The overall unity of the Bible gives strong support to its divine origin. What makes the issue of unity so significant is the fact that the Bible is such a complex book involving many diverse factors.

The Bible contains an amazing continuity of message in spite of the fact that it contains many complex ingredients. For example:

1. The Bible was written over a 1600 year period, covering 60 generations.

2. Over 40 authors were involved in its final composition, each from a variety of cultural and occupational backgrounds. These included kings, peasants, a fisherman, a tax collector, a rabbi, philosophers, statesmen, scholars, poets, a doctor, a shepherd, and a general.

3. The Bible was written from many different locations, under a variety of conditions, from three different continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe).

4. The Bible was written in three major languages including Hebrew, Greek, and Chaldee. (The first translation of the Hebrew writings into any other language that is recorded was in Chaldee. The original has been lost, but the oldest preserved copy is that which was made at Alexandria in Egypt ( 200 B.C.), and is called the Septuagint.)

5. The Bible covers hundreds of controversial subjects, and involves a variety of literary styles including history, poetry, law, prophecy, and biographies.

Yet, in spite of all this diversity, the Bible is a single, unified book with a single, unfolding theme concerning God's redemptive plan for mankind. A unity of this scope and magnitude gives strong, silent testimony to its divine authorship and design. No other religious work on earth can make such a claim or equal this accomplishment.

Suppose today we were to try an experiment. Suppose we were to make this easy. Suppose we asked ten authors, all from one walk of life, one generation, one place, one time, one mood, one continent, and one language, to comment on just one controversial subject. Do you think they would produce writings and documents that would point to the same conclusion, agree in their opinions, and share the same perspectives? The inevitable result would be a hodgepodge of conflicting viewpoints. Yet the Bible is a harmonious book covering many complex and controversial subjects. This fact points to an all-knowing, all-powerful God behind its construction and composition.

The Bible...

It's worth reading. It's worth meditating upon. It's what God wants us to know.