I. There are _four claims_ made on behalf of the Bible by those who believe in it. 1. _Its Genuineness._ By this we mean that we possess the book substantially as it was written. Not that we have an absolutely perfect text, or that the translations represent precisely the original, or that we know just when or by whom all the books were written, but that the work has come into our possession without serious mutilation or interpolation. We can accept it as the Bible. 2. _Its Authenticity._ By this we mean that the book contains the truth. Its records are trustworthy history; its reports of discourses or parables or conversations give the substance of their thoughts; its statements upon every subject can be depended upon as honest and truthful. 3. _Its Inspiration._ By this we mean simply that this book came from God. “Divine inspiration we understand to be an extraordinary divine agency upon teachers while giving instruction, whether oral or written, by which they were taught what and how they should write or speak.” (Dr. Knapp, quoted by McClintock and Strong.) 4. _Its Authority._ By this we mean that the Bible contains God’s law, and was given to us as the standard in life. It contains “the only rule, and the sufficient rule, for our faith and practice.” No doctrine is to be accepted unless it is in accordance with the teachings of the Bible, and no law is binding which conflicts with the higher law of the Scriptures. II. _The Evidences Supporting these Claims._ It is not necessary to present the proofs of each claim apart from the others. Those attesting the genuineness of the Bible will be given with Lesson iv, “The Canon of Scripture;” but the other claims are so linked together that the proofs of one are the proofs of all. If the Bible can be proven _true_, its truth is of such a nature as to show a divine original; and if it proceeds from God, it comes as God’s law. Hence we present together the _Ten Evidences_ of its Authenticity, Inspiration and Authority. 1. _Its Adaptation to Human Need._ (1) We start with the proposition that _there is a God_; a person who governs the universe; not a mere personification of law or force, but a spiritual existence. (2) _God has a Law._ If God has no law for man, then for man there is practically no God. (3) _We have a right to know that law._ What would be thought of a law-maker with absolute power, who concealed his decrees, yet expected his subjects to obey them, and punished them for disobedience? (4) _We find just such a law as we need in the Bible_, and we find it nowhere else, for it is not stamped into our consciousness, nor is it written in nature. (5) We conclude then that _the Bible contains the Divine Revelation_.