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Where In The Bible Will I Find...
That The Bible Is Only For Presumptuous Church Officials? Gary Colley |
As there have been in the past, there are many today who would remove our Bible from our possession. Some may approve of our having a copy, but forbid us to study, think, and reason from the Scriptures. Every individual is urged by the Scriptures to receive the Word "with all readiness of mind" and "search the Scriptures daily" whether those things are so (Acts 17:11). God says, "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isa. 1:18) and Paul "reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met him" (Acts 17:17 ASV). At Ephesus, for the space of three months, he was "reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God" (Acts 19:8 ASV). When Paul preached to Felix and Drusilla "concerning the faith in Christ Jesus" it caused these heathens to reason "of righteousness, and self-control, and the judgment to come" (Acts 24:25 ASV). It is certain that our preaching — like Paul's — should cause people to reason, study and obey the Truth. But notice a statement from an address by the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to Pope Pius III, which is preserved in the National Library of Paris, Folio No. 1068, Vol. 2, pp. 650 and 651: "Of all the advice that we can offer your Holiness we must open your eyes well and use all possible force in the matter, namely, to permit the reading of the Gospel as little as possible in all the countries under your jurisdiction. Let the very little part of the Gospel suffice which is usually read in Mass, and let no one be permitted to read more. So long as people will be content with the small amount, your interest will prosper; but as soon as the people want to read more, your interest will fail. The Bible is the book, which more than any other, has raised against us the tumults and tempests by which we have almost perished. In fact, if one compares the teaching of the Bible with what takes place in our churches, he will soon find discord, and will realize that our teachings are often different from the Bible, and oftener still, contrary to it." Hold fast to your Bible, friends! Let no man, or group of men, take it from you. |