Tuesday, February 4, 2020

The High Praise for the Bible by Ezra Dalby


In his Old Testament manual, copyrighted by Heber J. Grant, then-president of the Church, for the Education Department of the Church, Ezra Dalby wrote the following at the end of the study giving praise to the Bible. I would that more Latter-day Saints, many of whom have, at best, a superficial knowledge and underappreciation of this great text had the same attitude as Dalby and others:

O this Bible of ours! this word of God! this book of life! What a wealth of precious truths are hid within its sacred pages! What words can possibly tell the story of its priceless worth! Whose imagination is vivid enough to conceive the comfort it has brought to sorrowing souls and broken hearts! It has been the life and light of the world for five and twenty centuries. Kingdoms have come and gone, empires have flourished and fallen to decay, conquerors, rulers, mighty men of war and peace have played their little part, and then passed from the stage of human activities to be seen no more; but the word of God endures forever. Men have ridiculed it, laughed at it, claimed to have proved it false, condemned it to oblivion, and still it remains the greatest force for righteousness in the world. Not one person in ten thousand knows its matchless worth. Men may search in all their days, read it a thousand times, and still find new truth to gladden and refresh their souls. Truly, it is a comforter in our day of sorrow, a companion in our loneliness, a source of strength in our hour of weakness, a witness for God when doubts assail us.

The Bible is our greatest heritage from the past. It comes to us laden with a thousand blessings, sanctified by countless missions of human souls who have read and loved it from the days of Ezra until now. Jesus knew and drew much of his inspirations from its sacred pages; Paul was familiar with the deeds and words of every character we have studied. Any other single thing we have in the world might be dispensed with, but what would the nations do if this sacred book were lost? Nothing could take its place.

The world is full of people who know little or nothing of the Bible. Let every boy and girl who has taken this course resolve to know the Bible better than any other book. They should learn to love it as their dearest treasure. But this requires study reflection, prayer, and faith. If it is to become a foundation of life, a superficial knowledge of it is not sufficient. Its depths must be sounded, its heights determined, and the extent of it measured. We must see in imagination, at least, the land from which it came, and the character of the people that brought it forth, and understand the age in which they lived. Our hearts must be in the study, and God near to inspire our efforts. With such conditions to help us we can make the book our own. (Ezra C. Dalby, Land and Leaders of Israel: Lessons in the Old Testament [2d ed.; Salt Lake City: Department of Education of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1933], 521-22)