleeve. I turned -- my daughter had
stepped up beside me --- she reached and took the microphone from my hand
and said --- If you want to believe that your great - great granddaddy was a gorilla,
that's fine , but mine was not.

I had no more problem explaining about Psalm 23.

THE THIRD TESTIMONY

I was looking through the Christian TV channels and came across a discussion
about the authorship of Genesis. The discussion involved a leader and 6 panel
members. Each person on the panel was introduced as having doctorates in
theology and being full time employed in Biblical teaching in their respective
circumstances. Moving from person to person they presented a thorough
explanation of the Genesis text and theories of who is believed to be the author.

In the closing statement the panel leader, with gesture seemingly as an
expression of frustration, threw up both his hands and said, 'Well whoever wrote
Genesis.'

The purpose of the above testimonies is to say that the majority of mankind
believes / accepts that the Bible is written / authored by men --- thus it is NOT
SEEN as the 'Word of God' from God.

This reality is quite tragic because, if men are the authors, if the Bible is the
narritive / stories of physical mankind, then the Bible is no different from any other
book at the library. But, if the source of the Bible is God the creator of the
heavens and the earth, then most of mankind living today has missed the most
important message they could know / recieve. THEY MISSED THE INSTRUCTION
FOR THE LIFE OF THEIR ETERNAL SOUL / SPIRIT !!

MOST TRAGIC of all is that people who profess to be Christian and have spent
their entire life studing and teaching the Bible do not understand how to explain
that the message of the Bible is from / originated from God Himself. They speak
about the JEPD theory, etc which allows more emphesis to be toward men being
the authors, thus explaining away the role of God in the process.

Certainly physical men wrote the phyical words of the Bible, but the messages,
prophesies came from the mind / the intelligence of God. (II Timothy 5:16) But
satan uses the words to make a lie. satan, in the garden, told Eve 'you will not
really die' --- true -- but sin / disobedience demands separation from God == thus
spiritual death in God's vocabulary.

IT IS IMPERATIVE / OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT WE, WHO UNDERSTAND
THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD / FROM GOD, MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO
DECLARE THAT FACT TO ALL MANKIND !!!

If there was no explanation in the Bible then we would deal with that as is.

BUT THERE IS GREAT EVEDENCE ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THE BIBLE !!

GOD DID NOT SAY THAT HE DICTATED THE BOOK OF GENESIS TO MOSES,
BUT HE EXPLAINED EXACTLY HOW HE DID IT.

GOD DID IT THIS WAY -- ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN THAT MANKIND'S BELIEF
WOULD BE THROUGH FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT -- THUS GUARANTEEING /
MAINTAINING COMPLETE FREEDOM FOR MANKIND -- WE MUST CHOOSE TO
BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE.
(ll CORINTHIANS 5: 7)

GOD'S PLAN TO CREATE MANKIND WITH TOTAL / COMPLETE SPIRITUAL
FREEDOM IS THE GREATEST BLESSING WHEN COUPLED WITH THE
GREATEST GIFT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR.

ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE

The origin of the Bible is found in God the creator of all physical
things.

But--in modern Biblical studies and theological writings there is much
study and emphasis made about the authorship of the books of the
Bible. In these Biblical Studies there is much about the men who wrote
the Bible and very little about the source of origin of the information.

In the above sentences are two words (origin and authorship) that set
the format and is the understanding that is needed in today's Biblical
studies.

Origin;--American Heritage Dictionary, " The point at which something
comes into existence."

A word, thought or message has its origin in the mind. Then, it must
be transposed from the mind into a verbal or written message. The
one who gives the message is the author.

Author;--American Heritage Dictionary, (1)"The writer of a literary
work." (2) " One who originates or creates something."

Thus, to be an author, there needs to be two processes. The
development of the message in the mind and then the proclamation of
that message.

This process is uniquely present and important in Biblical studies.
Because, in regard to the Bible this twofold process involves two
different individuals. Every book of the Bible has an author-originator (
God ) and an author-writer ( a man ).

From the mind of God came the origin of the message of the Bible.

By the writer's pen, as God spoke and as their spirits were inspired by
the Spirit of God, men were the author - writers of the Bible. This is of
utmost importance to all mankind because if we believe the Bible to
be the writings of men, but miss the fact that the message is from the
mind of God we have greatly erred.

If the Bible were the writings of men then it would be only man's
opinions. On the other hand, if the message is from God and we miss
that reality, we have, with grave consequences missed our message
from our creator.

The Bible from the beginning to the end declares that God is the
author - orignator. When a person looks at the Bible with the intention
of determining its origin and authorship the evidence is
overwhelming. The following is some examples that state clearly the
origin and authorship of the Bible.

Note---The Torah or the first five books of the law,
Genesis-Deuteronomy, in most all studies, is believed to have been
written by Moses. It can easily be seen that Moses would have written
Exodus-Deuteronomy, as they are the life and times of Moses. But the
Book of Genesis is different, thus it presents a problem.

First--Genesis spans a great length of time. At least a couple of
thousand years.

Second--Moses certainly was not a witness to any of the events in
Genesis.

Third--Much of Genesis is written as if the author was there, with
quotations and details of life events.

Fourth-- There is no record or oral history nor even oral tradition that
is presently known of the time of Genesis.

Fifth--There is no other known source from that time era.

If a person accepts the Bible as being true and as the Word of God,
then the above problems fade away completely.

But,-- There are many persons who do not accept by faith and believe
the Bible to be true and the Word of God. For all, there is clear
evidence that God was the author - originator of the message and
Moses was the author - writer.

In Exodus 17:14, God says to Moses as the Bible states, " Write this
for a memorial in the Book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua. "

This occasion was very early in their 40 year journey. Within three
months of the departure from Egypt there was already a book in which
Moses was recording the events that happened. Note-- That Moses
recorded what God told him to write in the book.

Then in Exodus 19: 1-2, " In the third month after the children of Israel
had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the
wilderness of Sinai. For they had departed from Rephidim, had come
to the desert of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel
camped there before the mountain."

We are told that in the third month after leaving Egypt they had left
Rephidim and came to Sinai. At Sinai, Moses received the 10
Commandments as recorded in chapter 20. In Exodus 20 and following
through Chapter 23 are other rules and instructions.

In Exodus 24, it is very clear that God has given instructions and
Moses wrote those words from God. Verses three and four, " So
Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the
judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, " All
the words which the Lord has said we will do. And Moses wrote all the
words of the Lord."

Then, in Chapter 24:12, God says to Moses, " I will give you the tablets
of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written that
you may teach them. "

Also in Exodus 32:16, " Now the tablets were the work of God, and the
writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets."

With the above verses as one example, it is easy to understand who
the author - originator is and from whose mind came the message of
the Bible. God gave the message to Moses and Moses was to write it
and teach it to the people.

As the Book of Exodus continues in Chapter 32:19 the tablets of stone
written by God are broken. Then in Chapter 34:27-28 Moses is given
the second set of tablets replacing those that were broken.

Between the receiving of the two sets of tablets, Chapter 32 and
chapter 34, we are given a very important message in Chapter 33:7-11.
This is important because it shows us that within the first few months
of a 40 year journey God is speaking to Moses and instructing him to
write in the Book.

Here we see that Moses pitched his tent outside the camp and
whenever he went there the Lord talked with him " face-to-face, as a
man speaks to his friend."

Moses had at least 39 years to receive from God the history of the
Book of Genesis and to write it as a record of the beginning of
mankind.

As we put these verses and events together we see that God
instructed Moses to write, God wrote the commandments and God
spoke with Moses face-to-face.

In Genesis 35:20, there is evidence that the record was written long
after the events. " And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the
pillar of Rachel's grave to this day."

As we understand Biblical history it is well over 400 years from
Rachel's death to Moses and the tent of meeting in the wilderness.
Yet in the context of Rachel's death, in verses 16, 20 and 21, there are
detailed explanations of their location, a quote from Rachel's midwife
and how Benjamin came to be named. These details are written as
though the writer was present at the time of the events. This is one
small example to illustrate that the Book of Genesis was written as
though the writer was present during all those hundreds of years of
mankind's history. The Book of Genesis is full of quotations,
explanations of events, attitudes of people, and details of both
physical and spiritual events and circumstances.

Realizing that Moses wrote Genesis near 400 years after the last
events of Genesis and that the story of Genesis covered many
hundreds of years before that leaves no doubt that God must have
been the author-originator, author-initiator of this unique history of
mankind.

So, we can see and understand from Moses' writings that under God's
instructions he wrote the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

---God was certainly present during all these hundreds of years and
generations of mankind.

---God certainly heard what was said so as to recall direct quotations.

---God certainly understood the feelings and attitudes of those people.

---God certainly knew both the physical and spiritual implications of
each event.

---God certainly knew those who followed Him and those who did not.

Certainly God was the only one who could have known and instructed
Moses to write the Book of Genesis.

God spoke to Moses "face-to-face as a man speaks to his friend" for at
least 39 years in the wilderness.

God is the author!

Moses wrote what God told him.

So ---,

--God dictated to Moses the history of Genesis.

--God wrote the 10 commandments.

--God instructed Moses what to write in the other four books of law.

There remains only a small question in Deuteronomy 34, that tells of
the death of Moses.

" Then the Lord said to him, " this is the land of which I swore to give
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendants, "
I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross
over there." So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of
Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a
valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his
grave to this day."
Deuteronomy 34:4-6.

It was obviously written later because Verse 6 says, " but no one
knows his grave to this day."

The person who wrote Deuteronomy 34 must have gotten the
information from God, because ---

First--In verse four there is a quote of what God said to Moses, and yet
there was no one there at that time and place accept God and Moses.

Second--It tells of a place where Moses was buried, but no one knew
the place.

Third -- " Moses -- died there, according to the Word of the Lord." Thus
these events were according to God's word, or testimony, or
statement, or knowledge, not a man's knowledge.

In the same manner which God had spoken to Moses all those many
years He spoke to the author - writer to complete the Book of
Deuteronomy with Chapter 34.

Only God could have known these things.

Also the books of the law of Moses were understood to be from God at
the time of Nehemiah and the return from the Babylonian exile.

Nehemiah 8:1, " And all the people gathered together as one man in
the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra
the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had
commanded Israel."

Here in the Book of Nehemiah hundreds of years after the time of
Moses is given the understandings which are proposed in this writing.

First -- The Book of the Law of Moses is that which Moses received
from the Lord, wrote and taught to the people of Israel.

Second -- The Book of the Law of Moses was the instruction which the
Lord God commanded Israel.

God is the author - originator.

God gave the message to Moses.

Moses was the author- writer.

The conclusion of the origin of Genesis:

Genesis is proof positive that God is the author - originator of the
Bible, because, at the time of the writing of Genesis:

1) It was impossible that any living human could have known the
history of mankind back to the Garden of Eden.

2) No living human being could have known the many recorded
quotations and personal events of those people.

3) No living human being could have known the intimate
conversations between God and mankind.

4) No living human being could have known the spiritual implications
that are explained in Genesis.

5) No living human being could have known the spiritual lessons that
are taught in Genesis.

No living human being could have known.

Only God could have known!!!!!!!!!

Only God could be the author - originator of Genesis.

Whereas the first book of the Bible, could only have been authored by
God, so also, the last book of the Bible, Revelation.

The Book of Revelation is prophecy that approximately 2000 years
after its writing, by John the Apostle, is still not understood by
mankind.

In the 21st century there is still no proof nor evidence of the message
of Revelation. The seven years of tribulation described in Revelation
have not yet occurred and will not occur until God determines the end
of all physical existence has come.

The proof of the message of Revelation, written by the Apostle John,
will not be known until God's people are in heaven and the rebellious
in hell.

Thus,----No living human at any time in history could be the author of
Revelation.

God is the originator-author,--John the Apostle wrote the message
from God.

The above fact is borne out continuously throughout the Book of
Revelation.

Revelation 1:1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
Him,...."

Revelation 1:19, "Write the things which you have seen, and the things
which are, and the things which will take place after this."

Revelation 2:1, " To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ..."

Revelation 2:8, " And to the angel of the church of Smyrna write, ...."

Revelation 4:1, " After these things I looked, .... "

Revelation 5:1, " And I saw, in the right hand of Him .... "

Revelation 6:1, " Now I saw when the Lamb ....."

Revelation 6:5, " When He opened the third seal I heard the third living
creature say, ...."

The above quotes are only a few of many in which John explains that
what he wrote was that which he received from God.

Thus, in regard to the last Book of the Bible, Revelation, the author -
originator was and could only have been God.

Therefore concluding that, as in Moses' writing of Genesis and also
John with Revelation, living humans could not have, of themselves,
known these messages.

There remains only one conclusion:

God the creator of all physical existence has from time to time
communicated to those He chose. God gave them His message to
write down for His creation. In the same manner the other books of
the Bible were written.

" All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, . . . "
II Timothy 3:16

" Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." II Peter 1:
20-21.

All mankind has the privilege and the right to believe, accept and
follow the instructions from God their creator --- or to reject His
message.

Those who believe and obey His will, will receive life eternal with
God.

Those who reject their creator's message will be separated from God
eternally.

The message is clear--- the Bible is the Word from God.

The choice is yours!!!!!---

Believe, obey and live eternally with your Creator --- or ----

reject GOD'S Word and be separated from Him in hell forever!!!!