“Regulative Worship” in Baptist Thought

Some random quotations on “the Regulative Principle” from Baptists

First London Confession (1644/1646)

Article 7: “The Rule of this Knowledge, Faith, and Obedience, concerning the worship and service of God, and all other Christian duties, is not man’s inventions, opinions, devices, laws, constitutions, or traditions, unwritten whatsoever but only the word of God contained in the Canonical Scriptures.” (John 5:39; 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Col. 21:18, 23; Matt. 15:9)

Article 8: “The rule of this knowledge, faith, and obedience, concerning the worship of God, in which is contained the whole duty of man, is (not men’s laws, or unwritten traditions, but) only the word of God contained [viz., written] in the holy Scriptures; in which is plainly recorded whatsoever is needful for us to know, believe, and practice; which are the only rule of holiness and obedience for all saints, at all times, in all places to be observed.” (Col. 2:23; Matt 15:6,9; John 5:39, 2 Tim. 3:15,16,17; Isa. 8:20; Gal. 1:8,9; Acts 3:22,23)

An Orthodox Creed (1679)

Article 40: “The Light of Nature sheweth there is a God, who hath a Sovereignty over all, but the holy Scripture hath fully revealed it; as also that all Men should worship him according to God’s own Institution and Appointment. And hath limited us, by his own revealed Will, that he may not be worshipped according to the Imaginations and Devices of Men, or the Suggestions of Satan, under any visible Representations whatsoever, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scriptures…” (Rom. 1.19, 20. & 2.15; I Chr. 16.29; Psalm 95.6, 7, 8 & 99.7 & 99.5; Deut. 8.6; Psalm 103.7 & 14.6; Mark 7.7; Psalm 99.8, 9 & 106.29, 39; John 4.24; Rev. 9.20)

Second London Confession (1677/1689)

Chapter 22” “…the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.” (Texts cited in relation to this article of faith are Jeremiah 10:7; Mark 12:33; Deuteronomy 12:32; and Exodus 20:4–6)

John Spilsbery (1593–1668)

“…whatsoever is done in the worship of God, in obedience to Christ, without His command, or apparent example approved of by Christ, is of man, as a voluntary will-worship, after the commandments and doctrines of man; the which Christ testifies against as a vain thing…The holy Scripture is the only place where any ordinance of God in the case aforesaid is to be found, they being the fountain-head, containing all the instituted Rules of both of Church and ordinances.” (Spilsbery, A Treatise Concerning the Lawfull Subject of Baptisme, 1643/1652)

Hercules Collins (b.?-d. 1702)

“It is sufficient that the Divine Oracles commands the baptizing of Believers, unless we will make ourselves wiser than what is written. Nadab and Abihu were not forbidden to offer strange Fire, yet for doing so they incurred God’s Wrath, because they were commanded to take Fire from the Altar.” (Matt. 28.18-19; Mark 16.16; Lev 9.24, 10.16) (An Orthodox Catechism, 1680)

William Kiffin (1616–1701)

“...no part of God’s law, or worship, whether we respect the manner or form, or the matter and substance thereof, is to be altered without the express order and direction of GOD himself...where a rule and express law is prescribed to men, that very prescription is an express prohibition of the contrary.” (Kiffin, A Sober Discourse of Right to Church Communion, 1681)

John Gill (1697–1771)

“…for an act of religious worship there must be a command of God. God is a jealous God, and will not suffer anything to be admitted into the worship of him, but what is according to his word and will; if not commanded by him, he may justly say, Who hath required this at your hands?” (Gill, A Body of Practical Divinity: Or a System of Practical Truths, Deduced from the Sacred Scriptures, 1796, p. 899)

John Fawcett (1739–1817)

“No acts of worship can properly be called holy, but such as the Almighty has enjoined. No man, nor any body of men have any authority to invent rites and ceremonies of worship; to change the ordinances which he has established; or to invent new ones. This appears to us so clear a case, that we need not to enlarge upon it.The divine Word is the only safe directory in what relates to his own immediate service. The question is not what we may think becoming, decent or proper, but what our gracious Master has authorized as such. In matters of religion, nothing bears the stamp of holiness but what God has ordained.” (Fawcett, Sermon, The Holiness Which Becometh the House of the Lord, April 20, 1808, p. 25)

John Leadley Dagg (1794-1884)

 “It is our duty to maintain the ordinances of Christ, and the church order which he has instituted, in strict and scrupulous conformity to Holy Scriptures…When the finger of God points out the way, no place is left to us for human preferences.” (Dagg, “Duty of Baptists,” in Manual of Theology, Volumes 1-2, 1859, p. 300)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892)

“‘Thus says the Lord’ is the only authority in God’s Church. When the tabernacle was pitched in the wilderness, what was the authority for its length and breadth? Why was the altar of incense to be placed here, and the brazen laver there? Why so many lambs or bullocks to be offered on a certain day? Why must the Passover be roasted whole and not boiled? Simply and only because God had shown all these things to Moses on the holy mount; and thus had Jehovah spoken, ‘Look that you make them after their pattern, which was shown you on the mount.’

“It is even so in the Church at the present day; true servants of God demand to see for all church ordinances and doctrines, the express authority of the Church’s only Teacher and Lord.” (Sermon, Sunday Morning, September 25, 1864, “Thus says the Lord”—or, The Book of Common Prayer Weighed in the Balances of the Sanctuary)

James Madison Pendleton (1811-1891)

It may be laid down as a principle of common sense which commends itself to every unprejudiced mind that a commission to do a thing or things authorizes only the doing of the thing or things specified in it. The doing of all other things is virtually forbidden. There is a maxim of law: Expressio unius est exclusio alterius.* It must be so; for otherwise there could be no definiteness in contracts between men, and no precision in either the enactments of legislative bodies or in the decrees of courts of justice. This maxim may be illustrated in a thousand ways. Numerous scriptural illustrations are at hand; I will name a few. God commanded Noah to build an ark of gopher-wood. He assigns no reason why gopher-wood should be used. The command, however, is positive, and it forbids the use of any other kind of wood for that purpose…The institution of the passover furnishes a striking illustration, or rather a series of illustrations. A lamb was to be killed—not a heifer; it was to be of the first year—not of the second or third; a male—not a female; without blemish—not with blemish; on the fourteenth day of the month— not on some other day; the blood to be applied to the door-posts and lintels—not elsewhere.” (Distinctive Principles of Baptists, pp. 18-19 1882)

* “The expression of one thing is the exclusion of another.”

David Wise (date unknown)

“The church is to observe and uphold the commandments of Jesus Christ. We have not been given any authority to add to or take away from the commandments of Jesus Christ for our conduct in the Church, but rather our commission is to observe and keep the commandments of Jesus Christ and the ordinances of the Church in the exact original manner that they were given and prescribed by Jesus Christ.”

The Theology Committee of the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America (2001)

“We affirm that God regulates his worship by insisting upon the non-negotiable elements of worship. We deny that it is ever right to admit into the public worship of God elements because he has not forbidden them. Worship is always a matter of what God commands, never a matter of what he has not condemned. Worship is always a matter of what we must do, never a matter of what we may do.”

Baptisms, some so-called

Anabaptism: belief in and practice of rebaptism;[i] that is, rejection of a prior so-called baptism as null and void

Antipaedobaptism: the opposition to the baptism of infants

Baptism: the observance of the New Testament rite of immersion in water of believers in Jesus Christ (but practiced by pouring or sprinkling in some churches, and on infants in some churches)

Catabaptism: the opposition to baptism; sometimes applied to those who oppose the baptism of infants

Credo-baptism: believers’ baptism; a statement of belief in Jesus Christ is necessary before one is baptized

Certo-baptism: “the baptism of someone whose bona fides have been underwritten officially by a local church”

Exousi-baptism: the belief in and practice of valid baptism only by those who have authority delegated to perform the act

Paedobaptism: the practice of immersing, sprinkling, or pouring water on infants (aka infant baptism)

Se-baptism: the baptism of one’s own self; the practice of baptizing oneself (aka self-baptism)

---

[i] Though the term is in widespread use, most “Anabaptists” do not believe their practice is “Anabaptism.” For example Balthasar Hubmaier in his Short Apology, “I have never taught Anabaptism. I know of none, except that in Acts xix. But the right baptism of Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ, and a misuse of the high name of God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, altogether opposed to the institution of Christ and to the customs of the apostles.”

20 Tips on Commentaries, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• 20 Tips on How to Use Bible Commentaries -- "If you use commentaries too early, they will take over and suppress your own thought."
• A Word of Empathy, Warning, and Counsel for “Narrow” Complementarians --"If the narrow camp is driven by a biblicist impulse, the “broad” camp is driven by a theological impulse."
• Beautiful Poetry Anthologies for Children -- "...here is a list of my favorite poetry anthologies to use with children."
• Beware of the Counsel of Gamaliel -- "Gamaliel is often preferred above Paul. If the apostle clearly condemns something, his word is pushed aside in favour of Gamaliel’s."
• Give Me Doctrine or Give Me Death -- "Real freedom is seeing clearly."
• Greek New Testament Vocabulary Lists -- "According to a number of studies, a person needs to know 95% of the words in order to deduce the meaning of the others from the context."
• Hapax Legomena-- "...only 400 are, strictly, 'hapax legomena'..."
• Hosius on the Anabaptists -- "While some of the quotes given by Baptist authors appear to derive from original translations of Hosius' Latin, many are taken from Shacklock's translation."
• Problems With Peshitta Primacy -- "For those of you who are not familiar with Peshitta Primacy, it is the belief that the Syriac Peshitta (the Syriac Bible) is the original text of the New Testament."
• The General Structure of a Worship Service -- "The services of the church are of two kinds: (1) 'the Word-of-God Service', the main service of the Lord's Day, comprised of praise, prayer, the reading of Scripture, preaching, and the blessing; and (2) 'the Service of the Upper Room', or Lord's Supper..."
• The Reading of Holy Scripture -- "The first recorded instance of Scripture being read in a public assembly is to be found in Exodus 24:7."
• The Story of Ἀρσενοκοίτης according to BDAG -- "If you love God as he truly is and your neighbors as they truly are before God, you won’t rejoice in the sin that is harming those neighbors. If you wish for a good society protected by a strong moral canopy, you will love your neighbor enough to humbly call him to repentance."
• The Truth about Men, Women, and Sex -- "Saying that it’s all on men to change their behavior may signal progressive virtue online, but it will do little to diminish real-life grief. The realities of sexual exchange will not disappear and cannot be eviscerated by fiat or reformed by speech rules. And eventually, the social media shaming will come to an end. Then what?"
• Tracing the Cardinal Hosius “Baptist” Quote -- "This is probably where the quote came from."
• Trusted Voices on Translations -- "...a sampling of testimonies from some of these trusted voices is reprinted here for your prayerful consideration."
• What Erasmus Thought of the First of Luther’s 95 Theses -- "The first of Luther’s 95 Theses was basically a critique of Jerome’s translation of “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”"

Baptist and Unashamed

Ben Stratton:

I have yet to find a “baptist” church that is ashamed of the “Baptist” label that is strong on Baptist distinctives. Most are as weak as dishwater when it comes to their doctrine and ecclesiology. How is it not dishonest and unethical to have the attitude “We’re a Baptist church, just don’t tell anybody??” If you hold to Baptist doctrine, then be proud to hold to these Biblical standards. If you don’t, then disassociate with the Baptists altogether.

(Posted as a comment to Baptist and Unashamed)

He Giveth More Grace

1. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

2. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

3. Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

4. His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

By Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932)
Find-A-Grave Memorial

King James, T. M. Elliott, and T. D. Talmage

My chief interest in church history is on the Baptist variety, even in research on the Bible. The following position on the King James Bible by a Methodist minister was quite surprising to me (but that may just be my lack of knowledge of Methodist history; and it is 1950). Thomas McSwain Elliott says he accepts “the Bible, the King James Version, as God’s divinely-inspired written word to me and all mankind.” He also called the King James Version “...the Bible that God inspired holy men to write.” (The Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 27, 1950, p. 9)

The Atlanta (Georgia) Constitution, Saturday, August 12, 1950, p. 13 

[The Journal of the North Carolina Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (November 16-20, 1921, p. 57; See also page 88) indicates Elliott’s position was probably not unusual among Methodists of the time: “[6] Resolved, That the North Carolina Conference hereby memorialize our General Conference to reaffirm our faith and allegiance in the ‘King James’ version of the Bible as the standard of our church and that we refuse to indorse any other version for the use of our church in its literature or services. (Signed)…”]

I also happened across this piece where T. DeWitt Talmage “took an oath in the pulpit, on the King James Bible, that he would never use the revised Testament.”

“News of the Week,” Springville Journal (Springville, New York) Saturday, June 18, 1881, p. 4

Correction; Apologies to Bruce Metzger

An erroneous statement in a previous blog post HERE has been called to my attention, where I state “...Bruce Metzger claimed that the pericope was not referenced by any church father prior to the 12th century!” Actually what he says is that it was not so referenced by any Greek church father (A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., pages 187-88):

“In the East the passage is absent from the oldest form of the Syriac version (syr^c.s and the best manuscripts of syr^p), as well as from the Sahidic and the sub-Achmimic versions and the older Bohairic manuscripts. Some Armenian manuscripts and the Old Georgian version omit it. In the West the passage is absent from the Gothic version and from several Old Latin manuscripts (it^a.l.q). No Greek Church Father prior to Euthymius Zigabenus (twelfth century) comments on the passage, and Euthymius declares that the accurate copies of the Gospel do not contain it.”

Book Review: The King James Bible Word Book

The King James Bible Word Book: A Contemporary Dictionary of Curious and Archaic Words Found in the King James Version of the Bible, Ronald F. Bridges and Luther Allan Weigle. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994.

This is an older book, but it can readily be purchased new or used at Amazon, Abe Books, Ebay, and so on. It is ostensibly a book to help the reader better understand the difficult words of the King James Bible, and may likely be purchased for that reason. Ostensibly. Remember that.

The King James Bible Word Book is advertised and described thusly at Amazon:

“English has changed dramatically since the introduction of the King James Bible. The original words often fail to make sense but the beauty of the poetic style reaffirms your love for the King James Bible. This Book will help you make sense of the often archaic language. A delightful and authoritative guide, this source book illuminates the 1611 text for the 1990’s readers. Fascinating, brief articles explain over 800 terms of the KJV that have either fallen into disuse or have taken on a dramatically different meaning. Includes a comprehensive index of over 2600 entries.”

This book was first published in 1960 under the title The Bible Word Book: Concerning Obsolete or Archaic Words in the King James Version of the Bible by Thomas Nelson & Sons. The “Publisher’s Preface” added in 1994 claims “Readers of the King James Version...need an authoritative guide that will help them make proper sense of the words and phrases that are rarely or never used by speakers of English today, as well as alert them to expressions whose common meanings today differ from the those of the past.” This redirects the purpose from the original intent, which is noticeable in the original “Authors’ Preface.”  The Bible Word Book was not created as a KJV tool, but was part of the published promotion for the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV). The publisher, Thomas Nelson & Sons, was also the publisher of the RSV and co-author Luther A. Weigle was chairman of the committee that created it. (I have not found biographical information on his collaborator, Ronald F. Bridges.) It became more obvious as I began to scan the definitions in The King James Bible Word Book. I noticed with almost every word listed there was a reference to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The authors prefer recommending the RSV over actually helping the KJV reader. Over and over the book reinforces that the King James is archaic – even wrong – and readers are steered to the RSV. If folks wanted the RSV words, they would buy the RSV and wouldn’t need this book!

If you are interested in using the KJV and studying its words, don’t waste your money on this book. If you really must see it, the 1960 edition can be seen “Full view” at HathiTrust. According to Bible Researcher.com Martin H. Manser’s I Never Knew that Was in the Bible! is a revision of The King James Bible Word Book. Nelson’s King James Bible Word Book of April 2002 by Martin Manser may be an update as well.

Other and better source books are available for those who really want to study the King James words, such as Archaic Words and the Authorized Version by Laurence M. Vance. According to Vance “This [648 page] book is unique in that it seeks neither to criticize nor correct the text of the Authorized Version.” For a small and inexpensive book, with brief definitions (much like a thesaurus), there is 4,114 Definitions from the Defined King James Bible by D. A. Waite, Jr. It is paperback and only 86 pages and could be carried in or with one’s Bible if the purchaser so desired. A King James Dictionary: a Resource for Understanding the Language of the King James Bible by Philip P. Kapusta takes a neutral position. That is, unlike Vance’s book, it is simply a dictionary and is not advocating for or against the primacy of the KJV – “...our purpose is to help those who, after four-hundred years, still desire to make the King James Bible a part of their regular reading (p. 10, “Introduction”). The “Look Inside” feature at Amazon gives a glance at its guts. What can be seen in the preview are simple straightforward definitions.

Thumbs down on The King James Bible Word Book by Bridges and Weigle!

DeWitt Talmage and King James-Onlyism

In two previous posts – King James in The Menace of Modernism and KJV-Only predates Wilkinson – I have addressed the common assertion of the KJV-Discreditors[i] that “King James Onlyism” originated in 1930 with Seventh-day Adventist Benjamin Wilkinson. While conducting newspaper searches I came upon an 1881 sermon or lecture by “the Greatly Beloved Divine” Thomas DeWitt Talmage. Taking the text of 2 Samuel 6:6-7, Talmage spoke on “The New Revision. A Mutilation and a Profanation,” (“The New Revision. A Mutilation and a Profanation—Talmage’s Sermon,” The North Alabamian, Tuscumbia, Alabama, Friday, June 24, 1881, p. 4).[i]

Here Talmage is a clear proponent of the King James Bible and an opponent of the new Revised Version New Testament. He says, “I am willing to take it as a commentary, and to stand it respectfully on my book shelf behind other human opinions of the word of God. But to put it upon my private stand, or in my family room, or on my pulpit as a substitute for the King James translation, I never will. I put my hand on the old book and take the oath of allegiance. So help me God!” Further he states, “...this revision...is pedantic and capricious and false to the principles which they declared at the outset would guide them—namely, that they would make no unnecessary change…The work is a literary botch, which will never be adopted if all the people fearless of criticism and rebuke speak out their real sentiments.” He rejected the new version:

• for its amazing triviality. (By this he seems to mean trivial changes that require as much or more explanation as what it replaced. “Instead of ‘Show me a penny,’ ‘Show me a denarius.)
• because it comes at the most inopportune date. (“While the forces of heaven and hell are in hand-to-hand fight it is asked that we stop to discuss whether our weapons might not be hammered into a little better shape...”)
• for it shakes the faith of many in the truth of the Bible. (“The greatest work of the last two hundred years has been to have the people understand that this was the word of God, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”)
• because it opens the door to revisions innumerable. (“Hence we shall have another revision to revise this, and another revision to revise that…”)

While this may stop a little short of some types of “King James-Onlyism,” such statements by any regular Joe would get him labeled KJVO! I decided to dig a little further to see what I might find from Talmage.

Talmage held the doctrine of preservation, and seems to apply it to the King James Bible.

“…the Bible in its present shape has been so miraculously preserved.”[ii]

“The Bible is not only divinely inspired, but it is divinely protected in its present shape. You could as easily, without detection, take from the writings of Shakespeare ‘Hamlet,” and institute in place thereof Alexander Smith’s drama, as at any time during the last fifteen hundred years a man could have made any important change in the Bible without immediate detection. If there had been an element of weakness, or of deception, or of disintegration the Book would long ago have fallen to pieces. If there had been one loose brick or cracked casement in this castellated truth, surely the bombardment of eight centuries would have discovered and broken through that imperfection. The fact that the Bible stands intact, notwithstanding all the furious assaults on all sides upon it, is proof to me that it is a miracle, and every miracle is of God.”[iii]

Talmage applies “perfect Bible” to the King James translation.

“God says that the Bible is true—it is all true. Herbert Spencer laughs. John Stuart Mill laughs. All great German universities laugh. Harvard laughs—softly! A great many of the learned institutions of this country, with long rows of professors seated on the fence between Christianity and infidelity, laugh softly...I take up this Book of King James’s translation. I consider it a perfect Bible, but here are skeptics who want it torn to pieces, and now with this Bible in my hand, let me tear out all those portions which the skepticism of this day demands shall be torn out.”[iv]

It would be hard to apply Riley’s expression “such fogies in Biblical knowledge” to T. DeWitt Talmage, but he certainly appears to be part of “the old conception” who believed the King James Bible was inerrant. Some of Talmage’s statements may have preceded those of William Bell Riley by 30 or so years, and predates Benjamin Wilkinson’s book by nearly 50 years (at least in one case).[v] Agreeing or disagreeing with Talmage is one thing – but denying that his position and pronouncements existed is quite another! Again I say to Anti-KJV historians, please revise your history – and your polemics based on that history.

---

[i] In this period there were numerous newspaper articles about the “new revision” – many of them informational, and quite a few promotional. The proponents of revision were wildly optimistic. At least one thought the Revised Version would replace the King James Bible “within five years”! Talmage’s sermon, either fully or in parts, was also carried by a wide range of newspapers. I have consulted some of those accounts as well. (You can only view the newspaper link if you have an account to Newspapers.com.)

[ii] Mending the Bible, sermon by T. DeWitt Talmage, 1895

[iii] “Splendors of Orthodoxy,” sermon found in The Authentic Life of T. De Witt Talmage, the Greatly Beloved Divine (John Rusk, N.P.: L. G. Stahl, 1902) preached February 3, 1884; other sermons by Talmage may be found in Great Pulpit Masters, Volume VII, T. DeWitt Talmage

[iv] The Laughter of the Bible, sermon by T. DeWitt Talmage, April 18, 1886

[v] Unfortunately, the online sermons I found – other than the one on the new revision – did not give the date the sermon was delivered.

The New Revision: a Mutilation and a Profanation

Clip from T. DeWitt Talmage sermon, “The New Revision. A Mutilation and a Profanation”

As printed in The North Alabamian, Friday, June 24,1881, p. 4

10 Reasons Why The KJV, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• 10 Reasons Why The KJV Is Still The Most Popular Version -- "It’s all very well for scholars and academics to do their clever stuff with variant readings...However, the vast majority of Christians just want a clean and clear Bible version, without question marks, qualifications, or thick black lines and brackets around cherished passages."
• Cessationism — Proving Charismatic Gifts have Ceased -- "We believe, however, that the ceasing of revelatory and sign-gifts in the time of the apostles is very plainly taught in God’s Word, so plainly, in fact, that the opposite view has only seriously appeared in the last 100 years or so."
• Conservatives and Liberals in Biblical Studies -- "The solution is not to admit that conservatives—people who believe in the truth of the Bible they’re studying—can be objective, too, but to acknowledge that everyone has an agenda. Everyone has a worldview driven ultimately by loves at the center of his or her heart."
• Fundies and the Super Bowl -- "I’m wondering if perhaps “fundies” have advantage in our emerging justice culture that others don’t have. Fundies grew up knowing that what they watched and where they went had moral importance."
• Head Covering in the Worship of God -- " The plain fact of the matter is that the apostle is here sanctioning neither Jewish nor Greek usage. He is arguing on peculiarly Christian principles..."
• Jesus and the Woman from Tyre (Mark 7:24-30) -- "The Bible suggests several important things about the Trinity from this little account..."
• Plain Reasons for Keeping to the Authorised Version -- " It is right to keep to the Authorised Version, not because it is older, but because it is better than the versions offered in its place."
• Mutual Debts in Marriage -- "Scripture teaches that husbands and wives have dues or debts or obligations to each other which must be paid, and paid with love."
• Richard Nixon and Remembering People's Names -- "He was a lowly elevator boy, and here a powerful Senator from California not only remembered his name, he remembered the name of his wife and two small kids."
• The Authorised Version and New Translations -- "men no longer read the Bible not because they cannot understand its language, but because they do not believe in it."
• The Fundamentalists and Billy Graham -- "Anyone who wants to understand the fundamentalist view of Billy Graham has to remember just how deeply Billy was loved in fundamentalist circles and how heavily fundamentalist leaders had invested in his ministry."
• The King James Bible Dictionary -- "...is the first dictionary to contain definitions for every word in the Bible. It is a hybrid dictionary combining the best known and mostly widely used and respected Bible dictionaries and concordance into one usable format."
• The Simplicity of Biblical Parenting -- "Those who firmly believe that the Scriptures are sufficient for faith and practice should also believe that a matter as important as Christian parenting is sufficiently addressed in the Bible."
• Waters That Unite: Five Truths About Water Baptism -- "Throughout the New Testament, baptism comes after belief. Even when households were baptized, as with Stephanas (1 Corinthians 1:16), the baptism came to the believers of the household."
• Why I Use the King James Version -- "I use the KJV because words that are not there in the original are italicized in the KJV."
• Why Study Hebrew (or Greek)? -- "Probably many of my Hebrew exegesis students have thought it. Only my son had the nerve to ask it."

Young’s Literal Translation

The Holy Bible, Consisting of the Old and New Covenants; Translated according to the Letter and Idioms of the Original Languages, 3rd Edition. Robert Young, Edinburgh: George Adam Young & Co., 1898 (originally published in 1863; revised edition 1887; Third edition 1898.)

The translation, commonly known as Young’s Literal Translation, is unique in the world of English Bible translations. According to GotQuestions.org, “Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible was first translated in 1862 by Robert Young, a Scottish publisher who was self-taught and proficient in various ancient languages. Young also compiled Young’s Analytical Concordance and Concise Critical Comments on the New Testament. A revised version of the YLT was published in 1887 and a new revised version in 1898, a year after Young’s death.” In his literal translation Young “attempts to preserve the tense and word usage as found in the original Greek and Hebrew writings…It very likely is the most strictly literal English translation ever developed. The literal renderings of the verb tenses are especially unique and can be quite valuable in studying God’s Word. Aspects that are usually only clear to those who can study the original Greek are clarified in the YLT. The strictly literal translation method can make Young’s Literal Translation somewhat difficult to read and in some instances very unnatural sounding in English.” Its extreme literalness and unnatural English are what make it unique, and a possible useful secondary tool for Bible study. This seems to have been the initial reason for his work, as noted in his Preface to Young’s Literal Translation First Edition:

“This work, in its present form, is not to be considered as intended to come into competition with the ordinary use of the commonly received English Version of the Holy Scriptures, but simply as a strictly literal and idiomatic rendering of the Original Hebrew and Greek Texts.”[i]

I have for many years owned and used Young’s Concordance, preferring it over the more popular Strong’s Concordance.[ii] The YLT can be read free online at the initial link above, at Bible Study Tools, or searched and compared with other versions at Bible Gateway.

---

[i] Despite the statement concerning competition in his Preface, Young seems to have become increasingly antagonist toward the King James Version of the Bible over the course of his work.

[ii] Nevertheless, I usually refer to Strong’s in writing, because of its availability and in the personal libraries of Christians I know.

Most of the Calvinists in the SBC

Most of the “Calvinists” in the SBC really aren’t Calvinists at all; they’re just men who have grown tired of the number-counting, every-head-bowed and every-eye-closed salvation mills popularized by Semi-Pelagian preachers like Billy Graham, Billy Sunday and Charles Finney, who did little more than serve as midwives for the spiritual still-births of generations of false converts...most who use the title just do so because it has come to be used as a synonym for one who doesn’t use stupid, self-manufactured methodologies of getting people to walk aisles or make other meaningless spiritual overtures.

Jordan D. Hall

Jesus, the Friend

1. I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend!
He loved me ere I knew Him;
He drew me with the cords of love,
And thus He bound me to Him.
And round my heart still closely twine
Those ties which naught can sever,
For I am His, and He is mine,
Forever and forever.

2. I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend!
He bled, He died to save me;
And not alone the gift of life,
But His own self He gave me.
Naught that I have my own I call,
I hold it for the Giver;
My heart, my strength, my life, my all,
Are His, and His forever.

3. I’ve found a friend, O such a friend!
All pow’r to Him is given,
To guard me on my onward course,
And bring me safe to heaven:
Th’eternal glories gleam afar
To nerve my faint endeavor;
So now to watch, to work, to war,
And then to rest forever.

4. I’ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend!
So kind, and true, and tender,
So wise a Counsellor and Guide,
So mighty a Defender!
From Him who loves me now so well,
What power my soul can sever?
Shall life or death, or earth or hell?
No? I am His forever.

By James Grindlay Small (1817-1888)
Jesus, the Friend was first published in The Revival Hymn Book in 1863 and then in Small’s Psalms & Sacred Songs, 1866.

Majestic, eternal, immutable BOOK

The Bible

Majestic, eternal, immutable BOOK,
Inspired, inerrant, complete.
The Light of my path as I walk on life’s way,
The Guide and the Lamp to my feet.
Its writings are holy and verbally true,
The unalterable Statute of Light,
For profit, for doctrine, for correction, reproof,
Infallible Guide to the right.
My Treasure, my Comfort, my Help, and my Stay,
Incomparable Measure and Rod,
Each page is replete with its textual proof,
The Bible, the exact WORD OF GOD!

By Gertrude Grace Sanborn
(1904—1988)

Bible translation

Every time the New Testament quotes or references the Old Testament it does so by way of translation from one language (Hebrew) to another (Greek) – thereby stamping approval on the principle of Bible translation.

The Spring of the Day

The Spring of the Day.

1 Samuel 9:26 And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel, abroad.

“The time was to the day what spring is to the year. The diurnal revolution of the earth round its own axis corresponds with the annual revolution of the earth round the sun, and the different periods of the day — morning, noon and night — therefore resemble the different seasons of the year — spring, summer, autumn, and winter. According to this beautiful analogy, the spring of the day embraces the early hours after sunrise. Nowhere is the spring of the day so delightful as in Palestine, for later on it becomes oppressively hot. The people do all their travelling and most of their work in the early morning. Saul commenced that, fateful journey homeward from the hill village of the prophet which led to the throne of Israel in the spring of the day. Ah! what difference that first setting out in life, from the hill of Juph in the spring of the day from the dark closing of his life on Mount Gilboa in the dreary winter of the day.”

Hugh Macmillan, in The Biblical Illustrator.

Not a square inch, and other quotes

The posting of quotes by human authors does not constitute agreement with either the quotes or their sources. (I try to confirm the sources that I give, but may miss on occasion; please verify if possible.)

"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!" -- Abraham Kuyper

"It isn’t bigoted to disagree, or to call sin “sin”." -- Mark L. Ward

"I find it ironic that after all this and we've seen so many different government failures, we want to trust the government even more." -- Kyle Kashuv

"I prefer to give a ‘pat on the back’ as a motivational tool, although sometimes the pat must be a little lower and a little harder." -- John Wooden

"Knowledge (curriculum) and behavior (pedagogy) are embedded in everyone’s core beliefs about the nature of God, humanity, and the world." -- Abraham Kuyper

"Give me 100 percent. You can’t make up for a poor effort today by giving 110 percent tomorrow. You don’t have 110 percent. You only have 100 percent, and that’s what I want from you right now." -- John Wooden

"The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind." -- Mark Noll

"Our lives say much more about how we think than our books do. The theories we preach are not always the ones we actually believe. The theories we live are the ones we really believe." -- R. C. Sproul

"He who slings mud generally loses ground." -- Adlai Stevenson; Addendum: "When you sling mud at others, not only do you lose a lot of ground, you also get your hands dirty."

"Never get in a war of words with a man who has a barrel of ink." -- Copied

"The more you sweat in seeking peace, the less you bleed in fighting war." -- Chinese proverb

"If you can't be kind, at least be vague." -- Judith Martin (Miss Manners)

"Conflict isn't negative, it just is." -- Thomas Crum

“To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; 
Whenever you’re right – shut up.” 
“A Word To Husbands,” by Ogden Nash

Biblical Theology, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Biblical Theology and Shepherding -- "Sheep need feeding and tending and guiding and protecting. Pastors do this for their people, transposed into a spiritual key."
• Love the Church More than its Health -- "...there’s a temptation I have noticed that you and I are susceptible to: we can love our vision of what a church should be more than we love the people who comprise it."
• Modern Textual Criticism's Role in the Breakdown of Morality -- "Bishop stated that the objective of the prominent Unitarian and Modernistic textual critics was to undermine the divine inspiration of Scripture and to weaken the doctrine of Hell, and he observed that if this objective succeeded, it would result in the complete moral breakdown of society."
• Step Up Leaders: Shocking Evangelical statistics, abortion positions should wake us into action -- "If this is just a medical procedure, why don’t you just go ahead and step up and say, “It’s nothing to it. If we want to kill babies in the womb, it’s okay.” You see, deep down, you know it’s wrong."
• The Collect for The Fourth Sunday in Advent in The Book of Common Prayer -- "O LORD, raise up (we pray thee) thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory, world without end. Amen."
• The Creation Reveals the Transcendence of God -- "God’s transcendence means that He is outside space and time and that He is eternal...But our transcendent God did not leave us nor does He live far from us."
• The Historic Views of the Church Concerning Preservation -- "Even professed Fundamentalists take great pride today in fervently arguing that God did not perfectly preserve His Words, leaving us with an uncertain errant text."
• The Resurrection of Jesus: An Inconvenient Fact -- "The fact is that if Jesus did not come out of that grave, then Christianity is pointless, despite what liberal preachers say.  Christianity is not positive thinking or a good attitude.  Either Christ came out of that grave or the whole religion is a fraud."
• The Untold Story of The Fundamentals -- "Contained within century-old business records, private letters and other historical documents is an inspiring story of how [Lyman] Stewart gave generously of his wealth, shunned personal attention, assembled a broad coalition of thinkers and followed a calling from God to equip the English-speaking world with a respectful, intelligent defense of the Christian faith."
• "THERE IS NO HELL" -- new Francis revelation to atheist journalist just in time for Good Friday -- "There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls."
• Transcript: Parkland student Kyle Kashuv on "Face the Nation," March 25, 2018 -- "He was flagged by the FBI. He was flagged so many different times by the Broward Sheriff's Office. We need to see that we have to hold our government accountable."
• Why Knowing Your Flock Is Critical to Meaningful Preaching -- "The ministry of preaching cannot be divorced from the ministry of soul care; in fact, preaching is actually an extension of soul care."
• Why the King James Version? The Preservation of the Bible By Faithful Churches -- "Someone has wisely said that a man who owns only one watch knows what time it is, but a man who has two watches is never quite sure."