(NOTE: To those who have believed that faith in the Bible and theGod of the Bible does not harmonize with the modern scientificspirit the following testimony from a distinguished physician andsurgeon should be of great value. The Editor of Appleton’sMagazine says of Dr. Kelly: "Dr. Howard Kelly, of Baltimore,holds a position almost unique in his profession. With academic,professional, and honorary degrees from the Universities ofPennsylvania, Washington and Lee, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh,
hisrank as a scholar is clearly
recognized. For some twenty yearsProfessor
of obstetrics and gynecology at JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
his place as a worker and teacher in the applied scienceof his profession has been beyond question the highest in Americaand Europe. At least a dozen
learned societies in England,Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Germany,
Austria, France and the UnitedStates have
welcomed him to membership as a master in hisspecialty in surgery. Finally, his published works have caused himto be reckoned the most eminent of all authorities in his ownfield.")
I
have, within the past twenty years of my life, come out of uncertainty anddoubt
into a faith which is an absolute dominating conviction of the truthand
about which I have not a shadow of doubt. I have been intimatelyassociated
with eminent scientific workers; have heard them discuss theprofoundest
questions; have myself engaged in scientific work, and soknow
the value of such opinions. I was once profoundly disturbed in thetraditional
faith in which I have been brought up —
that of a ProtestantEpiscopalian —
by inroads which were made upon the book of Genesis bythe
higher critics. I could not then gainsay them, not knowing Hebrew norarchaeology
well, and to me, as to many, to pull out one great prop was tomake
the whole foundation uncertain.
So
I floundered on for some years trying, as some of my higher criticalfriends
are trying today, to continue to use the Bible as the Word of Godand
at the same time holding it of composite authorship, a curious anddisastrous
piece of mental gymnastics — a bridge over the
chasmseparating
an older Bible-loving generation from a newer Bible-emancipatedrace.
I saw in the book a great light and glow of heat, yetshivered
out in the cold.
One
day it occurred to me to see what the book had to say about itself. Asa
short, but perhaps not the best method, I took a concordance and lookedout
"Word," when I found that the Bible claimed from one end to the otherto
be the authoritative Word of God to man. I then tried the natural plan oftaking
it as my text-book of religion, as I would use a text-book in anyscience,
testing it by submitting to its conditions. I found that ChristHimself
invites men (John 7:17) to do this.
I
now believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, inspired in a senseutterly
different from that of any merely human book.I believe Jesus Christ
to be the Son of God, without human father,conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the
Virgin Mary. That all menwithout exception are by nature sinners,
alienated from God, and whenthus utterly lost in sin the Son of God Himself
came down to earth, and byshedding His blood upon the cross paid the
infinite penalty of the guilt ofthe whole world. I believe he who thus
receives Jesus Christ as his Saviouris born again spiritually as definitely
as in his first birth, and, so bornspiritually, has new privileges,
appetites and affections; that he is one bodywith Christ the Head
and will live with Him forever. I believe no man cansave
himself by good works, or what is commonly known as a "moral life,"such
works being but the necessary fruits and evidence of the faith within.
Satan
I believe to be the cause of man’s
fall and sin, and his rebellionagainst God as rightful governor. Satan is the
Prince of all the kingdoms ofthis world, yet will in the end be cast into the
pit and made harmless. Christwill come again in glory to earth to reign even
as He went away from theearth, and I look for His return day by day.I
believe the Bible to be God’s Word, because, as I
use it day by day asspiritual food, I discover in my own life as
well as in the lives of those wholikewise use it a transformation
correcting evil tendencies, purifyingaffections, giving pure desires, and
teaching that concerning therighteousness of God which those who do not so
use it can know nothingof. It is as really food for the spirit as bread
is for the body.
Perhaps
one of my strongest reasons for believing the Bible is that itreveals
to me, as no other book in the world could do, that which appealsto
me as a physician, a diagnosis of my spiritual condition. It shows meclearly
what I am by nature — one lost in sin and
alienated from the lifethat is in God. I find in it a consistent and
wonderful revelation, fromGenesis to Revelation, of the character of God,
a God far removed fromany of my natural imaginings.
It
also reveals a tenderness and nearness of God in Christ which satisfiesthe
heart’s longings, and shows me that the
infinite God, Creator of theworld, took our very nature upon Him that He
might in infinite love be onewith His people to redeem them. I believe in it
because it reveals a religionadapted to all classes and races, and it is
intellectual suicide knowing it notto believe it.
What
it means to me is as intimate and difficult a question to answer as tobe
required to give reasons for love of father and mother, wife andchildren.
But this reasonable faith gives me a different relation to familyand
friends; greater tenderness to these and deeper interest in all men. Ittakes
away the fear of death and creates a bond with those gone before. Itshows
me God as a Father who perfectly understands, who can givecontrol
of appetites and affections, and rouse one to fight with self insteadof
being self-contented.
And
if faith so reveals God to me I go without question, wherever He maylead
me. I can put His assertions and commands above every seemingprobability
in life, dismissing cherished convictions and looking upon thewisdom
and ratiocinations of men as folly if opposed to Him. I place nolimits
to faith when once vested in God, the sum of all wisdom andknowledge,
and can trust Him though I should have to stand alone beforethe
world in declaring Him to be true.