There was a church, and in that church there was a deacon who believed that the Bible is every whit the Word of God. The deacon rejoiced, for the pastor announced a series of lectures on the inspiration of the Bible. The deacon took the treasured Book and occupied the front pew.
The first evening the pastor eloquently told his congregation that the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, were a compilation of Jewish legends and folklore made during or after the Babylonian exile, and therefore Moses could not have been the writer. The learned and degreed pastor proved his point so conclusively that the unlettered deacon tore the “spurious parts” out and threw them into the fireplace.
In the next lecture (sermons are out of date now) the poetic books, such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job and Psalms were dispensed with; for, as the pastor said, “they are the effervescence of highly literary and idealistic brains, and certainly did not proceed from the mouth of God.”
The deacon hesitated long that night before taking out the writings of Job and David, for they had been such a consolation to him since his wife had died and trouble in varied forms had overwhelmed him. “But the pastor must know, for he is ‘educated,’ and the bishop said he was the banner man in the seminary and the pride of the diocese.” So into the fire they went.
The prophets, from Isaiah to Malachi, were easily set aside, for they dealt too much in symbolism.
The four gospels could not be brooked as infallible inspiration, for “they teach the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, His pre-existence, and a literal resurrection from Joseph’s tomb, all of which are unthinkable to the scholar.” And the deacon took them out.
When it came to Revelation― “it is preposterous to suppose that such a conglomeration of hoofs, horns, and wild animals can be divine revelation. God does not speak in such jargon.” And the deacon took out Revelation.
When it came eventide, and the lonesome shadows enveloped his bereaved home, the deacon, as his custom was, took down the Book to find comfort, assurance, and faith; and, behold, he found only two covers. And the darkness deepened, for the light of the world had been extinguished. ― Truth Series No. 2.