Many people through the centuries have commented on the truth of the Bible.  Abraham Lincoln said: "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book."     

Our First President George Washington made this statement about the Bible:  "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."

Even though many have held the Bible as the true testimony of the Christian faith, there are people who do not believe the Bible and its authenticity as the Word of God. Sometimes I have encountered folks who argue over the least of little things and therefore come to the conclusion that the Bible is not true.

 I not only heard my father tell this story in a sermon, I found this story in his handwriting among some old papers and sermons that my sister and I now have.  Maybe Daddy knew one day that all his notes and insights would be a treasure for us to read.

My father was pastor in Kansas City at the time.   Once he visited a very young man who was a skeptic.  My father went to the hospital to offer him some comfort during and asked to read the scriptures and pray with the young man.  The young man declined.

He was convinced that the Bible could not be true because of many reasons, one of which was the different viewpoints in the Bible.  The young man said that the resurrection story was an example.  One writer of the scriptures said it was before dawn and one writer of another scripture in the Bible said it was daylight. Then Daddy told him a story. 

He told the young man that once he was on his way with a caravan of other preachers to a denominational meeting. On the way, Daddy and others in the caravan had witnessed a very serious accident and one man was killed.  Months later, my father was subpoenaed in court to testify. But it was not just him — those other pastors in different vehicles on the road at the same time were all subpoenaed to testify as to what each saw in the accident.  Daddy said that they all were pastors traveling to the same meeting.  He said they had no stake whatsoever in the outcome of the jury trial.  They all just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The men were not perfect. Daddy said that their congregations would quickly convince anyone of that!  But, he said that he could safely say they were all Christians, and were honest men.  Yet, it was amazing to see how these pastors viewed the accident so differently.  What one man emphasized, the other pastor did not mention.  Some pastors recalled details that Daddy had never noticed and he was amazed at the different versions of the car accident each of these men had.  They had all seen the same accident, but there were five differing views of it.  The different versions don't mean that the wreck didn't happen. All versions were honest, all versions were objective… yet all versions were different.

 It is the same with the Bible.  Concerning the story of the resurrection, all writers were coming from different areas. It may have been before dawn in one village, while several miles over it was already daylight. Different perspectives don't mean that the resurrection did not happen.

What a price NOT to believe!   People focus on what they see as inconsistencies. Yet, it is because in  their  skepticism that they miss the Bible's most wonderful message.

Judy Brandon is a Clovis resident. Contact her at:

cbrandon@plateautel.net