bible

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. Its estimated total sales is over five billion copies. The complete Bible has been translated into over 700 languages and the New Testament into well over 1,500 languages. Parts of the New Testament have been translated into over 1,000 languages. Since the 16th century, over 900 translations of the Bible into English have been produced. It has had a profound influence both on Western culture and history as well as on cultures around the globe.

A few years ago I lost a good friend. He would often call me late at night to discuss various concerns and our mutual interests. He was a world renounced scholar, an English professor, and he also published several books as is required of professors, one of which was the most important book in his academic area. I also am a night person, so his evening calls were welcome. On one of the last calls, he related that he had to have open-heart surgery but would not accept a blood transfusion, a choice that created problems.

After WWII ended, a major concern was understanding what caused a war that cost the lives of an estimated 50–56 million military and civilians, with an additional estimated 19–28 million deaths from war-related disease and famine. Historians have documented that towards the end of the war, when the Nazis had to make the choice between winning the war and killing Jews, destroying the Jews was their priority.

The first Palestinian peace for land demand resulted in Israel giving away  90 percent of the land that the United Nations agreement allotted them. But no peace. Now the Palestinians demand the remaining ten percent. Israel’s thin sliver of land is now close to the smallest nation on Earth. Activists have been supporting the Palestinian position for decades, but the Hamas attack of October 7, 2024,  and the Israel-Gaza War, brought renewed urgency to the issue.

The Greek scriptures condemn all war except defensive war. All of us have been wronged at times, thus all of us have to forgive others at times. The same is more true of nations. The King James Version uses the word “peace” 429 times and the New International Version uses it only 230 times. Conversely, the word “love” is used in the King James Bible 310 times and the New Living Translation used the word 801 times. The KJV uses the word “forgive” 95 times, the English Standard Version uses it 109 times.

Not really censored, but the scriptures almost universally ignored include I Corinthians 11:14-15 which reads,  “Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him. But long hair is a woman’s glory. Long hair is given to her as a covering. …. neither we nor the churches of God have any other practice.”

A common response to the creation issue is presentations on science is inappropriate in a church. Sermons must focus only the gospel, especially the words of Christ. Because only very few Bible verses mention creation, the feeling is it is clearly a unimportant and a very controversial side issue. The claim is, it does not matter if we evolved from some lower primate, or if God created the first humans as Genesis claims. Which method God used is unimportant. What is important is to preach Christ. Furthermore, they claim, Christianity is not anti-science as is Creationism, but pro-Christ.

‘Gospel’ is an old-English word meaning “good news,” specifically, in the Christian use, the good news about salvation. The Gospel includes two parts: God's revelation revealed in His words, the Bible, and His revelation revealed in His works, His creation (see Revelation 14:6-7). The Bible mentions over 120 species of animals and 206 plants, 95 of which are recognized by all contemporary researchers of the floras mentioned in the Bible.  In seminary, a major part of the curriculum historically used to train ministers was the study of these 326 plants and animals.