I have always believed in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, whereby they have become the expression to man of the Word and Will of God.
—Warren G. Harding (1865–1923) American Head of State, Businessperson
Sink the Bible to the bottom of the sea, and man’s obligation to God would be unchanged. He would have the same path to tread, only his lamp and his guide would be gone; he would have the same voyage to make, only his compass and chart would be overboard.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
I call the book of Job, apart from all theories about it, one of the grandest things ever written with the pen.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The Bible is the great family chronicle of the Jews.
—Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German Poet, Writer
First I shake the whole [Apple] tree, that the ripest might fall. Then I climb the tree and shake each limb, and then each branch and then each twig, and then I look under each leaf.
—Martin Luther (1483–1546) German Protestant Theologian
Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction and the dearer revelation of God’s favor. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
England has two books, one which she has made and one which has made her: Shakespeare and the Bible.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
For eighteen hundred years, though perchance I have no right to say it, the New Testament has been written; yet where is the legislator who has wisdom and practical talent enough to avail himself of the light which it sheds on the science of legislation?
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
When you read God’s Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, “It is talking to me, and about me.”
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
The Good Book—one of the most remarkable euphemisms ever copied.
—Ashley Montagu (1905–1999) British-American Anthropologist
Voltaire spoke of the Bible as a short lived book. He said that within a hundred years it would pass from common use. Not many people read Voltaire today, but his house has been packed with Bibles as a depot of a Bible society.
—Bruce Fairchild Barton (1886–1967) American Author, Advertising Executive, Politician
To say nothing of its holiness or authority, the Bible contains more specimens of genius and taste than any other volume in existence.
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the word of God, because you will have found it the key to your own heart, your own happiness and your own duty.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
I know the Bible is inspired, because it finds me at greater depths of my being than any other book.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
After all, the Bible must be its own argument and defence. The power of it can never be proved unless it is felt. The authority of it can never be supported unless it is manifest. The light of it can never be demonstrated unless it shines.
—Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852–1933) American Author, Educator, Clergyman
Well, Fitz, I looked all through that bible, it was in very fine print and stumbling on that great book Ecclesiastics, read it aloud to all who would listen. Soon I was alone and began cursing the bloody bible because there were no titles in it—although I found the source of practically every good title you ever heard of. But the boys, principally Kipling, had been there before me and swiped all the good ones so I called the book Men Without Women hoping it would have a large sale among the fairies and old Vassar Girls.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
When Thomas Paine showed Benjamin Franklin the manuscript of The Age of Reason, Franklin advised him not to publish it, saying, “The world is bad enough with the Bible; what would it be without it?”
—Unknown
Intense study of the Bible will keep any writer from being vulgar, in point of style.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
The incongruity of the Bible with the age of its birth; its freedom from earthly mixtures; its original, unborrowed, solitary greatness; the suddenness with which it broke forth amidst the general gloom; these, to me, are strong indications of its Divine descent: I cannot reconcile them with a human origin.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatever.
—Isaac Newton (1643–1727) English Physicist, Mathematician, Astronomer, Theologian
I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without a Bible.
—William Lyon Phelps (1865–1943) American Literary Scholar, Academic
It is a belief in the Bible, the fruit of deep meditation, which has served me as the guide of my moral and literary life.—I have found it a capital safely invested, and richly productive of interest.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
A loving trust in the Author of the Bible is the best preparation for a wise and profitable study of the Bible itself.
—Henry Clay Trumbull (1830–1903) American Army Chaplain, Evangelist
The philosophers, as Varro tells us. counted up three hundred and twenty answers to the question, “What is the supreme good?” How needful, then, is a divine revelation, to make plain what is the true end of our being.
—Tryon Edwards (1809–94) American Theologian, Author
The Bible, thoroughly known, is literature in itself—the rarest and richest in all departments of thought and imagination which exists.
—James Anthony Froude (1818–94) British Historian, Novelist, Biographer, Editor
There are no songs comparable to the songs of Zion; no orations equal to those of the prophets; and no politics like those which the Scriptures teach.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men.—It has God for its author; salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter.—It is all pure, all sincere; nothing too much; nothing wanting.
—John Locke (1632–1704) English Philosopher, Physician
We have used the Bible as if it were a mere special constable’s handbook, an opium dose for keeping beasts of burden patient while they are overloaded.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
Philosophical argument, especially that drawn from the vastness of the universe, in comparison with the apparent insignificance of this globe, has sometimes shaken my reason for the faith that is in me; but my heart has always assured and reassured me that the gospel of Jesus Christ must be a divine reality.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
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