"That book," said a scoffer one day, speaking of the Bible, "is not fit to be read to my children." Would it not have been better if he had paused a moment and asked, "If all the truth of my own history had been written down, would it be fit to read to my children?"
Why does man hate the Scriptures so much? "It is a collection of fables," he says. But this cannot be the real reason, for if you accept this charge, Esop and others have before now made a collection of fables, and he does not hate them. "It is only a history," he says, "and there are mistakes in it." But even if this were true, why do not other histories get a share of his hatred? "It has so many contradictions in it." How glad he seems to be when he thinks he has found one. But it is easier to make the charge of a so-called contradiction than to honestly point it out.
But if he actually found a thousand (in reality he cannot find one), it would be no reason for these strong feelings of undisguised bitterness. He says the story of Jesus Christ is only a myth, that He never existed as He is spoken of in the Bible, that the Bible statements are not true. But people do not get angry about Greek mythology; they do not get madly excited over the stories of Jupiter or Hercules, because they are not true. Oh, no, all this fault-finding lacks the clear ring of genuine honesty. The true reason must be sought elsewhere. "Thy word is a... light unto my path," said David (Psalm 119:105105NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)), and "Men have loved darkness rather than light; for their works were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light that his works may not be shown as they are." (John 3:19, 2019And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:19‑20) J.N.D. Trans.) This is the true secret.
A farmer once said that he had not opened the Bible for nearly twenty years-that he dare not do it. Every page seemed to condemn him.
The Word of God is as the eye of God upon the soul of man, and because he cannot bear it, he tries his utmost to set it aside and get rid of it.