For the serious Bible student (or anyone who wants to become a serious Bible student), there are only a few Bible versions that deserve consideration:

1. The King James Version (also known as the Authorized Version) is still much used, and even revered, in Christadelphian circles — although its inadequacies (due primarily to its age) are known and understood. Much of the best Bible study material is based on the KJV, as are the good analytical concordances and lexicons. Many believers, not quite able to tear themselves away from it for more modern (and possibly more accurate) versions, nevertheless supplement their KJV reading and study with occasional reference to good modern versions.

A good study Bible still available within the Brotherhood is the “Interlinear” (KJV and English Revised Version line by line, one under the other), but beware! It requires some practice to read it smoothly.

2. The Revised Standard Version (RSV, 1952) is the earliest of the modern translations still being used in significant numbers. It was intended as a further revision of the KJV and English RV, and is generally respected for its scholarship.

3. The New International Version (NIV, 1978) is perhaps the best translation in American English today. It is close to the Hebrew and Greek text while at the same time reproducing our language as it is spoken today. As an advertisement for the NIV says, “If King James were alive today, he’d be reading the NIV!” (In the New Testament, the NIV does have some unfortunate choices, from more obscure ancient manuscripts, that reflect a “trinitarian” bias on the part of the translators. These erroneous translations should be noted and replaced, in most cases, with the alternative renderings from the margin.)

4. The New American Standard Bible (NASB, 1960) is the most literal, word-for-word translation on the market today — which is not to say it is necessarily the best. Many feel its extreme literalness makes it a poor translation, because its English is consequently choppy and decidedly poor. As a study Bible, however, if not as a reading Bible, it has some appeal among Christadelphians.

And there, probably, the list of recommended versions should end. Other possible versions range from the mediocre at best (New English Bible, Good News Bible, or Today’s English Version) to the very poor (Living Bible, and the various “special sect” translations — like the JWs’ “New World Translation”).

Many of the versions are available in expensive “study editions”, with extensive marginal notes. These notes, while sometimes containing valuable material, can often be very biased and misleading. It would be far better to get a good wide-margin Bible with marginal references, but no notes. These types of Bibles, seen commonly among Christadelphians, are available from various sources in all four recommended translations. Make up your mind to produce your own marginal notes as you study, a practice infinitely better for personal development than relying on the notes of “orthodox” commentators.

A sign of the end of the age

The problem of racism is very much in the news today. Despite efforts to eliminate racism and ethnic hatred, the world continues to see race riots, civil wars that involve fighting between ethnic groups, ‘ethnic cleansing’, genocide, anti-Semitism and theories of racial superiority. That this should be so today comes as no surprise to those who seriously read their Bibles. Almost two thousand years ago Jesus Christ predicted that one of the characteristics of the time of the end would be fighting between ethnic groups:

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation [Greek ethnos] shall rise against nation, and kingdom [Greek basileia] against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places” (Mat 24:6,7).

In the above passage, the original Greek word rendered nation is “ethnos”, from which we get our word ethnic. This word refers to an ethnic class of people. The Greek word for kingdom, “basileia”, refers to a political institution. Thus the word ethnos, used separately from “basileia”, shows that there would be clashes between ethnic and racial groups, as well as between nations, in the last days.

Were the black races cursed by God?

It is a common myth that the Bible, specifically in Genesis 9, condones the enslavement of the African races, and implies that the black races are inferior. Genesis 9 was used in the days of the black slave trade by supposed Christians who wished to justify their horrible treatment of African peoples. However, their interpretation of this passage was a flagrant misuse of Scripture, a misuse of Scripture that unfortunately continues to this day in some quarters. This incorrect interpretation has caused much tragedy and suffering among the African races, and we need to put it to rest immediately. Following an immoral incident involving Ham and perhaps his son Canaan, Genesis 9 describes how Canaan is cursed by Noah:

“And he [Noah] said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant” (Gen 9:25-27).

Those who try to maintain that the Bible teaches the enslavement of African peoples, argue that since Ham is the father of the African races, this curse amounts to a legitimization of racism against blacks. However, while it is true that Ham is the forefather of the races that became established in Africa, Ham was also the father of other peoples, such as the people who lived in the Promised Land prior to its being conquered by the Israelites. The main group of people living in the Promised Land at this time were the descendants of Canaan, the Canaanites. For this reason the land was also called the Land of Canaan. One group of Canaanites, the Gibeonites, tried to trick Joshua into a peace treaty:

“And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God” (Jos 9:22,23).

It was as a direct result of their trickery that the Canaanite Gibeonites were cursed into servitude for the Israelites. This is the Biblical fulfillment of the Genesis 9 curse. Even in the days of Solomon, several hundred years later, this curse was still being fulfilled:

“And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day” (1Ki 9:20,21).

Of the above listed groups, the Amorites, Hivites, Jebusites, and perhaps the Perizzites were Canaanite groups. Thus the curse (which actually became a blessing!) was extended to other Canaanite groups as well. The Gibeonites, according to Joshua 9:22,23 quoted above, were to be employed in the temple service. This association with the worship of Yahweh, the true God, opened up the possibility of salvation to these non-Israelites. This is a foretaste of the grace God would later extend to all Gentiles (non-Israelites).

“Christian” racism

While the Bible itself in no way encourages or tolerates racism, it is unfortunately true that some Christians have been and are racist, just as some non-Christians are racists. However, this is not a reflection on the true nature of Christianity. One of the perpetrators of the myth of the inferiority of the African races was the Catholic Archbishop of the Americas, Bartolome de las Casas (1474-1566). Las Casas was a champion of the rights of North and South American Indians, since he believed the Indians had souls and thus needed to be saved. Thus he fought to end the enslavement of the natives of the New World. However, he also recommended that African slaves be imported to America, since they did not have souls and were thus inferior! As we have already stressed, this view is definitely not Biblical.

Unfortunately, there has arisen in the minds of some Christians the illusion that Christ was racially white. But ethnology, history and the Bible converge to show just how much of an illusion this idea really it. It is common for people to portray the ‘greats’ in history in ways that are more agreeable to their own sensibilities. Thus many whites have simply assumed that Christ had fair skin, and some even assume that he had blond hair and blue eyes! Of course, the simple rebuttal to this notion is that nobody knows what Christ looked like. However, ethnologists affirm that Palestinian Jews living in the first century were quite dark-skinned, with dark hair and eyes. The Anglo-Saxon, Nordic and Slavic white races lived over a thousand miles to the north and northwest of the Palestinian Jews. Thus the racist portrayal of Christ as a ‘Great White God’, presented by such groups as the Mormons, is to be rejected.

We must distinguish between true Christianity as revealed in God’s Word, and the corrupt manifestations of Christianity that owe their origins more to human reasoning. In other words, Christianity is not racist by nature, although some individual Christians are (as are some Hindus, atheists and other non-Christians).

Is Christianity a white man’s religion?

It is sad, but true, that some white Christians assume arrogantly that Christianity is a ‘white man’s religion’. Partly because of these attitudes, many people misrepresent the Christian faith as the religion of the white races, in much the same way that native North American religions are the indigenous religions of native Americans.

However, historically speaking, the white races are relative late-comers to the Christian religion. For example, the ancestors of the northern European Anglo-Saxons continued to be full-blown pagans for centuries after the Gospel message first went out on the Day of Pentecost (c. 30 AD).

Christ himself was a Jew, and hardly the Nordic ‘god’ of some people’s imaginations. Christ’s immediate disciples were also Jewish, and it was to the Jewish peoples that the Gospel was first preached. Before Christ ascended into heaven, he told his disciples how the Gospel would first spread among the Jews in Jerusalem, and then to the Samaritans (who were part Jewish) and only then to the other parts of the earth:

“But ye [Christ’s disciples] shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Thus while it may be fair to say that some institutions that call themselves Christian are manifestations of the modern ‘white man’s religion’, it is clearly untrue to say this of the Christian faith as represented in the New Testament.

Evolution and racism

While the Bible teaches that God created all human beings equal, the atheistic ideas of evolution have led many to adopt racist views. Hitler, for example, was influenced by evolutionary Darwinism when he espoused the racist view that the ‘Aryan’ race was superior to all others. One manifestation of evolutionary thinking, known as social Darwinism, led to racist and class policies in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries:

“The theory [of social Darwinism] was used to support political conservatism. Class stratification was justified on the basis on ‘natural’ inequalities among individuals, for the control of property was said to be a correlate of superior and inherent moral attributes such as industriousness, temperance, and frugality. Attempts to reform society would, therefore, interfere with natural processes; unrestricted competition and defense of the status quo were in accord with biological selection. The poor were the ‘unfit’ and should not be aided; in the struggle for existence, wealth was a sign of success. At the societal level, social Darwinism was used as a philosophical rationalization for imperialist and racist policies, sustaining belief in Anglo-Saxon or Aryan cultural and biological superiority.” [Encyclopedia Britannica, 1986, 10:920]

More recently, Philippe Rushton, a Western University (London, Ontario) psychology professor, created a stir when he published a race theory based on the evolutionary development of humans. Rushton claimed that the black races finished evolving first, followed by the white races, with the Asian races last. His theory proposes that Asians are the most highly evolved humans, followed by whites, with the blacks being the least highly evolved. Moreover, Professor Rushton claimed that this made Asians the most intelligent, the blacks the least, with the whites falling somewhere in between.

Rushton was roundly condemned in most quarters, and he lost some of his academic privileges. However, according to the principles of evolution, which openly teach that some species are more highly evolved than others, there is no reason why a theory such as this should be automatically condemned without serious investigation (which it was). Such a theory is quite compatible with the tenets of the amoral discipline of evolution. Most people seemed to reject Rushton’s ideas for moral, ethical and religious reasons.

Those who believe the Bible to be authoritative in such matters do have reason to automatically reject all racist theories, as we will see. It should be pointed out, however, that it would be unfair and simplistic to portray all evolutionists as racist, just as it would be to call all Christians racist. Still, there is one major difference. Some Christians have read racist ideas into the non-racist Bible, while evolutionary principles inherently support the idea of one race or species rising above another.

Nevertheless, a chosen people

While the Bible does not teach that any one race or nation has guaranteed access to salvation based on their race alone, the Bible does affirm that God chose the nation of Israel as a special people to manifest His Name throughout the world. Early in the first book of the Bible, God made a special promise or covenant with Abraham, the father of the Israelites:

“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 12:1-3).

Later, when the people of Israel had become a nation, God made a further covenant with the Israelites:

“Now therefore, IF ye will obey my voice in- deed, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar [or, special] treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exo 19:5,6).

For about two thousand years, God manifested His truth through the Israelites and their religion. The special status of Israel did not mean that no other people had access to the true God and salvation. Many Gentiles (non-Jews) associated themselves with the religion of Israel and became proselytes (converts) to the Jewish faith, a faith that taught that God created all the world and all the people in it.

The wall of partition, and its removal

Unfortunately, many Jews became arrogant about their special status and treated the Gentiles as inferior in God’s plan of salvation. This problem was epitomized in the following inscription in the Jewish temple court at the time of Christ:

“NO FOREIGNER MAY ENTER WITHIN THE BARRICADE WHICH SURROUNDS THE TEMPLE AND ENCLOSURE. ANYONE WHO IS CAUGHT DOING SO WILL HAVE HIMSELF TO THANK FOR HIS ENSUING DEATH.” [FF Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (revised, fifth edition). (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1985), p 93]

However, one of the most important aspects of the work of Christ is that his sacrifice symbolically broke down this restrictive partition between Jew and Gentile. The apostle Paul, who was the Apostle to the Gentiles, wrote the following to Gentile Christians:

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain [two] one new man, so making peace…” (Eph 2:11-15).

Christ made peace between the races, and thus Christianity is a truly universal faith open to all races without restrictions of any kind.

The equality of all races

Along with the teaching that the Gospel is open to all races, the Bible clearly emphasizes that God created all humans equal, and all people who respond to the Gospel will be accepted by him. Now that’s good news!

“… God shows no partiality. But in every nation [Greek ethnos] whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts. 10:34,35).

“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:24-26).

Racism, and beliefs of racial superiority were quite common in the ancient world. In addition to the Jewish feelings of racial superiority, the Greeks commonly called all non-Greeks Barbarians. In light of the above quoted passages that show the Bible teaching on the equality of all races, it is not surprising that we find the most liberating statement in the ancient world in the Bible:

“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:26-29).

It must be stressed that the secular world can never offer the freedom from racism that Christ offers. It is only ‘in Christ’ through faith and baptism that this freedom exists.

The Kingdom of God: All nations living in peace!

The Kingdom of God is a hope that all people can share in through the Gospel, regardless of race. The Bible tells us that the Kingdom will be established when Christ returns to the earth, and it will be a Kingdom of righteousness and peace in which all races and peoples will live together in harmony with a common religion.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it” (Isa 2:2).

God’s ultimate purpose is that the knowledge of His glory will eventually fill the entire earth, and thus all fighting and hatred between races will be eliminated. The Kingdom will be a beautiful contrast to what we see in the world today!

(SS)

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Bang…?

The Big Bang may well be the most amazing discovery in the history of science. Imagine if you can, every single particle that makes up every single person, planet, star and galaxy of the entire Universe bound into a ‘singularity’, a point of infinite density occupying zero volume, and unleashed in a mammoth explosion of energy that marks the dramatic beginning of time, space and everything. Imagine these cosmic fireworks unfolding like flowers, clustering into galaxies and bursting into stars, stretched apart with the fabric of space over billions and billions of light years, and throughout it all swirling clouds of gas condensing and forming the planets, nebulae and stars we see today!

Try to grasp the power behind such a creation, and the genius of the mind who engineered it! Absolutely incomprehensible!

Truly this was the Lord’s doing, and surely it is marvelous in our eyes!

Yet at the beginning of this century, the Universe was commonly thought to be infinite and static, with the assumption that it had always existed. It was just… there! Even though most religious people accepted that God made all things, few considered the possibility that the actual creation of the Universe would ever be discovered or described by science.

But this is exactly what the “Big Bang” is all about.

It was Einstein’s amazing calculations early this century that first suggested that the Universe was expanding, but, as he did not believe it, he added a “fiddle factor” into his maths to stabilise his Universe, hoping to discover the reason later. By 1929 Edwin Hubble’s deep space observations had shown the Universe to be vastly more immense than previously imagined, and his discovery of galaxy redshifts demonstrated that the Universe was indeed expanding. There was no avoiding it this time, and Einstein realized that his cosmological constant “was the greatest mistake of my life.”

The first amazing implication of an expanding universe was that if the Universe was indeed smaller and smaller the further we explore back into time, then we can extrapolate a moment of beginning (10 to 15 billion years ago) where the Universe was incomprehensibly small in a way where all known laws of physics break down. Which for many people sounded like a very unsatisfactory arrangement, and was the source of much scientific debate. But when Penzias and Wilson accidentally discovered the predicted background radiation in space in the 1960s, the case for the Big Bang was considered sealed.

Why?

Well, it had been realised for some time that if the Universe was in fact expanding, space would be expanding with it and any radiation in that space would be proportionally “stretched”. The Big Bang fireball would have generated intense very short wavelength high-energy radiation but, as the Universe expanded, this would be progressively expanded into radiation of microwave wavelength and diminished in intensity to something of a whisper.

In 1964, Penzias and Wilson were testing an experimental microwave antenna and were plagued by a background hiss that would not go away, no matter where the antenna was pointed. Speculation blamed some pigeons roosting inside, who were soon forcibly evicted, but the hiss continued. A discussion with radio-astronomers led to the realization that they had tuned into the relic of the Big Bang, and the mysterious hiss became one of the most persuasive evidences for the Big Bang.

Since then, several other discoveries have also confirmed the theory, and most astronomers now regard the evidence for it as “overwhelming”.

Yet Gen 1:1 had always said, “In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth.” The Bible had always described an ultimate beginning. Today, few Bible students familiar with the Big Bang theory would doubt that Gen 1:1 is a reference to this grand beginning of our magnificent and expanding Universe.

One thing that impresses me in all this is the way the scientific community came around to accept the Big Bang. Nobody wanted it, and it hardly sounded like an original idea either. It was resisted strongly for years, partly because it had such a disconcerting Biblical flavour, sounding too much like Christianity’s Creation “ex-nihilo” (‘out of nothing’) and partly because it could have no scientific explanation. Science is in the business of giving cause to effects, but here was the greatest effect of all with no cause. In fact the very term “Big Bang” was coined by Fred Hoyle in derision of the concept! Yet the observational evidence became overwhelming, and science was forced to follow. In fact, Fred Hoyle himself ended up doing much of the science that helped explain it, and the name has stuck.

(Actually, this is science at its best and most reliable. Unwilling scientists were forced to follow the evidence because the evidence demanded it rather than because it supported their pet theories.)

A big difficulty for a scientist in accepting such an unexplainable for a First Cause is that a great big “stop” sign is put in place saying, “No questions please!” Don’t enquire about the cause, because any ideas cannot be tested! This is anathema to the scientific mind, partly because it opens up the field to total speculation which can never be tested. The rapid progress of science in the last two centuries has been largely due to an approach that has eschewed untestable speculation and superstition in favour of rigid testing procedures. Yet all that science can test is that which is within the Universe. Beyond the Universe, anything is possible.

Why bother then with trying to explain anything? If we admit that the Universe itself is physically inexplicable, then how can we be sure that any physical explanation for anything is truly meaningful? How can any scientific explanation of anything be truly worthwhile if the origin and cause of the Universe is beyond scientific enquiry? These are very disturbing questions. It is impossible to fully explain our cosmos unless we have a source of information from beyond the Big Bang!

So stop worrying! We ‘theologians’ and our Bibles are not being tossed away yet! Quite the opposite it seems! For we have a source of information from beyond the Big Bang.

Today, the essential Big Bang concept is so firmly entrenched that the best way to get attention for a cosmological article is to include in the heading “Is this the end for the Big Bang?” or something equally controversial. While we do well to be cautious about any scientific theory, and findings which appear to challenge the theory behind the Big Bang do get reported quite often, every astronomer I have spoken to has no hesitation in affirming that the Big Bang remains by far the best fit with observation. And after all, what scientist worth his salt is not looking for problems to solve? And there are many problems to solve, especially problems of detail. But the debate is not so much over WHETHER the Big Bang has happened, but HOW the Big Bang unfolded.

Unfortunately, we tend to grab these headings and triumphantly exclaim, “See, the scientists can never agree and obviously don’t know what they are talking about! Why don’t they just read the Bible and get the answer?” Personally, I’m glad some don’t. There is no witness like an unwilling witness. And we forget that science is attempting to explain how the Universe happened in mechanical terms, rather than why it exists in absolute terms. It would seem very foolish to turn the tables by pretending to understand the mechanics, and perhaps lose direction and find that scientific men are coming closer than we to understanding the “why” when we have had the revealed word of God to tell us, but we were too busy debating the wrong thing to notice the question.

In fact, the funny thing is, the Bible always talked about a beginning of the Universe, but when science discovered and described it, how many of us disputed it? Amazing! Surely this must be telling us something!

What I find particularly interesting about this beginning, is that God was already there. Which means that if the Big Bang marks “the beginning” of the Universe, then God was not only “before” the Universe came into existence, (rather logical if He created it after all!) but, being before it and the Creator of it, he is logically above and beyond it, independent of and unconstrained by anything that is part of it.

In other words, this implies that God is independent of and unconstrained by physics, chemistry and biology, and indeed, any of the laws or dimensions of the Universe that science is able to describe, including gravity, time, and the speed of light. All these things are created by God FOR this Universe and as part of it, rather than some sort of eternal conditions that he has to work under. Perhaps this explains why science cannot “prove” God, simply because God, being beyond the Universe, cannot be tested by experiments within the Universe. The command, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord your God” suggests that human beings have always tried to put God to some sort of experimental test. But proof of God will always be in the mind of the individual moved by the evidence. And there is no shortage of evidence, as Paul says in Rom. 1:20: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.” Many people have observed that a man will either see the finger of God at work in everything, or he can never see it at all.

This is especially true of the Big Bang theory. Many will see it as obviously demanding a God as the “first cause”, while others are determined to hold fast to unbelief. When the editor of New Scientist magazine made a little comment on the “no need for God” question, he was so swamped with correspondence that a special newsletter was required just to publish “the God letters”… all written by scientists! He later admitted that the very argument he had used (Occam’s razor) to do away with the necessity for God had been skillfully turned around to REQUIRE God as a first cause.

One of the more fascinating things about the Big Bang is the precision engineering involved to make it all work. Sir Bernard Lovell, in his book “In the Centre of Immensites”, pp 122,123, remarks about the Big Bang: “If at that moment the rate of expansion had been reduced by only one part in a thousand billion, then the universe would have collapsed after a few million years… Conversely, if the rate had been marginally greater, then the expansion would have reached such magnitudes that no gravitationally bound system (ie, galaxies and stars, etc) could have formed.”

Surely this finely tuned explosion suggests our Universe was no mere accident? No galaxies = no stars, and no stars = no planets, no planets = no earth, no earth = no life, and all that means no you and me.

Then there are the laws controlling the fundamental forces of the Universe. I’ll let Alan Hayward explain with an extended quotation from his excellent book “Creation and Evolution” p 61…

“There appear to be just four basic forces holding everything in the universe together, from the smallest atomic particles to the greatest galaxies. Physicists call them the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force. Each of these has a characteristic strength that physicists have measured.

“If we ask, why do those forces have those particular strengths, there seems to be no answer…

“Something (or Somebody) has evidently tailored the values of those four fundamental forces of nature, so as to give the universe precisely the properties it needs if life is to exist in it.

“To give just one example of the way these forces are matched, take the relationship between gravity and the weak nuclear force. It is the perfect balance between these two that has caused the universe to keep expanding at a comfortable steady rate. To achieve this, according to Paul Davies, the two forces have to be tuned to each other with the astonishing accuracy of one part in ten thousand billion billion billion billion!

“If they became mismatched by this minute amount in one direction, then, says Davies, ‘the expansion of the universe would be explosive, and it is doubtful if galaxies could ever have formed against such a disruptive force.’ With the same amount of mismatch in the other direction, ‘the explosion would be replaced by a catastrophic collapse of the universe.’

“All this, says Davies, provides ‘compelling evidence that something is “going on” ‘.

(Alan Hayward, “Creation and Evolution”, p 61, and quoting from Paul Davies, “The Accidental Universe”, p 110)

Several years later, while discussing some even more astounding fine-tuned coincidences, Paul Davies (in his best-seller “The Mind of God”, in a chapter called “Designer Universe”) is less hesitant at expressing what he thinks is “going on”, and arrives at the following conclusion:

“The apparent ‘fine tuning’ of the laws of nature necessary if conscious life is to evolve in the universe then carries the clear implication that God has designed the universe so as to permit such life and consciousness to emerge. It would mean that our own existence in the universe formed a central part of God’s plan.”

The apostle Paul reminded the Colossians that the whole Universe was created for Christ, things in heaven and things on earth, and we have been invited to share with him. Do you think it is possible that we have under-estimated just what this means?

It seems to me that an awful lot of time and drama are passed over in the simplicity of the opening words of our Bibles, presumably because they would distract from the essence of the message. Yet the shepherd boy’s quiet consideration of the sun, moon and stars enabled him to face the giant Goliath in a spirit of astonishment that such could dare defy the armies of the Living God! Job had his attention directed to consider the behaviour of a creation whose hidden secrets teach us about the power and intellect of our God, and the prophet Isaiah urges the people several times to lift up their eyes to consider the heavens and the implications they have for worship. There is nothing in science that can ever take this wonder away. Whether a scientist is digging up fossils of ancient life forms or peering into the awesome depths of space, or whether he is studying the biological marvels of our “fearfully and wonderfully made” human frames or teasing out the secrets of the atom, he or she is exploring the handiwork of God in a skillful and disciplined manner, whether they acknowledge it or not.

Truly this world is full of hard-hearted and stiff-necked people who will always resist the truths inscribed into the very fabric of Creation. We must resist allowing anyone’s human prejudices and opinions to obstruct the wonder and reverence due to our Creator, and we must be equally careful lest our own prejudices and opinions interfere with our ability to recognise and be motivated by the hand of our God seen in the discoveries of science.

JP

“The LORD possessed me (wisdom) in the beginning of his way, before his works of old I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men” (Pro 8:22-31).

Books of the Old Testament:	39
Books of the New Testament:	27
Total number of books:	66
Chapters in Old Testament:	929
Chapters in New Testament:	260
Total number of chapters:	1,189
Verses in Old Testament:	33,214
Verses in New Testament:	7,959
Total number of verses:	41,173
Words in Old Testament:	593,493
Words in New Testament:	181,253
Total number of words:	774,746
Letters in Old Testament:	2,728,100
Letters in New Testament:	838,380
Total number of letters:	3,566,480

The Blind Men and the Elephant

By John G. Saxe

It was six men of Indostan, To learning much inclined, Who went to see the elephant, (Though all of them were blind,) That each by observation Might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant, And, happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl “God bless me! but the elephant Is very like a wall!”

The second, feeling of the tusk, Cried: “Ho! what have we here. So very round, and smooth, and sharp? To me ’tis very clear, This wonder of an elephant Is very like a spear!”

The third approached the animal, And, happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldly up he spake: “I see,” quoth he, “the elephant Is very like a snake!”

The fourth reached out his eager hand, And felt about the knee: “What most this wondrous beast is like Is very plain,” quoth he; “‘Tis clear enough the elephant Is very like a tree!”

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said: “E’en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most: Deny the fact who can, This marvel of an elephant Is very like a fan!”

The sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope, Than, seizing on the swinging tail That fell within his scope, “I see,” quoth he, “the elephant Is very like a rope!”

And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right And all were in the wrong!

How was the Bible formulated? A group of custodians were appointed (Deu 17:18; 31:9,24-26). Other books were in turn “laid up before the Lord” (1Sa 10:25; 2Ch 23:11). Later prophets quoted earlier ones as inspired (Jer 26:18; Dan 9:2) — as did the apostles (1Ti 5:18; 2Pe 3:16). In NT times there were Spirit-guided witnesses to inspiration (1Co 12:10: “distinguishing between spirits”; 1Co 14:37; 1Th 5:19-21; 1Jo 4:1) (GT 160-164).

“The life is in the blood”: Lev 3:17; 7:26,27; 17:11,14; Deu 12:23.

• Blood is the source of life — its red blood cells supply oxygen and nutrients to every cell in the human body. [Christ’s blood is a “transfusion” of life to us: “Drink my blood” (Joh 6:53-57; 1Co 11:25-27; Mat 26:27,28). What was forbidden — ie the partaking of the natural blood of other animals — is commanded of us, on a spiritual level. It is only through Christ and his shed blood that we may have life.]

• Blood is the agent of cleansing — it removes carbon dioxide and toxins and waste products from every body cell, and transports them to the lungs and kidneys, where they are excreted or expelled. [Likewise, believers are “washed in the blood of the Lamb”: Rev 7:14; 1Jo 1:7; Heb 9:11-14.]

• Blood is the agent of overcoming disease — its white cells attack and neutralize and consume invading bacteria and viruses and “alien” bodies. All immunizations and vaccinations make use of this amazing capacity of the human body to heal itself. [By Christ’s blood we can overcome all difficulties and trials: Rev 12:11; Joh 16:33. He is the one who has overcome all things, and when we are inoculated with his “blood” we are provided with the necessary “antibodies” to fight off the “disease” of sin: Heb 2:14-18; 4:15.]

“Imagine an enormous tube snaking southward from Canada through the Amazon delta, plunging into oceans only to surface at every inhabited island, shooting out eastward through every jungle, plain, and desert in Africa, forking near Egypt to join all of Europe and Russia as well as the entire Middle East and Asia — a pipeline so global and pervasive that it links every person worldwide. Inside that tube an endless plenitude of treasures floats along on rafts: mangoes, coconuts, asparagus, and produce from every continent; watches, calculators, and cameras; gems and minerals; forty-nine brands of cereals; all styles and sizes of clothing; the contents of entire shopping centers. Five billion people have access: at a moment of need or want, they simply reach into the tube and seize whatever product suits them. Somewhere far down the pipeline a replacement is manufactured and inserted.

“Such a pipeline exists inside each one of us, servicing not five billion but one hundred trillion cells in the human body. An endless supply of oxygen, amino acids, nitrogen, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sugars, lipids, cholesterols, and hormones surges past our cells, carried on blood cell rafts or suspended in fluid. Each cell has special withdrawal privileges to gather the resources needed to fuel a tiny engine for its complex chemical reactions.

“In addition, that same pipeline ferries away refuse, exhaust gases, and worn-out chemicals. In the interest of economical transport, the body dissolves its vital substances into a liquid (much as coal is shipped more efficiently through a slurry pipeline than by truck and train). Five or six quarts of this all-purpose fluid suffice for the body’s hundred trillion cells” (Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey, “In His Image”, p 55).

• Jews, God’s witnesses: Isa 43:10-12; 44:8. Punished for sin: Eze 21:25-27; Deu 31:28,29; Luk 19:41-44. Land desolate: Isa 64:10,11; Luk 21:24; Mat 23:38,39; Mic 3:12. People scattered, but remain separate: Hos 3:4,5; Deu 29:24-28; Lev 26:44; Isa 49:15; Jer 30:11; 31:36; 33:17-26; 46:27. Jews to return to Palestine, at last, in unbelief: Mat 23:39; Jer 3:18; 12:15; 16:14,15; 29:14; 31:10; Eze 11:15-19; 28:25; 37:21; Isa 11:12; 43:5-7; Zec 8:7,8; 10:8; Deu 30:3-5; Eze 39:24-26; Zec 12:10.

• Resurrection of Christ, not even expected by disciples, preached by sane, sincere men at risk of own safety. Note Paul’s miraculous conversion, contrary to previous life: Gal 1:13; 1Co 15:19.

• OT prophecies of Christ: (a) Blindness of Jews: Deu 28:28; Isa 53; Rom 11:25. (b) Time of advent: Dan 9:24-27; Psa 110. (c) Virgin birth: Isa 7:14; Jer 31:22. (d) God’s name given to man: Isa 8:13-15; Jer 23:6. (e) Mourning at time of deliverance: Zec 12. (f) Suffering: Isa 53; Psa 22. (g) Gentiles’ light: Isa 49:5-7.

• OT prophecies of nations: 4 world powers of Dan 2:8-11; Tyre destroyed (Eze 26); Babylon desolated (Jer 50; 51; Isa 13); Egypt, abased and ruled by aliens (Eze 29; 30).

• Apostasy predicted: Act 20:28; Rev 17; Mat 7:13,14; 2Th 2:3-8; 2Ti 4:3,4.

• Incidental science: (a) Circulation of blood: Rev 16:3. (b) Earth, round (Isa 40:22), hang on nothing (Job 26:7). (c) Diagnosis of disease — leprosy (Lev 13; 14). (d) Number 7: completeness, perfection (ie rainbow, color scheme).

Nine ways of inspiration:

1. Voice of God: Exo 19:9; Deu 5.
2. Angels: Act 7:38; Heb 2:2.
3. Prophets: Act 3:21; Heb 1:1.

4. Christ: Heb 1:2; Rev 1.
5. Apostles: Act 1:2; Eph 4.

6. Visions: Isa 6; Dan 7; 8; Eze 1.
7. Dreams: Dan 2.
8. Revelation: Rev 1:1; Rom 2:15; Gal 1:12.

9. Inspiration: 2Ti 3:15-17.

“It seems odd that certain who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what He has revealed to others” (CHS).

There are many writers and perhaps even some thinkers who would readily fall into error if asked to describe the true Christadelphian. In the Brotherhood there has been a very natural tendency to put the emphasis upon the subject that is to the front at the moment; and in times of controversy the true Christadelphian is known by being on “our side”. The word, however, means brother of Christ, and as the Lord himself gave us an explicit definition we should experience no difficulty in recognizing a much fuller meaning. “Whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.”

This is a principle of first importance. It is so fundamental and so simple that it is continually ignored. There is nothing in the nature of paradox in this statement. It has long since been recognized as a truism that men rarely think seriously of principles that are fundamental and obvious. Such truths are accepted as a matter of course. Every man wants to have truth on his side and it becomes quite natural to assume that it is there, especially when feeling is strong. In the same way men can readily persuade themselves that God is on their side, even while they are violating every command He has ever given. The warring nations and churches all cry “God is with us”, even though they could not advance a single argument to show that they are with God. Individuals are just the same. A man will profess his firm belief in providence and relate a remarkable experience to prove the fact of divine intervention in human affairs. He tells us how a series of extraordinary mishaps prevented him from sailing in a boat in which he had booked a passage. After full details of how others were helped by circumstance to catch the boat while he was prevented, we reach the rich conclusion that the boat went down with all on board. We should be accounted rude if we inquired how such selection could be regarded as an evidence of providential intervention. He takes it for granted that if God interferes in human affairs at all, a special care for him will inevitably be a first charge to the angels, while the lives of other men will be a matter of comparative indifference.

In similar manner, men assume that God will come into line with their feelings in time of controversy. Their differences are stimulated by opposition; they work themselves up to passionate attack or defence. Then if they think of God at all they assume that He will be angry with those who oppose them. They are falling into just the error of the striving nations. They are not trying to be on the Lord’s side but rather assuming that the Lord will be with them.

We do well, then, so far as we are able, to break away from human passions and prejudices and test ourselves by this first principle. What is the will of the Father in heaven? We who believe the Bible have plenty of instructions to guide us in life. We must get the answer from the “Word” and not from our own hearts. In some respects, ecclesial life is sure to resemble the political or commercial world, for we find the same elemental facts of human nature; but, as we value God’s offer of life, we must find a much higher standard of conduct.

If we venture to criticise brethren and urge them to take a course contrary to their inclination, we are sure to get some hard knocks. That is a matter of universal experience. It is equally natural that we shall receive commendation and support from those who are still more critical. In such circumstances there is a great danger that we may run to extremes, just on the lines of political parties. A man’s estimate of any situation is so easily biased by personal feeling. Resentment of harsh and unfair words will often play a potent though entirely hidden part in framing a policy. Then, when a party has been formed, when once a decision has been taken, the natural tendency will be to support the party and attack all opposing parties by fair means or foul.

Possibly some readers will exclaim, “On what a low plane you put the matter! Political parties are doubtless developed in this manner; but in the Truth it is different!”

Certainly it ought to be quite different; but we are dealing with the same human nature, the worst of which nearly always comes to the front in time of strife. We can only make ourselves different from the world by taking heed to the words of Scripture. They are plain enough. We must not suppose that the words regarding the evil human heart and the worthlessness of flesh only apply to other people. We are all of the same nature. The most dangerous men are those who are never conscious of being on a low plane. They can mistake the motions of sheer diabolism for a righteous and worthy zeal. The elements of diabolism are in us all. Often they may be aroused into activity and they will blend with ideals in the most complete manner. There is enough of the genuine to hide the spurious, and unless we apply the acid test base metal will pass off as gold.

Are we doing the will of the Father in heaven? That is the real test. It is not a question of doing what we assume ought to be His will. It is not enough to find in our hearts general desires and aspirations in the right direction. Is the work we are doing now in accordance with the revealed will of God? Are we engaged in the works of love, dispensing the bread and water of life, doing good to all men, especially those of the household of faith? Are we crucifying the flesh by enduring evil treatment without retaliation, leaving vengeance of all degrees to the Lord?

It is so easy to be self-deceived in these matters. If men revile us they are doing harm to the Truth. We can soon persuade ourselves that an effort to crush them and make them appear contemptible is simply in the interests of the Truth and not a matter of retaliation at all. This is simply one of the familiar disguises of the heart. Its shallowness is revealed by the fact that sometimes we have such a personal and enduring affection for certain men that when they are unfair to us we have no desire to retaliate or to say anything that would wound. We never feel then that there is any command in Scripture to make us more severe as a matter of duty. A simple statement of the Truth as we understand it does not need the personal hits so dear to the old man of the flesh. If men watch for iniquity in us and make us offenders for a word, or for a possible inflection they choose to put on a word, we must not retaliate by watching for iniquity in them. Sometimes brethren who criticise us lay themselves open to attack by the most amazing inconsistency. It would be easy to raise an agitation which would cause the critics trouble and perhaps even make them appear contemptible. By all worldly standards such retaliation would be right; but would it do any good to the cause of the Truth? Would such work please our Father in heaven? That is the only test that matters.

In these days of divine silence, and in the absence of visible authority, we have to choose for ourselves what course we shall take and to what manner of work we shall devote our strength. We must try to be honest and free from self-deception in making the decision. Shall we best do the will of our Father in heaven by building up those who have found the saving faith, but who need the helping, sympathetic hand as sorely as we need it ourselves; or would the Father be better pleased if we devoted our energies towards pulling down that which once we built? There are thousands of brethren and sisters who need exhortation, there are millions of fellow creatures who have never heard the Gospel. There are some hundreds who are separated from us by points of disagreement, although if taken individually we should all alike pass the most severe examination devised by any brother of a generation ago. Here we have a choice of fields in which to labour. It might be possible, even easy, to attack the last-named class and skilfully raise such agitation that strife would rage where now there is peace, and we might gain a few adherents out of the wreckage. We may feel that something would be gained even though a few babes should be slain in the struggle. We might easily be tempted to such a course by the natural instinct of retaliation, disguised and out of sight. Sometimes drastic ways may be legitimate, and we can soon persuade ourselves that as we are convinced of the soundness of our position, the possible gain of a few will justify the means. What is the revealed will of our Father in heaven? Would He desire us to raise strife in such quarters, to expose the naked inconsistency of some zealous but mistaken men in order that a few who already hold and practice the One Faith might obtain a better knowledge of human values? The Word condemns such strife and places the sower of discord among brethren as the apex of abomination. It tells us to preach the Word, to be instant in season and out of season; to reprove, rebuke and exhort with long suffering. It presents us with a series of letters to the churches showing where responsibility lies, and how we should trust each other. It gives us a picture of the judgment seat, with the whole emphasis put on positive and constructive work. It warns us repeatedly against judging and condemning each other, and of the danger that we may be guilty of greater errors than those we condemn. It lays down the principle that men may be doing good work even though they “walk not with us”. It tells us that the servant of the Lord must not strive but be patient, long suffering and apt to teach.

There is an immense field of constructive work before us. Every pound we can spare and every talent we can muster can be devoted to work that we know is right. Truly it is easy to find out the revealed will of God, and the one who shall do the will of the Father in heaven is the true Christadelphian.

(PrPr)

The practice of reading the Bible from the chapters listed in the “Bible Companion” has been a feature of the Christadelphian community for many generations.

This practice is a good one to follow, and we should not be put off by the fear of its becoming a habit. There are, after all, good traditions to follow, as Paul often reminds his readers, and the daily reading of the Scriptures is one of these. Whether the tables of readings are followed or not, it is still true, as Robert Roberts said in his introduction to the Companion, that “salvation depends upon the assimilation of the mind to the divine ideas, principles, and affections exhibited in the Scriptures”.

This is therefore a plea to all of us, both young and old, not to neglect the reading of the Word of God, whatever system of reading we follow. May it long continue to be the practice in our homes to read our chapters as a natural part of each day, and when we meet in one another’s homes, let us get out our Bibles and “do the readings” together. There is no better way of promoting a good discussion of things worth talking about, and of leading us away from mere gossip and small talk.

Other Methods

The new believer has at hand several methods of daily Bible reading. The one most widely used by Christadelphians is embodied in Robert Roberts’ “Bible Companion”, as mentioned above. Also available are two other Bible Reading Charts which also cover the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in the course of a single year. While the Bible Companion accomplishes this by three rather short readings each day, from different parts of the Bible, the other plans concentrate on only one (somewhat longer) portion each day. This has the distinct advantage of continuity in reading. That is, an entire letter or short prophecy, or an entire connected section of a longer book, may be read straight through, without the artificial (and sometimes confusing) division into one or two chapters per day.

Whatever plan is used, it is certainly true that systematic daily Bible reading is essential if one is to discover — and remember — God’s revelation of Himself and His purpose. Bible believers neglect the daily readings only with extreme peril to their spiritual lives.

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” ‘Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path’ (Psalm 119:105). Salvation depends primarily on replacing the ‘carnal’ mind by the mind of the Spirit. The only method we have in these days of knowing the mind of the Spirit is by the reading of the Word of God, which resulted from holy men of God being moved — irresistibly borne along — by the Holy Spirit. The reading of the Word of God is therefore an essential duty of the children of God. ‘In God’s law doth he meditate day and night’ is one of the characteristics of the godly man as delineated by the Psalmist.

“It may be objected that such a close study of God’s word is impossible in these strenuous modern days. ‘Really it is impossible for me to find time to do the daily readings’ is an expression not infrequently heard. Let us be on our guard, however, against giving in so readily to the challenge of modern ‘strenuousness’. Can we truthfully say that we cannot afford the twenty or thirty minutes required daily to carry out the reading of the Bible on the lines suggested by the Bible Companion? We know we can ‘find’ time if we set ourselves to ‘make’ time — so to plan and arrange our daily routine that the daily readings find a recognized place in the scheme of things. ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way’: if we have not yet so planned our lives that some time is apportioned for the daily reading of God’s word, let us delay no longer. Rather let us ‘redeem the time’, knowing that in a special sense in this modern world, ‘the days are evil.’

“It is useful sometimes to reflect upon and to compare the various activities which make up what we call ‘our life’, and ascertain the relative proportion of time and interest we devote thereto. In this question of reading, for example, how much time do we spend upon it; what form does it take; what proportion of that time is spent on ‘light’ reading; on reading the newspaper (often a great time-waster); how much time is devoted to the reading of the Word of God and to the Truth’s literature? Have we ever taken the trouble so to ‘examine ourselves’? It is worth doing, carefully and impartially, in order to inform ourselves of the balance we are preserving between the things of God and those related to the world. Probably the results will astonish us, and perhaps even mortify us. But if this examination does bring to light our deficiencies we can take courage for the future and determine with God’s help to readjust the balance and see to it that the things of God receive adequate attention in the days which yet remain to us.

“It may be true, and doubtless is true with many of us, that the reading and study of the Word of God and of the Truth’s literature is not inherently so attractive, so fascinating or so pleasant, as that provided in the newspaper or in modern literature. Let us not be either discouraged, or deceived, by this contrast. The reason is to be found first in the difference in the sources of the two types of writing; and secondly in the natural bias of the human mind towards the things of the flesh. This is not flattering to human nature, of course; but the words of Paul (himself one of those holy men of God who were impelled by the Holy Spirit) remind us that the ‘carnal mind (ie, the natural, unenlightened mind of man) is enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be’. Experience of life teaches us the truth of this. ‘To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.’

“Such is the choice before us: the way of the flesh attractive, compelling, easy, but ending finally in death; the way of the Spirit — difficult for human nature to understand, demanding perseverance, courage, tenacity, but resulting in peace and finally life. Every day the choice may be made in the simple matter of reading. Let us choose good and life” (FWT).