There are many people in the western world, the part of the world most influenced by the Bible, who would immediately answer, “No,” to the question making up our title. We refer not only to atheists who reject the very idea of a book coming from God, since they do not believe there is a God, but to others, some of whom claim to be Christians, who would agree with the atheists that the Bible is not a revelation from God. Many refer to the Bible as “the good book,” and to them that is all it is! However, the Bible is the most unique book in all the world, and it is either what it claims to be or it is not. If it is, all people everywhere are amenable to it and subject to its precious teachings. If it is not, it is the most remarkable hoax that has ever been foisted on the minds of unsuspecting humanity. There is no compromise position on this important issue, for the Bible either is, or is not, not only a revelation from God, but the final and complete one.
Firstly, let it be pointed out that the Bible itself claims to be the revelation of the mind of God to man. Paul made this claim in 1 Corinthians 2:1-14. To this statement of the revelation and inspiration of the Sacred Volume, the apostle Peter added these words, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19‑21 NKJV).
Someone might suggest that this is to be expected since the claim is made for its being revealed by God. However, there is a difference between what is claimed for something and what it claims for itself. What reason does the Bible have for being self-serving? It is a book! It is unable to force anyone to do anything! Whoever heard of such a thing as a self-serving book? Yet, it may be argued that there are other books for which the “special revelation” claim is made. That is true. However, do these books make the claim for themselves, or do some men make the claim for them? The Qur’an in 26:192-193 makes a claim to be “a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.” It claims to have been revealed by the Faithful Spirit, who in a footnote is identified as the angel Gabriel. However, will it stand the test of time, proving to be a revelation from God? We think not, for the New Testament was completed six hundred years before the Qur’an was ever written. The Bible does not claim to be a revelation of an angel, but the revelation of God’s own mind, as it was searched and made known by the Holy Spirit, one of the three personalities of Elohim.
Secondly, one can demonstrate that the Scriptures are revealed from God by the very unity which they possess. One can read the Sacred Book from beginning to end and he will never find one contradiction, or even an apparent one, that cannot be easily explained. There is an amazing unity in the story of God’s dealings with mankind from the time we were first created until the Bible was completed. When Jesus met the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he expounded to them what the Scriptures taught concerning him, from Moses and all the prophets (Luke 24:27). Every prophet of the Old Testament, who speaks of Christ at all, tells us something that would happen to our Lord while he was on earth, even right down to what would happen to his Galilean robe at the time of his death. The prophets spoke of the price that was to be paid for his betrayal, and of the shamelessly cruel way in which he would be treated before finally being put to death on the cross. There is no portion of the New Testament narration regarding Christ and His mission that was not spoken of before by the holy prophets. If the Bible is not a revelation from God, how does one go about explaining that?
