CATECHISM of James P. Boyce - THE BIBLE 4
How come it to be written?
God inspired holy men to write it.
One of the distinctive features of the Bible is how it came into being and what it claims about itself. The Bible is said to be given by the Holy Spirit through people. The Bible claims to be the very Word of God.
Many struggle to ascribe such dignity to the Bible. There are many that have sought to discredit it and destroy it. Entire nations have sought to abolish it from their culture. Many have tried to change its meaning and water it down.
And yet, the Bible still stands. God inspired at least 39 different authors to write 66 unique books that provide the means by which God brought salvation and life to the world. In His providential care God raised up individuals at a particular time in a particular place to provide through them His inspired truth. Their personalities and perspectives are clear and obvious and all a part of God's plan.
What an awesome God who sovereignly chose to provide truth through His chosen vessels in such a powerful and beautiful way.
James Petigru Boyce (1827–1888) was a Baptist theologian, pastor, and seminary professor. Boyce was educated at Brown University under Francis Wayland, whose evangelical sermons contributed to Boyce’s conversion, and at Princeton Theological Seminary under Charles Hodge. Boyce became a pastor, then a university professor, and finally the founder and first president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he taught theology from 1859 until his death in 1888. Throughout his ministry Boyce insisted on the importance of theological education for all ministers. In a preface, he described his Abstract of Systematic Theology, published the year before his death, as follows: "This volume is published the rather as a practical text book, for the study of the system of doctrine taught in the Word of God, than as a contribution to theological science."
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