The Most Unique Book in the World
“of the making of books there is no end, and much study wearies the body” Ecclesiastes 12:12
It is difficult to calculate the number of books that have been produced in the 5,000 years of recorded history, but the number would be staggering. Of all those books, God’s Word is the most unique!
The word unique means ‘better than all others’ and indeed that can be said of the Bible. With over 4 billion copies in print (an estimate) this is the most printed book of all time. It has been translated into more languages
and dialects that any other book. God’s Word is also unique in so many other ways, such as:
Countless viewers have turned their TVs to watch Survivor. The premise of this program is simple, yet one that mesmerize. A group of ‘survivors’ are taken to a remote location and asked to survive with limited provisions. Each week we tune in to see which member of the group is voted out. History is replete with those who have tried to vote the Bible out of existence and have failed miserable. The most amazing of these stories follows.
The Roman Empire is the backdrop of the New Testament. God in His wisdom may well have initiated this culture to provide the stability for the Church to grow during the first century. Rome also built roads which allowed travel throughout the Mediterranean, thus allowing rapid transmission of the Good News. One of Rome’s emperors, Diocletian (243-316 A.D.) devised an idea of destroying the most unique book and faith in history.
During Diocletian’s reign he separated powers and ruled from the city of Nicomedia, moving the power base from Rome. He shared his power with a co-regent, Maximian. These two began their rule showing some favor to the Christian faith. However, in 303 A.D., Diocletian outlawed Christianity and was successful in moving Maximian to that view. Manuscripts of the fledgling faith were rounded up and destroyed. Thousands of those who were ‘Followers of the Way’ were slaughtered. After two years of tyranny, Diocletian erected a column commemorating his victory over Christianity with the inscription, Extincto nominee Christianorum (Extinct is the name of Christians). A coin was also minted that celebrated this systematic removal of Christianity and bore the inscription, ‘the Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the gods destroyed’.
But the unique survivability of God’s Word stood this strongest test. The emperor that followed this despot was Constantine. Some 20 years after the pronouncement that Christianity had been eradicated, Constantine had a vision that God would fight on his behalf (Conquer by this). Constantine’s conversion is recorded by Eusebuis who wrote that Constantine believed God would fight on his behalf. A spear was designed as part of the emperor’s vision and contained two large letters that represented Christ, a letter ‘P’ with the letter ‘X’ crossing the lower portion of the P. Constantine also built the city, Constantinople, which became a scriptorium–a place which protects and copied the scriptures.
In 313 A.D., Constantine proclaimed Christianity as the official faith of his empire and commissioned copies of the scriptures. Eusebius was to prepare these copies at government expense. The most remarkable aspect of this history is that over fifty copies of the ‘outlawed’ scriptures came out from hiding within a day of this edict!
Most know of the efforts of Martin Luther in the 16th Century and his fight to get the scriptures into the hands of the commoner. He wrote about the survivability of God’s Word, a fact he knew from first hand experience.
“Mighty potentates have raged against this Book, and sought to destroy and uproot it–Alexander the Great, the princes of Egypt and Babylon, the monarchs of Persia, of Greece, and of Rome, the Emperors Julius and Augustus–but they prevailed nothing. They are gone, while the book remain, and will remain forever and ever, perfect and entire, as it was declared at first. Who has thus helped it–who has thus protected it against such mighty forces? No one surely, but God Himself, who is the Master of all things.”
Let’s focus our attention to the greatest story of survivability in the Word of God, found in Jeremiah 36:21-32. When you read this extraordinary recollection of the preservation of holy writ you will be amazed at the God Who has preserved this story.
This story illustrates the movement of God on the authors of scripture. Jeremiah was inspired to dictate words that were to cause repentance. However, the scrolls were burned by King Jehoiakim. Judgment was metered out to Jehoiakim for his disrespect of God’s Word. We are then told that God moved again upon the prophet and the words are miraculously replicated and preserved through time (“so Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch, son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote all his words on the scroll” Jeremiah 36:32). God’s Word may be destroyed by fire (Muslims believe that the Koran cannot be destroyed by fire) but its destruction isn’t permanent, rather it accomplishes that which is ordained by God (I Peter 1:23).
No article about the Bible’s survivability would be complete without a story from the world of missions. One such story is concerns a Scottish missionary, Alexander Duff. He set sail for India on the ship, Lady Holland; the ship was wrecked and all of his possessions were lost, along with his eight hundred-volume library. However, as Duff stood on shore he spotted one possession bobbing in the water, his Bible.
It is estimated that only ½ of one percent of all books last over seven years from their publication. Most books aren’t worth the paper they are printed as testified by a visit to a local bookstore. Most books make little or no impact on the hearts and minds of its readers. Most books don’t have the answers to the big questions of life. No books are protected by the hand of God, except the Scriptures. No book gives the story of God’s plan for mankind and the hope that is in Christ. Cherish this, the most unique book in history, God’s Word.
Century follows century--there it stands
Empires rise and fall and are forgotten--there it stands
Dynasty succeeds dynasty--there it stands
Kings are crowned and uncrowned--there it stands
Despised and torn to pieces--there it stands
Storms of hate swirl about it--there it stands
Atheists rail against it--there it stands
Agnostic smile cynically--there it stands
Profane punsters caricature it--there it stands
Unbelief abandons it--there it stands
Higher critics deny its inspiration--there it stands
Thunderbolts of wrath smite it--there it stands
An anvil that has broken a million hammers--there it stands
The flames are kindled about it--there it stands
The arrows of hate are discharged against it--there it stands
Radicalism rants and raves against it--there it stands
Fogs of sophistry conceal it temporarily--there it stands
The tooth of time gnaws but makes no dent in it--there it stands
Infidels predict its abandonment--there it stands
Modernism tries to explain it away--there it stands
A.Z. Conrad
“of the making of books there is no end, and much study wearies the body” Ecclesiastes 12:12
It is difficult to calculate the number of books that have been produced in the 5,000 years of recorded history, but the number would be staggering. Of all those books, God’s Word is the most unique!
The word unique means ‘better than all others’ and indeed that can be said of the Bible. With over 4 billion copies in print (an estimate) this is the most printed book of all time. It has been translated into more languages
and dialects that any other book. God’s Word is also unique in so many other ways, such as:
- Its stories: Stories like that of Adam and Eve in the Garden, Christmas, and the Passion of Christ are the most unique stories in all the world
- Its literary genres: This book contains a wide variety of literary forms from simple prose to complex acrostic Psalms like number 119. This wonderful Psalm is comprised of 172
verses divided into 8 verse segments, each beginning with a letter from the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. - It’s one book with many within: When you study the Canon (the measuring stick) of how the Bible came to its current format, one is amazed at how this book, written
over 2,000 years, by some 40 authors has an uncanny continuity. - Its message and impact: I’m but one of millions that heard the message and felt its impact. My life was transformed by the message that I was a sinner, that Christ became my sacrifice and the bridge
between God and me, that this gift of redemption was free and that by placing my faith in the work of Christ, I would be adopted, bought, and sealed. Tell me of another message that rings with such uniqueness? - Its survivability: This book has been under attack since its inception and has survived the best-laid plans of mankind to destroy it.
Countless viewers have turned their TVs to watch Survivor. The premise of this program is simple, yet one that mesmerize. A group of ‘survivors’ are taken to a remote location and asked to survive with limited provisions. Each week we tune in to see which member of the group is voted out. History is replete with those who have tried to vote the Bible out of existence and have failed miserable. The most amazing of these stories follows.
The Roman Empire is the backdrop of the New Testament. God in His wisdom may well have initiated this culture to provide the stability for the Church to grow during the first century. Rome also built roads which allowed travel throughout the Mediterranean, thus allowing rapid transmission of the Good News. One of Rome’s emperors, Diocletian (243-316 A.D.) devised an idea of destroying the most unique book and faith in history.
During Diocletian’s reign he separated powers and ruled from the city of Nicomedia, moving the power base from Rome. He shared his power with a co-regent, Maximian. These two began their rule showing some favor to the Christian faith. However, in 303 A.D., Diocletian outlawed Christianity and was successful in moving Maximian to that view. Manuscripts of the fledgling faith were rounded up and destroyed. Thousands of those who were ‘Followers of the Way’ were slaughtered. After two years of tyranny, Diocletian erected a column commemorating his victory over Christianity with the inscription, Extincto nominee Christianorum (Extinct is the name of Christians). A coin was also minted that celebrated this systematic removal of Christianity and bore the inscription, ‘the Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the gods destroyed’.
But the unique survivability of God’s Word stood this strongest test. The emperor that followed this despot was Constantine. Some 20 years after the pronouncement that Christianity had been eradicated, Constantine had a vision that God would fight on his behalf (Conquer by this). Constantine’s conversion is recorded by Eusebuis who wrote that Constantine believed God would fight on his behalf. A spear was designed as part of the emperor’s vision and contained two large letters that represented Christ, a letter ‘P’ with the letter ‘X’ crossing the lower portion of the P. Constantine also built the city, Constantinople, which became a scriptorium–a place which protects and copied the scriptures.
In 313 A.D., Constantine proclaimed Christianity as the official faith of his empire and commissioned copies of the scriptures. Eusebius was to prepare these copies at government expense. The most remarkable aspect of this history is that over fifty copies of the ‘outlawed’ scriptures came out from hiding within a day of this edict!
Most know of the efforts of Martin Luther in the 16th Century and his fight to get the scriptures into the hands of the commoner. He wrote about the survivability of God’s Word, a fact he knew from first hand experience.
“Mighty potentates have raged against this Book, and sought to destroy and uproot it–Alexander the Great, the princes of Egypt and Babylon, the monarchs of Persia, of Greece, and of Rome, the Emperors Julius and Augustus–but they prevailed nothing. They are gone, while the book remain, and will remain forever and ever, perfect and entire, as it was declared at first. Who has thus helped it–who has thus protected it against such mighty forces? No one surely, but God Himself, who is the Master of all things.”
Let’s focus our attention to the greatest story of survivability in the Word of God, found in Jeremiah 36:21-32. When you read this extraordinary recollection of the preservation of holy writ you will be amazed at the God Who has preserved this story.
This story illustrates the movement of God on the authors of scripture. Jeremiah was inspired to dictate words that were to cause repentance. However, the scrolls were burned by King Jehoiakim. Judgment was metered out to Jehoiakim for his disrespect of God’s Word. We are then told that God moved again upon the prophet and the words are miraculously replicated and preserved through time (“so Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch, son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote all his words on the scroll” Jeremiah 36:32). God’s Word may be destroyed by fire (Muslims believe that the Koran cannot be destroyed by fire) but its destruction isn’t permanent, rather it accomplishes that which is ordained by God (I Peter 1:23).
No article about the Bible’s survivability would be complete without a story from the world of missions. One such story is concerns a Scottish missionary, Alexander Duff. He set sail for India on the ship, Lady Holland; the ship was wrecked and all of his possessions were lost, along with his eight hundred-volume library. However, as Duff stood on shore he spotted one possession bobbing in the water, his Bible.
It is estimated that only ½ of one percent of all books last over seven years from their publication. Most books aren’t worth the paper they are printed as testified by a visit to a local bookstore. Most books make little or no impact on the hearts and minds of its readers. Most books don’t have the answers to the big questions of life. No books are protected by the hand of God, except the Scriptures. No book gives the story of God’s plan for mankind and the hope that is in Christ. Cherish this, the most unique book in history, God’s Word.
Century follows century--there it stands
Empires rise and fall and are forgotten--there it stands
Dynasty succeeds dynasty--there it stands
Kings are crowned and uncrowned--there it stands
Despised and torn to pieces--there it stands
Storms of hate swirl about it--there it stands
Atheists rail against it--there it stands
Agnostic smile cynically--there it stands
Profane punsters caricature it--there it stands
Unbelief abandons it--there it stands
Higher critics deny its inspiration--there it stands
Thunderbolts of wrath smite it--there it stands
An anvil that has broken a million hammers--there it stands
The flames are kindled about it--there it stands
The arrows of hate are discharged against it--there it stands
Radicalism rants and raves against it--there it stands
Fogs of sophistry conceal it temporarily--there it stands
The tooth of time gnaws but makes no dent in it--there it stands
Infidels predict its abandonment--there it stands
Modernism tries to explain it away--there it stands
A.Z. Conrad