Herbert W Armstrong

Plain Truth Staff  

"Recently I read a quote where a minister said he would like to go through the Bible with a blue pencil and cut out a lot of bloody massacres and a lot of smutty pieces that choir boys read up on the quiet. He said the boys read the rapes and the massacres which are supposed to have been ordered by God. What is the point in reading them? As a Sunday School teacher of intermediate boys, I too have experienced the very situation this minister describes. I cannot help but be disturbed by some of these Biblical stories and doubt their purpose and value, What is your comment on this problem?"

   This question is often secretly thought, but seldom asked — and almost never understood!
   The answer is that any person who is so shamefully ignorant of the Bible as that minister has no business trying to teach the Word of God to anyone! A minister who teaches something of which he himself is not convinced — and does not know the truth about — condemns himself each time he gets up in front of his class or congregation. "Whatsoever is not of faith is SIN" (Rom. 14:23). The way to keep from sinning in this instance is to STOP PREACHING Or TEACHING! Of course, since these scriptures apply to him, that minister would probably get Out his "blue pencil" and cut them out of the Bible as well!
   Now what about the wars and other immoral acts we read of in the Bible? Did God really INTEND that these stories should be part of the Bible — or do they have no purpose as the minister assumes?
   When Jesus Christ said that man is to "live by every word of God" (Luke 4:4), what did He really MEAN? In Other words, IS the Bible really the authoritative Word of God — ALL of it? (II Tim. 3:16.) Unless and until one has really PROVED that point beyond all doubt he has no starring point — no foundation.
   Once we understand that ALL the Bible IS the inspired Word of God, we can go on from there and see the purpose for which God intended some of the events that are not pleasant or nice to be recorded as part of His Sacred Word. The Bible is a very practical book that gives many examples of real-life situations from which we can all study and learn (I Cor. 10:6). It is NOT a book of "nicey-nice" religious phraseology and "fluff-fluff," full of lofty thoughts about a sentimentality. It is a practical, down-to-earth book that tells man both HOW TO LIVE and HOW NOT TO LIVE!
   It shows that disobedience to the laws of God ALWAYS exacts a penalty unless repented of, and it pulls no punches in showing the weaknesses and shortcomings of all men. It speaks very plainly of the sins of even the most godly men in a very truthful and straightforward manner. It doesn't portray a false image — as is so often the case with am national heroes who are glamorized as being perfect for all practical purposes. It shows that all men are subject to human passions, and ALL make mistakes — NONE is perfect (Rom. 3:23). It shows that it is a right attitude of heart and mind that God desires, and a willingness to repent as David did (Ps. 51), when a mistake is made. That is why the Bible DOES contain stories which DO sometimes describe acts of immorality — although the Bible NEVER dwells on these points.
   God does not try to hide the FACTS — the Truth — as we do today. We like to "kid ourselves" that immoral acts of the kind described in the Bible are virtually unknown today, Religious leaders throw up their hands in horror at some of the stories contained in the Bible, but all the while by their teaching against God's law they are spawning acts of immorality that make the accounts in the Bible seem tame by comparison. It's time to get a new perspective — GOD'S Perspective — on some of the false ideas and concepts we have been taught from childhood.

Plain Truth Magazine

October 1962

Vol XXVII, No.10