| Christian Life and Doctrine | January 1967 |
Our Infallible Textbook
SOLOMON wrote, “Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” (Eccles. 12:12) Books in Solomon’s day were quite different from what they are now. Actually they were merely handwritten parchment scrolls, tedious to produce, and wearisome to read. Besides, not many in that ancient time could read; nevertheless the making of “books,” according to Solomon, seemingly went on endlessly.
To his reference to “many books” Solomon added, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (vs. 13) It could well be that the “books” which Solomon refers to were those written, even in those early times, to explain the ways and will of God. As Solomon saw it, man’s duty toward God was not involved, it being a matter of fearing, or reverencing him, and keeping his commandments. Later the Prophet Micah wrote, “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”—Micah 6:8
These brief statements by Solomon and Micah are merely summations of God’s will for his people. The Ten Commandments given to Israel were much more comprehensive; and besides there were all the detailed requirements of the Law Covenant. Then from time to time God sent prophets to Israel, and we have their recorded messages, portions of which were for the instruction of typical Israel, but largely for us of the Gospel Age. Peter explains “that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.”—I Pet. 1:12
Jesus’ Ministry
Jesus’ teachings are a further revelation of God’s will and plan, enlarging as they did upon the Spirit-inspired writings of the Old Testament. And Jesus promised his apostles that he would send the Holy Spirit to them, and that it would guide them into all truth. This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost, and the teachings and writings of the apostles thereafter are further inspired revealments of the precious truths of the divine plan.
In the Apostle Paul’s listing of the various servants whom the Lord has provided for the edification of his people during the present age, he mentions pastors, teachers, and evangelists. (Eph. 4:11-13) From this it is apparent that God designed that there should be lesser servants in the church than those who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Since this was God’s arrangement, we should recognize the need of the encouragement and help we receive from one another as fellow members of the body of Christ, but we should never think of any as speaking authoritatively for Jehovah except Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles.
Other “Books”
Books other than the Word of God, and purporting to reveal the will of God, began to be written even before Christ. The Talmud of the Jews is one of these. In his day Jesus referred to teachings other than those presented in the Word of God as “traditions of men,” and the ideas set forth in the Talmud were among these. Those who followed the traditions of men rather than the Word of God were condemned by Jesus. We have no doubt but that there were many things in the Talmud which were in harmony with the Word of God, but the mistake of the Israelites was in supposing that this uninspired book should be accepted as having the same authority as the Book which God provided through his Holy Spirit.
The making of “many books” continued with the professed followers of the Master, even though it was just about as tedious and laborious in those early days of the present age as it was in Solomon’s time. This was not wrong in principle, for the Lord wanted his people to help one another to an ever clearer understanding of his plan as set forth in his inspired Word. It was for this purpose that he provided pastors, teachers, and evangelists. However, it seems to be a weakness of fallen man to accept the explanations of truth as being as important as the direct statements of truth found in the inspired Word, if not of greater importance.
With the settling down of the Dark Ages the Bible was almost entirely neglected and the writings of “the fathers” substituted. But with the dawn of the Reformation, the Bible began to come into its own, at least to a greater extent than before. With the advent of printing, the making of “many books” was stepped up, so that there became available almost numberless “explanations” of the Bible, and in many instances the Lord’s people fell into the same error of leaning upon these explanations more than upon the Word which they purported to explain.
Not Condemning
We are not implying that it is wrong to write and publish books. After all, one of the services rendered by the Dawn Bible Students Association is the supplying of books and other literature to help make plain the glorious doctrines of the divine plan. The important thing is to make sure that what we accept as truth is in harmony with the Bible. Among the publications provided by the Dawn is the series of books, “Studies in the Scriptures.” The author of these books, that “faithful and wise servant,” frequently emphasized the vital importance of testing all his teachings by the infallible Word of God. This, we believe, is one reason he is referred to as “faithful and wise.”
We are thankful for the memory we have of Brother Russell’s faithfulness in this and other respects, and we want to continue emphasizing the vital importance of making the Word of God the final arbiter of all the doctrines which we hold and teach. Certainly we would be very much disappointed if we failed to establish this important principle in the minds of those who are served through the ministry of The Dawn. Let us make sure that every viewpoint we accept as truth can be established by a “thus saith the Lord.”
What Is Truth?
In Jesus’ prayer on behalf of his followers he said, “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth.” (John 17:17) We believe that the Word of God clearly teaches that man was created in the image of God and given an opportunity to live in an earthly paradise forever, on condition of obedience. The Bible tells us that man disobeyed and was driven out of his garden home to die.—Gen. 1:26-31; 3:16-19
The Bible teaches that the penalty for sin is death. To Adam God said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2:17) Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23) We read in Ezekiel 18:4,20, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” And Jesus said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy [not torment] both soul and body in hell.”—Matt. 10:28
The Bible teaches that Jesus took the sinner’s place in death. Thus he became the satisfaction, the “propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:2) To accomplish this redemption Jesus “poured out his soul unto death.” (Isa. 53:12) He gave himself a “ransom for all.” (I Tim. 2:3-6) Having died for the world, Jesus was raised from the dead by the power and glory of his Heavenly Father. (Acts 2:24; Eph. 1:19,20) His soul was not left in death, the Bible hell. (Ps. 16:10) Now Jesus “ever liveth to make intercession” for us.—Heb. 7:25
The Bible teaches that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23) Salvation from death is through a resurrection of the dead, Jesus being “the firstfruits” of the resurrection. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then there would be no hope of a resurrection for others—even Christians would perish in death, Paul wrote.—I Cor. 15:17-19
The Bible teaches that the church of Christ comes forth from death in “the first resurrection.” to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. (Rev. 20:4,6) There is also to be “a better resurrection” of the ancient servants of God whose awakening from death must wait until the completion of the church, for “they without us should not be made perfect,” Paul wrote.—Heb. 11:35,40
Finally, there will be the general resurrection of the whole world of mankind, those, that is, who did not prove worthy of participating in the special resurrections. Paul speaks of these as the “unjust,” and Jesus mentions them as the ones “that have done evil.”—Acts 24:15; John 5:28,29
The Bible teaches that the faithful followers of Jesus in the present age partake of a “heavenly calling.” (Heb. 3:1) These will be with Jesus in the “place” he prepares for them. (John 14:2,3) They are joint-heirs with Jesus, and will sit with him in his throne. (Rom. 8:17; Rev. 3:21) In the resurrection these partake of “glory and honor and immortality.”—Rom. 2:7
The Bible teaches that those awakened from death in the general resurrection will have the opportunity of being restored to perfection of human life here on earth as enjoyed by our first parents before they transgressed the law of God. Peter describes this general restoration of all the willing and obedient of mankind as the “restitution of all things,” adding that all God’s holy prophets had foretold this glorious aspect of God’s plan of salvation.—Acts 3:19-23
The Bible teaches that Christ came at his first advent to give his life “a ransom for all.” (I Tim. 2:6) It was for this purpose that he was made flesh, and he gave his flesh, his humanity, “for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) Jesus was raised from the dead in the “express image” of his Father’s person, “whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” (Heb. 1:1-3; I Tim. 6:15,16) It is the divine Christ who returns and establishes his authority in the earth, and for a thousand years is both Ruler and Judge of humanity, his faithful followers, also raised from the dead, being associated with him.—Isa. 9:6; II Tim. 4:1; I Pet. 4:5; I Cor. 6:2, 3; Rev. 2:26,27; 3:21
Prophecy
The main prophecies of the Bible are those which pertain to the first and second visits of Christ to the earth. The fact that Jesus was the Messiah of promise was firmly established by the prophetic signs which accompanied his birth, his ministry, his death, and his resurrection. The fact that the vast majority of the Israelites at that time did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah did not nullify the reality of his first advent and the work of redemption which he then accomplished.
We believe there is abundant evidence that Christ’s prophetic second visit to earth has already begun. Now again, the fact of his presence as the divine, invisible Christ is well established by the “signs” which are discernible in world events and in the experiences of the Lord’s people. It is true now, even as at the first advent, that as yet only a few discern the fact of Christ’s second presence, but those who do discern it rejoice in this assurance that the blessings of his kingdom will soon be flowing out to the people, and that his presence will then be known by all mankind.
One of the signs of Christ’s second presence is outlined in Matthew 24:21,22. In this prophecy Jesus speaks of a time of “great tribulation” upon mankind, which he declares would be so great that if it were permitted to continue it would result in the destruction of all flesh. As we all know, the world is faced with this very situation today, a situation which never existed in the earth before. The certain meaning of this sign, and its appearance in the experience of humanity, is inescapable to those who have faith in the Word of God.
A Brief Outline
We have outlined very briefly some of the fundamentals of truth which are set forth in the Word of truth by which we are sanctified. There are other important fundamentals which also can be well established by a “thus saith the Lord.” Then there are other items, less clearly established by the Bible, which also have a proper place in our general fellowship. These are points which help to fill in the details of the divine plan, and we should ever be seeking to understand these details more clearly.
However, in our fellowship we should realize that our brethren in Christ cannot be expected to understand the unimportant details of truth exactly alike. How many times we hear the expression, “It is reasonable to conclude” that such and such is the proper understanding of this point! We all want to reach reasonable conclusions on every point of truth we make our own, but let us remember that only a “thus saith the Lord” can establish a viewpoint as a fundamental doctrine of truth.
It is well to remember, also, that what seems to be reasonable to one may not seem to be reasonable to another. This is why it is important to keep our “seeming” viewpoints in their proper positions of relative importance.
By contrast, let it be noted that it is never necessary to use the expression, “It seems to be,” when we assert that the immortality of the soul is not taught in the Bible; that eternal torture is not “the wages of sin”; that Jesus died as a ransom, or substitute, for the human race; that the work of God during the Gospel Age is the selection of a “little flock,” to whom it is the Father’s good pleasure to give the kingdom; that the followers of Jesus share in the “better sacrifices,” the sin offering; that the “great multitude” will be spiritual in the kingdom; that the New Covenant belongs to the Millennial Age; that Christ is now present; that the end-of-the-age harvest is now in progress; that the great objective of Christ’s reign is the “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
Let us endeavor to become better acquainted with these great fundamental truths, to cherish them, and to publish them far and wide, by word of mouth, by radio, by television, by books, booklets, and tracts. Surely it is pleasing to the Lord that many books should be published and sent forth bearing the message of the glorious doctrines of present truth. As consecrated followers of the Master, we are dedicated to the laying down of our lives in the promotion of the divine plan represented in these great truths of the Bible. Those who hold to these fundamentals, and rejoice in them, esteem it a privilege to labor together in telling the world these blessed tidings, as well as confirming one another in this “most holy faith.”
As we work together for the promotion of the glorious Gospel of the kingdom, let us continue to fellowship freely on all points of truth, but with understanding and tolerance. When we find that a favorite idea we may hold cannot be substantiated by a “thus saith the Lord,” let us not insist that it is fundamentally important anyway, and endeavor in our zeal to destroy the confidence of the brethren in those who may not agree with us. The wholesome exchange of differing viewpoints often leads to a clearer understanding of details by all concerned. Thus real progress in the truth is made.
The basic doctrines of the truth are so clearly set forth in the Word of God that we need have no fear of their ever being successfully assailed. It only remains for us, through study of the Word, to show ourselves approved unto God, to be ready and able to give a reason for our hope, with meekness and with reverence. If we make the truth our own by becoming more and more acquainted with the wonderful manner in which each doctrine is substantiated by the Word of God, we will enjoy a wonderful peace of mind and heart, and we will always be able to say, “I know,” because the Bible says so.
May we, then, be real Bible students! Let us accept and rejoice in every means provided by the Lord to help us understand his Word. But let us lean on the Bible and quote it as the proof of our beliefs. Thus we will be “noble” as were the Bereans of old, because we “search the Scriptures daily” in order to make sure that what we are told in our meetings, and what we read—from whatever source it may come—is really in harmony with the inspired Word.