We entertain but faint hope of convincing the skeptic or silencing the caviler, but we submit the following statements, of facts as demonstrating that the Bible is indeed the voice of God to man, that He has imprinted on it divine unity; that God only could have secured such remarkable agreement, such precision of statement, such oneness of mind and plan as is revealed in the Scriptures. Here are 66 books, the work of about 40 writers, and their composition occupying a period of about 1500 years, written in the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Of the writers we number the most illustrious monarchs of Israel, as David and Solomon; two distinguished prime ministers at the court of the Gentiles, Mordecai and Daniel; a cup-bearer—a highly honorable position—in personal attendance on the Persian monarch, as Nehemiah; the adopted Hebrew, Moses, brought up amidst the splendors of the Egyptian court and educated in the wisdom and learning of that truly remarkable people; the learned and pious scribe, Ezra, whose name and deeds are engraven on the memories of the past and present Jewish people; a farm servant, Amos, whose charming simplicity (Chapter 7:14-17) accords so fitly with his humble occupation; the prophet and judge Samuel; many prophets, grand as Isaiah, touching as Jeremiah, vigorous as Ezekiel, powerfully descriptive as Joel; illiterate Galilean fishermen (Acts 4:1313Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)); a despised and degraded tax collector in the employment of the Romans, Matthew; the tent maker of mighty intellect, Paul; and the highly educated Gentile physician, Luke.
Of the writings, the first was the Pentateuch, completed 15 centuries before Christ, that is 700 years before Rome was founded, and about 1000 years before the work of Herodotus the first authentic history, was published. Centuries too, before the prince of Greek poets, Homer, flourished, or Hesiod, more ancient still perhaps, sang his verses. The Pentateuch and the book of Job are by far the oldest writings in existence. The historical and chronological records of China and Egypt are unworthy of consideration. It has been shown that even were the annals of the Hindoos—which exceed in absurdity those of China and Egypt—reliable, the arbitrary mode of computation (months of 15 days, and years of 60 days), would reduce the chronologies of these peoples to a near agreement with the Biblical chronology. There is neither book nor monument within several centuries of the time when Moses wrote the first portion of the Bible. Then after a quarter of a century, Joshua, the second inspired penman, wrote the book to which his name is attached. Then comes another interval, ‘a lengthy and sorrowful one, of more than 300 years, covering the times of the Judges, and well termed “the dark ages” of Israelitish history, when Samuel, the third inspired writer, brought up the Jewish annals to the times of David—the sweet Psalmist of Israel. Another interval of 300 years, and we listen entranced to the grand and glowing strains of Isaiah—the prince of Hebrew prophets; perhaps the most magnificent piece of writing ever penned is the 60th Chapter of Isaiah, and of course divinely inspired like every other line and word of Scripture. Yet another period of nigh 300 years, in which the voices of the prophets were lifted up in the land of Immanuel, or amongst the captives of Babylon, when their tears bedewed the sacred soil, and their sufferings and exercises are written on high, and Malachi closed the inspired records of the Old Testament. A long and dreary blank of 460 years, unwritten in the pages of God’s most holy Word, brings us to a few years at most after the death of Jesus, when Matthew wrote of CHRIST. Within 30 years after, the whole of the New Testament was completed, save the Revelation, which was written about A.D. 96. Thus the whole Bible was completed and in the hands of the Christian, and keeping of the church, or rather of God, ere the first Christian century closed.
Of the places where the various parts of the Bible were written, Babylon, the capital of the Chaldean monarchy, Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom of Israel, Rome, the capital of the fourth Universal Empire, and Ephesus, the capital of Asia Minor, may be instanced. Take Jerusalem as a center, and you have Daniel the calm and measured historian, and Peter the warm-hearted and fervent Apostle, both writing in Babylon, 560 miles distant, and Paul penning his prison epistles in the imperial city of Rome, 1450 miles distant. The greater number of the sacred books were of course written in Palestine-regarded by the ancients as occupying the central situation in the known world. (Ezekiel 5:55Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. (Ezekiel 5:5).)
We append a list of the Books of the Old Testament, supplying in tabular form some information regarding their character, and where and when they were written.