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[untitled, by Rev. Wm. Graham, pastor from the April 1944 issue of Songs in the Night, the newsletter of the Village Church of Western Springs, Illinois]

Fourteen years ago a college professor told a religious conference in the east that the Bible was out of date and that it needed modernizing. He said, “For example the 23rd Psalm cannot possibly be understood by the city folk . . . . what do they know about the Lord is my Shepherd?

For the past few years there has been a vicious attack on the Bible by sneering modernists and mocking infidels. They claim that the Bible is either not true or is completely out of date and too old-fashioned for a 20th century world. However the agonies, uncertainties and perplexities of war have brought the open Bible into the hands of millions of Americans who daily are finding it their source of comfort and strength. The following excerpt taken from an advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post aptly expresses it: “A fighting man speaks from the floor of a storm tossed raft . . . .“Is there a Bible among us?” On a burning African desert a voice reads quietly . . . . and a thousand heads bow reverently. En the silence of night on a Kansas farm . . . .a mother finds solace in its thin worn pages. Quietly . . . . its words of comfort are spoken in solemn requiem . . . . as rough hands lower tenderly a hero’s body overside. In the search for peace through generations . . . man has turned to the Bible. For the things men live by are found in this book that is the Word of God. In its pages . . . . men have found help for their deepest needs. Comfort for their shattered spirits. Light for their darkest hour. Always, the Bible has inspired the noblest courage and most sublime actions of man. Heroes have dedicated their lives to its principles. Martyrs have died with its words on their lips. Now an anguished world turns to this book that has molded the life of man . . . . For its lessons of mercy, humanity, tolerance, charity.”

The San Francisco Chronicle, in a recent editorial said: “Nothing can stop the Bible. It is useless to call it the world’s best seller, though it is, because that term implies comparison and there is nothing else that even remotely compares with the Bible in popular circulation.”

The American fighting man is the best Bibled warrior in the world. In ever growing numbers Uncle Sam’s nephews are deciding that the old- time religion that was good for Paul and Silas is good enough for them, and are carrying compact, well-printed Testaments in their knapsacks. Nobody is making them carry those Testaments. If they want one, it is theirs for the asking, and to date they have asked more than 7,000,000 times. Men facing death, even in 20th century America turn to the Word of God.

Even our, leaders of today are finding the Bible a guiding principle and comfort for their daily tasks. At Cairo, Egypt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Chiang Kai-Shek were given writ- ups by every newspaper in the country. Any oddity about the three world leaders was described. An “oddity” about Chaing-Kai-Shek was that he arose at 5 a.m. each morning to have prayer and Bible study with his officers. The famous strong man of China looked to the Bible a his source of inspiration and courage for each day. Frequent quotations from its pages are made by our president and leaders of our nation in time of war. It is said that Gen. MacArthur had read the Bible through six times before he finished West Point and that he is a continual reader of its life giving pages.

Yes, after these thousands of years the Bible lives today . . . .because it is the revealed Word of God. Within its pages is found the only hope for man’s salvation. Assurance for salvation and the eternity to come is made plain and simple. Eternal salvation comes by simply believing on Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Salvation from sin . . . . Assurance concerning Heaven is found only in Him of whom the Bible is written . . . . for the Bible is really the story of redemption through Jesus Christ. To its pages we heartily recommend you turn for comfort, solace, inspiration, hope and salvation.

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Last Revised: June 1, 2010
Expiration: indefinite

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