The Answerer

Thank you for a great question, and it is a good one.

We have the Bible because it is God’s ‘Workshop Manual’ for humans. (I have a Workshop Manual for my 40 year old car. My car and I are good friends and have been so for 23 years.)

For about 1,400 years after Jesus came back to life only a few people could read and write. The ‘Church’ told the people about God and the Bible was chained to the pulpit so it could not be stolen. They were hand written and cost a heap of money. Later on a man, Mr Gutenberg, invented a printing machine. Before long books were cheap. Today they can be made for just a little money. That’s good and God wants everyone to be able to read His Holy word. It sort of changed the world. Books were cheap. The Bible changes people’s lives for the better if they want to.

So I guess God had these days in mind with 6 billion people on the earth so everyone who wanted to, could read it. It is so very different to AD 60 to AD 80 when The Bible was first completed. You know that to God thousand years is like a day and a day is like a thousand years. His times, and timetable is very different to ours. It makes me think that the ‘Second Coming’ of Jesus (he said he would come back) is delayed until all peoples have heard the “Good News”.

Here in Australia we have, in many ways forgotten the Bible. Sixty years ago almost everybody went to church. There was no TV, little radio, not much crime or violence and in our house we did not bother to lock our houses when we went out. Almost no stealing or violence.

Since then we have got TV, many 24-hour radio stations, plenty of money and plenty of ‘Grog’ (alcohol) and lately a huge drug industry and plenty of violence. There is almost a killing or a murder a day now. How very sad. Drugs particularly are a huge industry. A Christian is often ‘the odd man out’ and a non-drinker is almost rare.

In China, population 1,300,000,000, people are very hungry to have the Bible. There are many missionaries there and the Chinese Government print millions of Bibles every year, although they try to force all Christians to go to the “Three Self Movement” churches. Independent churches are banned - but they still thrive. There are never enough Bibles so Bibles and CDs are taken in there often, legally and illegally.

In China, 50 years ago, 50 people had to share one Bible. They would carefully cut out one page, copy it by hand and pass it on to the next person. They were keen! We are not. Maybe its because we have plenty of money.