DFO 1958Comp.

1. WHETHER YOU ACCEPT & BELIEVE IN ITS TEACHINGS OR NOT, IT CANNOT BE DENIED THAT THE BIBLE IS THE MOST REMARKABLE, AMAZING & ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE BOOK THAT HAS EVER BEEN WRITTEN! Of course, most people today sort of pooh-pooh & dismiss it because they cannot help but associate the Bible with do-nothing Christianity—Churchianity—which, with all of its vain traditions, hypocrisy & lack of love for the poor has discredited itself in the minds of most people & has thereby discredited the Book they claim to be following!

2. BUT THE FACT IS THAT THE CHURCH SYSTEM TODAY IS ABOUT AS FAR REMOVED FROM WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY TEACHES AS CAPITALISM IS FROM COMMUNISM!—Jesus Himself told the churchy religious leaders of His day, "You have made the Word of God of none effect through your traditions!" (Mk.7:8-13) The true foundation & Truth of God laid down in the Bible has been so cluttered up through the centuries by all the fabrications, contortions & distortions of the preachers that it has been buried under all the churchy debris & the rubble of the rabbis!

3. BUT IF YOU REALISE THIS & HAVE AN OPEN MIND & ARE SINCERELY SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH, then you can sweep away all the churchy garbage & false interpretations & delve down to the beautiful foundation of the Bible, & see the true plan & how things are supposed to be! You will then discover that the Bible is not merely some churchy handbook, but that it is the most wonderful, supernatural, miraculous‚ amazing, marvellous Book in the whole World!—Which has the answers to everything!—Where we came from, how we got here, why we're here, how to survive & be happy while here‚ & how to love & have happiness forever!

4. BUT BEFORE DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO ACCEPT & BELIEVE IN THIS AMAZING BOOK, consider the following seven facts that set it aside as a truly unique Volume:

1. THE BIBLE IS UNIQUE IN ITS CONTINUITY.—It was written over a 1‚500 year time-span by over 40 authors from every walk of life, including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, shepherds, soldiers, poets, statesmen, scholars‚ etc.! Nevertheless‚ from beginning to end, its authors spoke on hundreds of controversial subjects with harmony & continuity, outlining one unfolding story: God's Love for man!
2. THE BIBLE HAS BEEN READ BY MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER BOOK! It has out-sold every book that has ever been written & it still sells more copies every year than any otherthe World! But of course in the bestsellers lists they don't dare acknowledge that, that in spite of all Man's writings & foolishness & fiction & ridiculous interpretations of history & reality, the Bible still outsells'm all! Another unique & related fact is that the Bible was the first major book ever to be printed‚ on Gutenberg's press.
3. THE BIBLE HAS BEEN TRANSLATED & PUBLISHED IN MORE LANGUAGES THAN ANY OTHER BOOK IN EXISTENCE!—As far back as 1966 the whole Bible had appeared in 240 languages & dialects, & one or more of its books appeared in 739 additional ones!
4. THE BIBLE, COMPARED WITH ALL OTHER ANCIENT WRITINGS, HAS MORE MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE THAN ANY TEN PIECES OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE COMBINED! Although originally written on perishable materials, having to be recopied by hand for thousands of years before the invention of the printing press, it's style, correctness & accuracy has been preserved as no other book in all History! The Jews had special classes of scholars within their culture whose sole duty was to preserve & transmit the books of the Bible with perfect accuracy, counting the very consonants‚ vowels, syllables & words per manuscript as a means of double-checking. Literally thousands of ancient manuscripts in the original languages have been unearthed which prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Scriptures have come down through the ages to us just as they were originally written!
5. THE BIBLE HAS WITHSTOOD VICIOUS ATTACKS BY ITS ENEMIES AS NO OTHER BOOK. Many have tried to burn it, destroy it & outlaw it, from the days of the Roman emperors to some present–day anti-Christ countries. Its very existence today & the fact that its teachings & Truths have been preserved despite the countless campaigns & tirades against it is in itself miraculous!
6. DISCOVERY AFTER DISCOVERY BY MODERN ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE CONFIRMED & PROVEN THE BIBLE'S ABSOLUTE ACCURACY & have proven it to be a source of History. Archaeologists following Old Testament references have rediscovered whole nations & resurrected entire peoples that the sceptics & critics once said were non-existent or imaginary. In fact, it can be stated categorically that not one archaeological discovery has ever contradicted or cast doubt on a Biblical reference—all have confirmed its accuracy!
7. THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY VOLUME EVER PRODUCED WHICH CONTAINS A LARGE AMOUNT OF PROPHECIES accurately predicting the future of individual nations, peoples, cities, & the coming of One Who was to be the Messiah! Although the ancient world had many different devices for determining the future, nowhere in all of Greek & Latin literature can there be found any real specific prophecy of a great Historic event to come in the distant future. But the Bible is full of countless, detailed, specific prophecies, all of which have been miraculously fulfilled & come true—except, of course‚ the final Endtime prophecies which are either to be fulfilled in the near future or are coming to pass right now!

5. WHAT AN AMAZING & REMARKABLE BOOK! Yet so many people today, who consider themselves so smart & so knowledgeable, ignore the Bible completely! Time & time again we talk to people who've been through years of college & university & have read hundreds & hundreds of books—huge tomes & volumes of textbooks, religious books, philosophical books & all kinds of books—yet have never even cracked open the Bible‚ the most fascinating Book in the World!—In which you can find almost anything: Drama, love, hate, peace, war, romance, poetry, prophecy, history‚ mystery, etc., etc.!

6. JUST THINK ABOUT IT: WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO‚ FROM THE DAYS BEFORE MOSES! It's such an important Book & one of the oldest Books in the World, yet a lot of "educated" people don't even bother to read it! They waste time on all of their complicated & confused theories while neglecting the very Words of Life, the Bible, which is so simple, direct & to the point!

7. IF YOU WERE GOING ON A LONG JOURNEY & DIDN'T ALREADY KNOW THE WAY, YOU WOULD BRING ALONG A MAP, WOULDN'T YOU?—Well, you are on a long journey, & the One Who does know the way has instructed some of His men to draw a detailed map so you won't get lost & so you can learn the right way to operate down here & ultimately make it safely to your final destination! But to say you don't have time to read God's Map, the Bible‚ is like a driver going on a long journey & saying‚ "Well, I'm in such a hurry to get there I don't have time to look at the map!"—But if you'll just take the Bible & simply read it, believe it & follow it, you will be on the right path & wind up at the right place!

8. AND THAT IS ACTUALLY THE GREATEST PROOF THAT THE BIBLE REALLY IS THE MIRACULOUS, SUPERNATURAL WORD OF GOD HIMSELF—IT WORKS! So why not try it!—It's the greatest, most enduring, wisest, most truthful Book in the whole World that you can really trust! I'm sure that you will find it an absolutely inexhaustible source of wisdom & knowledge, out of which you will constantly find "treasures new & old"!—Beautiful! (Mt.13:52)

9. OF COURSE THE MOST WONDERFUL THING ABOUT THE BIBLE IS THAT, THROUGH ITS WORDS, WE CAN GET TO KNOW ITS AUTHOR!—For the Bible is God's great Love Letter to us! Its Life–giving Words make it the greatest Book in the World, with the only Author in the World that can guarantee life & love & happiness & Heaven forever through simply reading it & believing in its main Character, the One Who loved us so much that He gave His Own Life to save us—Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

10. ALL OF THE WONDERFUL‚ THRILLING THINGS THAT YOU READ ABOUT JESUS DOING IN THE BIBLE CAN & DO HAPPEN TODAY TOO, for "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today & forever!" (Heb.13:8)—And just as He spoke to men of old, His prophets of the past, so He is still alive & speaks to us today, thank God! In fact, He has spoken to & given us a lot of Words for today, this Endtime in which we are now living! Of course true, modern-day prophecy doesn't teach anything contrary to that which is already in His recorded Words in the Bible, but it sure fills in a lot of gaps & makes things clearer!

11. SO TAKE THE BIBLE & SINCERELY PRAY, "OPEN THOU MINE EYES‚ THAT I MAY BEHOLD WONDROUS THINGS OUT OF THY WORD!" (Ps.119:18)—But don't get bogged down in the "begats" & genealogies of Genesis, nor the Jewish History & ancient past of much of the Old Testament that is over & done with! Take the New Testament & the wonderful Words of Jesus in the Gospels & read them—not as fairytales of the past, but as God's Word for you today—& see how inspiring, uplifting, feeding & encouraging the Truth of the Word of God can be!—In the beautiful Gospel of John particularly, you will find the spiritual depths of the Love of God & His Salvation for you!

12. HAVE YOU RECEIVED GOD'S LOVE THROUGH JESUS? Have you tasted the wonderful, soul-satisfying waters of His wonderful Word? If not, receive Jesus into your heart personally by simply asking Him to come into your life, to forgive you of all your sins & give you His Love & peace & free gift of eternal life!—Then you can not only read His Word with understanding, but you'll have the love & the strength to obey it & to share His Truth & Love & Wonder Working Words with others who need them too!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family