The purpose of the “Bible 101” series is to introduce some of the core Old Testament subjects that are necessary for understanding God’s overall purpose and plan. Although God has operated through different dispensations at different points in history, the topics in “Bible 101” demonstrate the cohesive, focused plan of God throughout Scripture.
Today’s topic is the Bible itself.
The Library of Congress in Washington D.C. is the largest library in the world. Their website claims, “The collection of more than 173 million items includes more than 51 million cataloged books and other print materials in 470 languages; more than 75 million manuscripts; the largest rare book collection in North America; and the world's largest collection of legal materials, films, maps, sheet music and sound recordings” (loc.gov). Within that impressive collection we could find the greatest that mankind has to offer in the fields of literature, philosophy, essays, memoirs, biographies, historical records, law, mathematics, science, and fine arts. And yet, amidst those millions of items that have been carefully collected, catalogued, and preserved, there is one that is wholly and completely unique from every other:
The Authorized Version, or “King James Bible.”
The Unique Structure of the Bible
The very structure of the Bible makes it unlike anything else we could find on a bookshelf. It is a text comprised of sixty-six different, complete books that comprise one complete whole. Those sixty-six books were composed over approximately two-thousand years, utilizing four different languages, with over forty different penmen contributing. It is plainly divided into two distinctive testaments, and it contains at least nine different genres: history, law, poetry, prose, romance, gospels, parables, epistles, and prophecy.
You will not find another book that comes even close to the structure of the Bible.
The Unique Genre Included in the Bible
There is one genre in the Bible that deserves attention all its own as we consider the unique nature of Scripture – prophecy. Harry Rimmer says it best in his book In Seven Wonders of the Wonderful Word: “For not only are all subjects found on its pages that literature knows, but it deals with one subject mortal man cannot attempt to handle. That subject is prophecy. Many and varied have been the efforts used by man to pick up the curtain of eternity and foresee coming events, but all such attempts have failed most miserably. The future is known to God alone, and prophecy is the sphere where He remains in literary supremacy” (32).
However, it is also worth nothing that the very meaning of the word “prophecy” in Scripture is unique. Ask the average person and they will equate “prophecy” with the likes of Nostradamus, fortune tellers, magical hocus-pocus, and maybe even Magic 8-Balls. But such meanings of the word run contrary to the use of the word in Scripture. In the Bible, “prophecy” is simply associated with the proclamation of God’s word. Sometimes this includes foretelling future events, but not always; and when events are foretold, they are not formed from the imagination of man, expressed in vague, uncertain terms. Because prophecy is the proclamation of God’s words, it is dependent upon God speaking. Before the completion of Scripture, that often required God’s audible voice, but after the completion of Scripture, it only requires a perfectly preserved record of what God said, as conveniently found in your perfectly preserved King James Bible.
The Bible has a unique genre that, although abused by charlatans, is intended to be exclusive to the very words of God Himself.
The Unique Classifications in the Bible
Mankind has a seemingly endless system of classifying itself. We divide and subdivide ourselves based on gender, skin-color, ethnicity, nationality, political party, religion, creed, occupation, economic status, and sports team, to name a few. In contrast, the Bible classifies humanity into three simple categories: Jews, Gentiles, and the Church.
For the first portion of human history, there were only Gentiles. No other group existed. But when God decided to separate out a people group for Himself that He might make them into a nation, a classification suddenly arose. Now there were Jews (God’s chosen nation of people) and Gentiles (everyone else). For the majority of history, this was how the people of the world were classified from the vantage point of heaven. However, after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a third classification opened. There were those who only had a physical birth – Jews and Gentiles – but now there was a third group that had both a physical and a spiritual birth – a group called the Church, or the Body of Christ.
Every person who has lived in the past two-thousand plus years since the resurrection of Christ has started with a biological classification – Jew or Gentile – but many have then been plucked from their biological classification and placed into a spiritual classification due to simply placing their trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Mankind like to complicate things, but God’s word is unique because it keeps things simple.
The Unique Narrative of the Bible
Joseph Campbell wrote an insightful book titled The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The premise is that there is a basic narrative pattern that contains seven archetypal characters that forms the foundation of every meaningful story told by every culture all throughout history. He called this phenomena “monomyth.” What Campbell ignores (at least as far as I know) is that if monomyth is a valid premise (and it certainly seems to be), then there had to be a source of the phenomena. In others words, there had to be an original story that so resonated with mankind that we have been telling endless variations of it in all the generations since. I would argue that story is the one found at both and macro and micro view in Scripture. Yes, the sixty-six books of the Bible work together to tell one complete narrative, but that narrative is also found in smaller types and echoes within most (if not all) of the sixty-six books.
The Unique Claims of the Bible
As if everything previously addressed was not enough, it is also noteworthy that the Bible makes unique claims. Although the Church is an important part of Scripture and beloved by God, we are a relatively small part of the story – roughly 25%. We cannot lose sight of the fact the Bible is a Jewish book, and the over-arching narrative is about the past, present, and future of kingdom built by God Himself. Every claim made by the Bible is precious truth and makes it unique, but here are a few relevant to the next post in this series:
Unlike other nations, the nation of Israel and the Jewish people were started by God Himself. No other nation on earth can make that kind of claim.
The kingdom promised to the Jewish people is a literal, physical kingdom that will come to pass because God promised it to them. No other kingdom on earth can make that kind of claim (and expect it to happen).
The words found in the Bible are the exact words of God. He is the author of Scripture; the previously mentioned forty-plus penmen were just that – penmen. They simply recorded what God gave them to record. This is clearly seen in II Timothy 3:16-17, which says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” No other book even attempts to make that kind of claim with a straight face.
The words in the Bible are accurate and trustworthy because God Himself is actively preserving them. This is seen in Psalm 12:6-7, which says, “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” As a side note, to claim that God cannot preserve His word in a language other than Hebrew or Greek is to shortchange God. Do you think He struggles to speak English?
No other book in all of history has the kind of structure, simplicity, and narrative that the Bible does. None even come close! No other book in all of history has made the kind of ambitious claims the Bible has made - and kept them all! No other book in history has been so loved, and so hated. People have risked their lives to read it, and have died rather than forsake it. Dictators, despots, kings, and madmen have try to outlaw it, burn it, and change it, and when they can’t do that, they try to eliminate the people who love it. Enemies of the Bible come and go, yet year after year, generation after generation it remains, drawing humble, believing hearts unto salvation through its pure words of truth.
Regardless of what someone chooses to believe, any honest person would have to acknowledge the Bible is a unique book!
Why Is the King James Unique, and Not the Others?
Some may be wondering why I made a point at the start of this post of identifying the King James Bible as unique among all other books. Wouldn’t that imply that it is unique even from Bible translations like the ESV, CSB, NIV, or any of the other 100+ translations in the English language?
Why yes, that is precisely what I am implying. If you would like to know why I am implying that, please see the section in Vanguard’s navigation bar at the top of the page titled “Why the KJV?” Or, you can use this link to get there right now.
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