More and more the eyes of honest-hearted men and women are getting open to see the world's religious confusion and the inconsistency of the religious leaders who say one thing and do another. Thinking that those religionists represent and speak for God, many sincere persons begin to wonder if any truth at all exists on earth. They come to the frame of mind of a man of old who wrote in his disappointment: "I indeed said in my despondency, Every man is a liar." They are discouraged and sigh within themselves. Doubtless, though, when they hear the pure ring of the truth sounding forth from the right source, despite earth's religious jangling, they will recognize it and will gladly accept and hold it.' The vast universe which we see is founded upon truth, and therefore it moves on orderly and undisturbed regardless of the waywardness of men on earth. Its Creator is the great God of truth. He is the One whom the peoples of "Christendom" have all claimed to worship in common, but their centuries-old religious differences, quarrels and errors have brought reproach upon both Him and the written Word which he has given to mankind. The bewildered seekers for truth have in many cases said in hopelessness: "Oh, the Bible is an old fiddle upon which you can play any old tune." If true, that would mean that the Bible's Author was all mixed up and divided against himself. But this could not be so of the God whose visible creation of the universe is marvelously harmonious and not divided against it self. Reasonably, then, his Book, the Bible, could not be all mixed up and allowing for just any interpretation. The mix-up lies with its would-be interpreters, the religious leaders of this so-called "Christendom", who disagree among themselves, and violently so at times. Hence, as the reader approaches the study of the Bible with this book in hand, he is neither being invited nor being led to study God's sacred Word according to the perplexing, mysterious religious errors of "Christendom". He is asked to study according to what God himself has to say in His own Word. "For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace." To arrive at truth we must dismiss religious prejudices from heart and mind. We must let God speak for himself.
     Any other course would lead only to further confusion. What if men, religious and non-religious, have discredited and belittled the Bible and have placed their own or other men's opinions and traditions above the Bible? What if religious leaders have rejected the Bible's straight testimony? What if the highly esteemed clergy of "Christendom" have been found false and misleading? Do these shocking and disappointing facts change the Bible itself or its message of truth? Sound thinking assures us that the true and living God must have given searching mankind some inspired written revelation about Himself. That being so, then let our stand be that of one of the writers of the Bible who said: "What if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? God forbid: yea, LET GOD BE FOUND TRUE, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, and mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment." The writer there being quoted was an honest man who was courageous enough to confess he was an erring sinner and to justify God as being true in every case. He said to God: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight; that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." t If we let God be true, he will instruct us in the truth by his recorded Word.
     To let God be true means to let God have the say as to what is the truth that makes men free. It means to accept his Word, the Bible, as the truth. Hence, in this book, our appeal is to the Bible for truth. Our obligation is to back up what is said herein by quotations from the Bible for proof of truthfulness and reliability. That is the course the inspired writers and faithful characters of the Bible took and recommended. Isaiah, an outstanding prophet, writes to this effect: "When they shall say unto you,`Inquire of those that have familiar spirits, and of the wizards, that whisper, and that mutter:'should not a people inquire of their God? (should we then) in behalf of the living (inquire) of the dead? (HOLD) TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY: if they are not to speak according to this word, in which there is no light." (Isaiah 8:19, 20, Leeser's translation) "To the lawrather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light." (Isaias 8:20, Douay Version translation) There is no light of truth in the teachings of the men of this world who are under the influence of superhuman invisible demons, wicked spirits that are primarily responsible for the darkness of this world. Unless we seek direct to the law and testimony of God's written Word, we shall never attain to the light whose beams show that the morning of a new world of righteousness is at hand.
     Malachi, the very last of the old Hebrew prophets, pointed in the same direction as Isaiah, to the written Word of God. Said he as an inspired spokesman for God: "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, whom I commanded on Horeb for all Israel, statutes and ordinances." (Malachi 3:22, Leeser) The writings of the prophet Moses make up the first five books of the present-day Bible; and thus the last of the old Hebrew prophets declares himself in agreement with the very first of the Bible writers who preceded him by more than a thousand years. All the writers in between Moses and Malachi take the same position; and the prophet Moses has preserved in his record the inspired utterances of all the prophets of God who preceded him. None of the Bible writers, from Malachi back to Moses, make any mention of an oral law or traditional law as existing alongside the written Word of God. Nowhere do they declare that the oral traditions of religious men are on an equality with the recorded Word of God or that the written Word is incomplete without such oral traditions. The prophet Moses earnestly declared against adding to God's given law and testimony the oral traditions of uninspired men. Said Moses: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, nor shall ye diminish aught from it; that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:2, Leeser) God's written Word is pure without such manmade traditions; and those who teach and hold to such traditions and who value them as equal to or even higher than the written Word make liars of themselves. "Every saying of God is purified: he is a shield unto those that put their trust in him. Do not add aught unto his words lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar." - Proverbs 30:5,6, Leeser.
     God caused his prophet Isaiah to speak out in strong words against those who claim to be God's people but who practice hypocrisy by following the precepts and traditions of men rather than the inspired Scriptures. "And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is but the acquired precept of men: therefore, behold, I will do yet farther a marvellous work with this people, doing wonder on wonder; so that the wisdom of their wise men shall be lost, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden." - Isaiah 29:13,14, Leeser.

WRITTEN WORD VERSUS TRADITION

     Because of this very controversy over the traditions and precepts of religious leaders the great Teacher from Nazareth came into conflict with the rabbis of the first century of our common era. Concerning this we read the following record: "Then came to him from Jerusalem scribes and Pharisees, saying: Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answering, said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said: Honour thy father and mother: And: He that shall curse father or mother, let him die the death. But you say: Whosoever shall say to father or mother, The gift whatsoever proceedeth from me, shall profit thee. And he shall not honour his father or his mother: and you have made void the commandment of God for your tradition. Hypocrites, well hath Isaias prophesied of you, saying: This people honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men." (Matthew 15:1-9, Douay)
     Thus the religious traditionalists were proved to be liars and breakers of God's written law; whereas the honest Teacher from Nazareth was letting God be true because he appealed to God's written Word and followed it. This is certain: The old Hebrew Scriptures do not teach us to put faith in the oral traditions of religionists, which traditions men have since recorded and published as being equal to the inspired Scriptures or even superior to the Scriptures where there is a conflict between the two. It is likewise certain that the inspired Scriptures written in Greek during our first century do not teach us to accept and rely upon the traditions and moral precepts of those who claim to be Christian clergy. Hundreds of times those Christian Greek Scriptures quote and refer to God's written Word contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. Referring to those Scriptures, which were the only ones he had in those days, Jesus of Nazareth said in prayer to God for his disciples: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (John 17:17) When he was tempted by the great adversary during his forty days of isolation in the wilderness, he resisted the enemy's attacks by using the written Word of God. He used the written Word to show the adversary to be a liar. In meeting the first temptation he said: "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." In foiling the second temptation he said: "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." In turning back the third temptation he said: "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." In each case he quoted God's Word as written down by the prophet Moses. - Matthew 4:4,7,10 ; Deuteronomy 8:3 ; 6:16 ; 6:13.
     In declaring his mission on earth Jesus, while at the synagogue in Nazareth, called for the Scripture roll of the prophecy of Isaiah and read from its sixty-first chapter, verses one and two. (Luke 4:16-21) He later said: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:17,18) To the religionists who did not believe in him he gave the advice to study God's written Word: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" - John 5:39,46,47, Authorized Version and Douay." Finally, by the aid of a traitor, his religious enemies were able to take him under illegal arrest. Why did he refuse to resist them? Because he gave the truth to God's Word. He said to his disciples as a forewarning of this: "I say unto you, that this which is written must be fulfilled in me, And he was reckoned with transgressors: for that which concerneth me hath fulfilment."(Luke 22 : 37, A.S.V.) Some days later, when explaining his strange experiences to his astonished followers, he again magnified the written Word of God as true by pointing out how it had been fulfilled in him. Of his conversation with two of his disciples we read: "And be ginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Later, in conversation with a larger group of disciples, "he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written." (Luke 24:27, 44-46) In no case did he appeal to the rabbinic schools of teaching with their traditions and precepts of men. He faithfully referred his disciples to God's recorded Word, thereby to glorify God as true, although at the same time it proved the publicly respected religious leaders to be liars.
     The case of Jesus of Nazareth is precedential. It makes certain that men who follow the religious interpretations of religionists and who put human traditions before the sacred written Word will surely oppose and persecute his faithful followers who proclaim the pure Word of God. One of his very own followers uses himself as an illustration to show how a blind adherence to religious traditions and systems leads a person into opposition to those who hold to God's Word as true. Paul, a follower of Jesus, makes this confession: "Ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it: and I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers." - Galatians 1:13,14, A.S.V.
     Paul knew how the religious traditions had for a time blinded him to the truth in the writings of Moses and of the other prophets and the psalms. He also foreknew that men pretending to be Christian clergymen would develop a system of religious precepts and traditions and would thereby hide the truth from the members of the religious organizations. Hence he wrote: "Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy, and vain deceit; according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2 :8, Douay) Paul knew that such traditions would be lies and that they would offer a way of salvation different from what is contained in the inspired written Word of God. The religious people of today whom religious traditions have misled away from the good news as recorded in the sacred Bible do well to consider Paul's counsel, namely: "There be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed . As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." - Galatians 1:7-9.
     Therefore Paul stuck close to the written Word of God when he taught and preached. He also allowed that his hearers should check up on him with their copies of the Bible. In fact, Paul's personal physician, Luke, pronounces those persons noble who did so, rather than denouncing them for reading the Bible to test the truthfulness of an apostle. Luke writes: "The brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea : who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17 : 10, 11). Therefore, when a religious organization forbids its members to read the Bible and requires its members to accept what its clergymen teach without comparing their teachings with the Holy Scriptures, such religious organization belies its claim that it is apostolic.

PETER'S POSITION TOWARD THE WORD

     Paul's fellow apostle, Peter, was of the same mind on the matter of giving first place to the Holy Scriptures. Peter quoted again and again from the Hebrew Scriptures and wrote: "But the word o f the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel hath been preached unto you." - 1 Peter 1:25, Douay.
     Nowhere in Peter's writings or recorded utterances does he lay claim to infallibility or assume any high-sounding religious titles or ask for worshipful honors to be rendered to him. Always he turns his hearers or readers to the changeless Word of God as their shining guide until the day of God's kingdom should dawn. Peter writes: "We have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: understanding this first, that no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation. For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time : but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the holy [spirit]. But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them: bringing upon themselves swift destruction . . . . be mindful of those words which I told you before from the holy prophets, and of your apostles, of the precepts of the Lord and Saviour." - 2 Peter 1:19-21 ; 2:1 ; 3:2, Douay.
     In this book in the hands of the reader we choose therefore to follow the apostolic course. We shall let God be true by turning our readers to His imperishable written Word. Knowing that God by his holy spirit inspired the Holy Scriptures, thus making them reliable, we choose to let HiM do the interpreting by his records of fulfilled prophecy and by the things which he has caused to occur in modern history to fulfill prophecies due to come to pass in our day. "Doth not interpretation belong to God?" Genesis 40:8, Douay) Yes; and His interpretation is the true one. Accordingly this book will be found to be filled with Scripture quotations and references, and it is suggested that our readers look up in their Bibles all the unquoted references and read them therefrom.
     Where our quotations are not otherwise marked, they are made from the most popular edition of the Holy Scriptures, namely, the socalled Common or King James Version of the Bible. But our readers will quickly observe in this book that quotations are made from various editions of the Bible, Jewish, Roman Catholic and others, according as each best makes clear the sense of the original Hebrew and Greek text. The questions at the bottom of the pages are for the reader's self-examination on what he has read in the paragraphs, or for use in Bible study classes with others. The chapters following this one are devoted to a progressive investigation of the primary or essential teachings of the divine Word.