The Bible’s Honesty

◆ Newspaper columnist Sydney J. Harris was so impressed by the utter honesty of the Bible that he wrote in his column: “Most books which propagate a single point of view, which propound a specific faith, do exactly this: They severely ignore all inconsistencies, all weaknesses, all adverse comments made by their enemies. But the Old Testament is seething with evidence of such human flaws and frailties. Consider the bitter books of the prophets, such as Isaiah, which attack the religious leaders, condemn the people for perverting their faith, and warn that the judgment of God will be hard against them. Can anyone imagine the U.S. Republican National Committee including a scathing denunciation by Adlai Stevenson in its campaign literature? Or vice versa, of course. Yet this is exactly what the editors of the Old Testament permitted to become part of Holy Scripture.”—The Telegraph-Journal, December 16, 1959.