A Book to Be Read
A Book to Be Read
“The Bible is not to be taken seriously.” So said a university professor to a plainspoken young woman.
“Have you ever read the Bible?” she asked.
Taken aback, the professor had to admit that he had not.
“How can you voice a strong conviction about a book that you have never read?”
She had a point. He decided to read the Bible and then form an opinion about it.
THE Bible, made up of 66 writings, has been described as being “probably the most influential collection of books in human history.”1 Indeed, it has influenced some of the world’s greatest art, literature, and music. It has had a significant impact on law. It has been extolled for its literary style and has been held in high esteem by many well-educated individuals. Its effect on the lives of people in all strata of society has been particularly profound. It has inspired in many of its readers a remarkable degree of loyalty. Some have even risked death just to read it.
At the same time, there is skepticism about the Bible. There are people who have definite opinions about it although they have personally never read it. They may acknowledge its literary or historical value, but they wonder: How could a book written thousands of years ago possibly be relevant in this modern world? We live in the “information age.” Up-to-the-minute information on current events and technology is at our fingertips. “Expert” advice on virtually all the challenges of modern life is readily available. Can the Bible really contain information that is practical today?
This brochure endeavors to answer such questions. It is not designed to impose religious views or beliefs on you, but it is intended to show that this historically influential book, the Bible, is worthy of your consideration. A report published in 1994 noted that some educators strongly feel that the Bible is so firmly embedded in Western culture that “anyone, believer or unbeliever, who is not familiar with Biblical teachings and accounts will be culturally illiterate.”2
Perhaps, after reading what is published herein, you will agree that—whether a person is religious or not—the Bible is, at the very least, a book to be read.
[Box/Picture on page 3]
“I owe my enlightenment quite simply to the reading of a book.—A book? Yes, and it is an old simple book, modest as nature itself, and as natural . . . And the name of this book is quite offhandishly the book, the Bible.”—Heinrich Heine, 19th-century German writer.3
