On December 27, 1933, the Sinaitic Manuscript, one of the great ancient manuscripts of the Bible, arrived at the British Museum in London. It had been purchased from the Russian Government for 100,000 pounds, which was then a little over half a million dollars. More than half the purchase price was donated by the public. It is said that the manuscript was greeted by a large crowd and that all the men removed their hats as it passed by them. Respect. For the Word of God. Less than a century ago, by the way.
The Sinaitic Manuscript is the earliest complete copy of the New Testament, and also contains a portion of the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint. It was originally found at St. Catherine's Monastery at what is believed to be the original Mt. Sinai. Later it was sent as a gift to the Russian Czar, Alexander II. Later of course, after Marxism took control (please note: socialism does not like religion), first under Lenin and then Stalin, it became something they were happy to dispense with, especially at the price believers were more than willing to pay. (Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible)
And what is happening today? Even by people who study it as their career, it is called a book of ancient myths, full of errors, and certainly not authoritative for our lives. You can find websites that regularly poke fun or ask ridiculous questions (that only show the askers' ignorance) designed to denigrate the Bible. Moses did not write the Pentateuch. Abraham never really existed. The Gospel of John is anti-Semitic. Daniel is history written to look like prophecy. Isaiah was written in two or three sections, some much later than the other. Those last two are supposed to undo the great evidence of prophecy in both of those books.
When I was a child, I heard someone famous, I don't remember who, say on television that one day the Bible would be banned in America but eagerly read in Russia. That was the height of the Cold War and an unthinkable idea. Now I am not so sure. So what do we do about it?
People have denied, defamed, and even destroyed Bibles for a long, long time. Stop, take a breath, and calm down. This is the Word of God we are talking about, a Word He has kept safe for us through thousands of years in ways no one can legitimately deny. It will not cease to exist no matter what happens in our time. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away (Luke 21:33). Show that Word the respect it deserves in your keeping of it, and in your speech about it. Study it like it actually means something to you and follow it no matter what it costs.
Take off your "hat" in your heart whenever it passes by.
For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever, 1 Pet 1:24.
Dene Ward
The Sinaitic Manuscript is the earliest complete copy of the New Testament, and also contains a portion of the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint. It was originally found at St. Catherine's Monastery at what is believed to be the original Mt. Sinai. Later it was sent as a gift to the Russian Czar, Alexander II. Later of course, after Marxism took control (please note: socialism does not like religion), first under Lenin and then Stalin, it became something they were happy to dispense with, especially at the price believers were more than willing to pay. (Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible)
And what is happening today? Even by people who study it as their career, it is called a book of ancient myths, full of errors, and certainly not authoritative for our lives. You can find websites that regularly poke fun or ask ridiculous questions (that only show the askers' ignorance) designed to denigrate the Bible. Moses did not write the Pentateuch. Abraham never really existed. The Gospel of John is anti-Semitic. Daniel is history written to look like prophecy. Isaiah was written in two or three sections, some much later than the other. Those last two are supposed to undo the great evidence of prophecy in both of those books.
When I was a child, I heard someone famous, I don't remember who, say on television that one day the Bible would be banned in America but eagerly read in Russia. That was the height of the Cold War and an unthinkable idea. Now I am not so sure. So what do we do about it?
People have denied, defamed, and even destroyed Bibles for a long, long time. Stop, take a breath, and calm down. This is the Word of God we are talking about, a Word He has kept safe for us through thousands of years in ways no one can legitimately deny. It will not cease to exist no matter what happens in our time. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away (Luke 21:33). Show that Word the respect it deserves in your keeping of it, and in your speech about it. Study it like it actually means something to you and follow it no matter what it costs.
Take off your "hat" in your heart whenever it passes by.
For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever, 1 Pet 1:24.
Dene Ward
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