The Bible – Book of Books
Nagano National College of Technology
YOSHINO Naoki“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” Have you ever heard
these words? The Bible begins with these unbelievable words. Here, I’d like to ask you one
question. “How much do you know about this amazing book?” I’m sure that many of you
will say to me, “Oh, I know. It’s the sacred book of Christianity.” But do you know exactly
what it tells us? Many of you may never have heard what I am going to tell you, but today,
please let me introduce this astonishing book to you.
The Bible is unique and one of a kind. It is a best‐seller world wide. For 2,000years, standing up to every persecution, it has been read by many, many people. By theyear 2007, it had been translated into 2,377 languages. In the year 2000 alone, about 635
million Bibles were handed out or sold throughout the world. The 39 books of the Old
Testament and 27 books of the New Testament were written individually by more than 40
authors over a period of 1,500 years. However, there is a great harmony and unity among
those 66 books in the Bible. One of the main themes of the Bible is about the coming
messiah who actually came into the world in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, who waseventually called Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Messiah.
Moreover, it is hard to imagine how much influence the Bible has had on people and thehistory of human beings. This is what some famous people have said about it.
“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviorof the world is communicated to us through this book.” Who said that? One of thebest‐known American presidents. Yes, Abraham Lincoln.
Napoleon Bonaparte once said “The Bible is no mere book, but a living creature, with apower that conquers all that oppose it.” Powerful words about a powerful book.
The third testimony is from a person who led his people peacefully and won
independence for his country, once a British colony. Yes, it was Mahatma Gandhi. He
believed in another religion, but he praised the Bible, saying, “The book which influenced
my life the deepest is the Bible.”
The Bible is not merely a book of religion or morality. It is endorsed by historicalfacts and hundreds of fulfilled prophecies as well as reliable testimonies of contemporariesof Jesus Christ. Therefore I believe that it is safe to say that the Bible gives us the hope ofsalvation through Jesus Christ, in other words, it gives us the purpose to live and makes
our lives meaningful here and forever.

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I myself was also influenced and saved by this wonderful book of wisdom. WhenI was in the second year of junior high school, there came a time when I could not go toschool any more. My whole mind and body simply refused to go. I knew people aroundme were worried about me. Still, I couldn’t go. I had been trapped in my own small world
for a long time. I heard a voice from nowhere, all the time, saying, “When are you goingback to school again?” After being absent from school for almost a year, I was quite afraidof the reaction from my classmates when I returned. It was at this time that I came face toface one particular verse from the Bible. It was: “Don’t be afraid of them or their words.”
Those words gave me strength and at long last I was able to go to school again, which
nobody thought would happen.
Without such support from the Bible, I would not be standing here today making
this speech. For me, the Bible is the powerful word of God who is living and working thisvery moment. I would like to say to everyone, especially those who are in trouble, “please
read the Bible.” The Bible has the fundamental solution for all problems if you only taketime and look inside. I truly recommend it to you.
Thank you for listening.

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