ON CHRISTIANITY

DEAR REV. GRAHAM: I get amused when my Christian friends quote the Bible. Don’t they know it’s thousands of years old, and we live in a totally different world today? How can anyone claim it’s of any use to us?

— T.R.S. DEAR T.R.S.: I can’t help but wonder if you have ever actually read the Bible for yourself — and not just a few brief sentences, but some of its larger books (such as one of the Gospels). If you had, I seriously doubt if you would have dismissed the Bible as irrelevant or outdated — not if you had read it with an open mind.

Instead, you would have discovered that the Bible is as timeless as tomorrow — and the reason is because it deals with some of the most profound questions anyone can ever ask. It tells us, for example, who we are and where we came from. It tells us also why we are here and where we are going. It tells us as well how we ought to live, so we can avoid the pitfalls and dangers of thoughtless living. Can you think of anything more important than seeking (and finding) the answers to these questions?

Most of all, however, the Bible points us to Jesus Christ. It tells us who He was and why He came to earth. It tells us too what difference He can make in our lives, as we open our minds and hearts to His transforming power. All this is possible because He alone was God in human flesh, sent from Heaven to reconcile us to God.

Don’t let the fog of doubt cloud your mind any longer. Instead, get a modern translation of the Bible and ask God to speak to you through its pages (I suggest beginning with the Gospel of John). Jesus said, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). billygraham.org