Not what my hands have done

“Not What These Hands Have Done” by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) first appeared in his Hymns of Faith and Hope, Second Series (London: James Nisbet and Co., 1861, pp. 175-177) in 12 stanzas. Written in Short Meter, it is most often paired with the tunes Leominster by George W. Martin, and St. Andrew by Joseph Barnby. Any fine Sacred Harp Short Meter tune would set off this great hymn, which extols the work of God and discredits the righteousness of man.

1. Not what these hands have done 
Can save this guilty soul;
Not what this toiling flesh has borne 
Can make my spirit whole.

2. Not what I feel or do 
Can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers, and sighs, and tears ,
Can bear my awful load.

3. Thy work alone, O Christ, 
Can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, 
Can give me peace within.

4. Thy love to me, O God, 
Not mine, O Lord, to thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, 
And set my spirit free.

5. Thy grace alone, O God, 
To me can pardon speak;
Thy power alone, O Son of God, 
Can this sore bondage break.

6. No other work, save thine, 
No meaner blood will do;
No strength, save that which is divine, 
Can bear me safely through.

7. I bless the Christ of God; 
I rest on love divine;
And with unfaltering lip and heart, 
I call this Savior mine.

8. His cross dispels each doubt; 
I bury in his tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear, 
Each lingering shade of gloom.

9. I praise the God of grace; 
I trust his truth and might;
He calls me his, I call him mine, 
My God, my joy, my light.

10. In him is only good,
In me is only ill;
My ill but draws his goodness forth,
And me he loveth still.

11. ’Tis he who saveth me, 
And freely pardon gives;
I love because he loveth me, 
I live because he lives.

12. My life in him is hid,
My death has passed away,
My clouds have melted into light,
My midnight into day.

Making ends meet, 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.)

“Instead of working so hard to make ends meet, work on having fewer ends.” -- Courtney Carver

“‘I have chosen you’ (John 15:16). Keep that note of greatness in your creed. It is not that you have got God, but that He has got you.” -- Oswald Chambers

“I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me against the rocks.” -- Charles H. Spurgeon

“It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher.” -- George Whitefield

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” -- Dr. Seuss

“It is good not to chase fashion, but to be chaste.” -- Scott Gordon

“It is but a crafty pretense when one part of the law is pleaded to excuse obedience to another; for when we pick and choose, we do not fulfill God’s will, but our own.” -- Thomas Manton

“The ‘trans’ cult’s goal is to spread their alchemical pseudo-science around the world before the truth can pull up its pants.” -- Laurie Higgins

“God alone is the inciter and guarantor of freedom.” -- Whittaker Chambers

“I’m Southern Baptist, not a meteorologist.” -- Willard Scott (weather presenter on The Today Show)

“True faith can no more be without holiness, than true fire without heat.” -- John Owen

“Hope is never ill when faith is well.” -- John Bunyan

Easter in the King James Bible

Due to recent discussions, I provide an update of a previous post.
 
Acts 12:4 in the King James Version of the Bible: “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.”

This verse of Scripture has excited much discussion – often more than it should and of a nature that is not edifying. Now I add my voice, hopefully in soft rather than shrill tones that might edify the reader. Acts 12:4 has provided the anti-KJV-ist fodder to rail against the King James translation. It has incited the KJV-Only-ist to create tortured explanations of why “Easter” is correct and “Passover” would be incorrect (in this one verse).[i] The whole of it is rather simple. It could be dismissed rather easily, were it not for the extremists.

First, barring finding some source where the King James translators have explained it, we do not really know why they chose to translate πασχα (paska) as “Easter” in this passage. They translated the word as “Passover” in the other New Testament verses where it is used. While some explanations may seem plausible, they remain opinion rather than fact.

Second, a little knowledge of the development of the English language and the history of English translations apprises us that there is nothing sinister, secret, or stupid going on with the translation. Rather, it is quite simple.

Englishmen had no Jewish background. They were converted to Christianity from paganism. They had no word for the Old Testament feast of Passover. The Passover in the New Testament chronologically tied to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This they called “Ester” or “Easter.” The first translator of the complete Bible in English, John Wycliffe, used “paske” here, transliterating it over from the Greek or Latin.[ii] On the other hand, nearly 200 years later William Tyndale translated the New Testament. He chose “ester”,[iii] a word that was in common usage at that time. The word “Passover,” which is current in most modern translations, did not exist at that time. In fact, Tyndale himself coined the word “Passover” when he translated the Old Testament Pentateuch from Hebrew into English. Whatever his reasoning, Tyndale is the source of the word “Passover.”

As translation and language progressed, the use of Easter for Passover in the New Testament dwindled. By the time of the 1568 Bishops’ Bible “Easter” is used in only two places (here and twice in John 11:55). With the coming of the King James, “Easter” remained with one solitary use, in Acts 12:4.

Why did the King James translators not change “Easter” to “Passover” in Acts 12:4 as in all the other cases? Was it an editorial oversight? Did they see something that caused them to think it best left in place?[iv] Though not specifically mentioning the word “Easter,” “The Translators to the Reader” indicates that these scholars were not rigidly tied to one word in the target language (English) for the same one word in the source language (Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek): “...wee have not tyed our selves to an uniformitie of phrasing, or to an identitie of words, as some peradventure would wish that we had done...we cannot follow a better patterne for elocution then God himselfe; therefore hee using divers words, in his holy writ, and indifferently for one thing in nature: we, if wee will not be superstitious, may use the same libertie in our English versions out of Hebrew & Greeke, for that copie or store that he hath given us.” We will probably never answer why. Rather than worry over or fight about it, just know that the context indicates that Easter refers to the Passover season, and it was a legitimate word choice. It had included that meaning for over at least 600 years by that time, and should be no cause for foul fracases (nothing wrong with healthy debate).[v]

The Deuteronomy Chapter 16 Heading, Geneva Bible 

This chapter summary is clipped from the 1560 Geneva Bible. Though the 1560 Geneva Bible did not use word “Easter” in its text, this summary at the beginning of Deuteronomy 16 shows how “Easter” and “Passover” are synonyms. (Also “Whitsuntide” and “Pentecost,” that is, the feast of weeks, verse 10.)

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[i] Including the anti-KJV speculation that ties the origin of the word and holiday “Easter” from the festival of the goddess Ēostre (largely debunked), and some KJVOs’ insistence that πασχα in Acts 12:4 actually refers to a pagan holy day rather than Passover. I do not recommend the anti-KJV and KJVO links above; they are supplied only for informational purposes. Both of them are full of misrepresentations. “There is now widespread consensus that the word derives from the Christian designation of Easter week as in albis, a Latin phrase that was understood as the plural of alba (‘dawn’) and became eostarum in Old High German, the precursor of the modern German and English term.”
[ii] The Anglo-Saxon translations of the four gospels preceded Wycliffe’s translation by about 400 years. These use ēasterdaeges, ēastro, and ēastron.
[iii] My count using StudyLight.org is 26 times in 25 verses in the New Testament (ester or esterlambe). The English-to-Latin dictionary Promptorium Parvulorum Sive Clericorum first appeared circa 1440, and is attributed to Geoffrey the Grammarian, a friar who lived in Norfolk, England. In the 1865 printing at Archive.org (p. 143), we find Eesterne (Easter) means Pascha.
[iv] If the translators judiciously followed rules 8-11, it seems highly unlikely they could have accidentally left in the word “Easter” through an oversight. For an explanation of why they might have left “Easter” in place, see Easter in KJV, Acts 12:4. On the one hand, some contemporary KJV defenders have posited that “Easter” was left in Acts 12:4 because it is the only post-resurrection historical reference to paska/Passover. On the other hand, some recent KJV detractors have suggested the High-Church Anglicans altered the translation of Acts 12:4 back to the word “Easter” to preserve a mention of their then current celebration. I checked the Easter sermons of Lancelot Andrewes transcribed at Project Canterbury. He never mentioned Acts 12:4 in any Easter sermon (Sermons of the Resurrection Preached upon Easter-Day, 1606-1618 and Sermons of the Resurrection Preached upon Easter-Day, 1620-1624), which seems odd if that were one of the reasons they kept the word “Easter” in that passage.
[v] In the related German language, Martin Luther used Ostern (Easter) in his Bible translation.

Copied out Scripture

In 1881 Archibald A. Hodge and Benjamin B. Warfield​ wrote, “We do not assert that the common text, but only that the original autographic text, was inspired.”[i] Their assertion, often reframed “only the originals were inspired” or something similar, has become a traditional mantra among many conservative and fundamentalist Christians in America.[ii] We suffer a dearth of unbelief because of it.

In their day, Hodge and Warfield contended against liberalism in favor of the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. I see no reason to assign any evil intent to their statements.[iii] Perhaps they were focused on the moment and did not foresee all the coming consequences of it. However, they did understand that they had “restricted the word ‘Inspiration’ to a narrower sphere than that in which it has been used by many in the past.”[iv] The subtleties of this narrower restriction seem lost on many today, they thinking Hodge’s and Warfield’s idea was the consistent view of the churches throughout history. I would contend that their restriction is narrower than that of the Scriptures themselves.

I agree with the idea that God has not acted on the copyists and translators in the same way as he did on the original authors. The inspired Scriptures are a divine product given by the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of men. Being breathed-into by the Spirit, the Scriptures have living qualities. Hodge’s and Warfield’s idea, applied strictly, ultimately removes these living qualities – “all Scripture was inspired” rather than “all Scripture is inspired.” Inspiration becomes an historical act applying only to writings that no longer exist. In such a view, it does not apply to any writings we currently hold in our hands.

The Scriptures themselves do not restrict their presentation of inspiration so narrowly that a copy of the word of God cannot still be the word of God. God encouraged copying – nay, in the case of future kings of Israel, God commanded copying his word. In Deuteronomy 17:18-19 we read:

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

Nothing in this context suggests the copy of the law as less the word of God, or less authoritative that the king would not have to keep it.

Joshua made a copy of the law of Moses, whose “blessings and cursings” were not less the word of God, and no less authoritative than the originals.

And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. Joshua 8:32

The section of Proverbs, beginning at 25:1 and going through 29:27, were proverbs of Solomon, but they were “copied out” by the men of King Hezekiah.

These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out. Proverbs 25:1

These proverbs were given by inspiration. They were the word of God, and they were still just as much the word of God when and after the men of Hezekiah copied them. Are chapters 25-29 of the book of Proverbs, which we are told were a copy, the inspired word of God? Yes. Since Proverbs 25-29 is part of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17) which was given by inspiration, was known by Timothy when he was a child, and was still profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness at the time of Paul’s writing, the copying by the men of Hezekiah obviously did not mess it up. Under inspiration, Paul quoted Proverbs 25:21-22 approvingly in Romans 12:20. In 2 Peter 2:22, Peter quoted from Proverbs 26:11, calling it a true proverb.

The Scriptures themselves do not denigrate the copied and translated words of God. Surely few if any of the original documents actually touched by the pens of Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David were actually being used in the times when the New Testament continually cited them as authoritative (e.g. Matthew 2:5; 4:4) and when Paul said they were completely profitable for all our faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:15-17).

To those who are “hung up” on the terminology of whether or not the copy or translation of the original autographs can be “inspired,” I ask the following question.

Do you believe that accurate copies of and accurate translations of the actual exact words that proceeded directly out of the mouth of God by inspiration are still just as much the word of God as when given they were given by inspiration?

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[i] Archibald A. Hodge and Benjamin B. Warfield, “Inspiration,” The Presbyterian Review 6 (April 1881), pp. 225-60. This may also be found in Westminster Doctrine anent Holy Scripture: Tractates by Professors A. A. Hodge and Warfield, Howie, Robert; Hodge, Archibald Alexander; Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge. Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, 1891 p. 48.
[ii] For example, Article 1 of the Doctrinal Statement of the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas says, “We believe in the plenary verbal inspiration and inerrancy of the whole Bible as originally written...”
[iii] For example, B. B. Warfield believed, “The Bible is the Word of God in such a way that when the Bible speaks, God speaks.”
[iv] Westminster Doctrine anent Holy Scripture, p. 34.

A Bird Nest, 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.

• A Bird Nest in Your Hair -- “...should we assume that because there’s some temptations that aren’t sinful, all temptations aren’t sinful?”
• Accused No More -- “In that great tribunal, the prosecuting attorney has been thrown out; there is only your perfect Advocate, who died for you, and the most holy Judge, who is also your Father in heaven.”
• Baptists and Preaching: Lessons from Sprague’s Annals of the American Baptist Pulpit -- “Perhaps the most striking lesson from these biographies of American Baptists is their aversion to manuscripts. Time and time again, ministers are commended for preaching extemporaneously or with minimal notes.”
• An Excerpt from Jerome’s Letter to Hedibia (Epistle 120) -- “Hopefully a comparison of the similar content shared by Jerome’s letter to Hedibia and Eusebius’ letter to Marinus will make it clear that Jerome,as he dictated this letter, recycled Eusebius’ work.”
• Disagreeing With Biden’s Transgender Policy Is ‘Incitement’ Now? Facebook Says So... -- “This is just a thinly veiled and pathetic excuse for censorship of any critical views toward trans-tyranny over our consciences, religion, and reason.”
• FDA Authorizes Emergency Use for J&J COVID-19 Vaccine -- “The J&J vaccine can be stored in any commercial refrigeration unit and requires only one dose to be fully effective. The other two vaccines need specialized refrigerators...”
• In 8-1 SCOTUS Ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts Is The Only One To Side Against Christian Students Whose Free Speech Was Trampled -- “Uzuegbunam et al. v. Preczewski et al. first materialized after Chike Uzuegbunam, a student at Georgia Gwinnett College, was stopped by campus police for handing out religious materials on campus...”
• In Gratitude for Joe Biden -- “The hypocrisy rivals that of the chief priests and Pharisees and is worthy of the same condemnation. Indeed, Biden is the most aggressively anti-Catholic President in history.”
• King James Bible Translators site -- “At least sixty men were directly involved in the translation of the King James Bible (hereinafter KJB). Most were Translators, while a few were project overseers, revisers and editors.”
• Mark 16, Bruce Metzger, and Misinformation -- “Very many commentators, when considering Mark 16:9-20, have not investigated the subject directly. Instead, they have relied upon the late Dr. Bruce Metzger’s handbooks A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament and The Text of the New Testament.”
• Most pastors use the NIV, KJV Bibles, study suggests -- “Forty percent of ministers said they tend to select their favored Bible versions on the perceived accuracy of the text; its readability was second...”
• Multiple Versions Only (MVO): No Scripture, So Invent a Fake History -- “God-fearing saints in Baptist churches for centuries have believed in the perfect preservation of Scripture. And they still do.”
• The Bible and Society Report -- “It is clear that the King James version, though not so easy to read, has other qualities for those that prefer it.”
• The Preface from the Greek TR of F. H. A. Scrivener -- “The special design of this volume is to place clearly before the reader the variations from the Greek text represented by the Authorised Version of the New Testament which have been embodied in the Revised Version.”
• The Secularisation of Worship and the End of Spiritual Independence? -- “the government...are stating that the gathering of the Lord’s people in public worship for prayer, preaching, praising God and administration of the sacraments is a ‘secular’ activity.”
• ‘These Biological Males Are Just Taking It Away From Us’: High School Girl Athlete Blasts Biden Administration For Abandoning Her Lawsuit -- “This week, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice withdrew its support for a lawsuit brought by three high school female athletes that would block biological males from competing in girls’ sports in Connecticut.”
• What About Foot Washing? -- “It’s not unusual to be asked about baptism or the Lord’s Supper but in conjunction with that the question of foot washing as an ordinance of the church often comes up.”
• Whose Beliefs Aren’t Taught In Scripture and Have No History Before the Nineteenth Century? -- “What would you think if what you believed had no biblical basis and no history before the nineteenth century? What would you call yourself?”
• Your Boat, God’s River -- “God is Lord over history. And he is at work in world history getting us to a particular and inevitable direction and destination.”

Baptists in 1790, North America

On my shelf, relaxing from a long respite of being opened, I found The Annual Register of the Baptist Denomination in North-America to the First of November, 1790 waiting to reveal to state of Baptists in America in the end of the 18th century (John Asplund, Lafayette, TN: Church History Research and Archives, 1979, first printing 1791).

 
Asplund wrote that he had “traveled about 7000 miles, in about 18 months, chiefly on foot,” to try to gather information on all the Baptist churches. He visited about 215 churches and 15 associations, and said he was personally acquainted 250 ministers. This information he thought “may safely be depended upon in general,” though “a few Churches and Ministers may be omitted.” Asplund’s Register gives us a snapshot of what the Baptists looked like in the United States in 1790. The churches were by a large majority Regular or Particular Baptists. There were exceptions here and there, but the bulk adhered to an idea of Particular Redemption, as opposed to General Provision.

The breakdown in the back of the book follows thusly:

• Seventh Day Baptists 10 churches, 887 members
• Six principle Baptists 18 churches, 1599 members
• Open communion Baptists 15 churches, 1714 members
• General Provision Baptists 30 churches, 1948 members
• Regular or particular Baptists 795 churches, 58398 members

Viewed on a percentage basis, 795 of 868 churches (91.5%) were Regular (Calvinistic) Baptists. Within this 795, there were some members and ministers that held a general provision sentiment. This is mainly in Virginia and Kentucky, and after nearly 50 years of Separate Baptist influence.

Concerning associations Asplund lists 34, plus the General Committee in Virginia and the Seventh Day Baptists, who had no association. Of these 36, seventeen held the Philadelphia Confession, and eight more held Calvinistic principles but had not adopted the confession. The 7th-Day Baptists are identified as being Regular Baptist except for the issue of the Sabbath. Six others had not adopted the confession because some of their churches held general provision. Viewed associationally, 32 of 36 associations (nearly 90%) were Calvinistic, or mostly so.

This snapshot gives indication that the majority of early American Baptists were what we consider “Calvinists.” This does not preclude variation within the Calvinistic views – from “High Calvinism” to Fullerism to holding general provision Baptists as members in Particular Baptist churches. Nevertheless, the vast majority of these churches represented themselves “Particular” Baptists.

Ancient Baptist Martyr, Justin Martyr, and other music links

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

• Hymn of an Ancient Baptist Martyr -- “Balthasar Hübmaier’s hymn ‘A Song in Praise of God’s Word’ is 18 stanzas and covers the whole Bible from Adam to Christ.”
• Justin Martyr Does Not Mention Music while Describing Christian Worship -- “In this very thorough description of a Lord’s Day meeting, Justin describes a service as consisting of preaching, teaching, praying, reading Scripture publicly, taking of the Lord’s Table, saying ‘Amen,’ and collecting the offering.”
• “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” -- “Mason was compiling a new hymnal, and asked this young seminarian if he had any poems to contribute. Palmer did...”
• O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go -- “Light provides the second metaphor for the poem. Our lives are a faint, flickering torch ignited by the sunshine blaze of God’s love.”
• Psalms Project -- “Pastor Anderson's goal is to put all 150 psalms to music without changing a single word of the KJV text.”
• The Church Should Sing for Heaven’s Sake (with Matthew Westerholm) -- “Our churches used to sing about heaven. Now they don’t. And when they do, well, they do it unlike previous generations.”
• The Church Should Sing for Heaven’s Sake: When and Why We Stopped Singing about Heaven, and How to Start Again -- “This shift in emphasis among American hymnody is too substantial to attribute to a single influence. So let me focus on three: certain strands of Pentecostalism, juvenilization, and commercialization.”
• ‘The Fruit of Our Lips’: A Cappella Praise through the Centuries (Part 3) -- “...as late as the 19th century, Adam Blair could still assert concerning the Waldenses in their ancestral homeland, ‘no organ is used in the valleys, except in La Torre.’”
• West Georgia Gospel Singing -- “In the region of West Georgia, a wealth of traditional sacred and gospel music can be found – Sacred Harp singing thrives at churches like Holly Springs Baptist...”
• What Was Early Church Worship Music Like? -- “This simplistic approach is not how music is treated today in the church.”

Whom having not seen

“Whom having not seen, ye love.” 1 Peter 1:8

How this speaks to our hearts; and cannot some, if not many of us say too, “Whom having not seen, we love?” Do we not love him, dear readers? Is not his name precious to us as the ointment poured forth? But we have not seen him. No, not by the eye of sense and nature; but we have seen him by the eye of faith; for he has manifested himself to us, or to some of us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. It is, then, by faith that we see Jesus. We read of Moses that, “by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” So by faith we see Jesus who is invisible; for as faith is “the substance of things hoped for,” so is it “the evidence of things not seen.” Thus, we see that it is by Jesus coming to the soul and manifesting himself unto it that we see him. And as he always comes with his love, and in manifesting himself manifests himself in his love, that manifested love kindles, raises, and draws up a corresponding love in the believer’s heart. It is the express, the special work of the Holy Ghost to testify of Christ, to glorify him, to receive of the things which are Christ’s and to shew them unto the soul; and thus in the light of Christ’s own manifestations of himself and the blessed Spirit’s work and witness of him, what faith believes of the Person and work of Christ love embraces and enjoys.

J. C. Philpot (1802-1869)

My Spirit Longeth for Thee

“The Desponding Soul’s Wish” was written by John Byrom (1692-1763). In 6s. meter, it may be sung to the tune Moseley. The hymn sung by the Guilford Cathedral Choir in 1966 can be found on You Tube.

1. My spirit longeth for thee
Within my troubled breast,
Although I be unworthy
Of so divine a guest.

2. Of so divine a guest,

Unworthy though I be,
Yet has my heart no rest
Unless it come from thee.

3. Unless it come from thee,
In vain I look around;
In all that I can see,
No rest is to be found.

4. No rest is to be found
But in thy blessed Love;
O! let my wish be crowned,
And send it from above.

In Other Words, urban agric

• agric, adjective. Of, relating to, or used in agriculture; agricultural.
• amoret, noun. A sweetheart, lover, or paramour; esp. a female one.
• craftivist, noun. A person who creates and displays handmade objects, esp. items incorporating knitted or sewn text or imagery, to promote a political message or raise awareness of a social issue.
• embarras de choix, noun. The state of having an (overwhelming or encumbering) excess or abundance of options from which to make a selection.
• hades, noun. the underworld; the abode of the spirits of the dead; the Greek god of the underworld (Hades); Hell.
• in vino veritas, (Latin phrase). In wine, there is truth.
• oliver current, adverb. Smoothly, without hindrance, according to plan. (From the French, olivier courant.)
• pantechnic, adjective. Relating to or including all the arts, or all subjects.
• pillock (British informal), noun. A stupid person; an idiot.
• rabbity, adjective. Resembling, characteristic of, or suggestive of a rabbit; containing many rabbits.
• rara avis, noun. An unique, uncommon, or exceptional person or thing. Lit. a rare bird.
• sheepfold, noun. An enclosure for keeping or protecting sheep; a sheep pen.
• sui-similar, adjective. Similar to itself; having no variety or diversity.
• synapse, noun. A junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter.
• towpath, noun. A path beside a river or canal, originally used as a pathway for horses towing barges.
• urban, adjective. In, relating to, or characteristic of a city or town.
• warlock, noun. A man who practices witchcraft; a sorcerer.

A Bit of East Texas History – LeTourneau

I grew up about 40 miles south of Longview, Texas. My oldest sister and brother-in-law lived there several years – right behind LeTourneau College. A trip to their home always took us past the large and unusual landmark domes of LeTourneau Manufacturing. Both the college and the manufacturing were born of the mind of Robert Gilmour “R. G.” LeTourneau. As a child his name meant little to me, though later I would learn he was a well-known and well-respected Christian businessman and philanthropist.

Over 50 years later I learned the history of the “domes.” Known to me as the home of his manufacturing, the original dome was actually built in 1953 for a friend of R. G. LeTourneau – Billy Graham. The structure was built as a tabernacle to seat 12,000 for Graham’s crusades. Graham intended to ship one to England for a crusade there. However, a recent local news piece quoted a company spokesman (now owned by Komatsu Ltd.) saying that England refused to allow the structure to be erected there. “It was built specially for (the Rev.) Billy Graham. It was never supposed to be here,” unofficial company historian Dale Hardy said, explaining the American evangelist wanted a portable, 12,000-seat venue for his crusade in England during the early 1950s. “England turned him down from a permit standpoint,” Hardy said.

Nevertheless, Mr. LeTourneau apparently liked the design. The company eventually built and used five of them for the manufacturing business in Longview.

The Kilgore News Herald, June 22, 1953, p. 6

New Words or New Languages?

At Dust Off the Bible blog, I recently read Archaic and Outdated Words in The King James Bible (KJV). The post includes a list of words in the King James Bible that the author considers archaic or outdated.[i] In itself, the list might be useful to those who use the KJV. In processing his thoughts, the compiler of this list suggests that if you really want to know what the Bible says then you should learn the original languages. Do these folks not understand how silly their super-smug suggestions really are? Some people are (maybe) having difficulty of a couple of hundred words in their own language.[ii] In essence, he tells them that those words are too hard to learn. Instead, they should learn three new foreign languages![iii]

In one of the all too frequent “I love the King James Version, but” passive-aggressive attacks on the KJV pervading the internet, I read the following comment. “I cannot say in my three score and five years have I ever heard anyone use the word froward in normal conversation.” Oh, yes, but I wonder how many times he has heard βραδυπλοουντες and μισθωματι “in normal conversation?” Probably the same!

Another anti-KJV rhetorical device frequently trotted out goes like this: “I have seen an original 1611 King James Version. I cannot read it. It looks like a foreign language.” Then these same folks flip and ask people to learn three foreign languages to study the Bible. Which is it? Are you too stupid to figure out how to read the typeface of the 1611 King James Bible? If so, why should we put stock in anything you say?

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[i] The blog administrator identifies himself as a “Seminary M.Div graduate with a love for history and the Old Testament,” but does not give his name.
[ii] There are 146 words on his list, as of 11:55 am 25 February 2021.
[iii] I do not object to learning new languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. But, can we not see there is some nonsense in asking people that we think cannot learn 146 “archaic” words to learn three languages?

Are you ESV-only?

The following was written by Christian McShaffrey, a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Textus Receptus advocate. He writes, “Most of my ministerial peers in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church use the English Standard Version in their public preaching and teaching. Some of them have asked me, ‘Are you KJV-only?’” In turn he asks, “Are you ESV-only?”

I will be honest enough to warn my readers that I have a few questions of my own for ESV-onlyists. You may wish to ponder them prior to our conversation:

– Did God inspire specific words and letters or just general ideas and doctrines?  If the latter, how is that different from the view of Karl Barth?
– Do you only apply the attributes of inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy to the permanently lost autographa?
– If you believe God is providentially preserving scripture through the agency of textual critics today, when may we expect that work to be completed? Do the critics themselves believe that their work will ever be completed?
– Are you aware of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method and the changes that will be appearing in the Greek New Testament when it is applied?
– Have you read what Francis Turretin, John Owen, Richard A. Muller, etc. have written about the authentic text of scripture?
– Were the Westminster Divines mistaken in their view that they were in possession of the “authentical” text of scripture in A.D. 1646 [WCF I.8]?
– What did the Divines mean by the phrase concerning God’s “singular care and providence” or “kept pure in all ages” [WCF I.8]?
– Do you know the difference between the autographa and apographa and, if so, are you aware that the WCF I.8 refers to the latter?
– What level of certainty do you have that the Bible you read daily and preach weekly is indeed the inspired and infallible word of God?

[Note: the question of the Westminister Divines view of possessing the “authentical” text of scripture also applies to London Baptist ministers. See Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.]

Anti-Trump sentiment, 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.

• Anti-Trump sentiment, not science, may be behind Dems’ school closures, liberal NY Times columnist writes -- “The blunt fact is that it is Democrats – including those who run the West Coast, from California through Oregon to Washington State – who have presided over one of the worst blows to the education of disadvantaged Americans in history.”
• Archaic and Outdated Words in The King James Bible (KJV) -- “I hope this list will prove to be beneficial for those studying the topic.”
• Beware of Alleged Trips to Heaven -- In 1977, Richard Eby claimed that he died and went to heaven and he brought back the revelation that “the primary nerve in God’s cranium is the sense of smell.”
• Big Tech’s Tyranny: Time for ‘Duck Duck Go’ and ‘Gab’ -- “...all of a sudden, we have non-elected, non-accountable billionaires determining what is moral for the whole world – influencing our politics, economies and education and health-care systems.”
• Coronavirus infection leads to immunity that’s comparable to a COVID-19 vaccine -- “The findings, published Wednesday in JAMA Internal Medicine, could help inform plans for returning workers to their offices, sending students and teachers back to school campuses and allowing more of the economy to reopen.”
• Facebook warns widow, 81, her knitted-pig posts are hate speech -- “Facebook obviously uses a bot to trawl around Facebook and I had made two comments, totally innocent, which the bot saw as hate speech.”
• Facebook’s monopoly power is good news for cancel culture and bad news for intellectual freedom -- “I don’t like Facebook – and yet like over 2.6 billion others I have a Facebook account which is regularly used.”
• Here’s why a New Jersey middle school teacher is wearing the same dress for 100 days -- “There is no rule that says I cannot wear the same thing every day if I choose to, so I thought why not.”
• In Defense of the Prayer Meeting (Part 1) -- “The prayer service is an extremely good and edifying way of building a culture of prayer in a local church.”
• Isn’t the King James Bible Too Difficult to Understand? -- “It is widely believed that the King James Bible is too antiquated and difficult to understand, but the following points need to be taken into consideration.”
• PolitiFact Finally Admits Brian Sicknick Not Killed by Fire Extinguisher -- “The truth is that we do not know why Sicknick died the day after the riot, but we do know he was not beaten to death with a fire extinguisher.”
• The Latin Vulgate as Background to the Version Debate -- “...I thought it might be helpful to look briefly at another Bible translation that dominated Western Christendom for even longer than the King James.”
• The Modern Bible Version Hall of Shame -- “While not every adherent of modern textual criticism is a modernist or a Unitarian or a skeptic or a rationalist, most of its chief architects and proponents have been.”
• The TR-friendly Church Directory -- “This is an unofficial directory of confessional reformed churches (i.e., churches which subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith, or the Three Forms of Unity) that are friendly* toward the Textus Receptus.”
• What are the Responsibilities of Church Membership? -- “In an individualistic and consumeristic culture, the very notion that church members bear significant responsibilities comes as a surprise to some Christians.”
• What, are You ESV-Only -- “Why does the “___-only” formulation only apply the King James Version?”
• Why 1 John 5.7-8 is in the Bible -- “All around us is scholarly argument against the inclusion of this passage.”

ESV-Onlyists Categorized

The following was written by Christian McShaffrey, a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and Textus Receptus advocate. He writes, “Most of my ministerial peers in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church use the English Standard Version in their public preaching and teaching. Some of them have asked me, ‘Are you KJV-only?’” In turn he asks, “Are you ESV-only?”

ESV-Onlyists Categorized

Following the noble example of Dr. [James R.] White, I would never lay the “___-only” charge without making proper prior distinctions, so here are the categories I will keep in mind as I begin my “ESV-only” inquisition:

Group #1: “I Like the ESV” – This group of individuals believes the ESV is the best English translation available today.

Group #2: “The Textual Argument” – This group believes the underlying Hebrew and Greek (i.e., the Eclectic Text) text of the ESV is superior to the Byzantine/Majority/Received text.

Group #3: “Critical Text Only” – This group has tentative certainty that the Hebrew and Greek text from which the ESV was translated is in the process of being providentially preserved.

Group #4: The Formal Equivalence Convert – After using the near-paraphrase NIV, individuals in this group have realized that it is better to translate scripture on more thought-for-thought basis.

Group #5: The Good Customer – Individuals in this group simply responded as good American consumers to the greatest Bible marketing campaign ever seen in the evangelical world: ESV.ORG

Notice once again that there is no equivalent of a Ruckmanite movement included in the above options. Again, the well-educated demographic of ESV users seems to preclude the very possibility.

At the same time, and especially in regard to 1 and 5, let me suggest that some ESV readers might be as intellectually lazy as the Ruckmanites.

The trial of your faith

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7

Trials and temptations are the means which God employs to manifest to the soul the reality and strength of the faith which he bestows upon it; for there is in every trial and temptation opposition made to the faith that is in the heart; and every trial and temptation, so to speak, threaten the life of faith. And they threaten it in this way. Under the trial God for the most part hides himself. He puts forth, indeed, a secret power whereby the soul is held up, or otherwise it would sink into utter despair, and be overcome and swallowed up by the power of unbelief. Hence comes the conflict between the trial that fights against the faith and the faith which fights against or rather under the trial.

Now, when in this trial, in this sharp conflict, in this hot furnace, faith does not give way, is not burned up, is not destroyed, but keeps its firm hold upon the promise and the faithfulness of him who has given it, this trial of faith becomes very precious. It is precious to the soul when God again smiles upon it, and becomes thus manifest as genuine. It is precious in the sight of God’s people, who see it and derive strength and comfort from what they witness in the experience of a saint thus tried and blessed; and it is precious also in the sight of God himself, who crowns it with his own manifest approbation, and puts upon it the attesting seal of his own approving smile. But above all things, it will be found precious at the appearing of Jesus Christ, and that not only in his various appearings in grace, but in his final appearance in glory, for of that the Apostle mainly speaks when he says that “it may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

J. C. Philpot (1802-1869)

A Song in Praise of God’s Word

In Balthasar Hübmaier: the Leader of the Anabaptists (New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1905, p. 311ff.), Henry Clay Vedder (1853-1935) includes what he called “A Forgotten Hymn of Hübmaier’s.” In his source, this hymn is titled “Ein preiss lied göttlichs worts,” or “A Song in Praise of God’s Word.” The hymn is 18 stanzas, and each stanza in English ends with the line “God’s word stands sure for ever” (the German original “Dann Gottes wort bleybt ewig stan” is the next to last line in each stanza). It speaks of several Old Testament patriarchs, beginning with Adam, as well as New Testaments writers. It urges “blind man” to make his calling and election sure, all the time emphasizing Jesus Christ and his word. The meter is 8s.7s.D., but has never been set to music, so far as I know. Perhaps it might work with Ein Feste Burg. I only included the English translation of the hymn, and not the original. Vedder says the metrical translation is an attempt “to follow the original as closely as the exigencies of English versification would admit.” He, however, does not indicate who made the translation. All below comes from Vedder’s book, pages 311-321.

Much of the earliest Anabaptist literature is in the form of hymns, often crude in expression and halting in metre, but full of spiritual fervour. It would be surprising if so fertile a writer as Hübmaier had contributed nothing to this sort of literature; and still stranger, if he did write hymns, that none of them should be preserved. As a matter of fact, several of the old Anabaptist documents contain a hymn that is attributed to Hübmaier. It is not unknown, being printed in full, but anonymously, in Wackernagel’s great collection,¹ vol. iii., p. 126 sq. The title there given is, “Ein preiss lied göttlichs worts” (A song in praise of God’s word). As to the authorship, the editor contents himself with remarking that the hymn has been attributed without satisfactory reason to Erasmus Alber. Beck, Hoschek, and Loserth agree that the hymn is undoubtedly Hübmaier’s. The text is herewith reprinted from Wackernagel, with a metrical translation, in which the attempt has been made to follow the original as closely as the exigencies of English versification would admit—at any rate, to represent fairly the spirit of the original.

1. Das Deutsche Kirchenlied, three vols., Leipzig, 1870.

1. Rejoice, rejoice, ye Christians all,

And break forth into singing!

Since far and wide on every side

The word of God is ringing.

And well we know, no human foe

Our souls from Christ can sever;

For to the base, and men of grace,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

2. O Adam, Adam, first of men,

What future did fate send you?

After your fall in Paradise

How did your God befriend you?

His holy word from him you heard,

That word which faileth never,

To tend’rest age, to hoary sage,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

3. O Noah, Noah, man of God,

Thy God hath thee selected

And sworn to thee an oath, since thou

His word hast not rejected:

“With flood again to drown all men

My wrath shall hasten never”;

To swollen pelf, to want itself, [pelf is wealth]

God’s word stands sure for ever.

4. And Abraham believed his God,

And so, for his devotion,

His faith became his righteousness,

His seed like sands of ocean.

Thus has God done for every one,

Who trust him perish never;

To every one who builds thereon

God’s word stands sure for ever.

5. And Lot, devout, God-fearing man,

Two angels came to find him,

And lead him out from Sodom safe,

Nor should he look behind him.

God’s fiery flood therein withstood

No living thing whatever;

All men, like Lot, must pay their scot,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

6. O David, David, king and lord,

A man of God’s own choosing,

God’s truth he hid within his heart

Beyond all fear of losing.

From David’s seed Christ should proceed,

He swore who changeth never;

In heaven and on earth the same

God’s word stands sure for ever.

7. Jesus the Christ, of Mary born

And of the Holy Spirit,

What all the prophets promisèd

We shall in him inherit.

“Hear him,” the call of God to all,

To save us his endeavour;

To him all praise and honour raise—

God’s word stands sure for ever.

8. Now hear, now hear, and mark with care

What else for us is written,

And learn from his new Covenant

What more to do we’re bidden.

And what of old has been foretold

Of Christ our Lord and Saviour;

To latest hour, in vaster power,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

9. Matthew, the first evangelist,

From Roman service taken,

Has now become chief counsellor

And has his sins forsaken;

Hears Jesus call, who says to all,

“Follow with best endeavour.”

In ample fame, always the same,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

10. And Mark, yes, Mark, the second is,

And richly he has taught us

The knowledge of that mighty power

Wherewith our Lord has brought us

To faith in God, to which is owed

All goodness whatsoever;

For all men’s tears, for all men’s jeers,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

11. Luke also follows in the train

And tells the gospel story:

The wondrous works of Christ, and how

From heaven the God of glory

To men undone has sent his Son

That men might perish never;

Believe we must, or bite the dust,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

12. And John, the fourth evangelist,

A youth of wondrous beauty,

Reveals to us the Word divine

And teaches us our duty.

With faith and love your calling prove

And seek no other lever;

It gives no aid to hoe or spade,

But God’s word stands for ever.

13. And Saul, God’s chosen vessel he,

His early sin repented:

He stormed and strove against the saints

As if he were demented.

In vain the age ‘gainst us shall rage,

Our souls from Christ to sever;

In time of ill our stronghold still,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

14. O Paul, O Paul, what fruit of all

Thy writings in their season!

The truth thou hast declared shall stand

Against all human reason.

Sin is o’erthrown by faith alone,

And, though the great and clever

Were all employed to make it void,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

15. And Peter, Jude, and James, all three

Do follow in this teaching;

Repentance and confession they

Through Christ our Lord are preaching

In him men must put all their trust,

Or they shall see God never;

The wolf may tear, the lion, bear,—

God’s word stands sure for ever.

16. Ah, man, blind man, now hear the word,

Make sure your state and calling;

Believe the Scripture is the power

By which we’re kept from falling.

Your valued lore at once give o’er,

Renounce your vain endeavour;

This shows the way, no longer stray,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

17. O Jesus Christ, thou Son of God,

Let us not lack thy favour,

For what shall be our just reward

If the salt shall lose its savour?

With angry flame to efface thy name

In vain shall men endeavour;

Not for a day, the same for aye,

God’s word stands sure for ever.

18. Praise God, praise God in unity,

Ye Christian people sweetly,

That he his word has spread abroad—

His word, his work completely.

No human hand can him withstand,

No name how high soever;

And sing we then our glad Amen!

God’s word stands sure for ever.

Balthasar Hübmaier, “A Song in Praise of God’s Word”