The Bible in its own pages claims to be an eternal book. Jesus said in (Matthew 24:35): “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” We read in (Isaiah 40:8): “The grass withers, the flowers fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” And again, we read in (Psalm 119:89): “Forever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven.”
These are pretty strong statements to be made about a book, especially when you consider that all sixty-six books of the Bible were written between 2,000 and 3,500 years ago. In addition, there were no printing presses back then and every word had to be manually written and handed down from generation to generation on scrolls and parchment.
When we consider that the Bible has survived these difficulties and has been preserved so wonderfully we can begin to realize that there is something very special about this one book. Couple this with the two millennium of time that man has ferociously tried to attack and destroy the Bible and we begin to see that this one book represents a truly miraculous tale of survival.
In relation to the Bible’s survival Ron Bontrager makes the following interesting observations:
“Mythical books like Homer’s Odyssey are never banned and burned. Why is that? Because they’re never seen as a threat.
“And yet over the millenniums man has systematically tried to destroy the Bible. It’s exactly why we found the Dead Sea scrolls. They were hidden away in sealed jars, preserved from those who sought to destroy it forever.
“When the communist took over China the first thing they did was to try and destroy the Bible. They burned them in city squares. Many of the Chinese believers took their Bibles and carefully buried them in their back yards.”1
Since God is the real author of the Bible we can rest comfortably knowing that not only has He preserved His sacred words, down through the centuries, but that they will endure forever!
May the following quotes help give you a flavor for the attacks the Bible has had to endure and its amazing ability to survive:
“Infidels of eighteen hundred years have been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today as solid rock. Its circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today than ever before. Infidels, with all their assaults, make about as much impression on this book as a man with a tack hammer would on the Pyramids of Egypt.
“When the French monarch proposed the persecution of Christians in his dominion, an old statesman and warrior said to him, ‘Sire, the church of God is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.’ So, the hammers of infidels have been pecking away at this book for ages, but the hammers are worn out, and the anvil still endures. If this book had not been the book of God, men would have destroyed it long ago. Emperors and popes, kings and priests, princes and rulers have all tried their hand at it; they die and the book still lives.”2 – H. L. Hastings
“The tooth of time gnaws all books but the Bible… Nineteen centuries of experience have tested it. It has passed through critical fires no other volume has suffered, and its spiritual truths have endured the flames and come out without so much as the smell of burning.”3 – W.E. Sangster
“A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read. But somehow the corpse never stays put. No other book has been so chopped, knifed, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified. What book on philosophy or religion or psychology … of classical or modern times has been subject to such a mass attack as the Bible? With such venom and skepticism? With such thoroughness and erudition? Upon every chapter, line and tenet? The Bible is still loved by millions, read by millions, and studied by millions.”4 – Bernard Ramm
“The BIBLE — banned, burned, beloved. More widely read, more frequently attacked than any other book in history. Generations of intellectuals have attempted to discredit it, dictators of every age have outlawed it and executed those who read it. Yet soldiers carry it into battle believing it more powerful than their weapons. Fragments of it smuggled into solitary prison cells have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints.”5 – Charles Colson
“The Bible is the most well-known book in the history of the world, and no book has been attacked more. Skeptics have tried to destroy the authority of the Bible for the last eighteen hundred years. It has undergone every kind of scrutiny possible from archaeology, science, philosophy, and computers. Yet, despite all these attacks, the Bible proves itself to be true again and again. Each time the skeptics have been wrong, and the Bible has proven itself true. Just the fact that the Bible has remained steadfast in its authority after two thousand years is another piece of evidence supporting its divine origin.”6 – Patrick Zuckeran
1 The Bible Has Survived All Attacks of Man | (wordpress.com)
2 The Anvil that Has Worn Out Many Hammers › The Forerunner
3 W.E. Sangster: The tooth of time gnaws all books but the Bible… – The Poached Egg Christian Worldview and Apologetics Network
4 http://heavenboundgb.worthyofpraise.org/4509/
5 FAMOUS QUOTES ABOUT THE BIBLE (internationalwallofprayer.org)