What the Bible Teaches

by

RA Torrey

TABLE OF CONTENTS AND PREFACE

Book 1: What the Bible Teaches about God

1. God as Spirit — God is spirit — the manifestation of Spirit in visible form — God manifested in visible form — what was seen in these manifestations of God?
2. The Unity of God — God's unity — the nature of the divine unity.
3. The Eternity of God — God is eternal — God is unchangeable — God is self-existent.
4. The Omnipresence of God — God is everywhere — God is not everywhere in the same sense.
5. The Personality of God — God is a living God — God's relation to human affairs — God as Creator — God's present relation to the world He has created — the extent of God's care for His creatures.
6. The Omnipotence of God — God can do all things — the exercise of God's omnipotence is limited by His own will.
7. The Omniscience of God — God is omniscient — what God knows.
8. The Holiness of God — God is absolutely holy — what does holy mean? — how is the holiness of God manifested? — practical inferences from the holiness of God.
9. The Love of God — God is love — who does God love — how does the love of God manifest itself?.
10. The Righteousness or Justice of God — God is righteous — what is it to be righteous or just? — how is the righteousness of God manifested?
11. The Mercy or Loving-kindness of God — God is merciful — toward whom is the mercy of God manifested? — how is the mercy of God manifested?
12. The Faithfulness of God — God is faithful — what does faithful mean? — the extent of God's faithfulness — how is the faithfulness of God manifested?

Book 2: What the Bible Teaches about Jesus Christ

1. The Deity of Jesus Christ — Divine names of Jesus — divine attributes of Jesus — divine offices of Jesus — statements in the Old Testament that are made distinctly of Jehovah, God, taken in the New Testament to refer to Jesus Christ — the way the names God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son are coupled together — divine worship to be given to Jesus Christ.
2. The Subordination of the Son to the Father — The Father is greater than Jesus the Son — the Son can do nothing independently of the Father — Christ shall ultimately deliver up His kingdom to the Father — God the Father, not Jesus the Son, the ultimate goal — God the Father is Jesus's God — Jesus is, and eternally shall be, subordinated to God the Father.
3. The Human Nature of Jesus Christ — Human names of Jesus — human physical nature — human parent-age — human limitations — human relation to God — human in all things.
4. The Character of Jesus Christ — The holiness of Jesus Christ — the love of Jesus Christ to God the Father — the love of Jesus Christ to men — Jesus Christ's love for souls — the compassion of Jesus Christ — the prayerfulness of Jesus Christ — the meekness of Jesus Christ — the humility of Jesus Christ.
5. The Death of Jesus Christ —The importance of His death — the purpose of His death — who did Christ die for? — the results of Christ's death.
6. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ — The fact of the resurrection — the importance of the resurrection — the manner of the resurrection — the results of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
7. The Ascension or Exaltation of Jesus Christ — The fact of the ascension — the manner of the ascension or exaltation of Jesus Christ — the purpose of the exaltation of Jesus Christ — the results of the exaltation of Jesus Christ.
8. The Coming Again of Jesus Christ — The fact of His coming again — the importance of the doctrine of the coming again of Jesus Christ — the manner of Christ's coming again — the purposes of Christ's coming again — the results of Christ's coming again — the time of Christ's coming again.

Book 3: What the Bible Teaches about the Holy Spirit

1. The Personality of the Holy Spirit — The importance of the doctrine — the personality of the Holy Spirit.
2. The Deity of the Holy Spirit — Divine attributes — divine works — statements that refer to the Lord or Jehovah in the Old Testament applied to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament — the way the name of the Holy Spirit is coupled with that of God — the divine name applied to the Holy Spirit.
3. The Distinction of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son — A clear distinction drawn between the Holy Spirit and the Father and the Son — is the doctrine of the trinity in the Bible?
4. The Subordination of the Spirit to the Father and the Son
5. The Names of the Holy Spirit
6. The Work of the Holy Spirit — The work of the Spirit in the universe — the work of the Spirit in humans in general — the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
7. Baptism with the Holy Spirit — What is the baptism with the Holy Spirit? — results of baptism with the Holy Spirit — the necessity of baptism with the Holy Spirit — Whom is baptism with the Holy Spirit for? — the refilling with the Holy Spirit — how to obtain baptism with the Holy Spirit.
8. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Prophets and Apostles — The distinctive character of the work of the Holy Spirit in prophets and apostles — results of the work of the Holy Spirit in prophets and apostles.
9. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ — How did the Holy Spirit work in Jesus Christ? — practical inferences from the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ.

Book 4: What the Bible Teaches about Man

1. Man's Original Condition — Man created in the image of God — the original intellectual and moral condition of man.
2. The Fall — The, fact of the Fall of humanity — the result of the Fall.
3. The Present Standing Before God of Men Outside Redemption The present standing before God of men outside of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus — The present condition before God of men outside of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
4. The Future Destiny of Those Who Reject Redemption — The future destiny of those who do not believe Jesus is the Son of God — the future destiny of those who have done ill — the future destiny of the factious and disobedient — the future destiny of those who do not know God nor obey the Gospel — the future destiny of those who are not found written in the book of life — the future destiny of those who reject Christ by rejecting His brethren — the future destiny of the fearful and unbelieving — Questions concerning the future destiny of those who reject Christ.
5. Justification — What does "justify" mean? — how are people justified? — the extent of justification — the time of justification — the results of justification.
6. The New Birth — What is the new birth? — the results of the new birth — the necessity of the new birth — the manner of the new birth.
7. Adoption — What is adoption? — the origin and grounds of adoption — who receives the grace of adoption? — when does adoption occur? — the proof of our adoption — the results of adoption.
8. Sanctification — What does "sanctification" mean? — how are people sanctified? — when does sanctification take place? — the results of sanctification.
9. Repentance — The importance of repentance — what is repentance? — how repentance is manifested — the results of repentance — how repentance is effected.
10. Faith — What is faith? — saving faith — how faith is manifested — the results of faith — how to get faith — the relation of faith to repentance.
11. Love to God — Its importance — how love to God is manifested — results of love to God under both covenants — how to love God.
12. Love to Christ — Its importance — How love to Christ is manifested — results of love to Christ — how can we attain love to Christ?
13. Love to Man — What is love? — the objects of Christian love — how should we love?-how love to man is manifested — the importance of love to man — the blessings that result from love to man — how love to man is obtained.
14. Prayer — Who can pray so that God will hear? — who should we pray to? — who should we pray for? — when should we pray? — where should we pray? — what should we pray for? — how should we pray? — why many prayers are not answered — the result of prayer.
15. Thanksgiving — The duty of giving thanks — who should we give thanks to? — who can give acceptable thanks? — what should we give thanks for? — when should we give thanks? — how to give thanks.
16. Worship — What is worship? — who should we worship? — the duty of worship — -where should we worship? — how should we worship? — the results of true worship.
17. The Believer's Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life — How the believer in Christ may know that he has eternal life — how to obtain assurance.
18. The Furore Destiny of Believers — "He that doeth the will of God abideth forever" — never see death — characteristics of the resurrection body — caught up to meet the Lord in the air — where shall we be? — beholding the glory of the Lord — the glory of the Lord Jesus is ours also — promises about the kingdom — promises to the overcomer.

Book 5: What the Bible Teaches about Angels

1. Angels: Their Nature, Position, Number, and Abode — Their nature and position — the number of the angels — the abode of the angels.
2. The Work of Angels — Their work on behalf of the heirs of salvation — the law given through angels — their presence with the Lord Jesus at His coming — the executioners of God's wrath toward the wicked.

Book 6: What the Bible Teaches about the Devil

1. The Devil: His Existence, Nature, Position, and Character — The existence of the devil, or Satan — the position and nature of Satan — Satan's power — Satan's cunning — Satan's wickedness — His cowardice.
2. Ezekiel 28 — To whom does the passage refer? — Satan's original condition — the result of Satan's pride.
3. The Abode and Work of Satan — The abode of Satan — the work of Satan.
4. Our Duty Towards Satan, and His Destiny Our duty regarding Satan — Satan's destiny.

PREFACE

THIS BOOK REPRESENTS years of study. Its contents have been tested again and again in the classroom — in classes composed, in some instances, of representatives of thirty-six denominations. However, it is not supposed for a moment that it exhausts all that the Bible has to say on the topics treated, much less that it takes up and exhausts every topic dealt with in the Bible.
The Bible is the one inexhaustible book. This work is simply an attempt at a careful, unbiased, systematic, thorough-going, inductive study and statement of biblical truth. The method of the book is rigidly inductive. The material contained in the Bible is brought together, carefully scrutinized, and then stated in the most exact terms possible. Exactness of statement is attempted first in every instance, then clearness of statement. Beauty and impressiveness must always yield to precision and clarity. The scripture from which a proposition is deduced is always given before the proposition. The methods of modern science are applied to Bible study — thorough analysis followed by careful synthesis. Though no Hebrew or Greek words appear in the work, it is based on a careful study of the original text as decided by the best textual critics (especially Tischendorf and Westcott and Hort in the New Testament, though other editors, and the manuscripts themselves have been considered in some instances).
Wherever possible the text of the Authorized Version has been given. In many instances this was impossible, as the Revised Version is manifestly much more exact. Had it appeared that the Revised Version would soon obtain that general acceptance and use which it seems to so richly deserve, the author would have adopted it throughout, except in those rare instances where it is manifestly in error. In a few instances, it was necessary to adopt renderings differing from both the Authorized Version and the Revised Version, and from the American Appendix to the Revised Version.
Some of the propositions in this book may appear new and even startling to many, but the author believes that they fairly and exactly state the contents of the passages upon which they are based.
The author hopes that the book will prove of interest and help, both to those who believe in the divine origin of the Bible and to those who do not.
One of the most satisfactory ways of determining whether the Bible is of divine origin is by finding out precisely what it teaches and whether there is one deep philosophy running through the book composed by multiple and various human authors. The writer must confess that his own conviction is that there was one Author behind the many writers, and that that one Author was God.
Just the suggestion of a few ways in which this book can be used with profit: its most apparent use is as a textbook in Bible Theology, its arrangement by sections and propositions having had such use in mind. The book can also be used in family devotions by those who desire something more orderly, systematic, and thorough than the methods usually employed in this important, but neglected, department of Christian culture.
The author hopes that it may be helpful also in private devotional study.
While the book aims to be scientific, it is not cold. Too much devotional study of the Bible is haphazard. By the use of this book, it can be made orderly, thorough, and progressive.
The author has received numerous letters from groups of believers where there were no churches and from other groups in various churches, asking for a definite outline of Bible study, and trusts that this book may be helpful in many such cases. Why, for example, could not groups of Christians who are shut out from ordinary church privileges gather together and study the Bible itself with the help of this book?
In all study using What the Bible Teaches, the scriptures given should first be pondered carefully; the reader should then put his or her own understanding of the contents of those scriptures, with respect to the subject in hand, into his or her own language before considering the author's proposition. In many instances, the reader will thus be able to improve upon the author's statement; if not, he or she will understand it and appreciate it all the more for having done a little thinking.