The Aletheian Christadelphian Fellowship:
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‘. . . For the prophecy came not in old time
By the will of man; but holy men of God spake
They were moved the Holy Spirit.’
(
2 PETER 1:21)THE WORLD population today is upwards of 3,000,000,000 persons. Our earth is the only inhabited planet of the solar system. So far as outer space is concerned, scientists can produce no real evidence that life exists on any other planet in the limitless universe. The most they can concede is that, given identical conditions to those of our earth, life may exist elsewhere.
But man is a thinking, restless creature. He sees the earth’s surface divided among nations which are distrustful and suspicious, with conflicting aims and ambitions. He reads of the destructive powers of atomic weapons, the results of the Human Genome Project, mankind’s genetic code, and wonders what is in store for the world. Contemplating the mass of mankind, he sees it as a vast never-ceasing procession, moving from the cradle, through youth and on to old age and the grave. Some may achieve success and honour in this life; but they are transient glories:
‘All that beauty, all that wealth ere gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour:
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.’
The true summing up is given by Solomon :
All is vanity and vexation of spirit.’
(Ecclesiastes 1:14)So the thoughtful person reflects, ‘What is the purpose of life? Is the grave the final end, or is there a path which will lead to a nobler destiny? And if there is such a path, how can it be found?’ The fact has to be faced that unaided human intellect cannot provide the answers. It can voice opinions ; but what is needed is
THE VOICE OF AUTHORITY.There is such a voice ; and that is the voice of the Creator.
This planet and the vast population it bears are a part of His great creative work. The opening words of the Bible express a profound scientific fact :
‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’.
God is the Creator, man is His creature. Let it not be regarded as incredible that the Almighty should communicate a message to man.
The Bible is that message. It is the voice of indisputable authority. It tells man the purpose of life: why death reigns, and God’s ultimate intention to reward the faithful with life eternal and to fill the earth with His glory.
If, therefore, you should feel your life lacks definite direction or objective, then open the Bible and start to read in a spirit of reverence. This attitude will be favourably noted by your Maker :
‘Thus saith the Lord . . . To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.’
(Isaiah 66:1-2)A man or woman may achieve influence and position in the world. These things will not commend them one whit to their Creator. But those who reads the Bible, anxious to learn God’s message, will discover the truth of the Psalmist’s words :
‘The secret of the L
ORD is with them that fear him; and He will shew them his covenant’. (Psalm 25:14)They will learn why the world today is in such an evil state. They will find that God is at present taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name,
(see Acts 15:14) and will presently send Christ Jesus back to raise from the dead those who have known God’s purpose, to reward the righteous with life eternal, and to establish on earth God’s world-wide Kingdom of righteousness and peace. Here then is knowledge unobtainable from any other source. Men and women urgently need it, although, alas, the great majority are unaware of their dire need.But all through the centuries, there has been a minority of men and women who have held the word of God in reverence, who have made its precepts their rule of life, who have learnt and rejoiced in the hope of salvation it contains. A man who embraces the Bible hope will have a clear purpose in life. He will possess a wisdom far higher than anything the world can give. Paul’s words to Timothy stress this: he wrote :
‘Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them: and that from a child
THOU HAST KNOWN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.’ (2 Timothy 3:14 & 15)A man or woman may study textbooks to secure a better position in life, but the Bible will give them the wisdom that will put them on the path to
LIFE ETERNAL. The world has nothing to offer which will compare.The divine Author is
‘the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity’ (Isaiah 57:15). The Bible always speaks with the clear voice of authority. Its claim to divine authorship is clearly stated. Let the reader ponder this declaration :‘ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD’
. (2 Timothy 3:16)‘All’ means exactly what the word conveys. Every word of the original manuscripts was written under direct divine guidance. The Apostle Peter stressed the fact; he wrote :
‘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)King David explained the method thus :
‘All this, said David, the L
ORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me’. (2 Chronicles 28:19)David was the instrument holding the pen, God was the author who directed the writer’s thoughts. This gives a clear picture of how the books of the Bible were produced.
In these days those who cast doubts upon the integrity of the Bible and upon its divine authorship are an offence to the Deity. They undermine the trust people should have in the Word of God:
‘Is not my word as like a fire? saith the L
ORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour’.The Psalmist declared :
‘THOU HAST MAGNIFIED THY WORD ABOVE ALL THY NAME.’
(Psalm 138:2)The last chapter in the Bible solemnly warns against any man adding to, or taking away from, the sacred text. Such action is a grave affront to its divine author. Any guilty will, by such action, exclude themselves from all hope of salvation.
The claims of the Bible, then, are clear and refreshing and can be summarised briefly as follows :
(1) All the writers of the sixty-six books which make up the complete Bible wrote under direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. Those writings are therefore free from error and have the true quality of infallibility;
(2) Their divine authorship ensures that the scriptures are the one voice of authority concerning God, and man, and God’s plan of salvation;
(3) The Bible sets out God’s grand purpose to fill this earth with His glory. It tells man what he has to believe and what he must do in order to become a partaker in this glorious future;
(4) God has promised to regard favourably any man who reverences His Word, and has warned sternly any who would tamper with its contents.
An earnest seeker after truth may ask, in all sincerity, whether the claim of the Bible to be a divine revelation can be
proved. The answer is a positive Yes! God never demands of man a blind credulity. He asks us to have faith in His Word, but provides firm and unassailable grounds for such faith. The Apostle Paul stated a profound truth when he wrote :‘Without faith it is impossible to please God’.
(Hebrews 11:6)The object of this web page, therefore, is to set before you some of the incontestable grounds for faith that the Bible is what it claims to be, namely, God’s infallible revelation to man.
One fact needs no demonstration: it is the fact that man cannot foretell the future. If he could but foretell the events of tomorrow, he would soon be a very rich man! A telling New Testament passage says:
‘Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.’ (James 4: 13 & 14)In contrast, the Creator, infinite in wisdom and power, controls the future. In the Bible God revealed, in the writings of the prophets, future events hundreds, even thousands of years before the events took place. God submits the evidence of this power in demonstration of His supreme authority in the universe.
The books of the Bible were written over a period extending from the time of Moses, circa 1500
B.C., to the end of the first century A.D. We are therefore in the privileged position of being able to test for ourselves the accuracy of numerous prophecies which have now become fulfilled to the very letter. The limitations of space permit us to deal in detail with only one or two outstanding prophecies and show how exactly they have been fulfilled and thus encourage you in your faith and trust in the Bible.Six hundred years
B.C., the dominant world power was that of Babylon. Its illustrious warrior-king was Nebuchadnezzar. He it was whom God permitted to destroy Jerusalem and take the Jews captive into Babylon. Among the captives was Daniel the prophet. Nebuchadnezzar fell asleep one night wondering about the future of his great empire after his death. He had a most remarkable dream. It was no ordinary dream; in fact it was a God-sent vision. The king awoke much perturbed, but could not recall a single thing. He demanded of his wise men that they should reveal to him both the dream and its interpretation, under pain of death if they failed! They protested that the request was unreasonable. But God revealed to the prophet Daniel both the dream and the interpretation. Daniel was hurried into the royal presence. He declared to the pagan monarch :‘There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar
WHAT SHALL BE IN THE LATTER DAYS.’ (Daniel 2:28)He reminded the king of his thoughts about the future while he lay on his bed, and said :
‘He that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass."
(Daniel 2:28)Then Daniel recalled to the astonished ruler the details of his dream. He had seen a great metallic image in the form of a man, glittering and of terrifying aspect. The head was of fine gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron and the feet and toes part of iron and part of clay. Daniel continued :
‘Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet . . . and brake them to pieces."
(Daniel 2:34)The whole image crashed in fragments and was reduced to powder, which a mighty wind swept away. But the little stone which smote the image grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth.
The amazed king then heard the remarkable interpretation. Daniel said :
‘Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength and glory . . . Thou art this head of gold’.
(Daniel 2:37 & 38)But he proceeded to say that the Babylonian empire would be succeeded by another which should dominate the known world, and was represented by the breast and arms of silver. In its turn this empire would fall before a third world empire, represented by the belly and thighs of brass. In turn this would be absorbed by a great fourth world empire, represented by the iron legs. But this fourth world empire was not to be succeeded by a fifth. It would disintegrate into separate smaller powers, some strong, some weak. This condition was represented by the ten toes of iron and clay. Finally, during the period of history when the kingdoms represented by the ten toes should occupy the territory of the great image, the ‘
little stone’ would strike the feet, causing the collapse and destruction of the image; and the little stone would develop into a world-wide kingdom of God, which would last for ever.Now the date of the vision and the interpretation was about 600
B.C.; so we are in an excellent position to see how subsequent history tallies with this great prophetic vision. Babylon, the first of the four world empires, was conquered by the dual Medo-Persian Empire (silver breast and two arms). This second empire was conquered by the rising Greek power. The belly and thighs of the image were brass :‘A metal more justly emblematical of the Grecian than any other, as they were distinguished by the coats of brass and denominated "the brass-clothed Greeks".’
(Homeri
Il. B.47)It was foretold in Daniel 2.39 that this third empire should bear rule over all the earth. It exceeded in the extent of its conquests and dominion the Babylonian and Persian empires. Its founder Alexander the Great is still known to fame as one of the greatest conquerors who have ever lived.
The fourth and strongest empire was the Roman. The prophecy said it
‘shall be strong as iron’. Iron was a truly fitting symbol. It was an iron crown which its emperors wore, and an iron yoke to which it subjected many nations. In the course of its history, the Roman Empire separated into two great sections, the Eastern and the Western, represented by the two iron legs of the image.Following the decline and fall of the Roman Empire no fifth world empire took its place. Had there been a fifth, the prophecy would have been falsified. Instead, the territory of the old empire was divided into independent kingdoms, their number in the western section of the old Roman territory being approximately ten. Alliances were made and broken, some territories expanded, others shrunk. They have never welded into a united dominion. Attempts have been made and are today being made to achieve a united Europe, but the sure word of prophecy is against it. The correspondence between this condition represented by the toes of the great image is remarkable. The feet and toes were
‘part of potter’s clay and part of iron’. Clay and iron can never form a stable mixture; indeed, the modern armaments race between the nations can be traced back to the disunity among the ten-toe kingdoms in the mid-nineteenth century.
So tracing the course of history from the time of Babylon to our own days and putting it alongside the prophecy interpreted by Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar, we cannot fail to observe the exact correspondence and precise fulfilment of God’s word. This is not chance. It is the clearest evidence of divine revelation and demonstrates the wonderful power of the Almighty. It prepares the mind to receive the divine declaration:
‘Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, MY COUNSEL SHALL STAND, and I will do all my pleasure’. (Isaiah 46:9 & 10)In concluding this section on the evidence of fulfilled prophecy, we cannot omit the wonderful sequel to the vision of the metallic image. Today we are living in that period symbolised by the ten toes of the image, i.e. during the divided state of Europe. The
‘little stone’ of the vision is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ — ‘the stone which the builders rejected’. Born of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, he was the stone ‘cut out of the mountain without hands’. He is the one who will shortly return in great power from heaven. He will strike the kingdom of men and the whole structure will collapse. This future work of Christ is plainly revealed in numerous prophecies.So the grand sequel to the prophecy contained in the vision of the great metallic image will be the establishment of a fifth, but final, kingdom: the kingdom of God on earth.
Here are the concluding words of Daniel’s interpretation :
‘And in the days of these kings
(i.e. the ten-toe phase) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Daniel 2:44)This prophecy is one of very many which are being fulfilled in the outworking of history and which are irrefutable evidence that the Bible is no human production; it is the voice of God.
The Jewish Nation is unique in history. We go back to their beginning as a nation and find Moses addressing them in these words:
‘For thou art an holy people unto the L
ORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 7:6)God made a covenant with them at Sinai. He promised them the land of Canaan for a possession. He said that if they obeyed His laws and precepts He would bless them richly and cause them to prosper in peace in their inheritance. But the same covenant declared that if they should turn from God, serve other gods and persistently break His commandments, then the blessings would be withdrawn; the Gentile nations would invade their land, and ultimately they, the Jews, would be scattered far and wide throughout the world. There they would suffer as wanderers, would be persecuted by their enemies, and become
‘a proverb and a byword’ in the world.But in spite of being without a homeland, a king, or a government; in spite of repeated efforts to exterminate them, or induce them to lose their national identity,
they were to remain a distinct people. NONE WOULD BE ABLE TO DESTROY THEM FROM BEING A NATION. The reason? Because of God’s declared intention to regather the whole nation into their land again. He will purge out the stubborn and rebellious, and resettle the converted remnant on the territory covenanted to Abraham. This coming time of blessing will follow the return of Christ from heaven. The Jewish people will then be the loyal and devoted subjects of Christ’s kingdom: the head and not the tail of the nations.The survival of the Jew is no mystery. Consider the tremendous force of this prophecy :
‘Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the L
ORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest. . . . For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, YET WILL I NOT MAKE A FULL END OF THEE; but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.’ (Jeremiah 30:10 &11)Observe that these words are a challenge to time. Had the Bible been but a human production, then at any time in history such a declaration could have been falsified by the disappearance of the Jewish nation by those processes of absorption which have overtaken all other nations of antiquity. Pharaoh, Haman and Hitler in turn have sought to destroy the Jews, but the Jew always stands at the graveside of his enemies. Hitler massacred 6,000,000 Jews, but he perished miserably; while the Jews today have their own State, Jerusalem for the first time since the days of Nebuchadnezzar being now entirely under Jewish control. Writers often try to explain the miracle of Jewish survival; they could spare their efforts by just reading the foregoing quotation from Jeremiah ch. 30.
The Arabs and their Russian masters may threaten Israel, and Israel will yet experience sore trial; but we know for a certainty that God will never allow the nation to be destroyed. Their preservation is a continual witness to the authority and power of the Deity.
‘I WILL NOT MAKE A FULL END OF THEE’ is a rock-like statement against which man is powerless to act.‘
YE ARE MY WITNESSES, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen. I, even I am the Lard; and beside me there is no saviour. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King."The foregoing declarations that Israel will survive all adversities have been on record 2,600 years. The Jew is with us today. The only conclusion is that the Bible is what it claims to be, the divinely inspired, and therefore infallible
WORD OF GOD.There have ever been doubters and critics who would have been only too pleased to discover some fact or evidence which would prove the Biblical records to be at fault. But if the Bible claim be true, namely, that the writers were directly guided by divine inspiration, then those writings must be accurate and authoritative to the last degree.
We are therefore not surprised to learn that not one archaeological discovery upsets the Bible record. On the contrary, every find has but served to confirm its accuracy. The learned critics of the nineteenth century confidently asserted that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Bible, as writing was unknown in his days. But in 1902 was found the famous stele of Hammurabi (the Amraphel, king of Shina, of Genesis 14:1), a black stone monument on which is engraved a code of laws. This work was executed about 1750
B.C., hundreds of years before Moses. There has also come to light much external evidence to confirm the narratives in the earliest chapters of the Bible. Sir Charles Marston wrote:‘As one goes over the ancient cuneiform writings, some before Abraham, the engraved seals from Babylonia, Assyria and other early civilisations, a remarkable trend of evidence is revealed . . . we derive the impression that the stories of the Creation, the Fall of Man, the Death of Abel, as described in Genesis, were then matters of current knowledge.’
Confirmation of Biblical facts has come in all sort of unlikely ways. In I Kings 22:39 we are told that in Samaria king Ahab made an ivory palace. Critics ridiculed the thought that literal ivory was intended and alleged it was a palace built of local stone which weathered down to an ivory tint, especially when sunlit. The writer of this web page some years ago heard the late Professor E. L. Sukenik, head of the Archaeological department of the Hebrew University, describe recent excavations on the site of Samaria. His assistants found the actual ruins of the ivory house and recovered from the accumulated debris the ivory plaques which completely lined the walls and ceilings of the palace. We have seen some of these which are now exhibited at the British Museum. So we can see for ourselves the truth of the inspired record that Ahab did indeed make, as recorded, an ivory house. This is just an example showing the accuracy and reliability of the Bible record in every detail, thus demonstrating yet again that the Bible is a Divine Revelation.
It is frequently put forward as an obstacle to faith in the Bible that even if the original writings were divinely inspired, yet over the centuries errors of transmission, copying and translation must be so numerous that the book can no longer be accepted as a reliable guide. Those who make this criticism can hardly be aware of the meticulous care taken by the Jewish copyists, even to counting up the individual letters to ensure that no error had slipped in. But the remarkable discovery in 1947 of the Dead Sea Scrolls has provided very valuable evidence of the accuracy of the Bible which we hold in our hands today. Among them was a complete scroll of the book of Isaiah. Professor Sukenik’s view was that this scroll had been written in the second century
B.C. Up to the time of the discovery of these Dead Sea scrolls, the oldest known Hebrew manuscript of the complete Old Testament dated back only to about A.D. 929. So the manuscripts that came to light in 1947 were about 1,100 years older than any previously known manuscript of the Old Testament.News reporters, ever on the lookout for the sensational, eagerly expected to find radical differences in the two texts. They were disappointed! Dr. Y. Yadin of the Hebrew University, in his book ‘The Message of the Scrolls’ wrote:
‘What is astonishing is that despite their antiquity and the fact that the scrolls belong to the pre-standardisation period, they are on the whole almost identical with the Masoretic text known to us.’
The slight variations referred to are mainly spellings, but they affect no doctrine, prophecy or historical fact.
Thus the work of the archaeologist confirms in a remarkable way the truth and reliability of the Bible and thus, indirectly, that it is the production of divine inspiration.
Had Christ not willingly offered his life as a sacrifice for sin, and had He not been raised on the third day to eternal life by the glory of the Father, the human race would have been entirely without hope of salvation.
The Old Testament prophecies plainly foretold Christ’s mission as the Lamb of God, that he would be taken, put to death by his enemies, and would rise again to life. If therefore the fact of his resurrection can be proved, then that great event sets the seal on the whole of scripture, that it is the inspired Word of God.
Although Christ had told the apostles that he must be taken and crucified, but that he would rise again on the third day, they did not perceive the matter. Their minds were filled with thoughts of Christ reigning in glory as king over Israel. When the Lord was crucified, they were shocked beyond measure. When reports began to come in on the third day that he was alive, they refused to believe them. When he appeared to them in person on the evening of the third day, they were alarmed at the appearance. But he spoke words of comfort; he invited them to handle him and to see the wound marks; and he sat down and ate in their presence. Their fears now turned to great joy. Here was their beloved Lord, well and alive; there was no doubt about it. He gently reproved them for their dullness of spiritual perception. He opened up to them the Old Testament prophecies concerning himself and said:
‘These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened He their understanding and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
AND YE ARE WITNESSES OF THESE THINGS.’ (Luke 24:44-48)An angel with countenance ‘like lightning’ had descended to the tomb. The armed guard had fled in panic and told the Jewish authorities. These adopted a desperate measure and heavily bribed the soldiers to say that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus while the guard was asleep! But facts are facts, and the evidence of eyewitnesses cannot be stifled. Listen to the apostle Paul’s words:
‘Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; . . . And he was seen of Cephas, (Peter) then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of
After his resurrection Christ promised the apostles they would receive the special gift of the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost the promise was fulfilled, and the apostles could immediately speak in foreign tongues and do mighty miracles. At the time there was a great concentration of Jews from all parts of the empire to keep the feast of Pentecost. Thousands heard the apostles preach to them in their native tongues and were astounded. Peter declared that this power had been given to them
BY THE RISEN LORD JESUS CHRIST. Peter by the same power cured a man over 40 years old who had had no use in his legs since birth — a man whom thousands knew, as he sat every day outside the temple begging. They were astounded. Peter told them that they had killed the Prince of life ‘whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses’ (Acts 3:15). He told them that the man’s faith in a risen Christ had resulted in his miraculous cure. So these thousands were added witnesses of the fact that Christ had risen. That Pentecost day 3,000 embraced the Christian faith.The Jewish authorities were filled with chagrin that the news of Christ’s resurrection could not be stifled. But if Christ had not risen from the dead, they had only to produce the body to prove it! They had had their way with the Roman Governor Pilate and had set an armed guard at the tomb, and yet there was no body to be produced.
Peter and John were arrested after healing the lame man, and threatened and commanded not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. Peter’s answer was to the point:
‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
FOR WE CANNOT BUT SPEAK THE THINGS WHICH WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD’. (Acts 4:19-20)The apostles were not fanatics; nor did they preach for gain. They were men of sober conviction, cheerfully prepared to suffer and, if need be, to die for their faith.
The apostle Paul was converted to Christianity in a dramatic way. He had been brought up a strict Pharisee. He thought the followers of Jesus of Nazareth were deluded enthusiasts whose activities must be suppressed. He persecuted them, put many into prison and extended his net far and wide. He was actually nearing Damascus to hunt out the Christians in that city when a dazzling light, brighter than the midday sun, caused him to fall to the ground. He heard a voice calling him by name and looking up saw Jesus Christ in glory. Trembling, he called,
‘Who art thou, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest’ (Acts 9:5). What an astounding revelation! Paul later wrote, ‘Last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time? The evidence was overwhelming. Saul the persecutor became Paul the faithful and devoted apostle of the Lord Jesus, and spread His Name far and wide through the Empire, bringing thousands to the hope of life eternal.The facts and evidences of Christ’s resurrection were known to thousands. When Paul stood before Festus, the Roman Governor, he spoke of his miraculous conversion, his vision of Christ and his faith in the resurrection; and said :
‘The king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him;
FOR THIS THING WAS NOT DONE IN A CORNER.’ (Acts 26:26)Before his conversion Paul held a position full of promise among the chief Jews who found in him a valuable instrument to suppress the followers of Christ. But he cheerfully abandoned all material prospects for Christ’s sake. He wrote :
‘But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,’
Why did he so willingly suffer the loss? Here are his own words :
‘That I may win Christ.’
(Philippians 3:7-8)The letters preserved in the New Testament were mainly those composed by Paul. They were not private letters to obscure recipients, but to established communities of believers in the cities of the Roman Empire. Read and treasured, copies were made and circulated. No one dared tamper with them. Any attempt to palm off spurious narratives that Christ rose from the dead would have been detected at once. There were too many eyewitnesses who had seen and conversed with the risen Christ.
Finally, in the last book of the Bible we have a tremendous witness to the fact that Christ rose from the dead. The opening verse reads :
‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he (Jesus) sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.’
(Revelation 1:1)‘Signified’ means ‘made known by signs and symbols’, and the message relates to those events which were to take place affecting the true Christian church on the arena of the fourth world empire — the Roman from the end of the first century, through the early and middle ages, and forward to the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. As history has been unfolded, the events foretold have worked out exactly, and we marvel at the way intricate details of events were forecast with an accuracy quite beyond human power. In this precious last message from Jesus Christ we have unshakeable evidence of His resurrection from the dead and of the truth and integrity of the whole Bible.
It is trusted that the evidence set out in this web page file that the Bible is a divine revelation will encourage the reader to a wholehearted acceptance of this precious volume as the revealed will of the Creator to his creature Man, showing him the divine purpose with this earth, and what man must believe and do to obtain the promised salvation, namely eternal life in God’s coming Kingdom on earth.
(This article is placed on the web by
to draw attention to the true teaching of the Bible).
Web Page Edition: April 2008
If you have any questions or comments about The Aletheian Christadelphians and their beliefs, please contact us:
The word Christadelphian is a Greek word, and translated, it means the brethren of Christ (Heb. 2:11), We are a body of people associated together by a belief in the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12); and by immersion into Christ (Gal. 3:27) for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) and a part in his resurrection (Rom. 6:5).
We do not profess to have received any new revelation, but hold that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are able to make wise unto Salvation (2 Tim. 3:15,17). Believing in the Divine Authorship of the Bible, we think it only reasonable to reject any interpretation thereof which fails to harmonise all the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures; and finding that the creeds of the various sects around are, in a great variety of ways, opposed to the direct teaching of the Bible, we feel compelled to stand apart, making appeal in all such matters to the statements of Scripture, and testing all creeds thereby.
We believe in the personal, visible return of Christ to the earth, to set up his power and reign thereon, and we seek to share this knowledge with others. We offer our services in expounding the message of the Bible without cost of any kind.
