Church-hopping, Bible-hopping, 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.)

“Most pastors around the country would warn against church-hopping but wholeheartedly advocate for Bible-hopping.” -- Peter Van Kleeck Jr.

“A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority.” -- Booker T. Washington

“‘The crowd’ is not our moral compass.” -- Unknown

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.’” -- Anthony the Great of Egypt (circa AD 251 – AD 356)

“Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ within us.” -- Aiden W. Tozer

“Churches and leaders should worry less about bare numbers and more about biblical faithfulness.” -- Jonathan Leeman

“‘The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.’ Let me be on my guard when the world puts on a loving face, for it will, if possible, betray me as it did my Master, with a kiss. Whenever a man is about to stab religion, he usually professes a great reverence for it. Let me beware of the sleek faced hypocrisy which is armor-bearer to heresy and infidelity.” -- Charles H. Spurgeon, Mornings and Evenings

“Common sense blooms in the illiterate bumpkin’s garden as often as the college-educated’s garden.” -- Unknown

“The Gospel is not about how special you are. It’s about how sovereign God is.” -- Voddie Baucham

“In preaching, the Holy Spirit has a role too. It’s not your cleverness and craft.” -- Unknown

Expressive Individualism

Carl Trueman’s writing “How Expressive Individualism Threatens Civil Society,” and his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution have caught the attention of some on the internet. Here are some related thoughts/posts.

9marks.org

• An Ecclesiological Take on “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” -- “Pragmatism is a results-driven orientation, especially results that can be measured, like dollars in the plate or bodies in the pew.”
• Do 9Marks Churches Foster Expressive Individualism? -- “Beware of whatever draws people to your church that’s not biblically essential. What’s trendy now will change.”
• Why Pastors Need to Understand an Abstract Topic Like “Expressive Individualism” -- “First, through the influence of Rousseau and other post-Enlightenment thinkers and poets, the self became ‘psychologized.’”
• You’re a Pastor, Not a Therapist -- “Pastor, you’re not a therapist. You hold a longer-term position in the lives of your people.”

StandardSacredText.com

• Expressive Individualism and Multiple Version Only-ism (Part 1) -- “The Bible is the rule of all faith and practice...If you get to choose the rule book you get to choose how the game is played.”
• Expressive Individualism, A SCOTUS Nominee, and the Textual Issue (Part 2) -- “Judge Jackson, being a woman, cannot give a definition for the word “woman” because she has chosen a Rule, a Standard which allows her to be ambiguous about that which is ruled, because of the Expressive Individualism that pervades her worldview.”
• Does the American Church at Large Foster Expressive Individualism? (Part 3) -- “We’re offering the version(s) of the Bible you are looking for.”
• The Unintended Consequences of Multiple Version Only-ism’s Expressive Individualism (Part 4) -- “here are unintended consequences to our churches’ expressions both of our members’ individual preferences of the version they read and our pastoral preferences regarding the version he reads.”

Coherence-Based Genealogical Method

Links to information about the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method approach in textual criticism, or CBGM for short. Perhaps, ultimately, this new method will increase rather than decrease the modern text critics’ degree of uncertainty about the text. “Along with the changes to the text just mentioned, there has also been a slight increase in the ECM editors’ uncertainty about the text...” -- Wasserman & Gurry

Evangelical Textual Criticism 

• The CBGM in One (!) Sentence -- “The CBGM is a new set of computer-based tools for studying a new set of text-critical evidence based on a new principle for relating texts.”

Gerd Mink

• Coherence-Based Genealogical Method -- “Elements of a genealogical hypothesis are not the manuscripts but the states of the text that they convey and that may be far older than the respective manuscript.”

Jeff Riddle

• Word Magazine # 73: Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM) -- “The CBGM method was developed by Gerd Mink and other scholars at the Institute for New Testament Research at the University of Muenster, Germany.”
• WM 200: QR Article: The Coherence-Based Genealogical Method: The Newest ‘New’ Method -- “Coherence-Based Genealogical Method (CBGM) is a methodology based on computerised mathematical modelling, and as such any critical assessment of it needs to be somewhat technical.”

Peter Van Kleeck, Jr.

• Understanding the CBGM: An Introduction (Part 1) -- “...at a minimum it is important to know what our opposing interlocutors are doing and thinking in the field to which our mutual discussion pertains.”
• Understanding the CBGM: An Introduction (Part 2) -- “...more changes have come to the critical text which makes the text as a thing more uncertain.”
• Understanding the CBGM: The Method (Part 1) -- “Gerd Mink is the pioneer and inventor of the CBGM...Mink took it a step further and sought to group the various texts within the manuscript with the various texts of other manuscripts via coherence.”
• Understanding the CBGM: Coherence -- “In sum, subjective human interpretation with the assistance of computer tools makes the decision about which is an ancestor, and which is a descendent when comparing two witnesses/texts.”

Taylor DeSoto

• Is the CBGM God’s Gift to the Church? -- “It is important to keep in mind, that the CBGM is not simply a pure computer system. It requires user input and editorial judgement.”

Pagan prayer in so-called Christian Church

Anna Sheetz: “This past Thursday, March 31st, was the International Transgender Day of Visibility. In the PCUSA, we welcome all of our transgender and queer siblings into this family and relationship with the Creator God. So today, I wish to pray a prayer that was written for this incredible day. Will you pray with me?”

If you don’t think heart Christianity and nominal Christianity must come to an overt division soon, think again. Notice this prayer to the “God of pronouns…the great they / them who breastfeeds” at a PCUSA gathering. NottheBee.com very accurately and appropriately identifies this mess for what it is, modern day paganism. The entire prayer can be found here, or viewed in the “sermon” context here (the insane prayer starts at 39:10).

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.’”

The current state of separation of church and state

As were our Baptist forefathers, so am I a proponent of the free exercise of religion – that is, in regard to state interference in it (we are not free from God). However, I think that oft times in the modern U.S., our first amendment has been stood on its end, making it an enemy of religion rather than a friend. This reason for this is that secularism often functions in the place of a state-adopted religion.

When secularism functions as the state religion, then it is given preference over religion under the guise of separation. That sends a message to all residents of the United States that non-religious secularism is better than religion. If you are not a religion, then we will give you this, and support you in that. If you are a religion, we will shut you out.

By not adopting a state religion, the United States has on the other hand developed a religion of state, a secular type of “religious non-religion” that functions as religion. There is no way our forefathers could have foreseen this. They set the constitutional idea of freedom of religion in place in a culture saturated with a Judeo-Christian ethic. In practice, Christianity often functioned beneath the surface as the de facto “state religion” without it being established as such – simply because of the large number of people who were Christians, at least functionally, or at least accepted the general principles found in the Bible as legitimate and good. We are no longer there.

Over the years, secularism has taken over as a de facto state religion with Christianity incrementally being rooted out of the public square. In our current applications of state religion, any “moral” philosophy that claims to arise from some source other than “religion” is given preference or ascendancy over any moral philosophy that rises from a religious base. Therefore, very truly the state functions in supporting one (yes, establishing secularism to function as religion) while opposing the other (actual religion).

I see the problem, but do not have the answer for it. Perhaps we are beyond implementing any answer even if we had one. Perhaps it will “solve itself” (and perhaps not in the way we might prefer). It seems likely that we have reached a time and place in the history and culture of the United States where there is going to be a separation of those who are heart Christians and those who are nominal Christians.

“So there was a division among the people because of him” [i.e., Jesus Christ]. John 7:43.

Abortions, Vaccines, and Transgenderism

LifeSiteNews is a site that I find beneficial for news about and promotion of the Pro-Life stance. I appreciate their work. However, two articles I recently read there I found troubling – and wonder just how and why they passed muster. Both are by the same author, Nick Bell.[i] I do not know the author, but question the worth of these articles in the promotion of the cause of God and truth.[ii]

First, there is “Until Republicans point to dangers of COVID shot, their opposition to mandates rings hollow.”[iii] This rather curious article suggests we should not oppose mandates that might be good for us. It makes an ill-advised comparison between “mandating” against abortion, which is murder, and mandating for a vaccine that has both benefits and risks.

“If the COVID-19 vaccine is effective enough that you dedicate an entire ad to asking people to take it, why not mandate it? Most Republicans support a mandate that prohibits killing a child in the womb. Why not support this mandate that save lives too?”

Bell’s comparison is apples and oranges. The first is opposing the murder of human life. The second is mandating a form of health care. We should not support mandating things just because those things might be good for us. Bell implies that mandating the Covid vaccine would be fine if it were good for us, and the reason to not mandate is that it is dangerous. I agree that the Covid-19 has dangerous knowns. I further assert that it is full of unknowns. However, I do not have to know that it is, or even might be, dangerous to be against government entities mandating the Covid vaccination. A better comparison would be between Covid vaccination and our brushing our teeth. It does not matter whether brushing our teeth is good or bad; it is outside the government’s purview to start mandating that everyone must brush their teeth three times a day because it is beneficial.

Bell’s article does well to point out the dangers of the Covid vaccination. The invalid comparison to abortion as a similar “mandate” actually diminishes the strength of the case against abortion. Abortion is not just a health issue – it is a murder issue, the immoral snuffing out of a life created in the image of God.

Second, there is “Matt Walsh’s debate with transgender activists on Dr. Phil show left a lot to be desired.” I cannot speak for Matt Walsh, but when I stand for a cause, I always look back and see where I could have done better (i.e., “left a lot to be desired”). I do not mind constructive criticism in such cases. Nevertheless, rather than applaud Matt Walsh for taking on the enemy in the marketplace of ideas, Nick Bell sits on the sidelines and nitpicks.[iv] And weirdly so. I find it shocking that in the midst of criticizing Walsh, Bell defends the transgendered guests on Dr. Phil as “likable people” and “well-meaning people.” That they have struggles is certain. That they need prayers and even pity is true. However, we should not defend those promoting this ungodly agenda as “well-meaning.” Bell further suggests that we should acquiesce to their personal delusion by “simply using their preferred pronoun.”

“Conservatives can only win this debate in American society by forthrightly responding. This requires making the case that transgenderism inflicts unacceptable damage not only on those who dissent from it but also on the transgenders themselves, as well as children caught up in a ‘social contagion.’”

Why does transgenderism inflict “unacceptable damage?” Bell appears to have gone over to the philosophical side – it is wrong because it does damage. It does damage. It does damage because it is wrong. It does damage because it inflicts disorder to the order of God’s creation.

Ultimately, Bell’s conclusion misses the mark. “The argument for truth and honesty in sex and gender is dramatically more powerful when the true stakes of the issue – the happiness and wholeness of real, vulnerable people – are at the forefront.” The “true stakes” of the issue is that God made man in his likeness – and “male and female created he them.” If that biblical truth is not the foundation of the truth of two genders, then the entire case fails. There we must drive down our stake. There we must begin.

I am neither prophet nor fortuneteller. I do not know how these things will end in our society. I do know that God, the Bible, and science are all on our side in the abortion debate and the gender debate. Taking the eternal perspective, that is a winning combination.

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[i] There is a Nick Bell who is an author at The Federalist. This Nick Bell formerly as served deputy director at the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives at the Department of Education, and was a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, VA-39 (did not win). I am uncertain whether this is the same person, but it seems probable (another article on LifeSite indicates their Nick Bell lives in Fairfax County, which is in District 39).
[ii] In addition, Nick Bell got some of the basic facts wrong, including how he identified the two transgender guests and what one of them said about the bathroom issue.
[iii] To be clear, I favor not only Republicans, but also public servants in general, doctors, nurses, and anyone with the platform to do so, to point out the dangers of Covid-19 vaccinations.
[iv] Complain if you will, but Matt Walsh went alone into the enemy camp, faced them down 3-against-1, and stood for the biblical and biological truth that there are only two genders. Further, Walsh seems to have made the arguments that Bell says he did not make. This is not a personal defense of Walsh, of whom I know little.

Does It Say That In The Bill, 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.

• Alamo Survivor? -- “The most recently published version of the Handbook of Texas stated that most historians believed her story.”
• Bloomberg: U.S. Doled Out Billions In Fraudulent COVID Aid. Where’s The Accountability? -- “Somehow, the Internal Revenue Service managed to issue 2.2 million stimulus checks — worth about $3.5 billion — to dead people.”
• Communion: Lord’s Supper or Lost Supper? Originally a Meal -- “The early church celebrated the Lord’s Supper as an actual supper. What’s the proof of this?”
• ‘Does It Say That In The Bill?’: Ron DeSantis Rebukes Reporter For Pushing ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Narrative -- “So we disabuse you of those narratives — and we’re going to make sure that parents are able to send their kid to kindergarten without having some of this stuff injected into their school curriculum.”
• Einstein’s Heroes—biblical creationists -- “Einstein had pictures of his three heroes of science on his study wall. They were Isaac Newton (1642–1727), Michael Faraday (1791–1867), and James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879).”
• KJVtoday.net -- “KJVtoday.com get a new domain name.”
• Mark Ward: KJVO “Sinful Anger,” the “Evasion” of the Confessional Bibliologians, and Success -- “True success is finding what God says and doing it. It’s not success to turn a church away from the King James Version to a modern version, even if Ward supports that outcome.”
• Permanent daylight saving time? America tried it before ... and it didn’t go well -- “The public liked the idea of avoiding the confusion and frustration of changing the clocks by an hour twice a year. But soon Americans realized...”
• Pine Log Methodist Church & Campground, Bartow County, Org. 1834 -- “The beautiful church building you see pictured, the oldest in Bartow County, has been improved over the years but was actually built in 1843.”
• Senate Votes To Repeal Travel Mask Mandates In Bipartisan Rebuke Of Biden Admin -- “In a rebuke of the Biden administration’s policy, eight Democrats joined Republicans on Tuesday as the Senate passed a resolution to repeal the federal travel mask mandates on public transportation.”
• Should the Sick Be Anointed with Oil? (James 5) -- “All in all, it is the sovereign God, and no one else, who will determine the answers to our prayers.”
• So Mitt Romney decided to go to war with Tulsi over Ukrainian bio-labs and HOO BOY DID HE STEP IN IT NOW -- “And remember that without the truth, we can be neither safe nor free.”
• The Reformation in Hungary -- “Since reformatory discourse at this time was of course in German, it naturally arrived first in the German communities of Hungary, which were many and substantial.”
• The Successionism View of Baptist History -- “Not every Baptist historian has held this successionist view, though many historians saw some kind of connection with dissenting groups that existed during the medieval period of European history.”
• The Transgender, Deconstructing, Exvangelical Endorser of “Jesus and John Wayne” -- “...Stroop’s affinity for Jesus and John Wayne seems to grow right out of his personal antipathy for conservative protestant Christianity.”
• WHO is examining potential hearing problems linked to Covid vaccines -- “The WHO reported 367 cases of tinnitus and 164 cases of hearing loss globally among people who had received a Covid-19 vaccine, usually within a day of the shot.”

Stopping the well of water

As the envious Philistines stopped the wells of Abraham and filled them up with earth, to put the memorial out of mind, to the intent that they might challenge the ground: even so the fleshy minded hyprocrites stop up the veins of life which are in scripture, with the earth of their traditions, false similitudes, and lying allegories: and that of like zeal, to make scripture their own possession and merchandises; and so shut up the kingdom of heaven, which is God’s word, neither entering in themselves nor suffering them that would. 

William Tyndale, “Prologue to the Prophet Jonas”

Fairest Lord Jesus

“Fairest Lord Jesus” or “Schönster Herr Jesu” (Meter 5.6.8.5.5.8.) is usually sung to the Crusader’s Hymn, a Silesian Folk melody arranged by Richard Storrs Willis. The author of the words remains anonymous, or unknown. The original hymn is German, translated into English by an unknown translator. However, Joseph Augustus Seiss wrote or translated the fourth stanza.

1. Fairest Lord Jesus,
ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish,
Thee will I honor,
thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

2. Fair are the meadows,
fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer
who makes the woeful heart to sing.

3. Fair is the sunshine,
fairer still the moonlight,
and all the twinkling starry host:
Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.

4. Beautiful Savior!
Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor,
praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine.

Appalachian Code Switching, 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.

• An exhaustive listing of the marginal notes of the 1611 edition of the King James Bible -- “The notes indicate a desire on the part of the KJV translators to be very accurate and as literal as possible, in part because they sometimes noted matters where the departure from the original language was very slight.”
• Appalachian Code Switching -- “But my own accent is softly Southwest Virginian. I’ve lived away a good long while, so it’s not as strong as, say, some of my cousins’ accents.”
• Biblical Christianity vs. Atheism on Racism and Slavery -- “On the contrary, racism and slavery are deeply intertwined with the ugly historical development of secular atheism. Racism is obliterated by the Christian truths that God created the human race as a unity...”
• Cades Cove history: The last family to have lived in Cades Cove -- “The son of Kermit and Lois Caughron, Rex is a fifth-generation descendant of the Shields who first settled the area and carved out a life among the mountains’ natural beauty.”
• Daylight Saving debate: Winners — and losers — of ending biannual time changes -- “evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety.”
• Dixon Farmhouse, Appling County -- “Once you have South Georgia sand in your brogan shoe, it never completely leaves.”
• Five questions about the Authorised (King James) Version -- “Today, English Christianity is massively fractured and fragmented, and it would be an almost impossible task to gather together a strong team of sufficiently-qualified men who would hold the widespread respect and support of English Christendom.”
• Heroes Next Door -- “Seventy-five years after the Texas City disaster, those who rushed in haven’t been forgotten.”
• How Expressive Individualism Threatens Civil Society -- “A society’s understanding of the notion of ‘self’ has broad implications for the cultural, moral, and political spheres.”
• How magic helps us understand free will -- “Magic can help us understand how easily our mind can be deceived. That s why the study of magic is used by psychologists to study exactly how well we perceive reality.”
• Restorationist Textual Criticism’s Verification Problem -- “By now it should be obvious that Scripture teaches that it is self-authenticating and that there is no greater epsitemic authority by which we can evaluate truth claims. And this necessarily includes truth claims made about Scripture itself.”
• The Final Resting Places of 3 Famous Artists -- “By 1883, Monet and his wife purchased a home and property in Giverny in northern France where he undertook a vast landscaping project.”
• The last acceptable prejudice -- “This is the last acceptable public prejudice: bad jokes and silly stereotypes about people who speak differently.”
• The Originality of Text-Critical Symbols in Codex Vaticanus -- “The discovery that the ink of text-critical symbols in Codex Vaticanus1 matches the original ink of the codex breaks new ground for textual criticism...The unique three horizontal dots of undetermined origin in the margin by 1 John 5:7 also abut the line preceding an interpolation ...”
• Thomas Pursell’s Escape Burial Hatch -- “Obsession with the safety coffin, which became especially intense between the 18th and 19th centuries, was born from widespread fear of being buried alive.”
• Two-Fisted Law and Order -- “Judge Roy Bean made the rules and found fame in his remote corner of West Texas.”
• Understanding History Takes Empathy -- “One of the benefits of Christian faith should be that it sets us on a path toward a deep view of sin.”
• Ways Grove Baptist, Jefferson County, Org. 1865 -- “We believe that the story of these two historic rural churches truly tell us where we came from and how we got here.”
• 1,362 / 783,137 = 0.00174 -- “So, by Ward’s own count, we ought to abandon the KJV because two tenths of a percent of the words of the KJV may be words we think we understand but don’t.”

Selah, a word

The word “Selah” occurs 71 times in the Book of Psalms (in 39 different psalms) and 3 times in the prayer of Habakkuk in chapter 3.

I cannot expound on its meaning, since I do not know. However, I was taught that it meant “to pause,” to rest or pause. Since it is associated with psalms/songs, perhaps it is reasonable to believe that “selah” is a musical notation [i] – a time of reflection while one rests or pauses from to the singing and/or playing.

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[i] Habakkuk chapter 3 is a prayer “upon Shigionoth… To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.”

Greek texts, wise and otherwise

“Traditional Text Positions Explained,” a post by Robert Truelove at Text and Canon (on Facebook) identifies five of what he calls “Traditional Text Positions.” Though some are new in some ways, I believe he considers them all “traditional” in the sense that they are Byzantine text positions. Here are the five:

1. “Majority Text.” This is a position based on the readings of the majority of texts, which he identified with Farstad and Hodges.

2. “Byzantine Priority.” This he distinguished because the readings that cannot be decided by the majority are still decided within the Byzantine family (whereas position 1 above does not always do so). He identifies this position with Maurice Robinson.

3. “F35.” All the correct readings of the inspired text come from within Family 35. This is the position of Wilbur Pickering. It also seems this position is founded on providential preservation, whereas the first two emphasize evidence and reason rather than preservation.

4. “Textus Receptus Priority.” This position accepts the Textus Receptus as the text we should use, the one that should be the standard, while recognizing there might be some problems and errors (but that they should be dealt with in teaching, rather than an ever-changing text). Truelove said this was his position.

5. “Textus Receptus Only.” This position accepts that the Greek text is providentially preserved in the Textus Receptus.

[Note: these are my attempts to remember and fairly represent what he said.]

On the Critical Text side, Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California identifies on their web site three different Critical Text positions.

1. “Thorough-going eclectic.” These folks reject any consideration of external evidence such as manuscript families, date of manuscript and so on. They concentrate all of their energies on internal consideration for a literary analysis of the text.

2. “Westcott-Hort.” Westcott and Hort suggested that the Alexandrian family of manuscripts are the oldest and thus preferred. They also concluded that external evidence, that is, manuscript families, outweighs internal evidence and that the Alexandrian variant, all other factors being equal, is the one preferred.

3. “Balanced eclectic.” This “balanced” position holds that each text type is to be evaluated independently without premeditated bias. It also posits that internal and external evidences are to be considered equally. It basically suggests that each textual variant is to be investigated thoroughly and considered on its own merits.

[Note: All the above about critical texts is a quote from the Grace website. I believe the terminology “reasoned eclectic” is relatively the same position as their “balanced eclectic.” 

There is another position (not listed above) that James E. Snapp Jr describes as “equitable eclecticism.”

Are the positions as stated above valid? Helpful? Confusing? Complete or incomplete?

Facts of the day

Special fact of the day: Kentaji Brown Jackson makes judicial history.       

During the 2020 presidential primary, Joe Biden made a promise (at a debate in February 2020) to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if he had the opportunity. He has delivered on that promise. On Thursday April 7, 2022, Senators of the United States voted 53-47 to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Jackson will be the first Black woman ever to sit in this Court.[i] She obviously is well schooled in law. I disagree with her judicial philosophy, which appears to be mainly of the “living Constitution” school where one creates things like the right to abortion that is not dealt with in the Constitution.

Mad fact of the day: the first black woman judge and defining women.

Ketanji Brown Jackson sidestepped a question from Senator Marsha Blackburn about defining what is a woman, with her now infamous “I’m not a biologist” comment.[ii] Despite this, Ketanji Brown Jackson knows that she is a woman. President Joe Biden knows that Ketanji Brown Jackson is a woman. 100 senators know that Ketanji Brown Jackson is a woman. The public who voted for Biden because of this promise knows that Ketanji Brown Jackson is a woman. Yes, even the radical left who pretend they cannot define what a woman is knows that Ketanji Brown Jackson is a woman.

Despite their deafening dissimulation on the definition of a woman, even transgender allies and “trans” women and really know what a woman is. When a man claims he is a woman trapped in a man’s body, what does he usually do? He takes female hormones. He has his male genitalia removed and replaced with simulated female genitalia. He gets augmentation mammoplasty, as well as other surgeries such as facial feminization, chondrolaryngoplasty (to reduce the Adam’s apple), and voice feminization surgery. He wears feminine clothing and changes his name from one that sounds masculine to one that sounds feminine. Bruce Jenner becomes Caitlyn Jenner. Richard Levine becomes Rachel Levine. They say that they do not know what a woman is, yet know how to try to appear like other women. Everybody pretends they are women while calling them “trans” women, a tacit admission that they really are not women.

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.’”

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[i] Both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the the United States have a voice in the composition of the U. S. Supreme Court. The President nominates a person to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Senate, by a simple majority, votes to confirm the nominee.
[ii] Senator Marsha Blackburn: “Can you provide a definition for the word woman?” Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson: “No. I can’t. Not in this context. I’m not a biologist.”

1 Corinthians 14:34-35, thoughts and references

“Paul’s goal was to establish order, not to silence women,” concluded Philip J. Abbott in his Master’s Thesis “Bringing Order to 1 Cor 14:34-35.” 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is a sometimes-attacked, sometimes-avoided, somewhat controversial passage. To those who reject the inspiration and authority of scripture, it is a cultural anachronism with no place in modern society. To those who accept the inspiration and authority of scripture while trying to fit in society, it is a thorn in the side. To all who take the Bible seriously, it can be a difficult passage. I do not expect to resolve the difficulties, but would like to investigate the text a bit.

Two contextual outlines

Worship in the Church (I Corinthians 11:2-14:40)

Men and Women in Worship: How they Dress (11:2-16)

 Order in Worship: worship through eating the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34)

Gifts and the Nature of the Body (12:1-30)

The Hymn of Love (12:31-14:1)

Spiritual Gifts and the Upbuilding of the Body (14:1-25)

Order in Worship: worship through speaking the Word (14:26-33a)

Women and Men in Worship: How they Speak (14:33b-36)

Concluding Summary and Appeal (14:37-40)

The outline above is adapted from Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 409. 

Worship in the Church, a Chiastic Outline (I Corinthians 11:2-14:40)

Introduction: Apostolic traditions and worship (11:2)

Men and Women in worship: How they dress (11:3-16)

                        Order in Worship: worship through eating the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34)

Spiritual Gifts and the nature of the body (12:1-30)

The Hymn of Greatest Gift, Love (12:31-14:1)

Spiritual Gifts and the edifying of the body (14:1-25)

Order in Worship: worship through speaking the word (14:26-33a)

Women and Men in worship: How they speak (14:33b-36)

Conclusion: The Lord’s command and worship (14:37-40)

Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 409. The outline above is another adapted from Bailey.

I Corinthians 14:26-40

 

How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.

Other verses that are/may be relevant:

• Acts 18:26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
• 1 Corinthians 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
• 1 Corinthians 11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
• 1 Corinthians 12:11 but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
• 1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

We should not bind what God has not bound, neither loose what God has not loosed. This means we need a sincere and certain look at this text, with an open heart and mind – void of the outcome for which we might wish. These verses cause irritation to the egalitarian who want no restrictions on the women’s voices in church. These verses cause discomfort to the complementarian who does not know how much silence to advocate, but does not advocate a total silencing of women in church.

 

Some of the ideas about this text, probably most of them:

• The text of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is an interpolation, not part of Paul’s original writing
• The command only applied to the specific situation in Corinth
• The command only applies to judging of prophecies
• The command only applies to speaking in tongues
• The command means absolute silence, an absolute rule in the church assembly
• “Let your women keep silence” is a Corinthian slogan which Paul quotes and refutes
• The Greek verb sigao / σιγατωσαν refers to a silence determined by the context
• The silence of the text applies only to married women

A few points about contextual silence

For women to say “amen” with others (Psalm 106:48; 1 Corinthians 14:16), to answer questions (Acts 5:7-8), to sing with the church (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16), etc. (Acts 18:26), is accepted by most churches. Therefore, few think this means absolute silence.

1. The speakers in tongues are told (vv. 27-28):

• if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence (σιγάτω) in the church

2. The prophets are told (vv. 29-30):

• If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace (σιγάτω).

3. The women (with husbands) are told (vv. 34-35):

• Let your women keep silence (σιγάτωσαν) in the churches

A quote from Clement of Alexandria, in The Instructor, Book 3

Going to Church.

Woman and man are to go to church decently attired, with natural step, embracing silence, possessing unfeigned love, pure in body, pure in heart, fit to pray to God. Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered, unless she happen to be at home. For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled.

 

They say that the wife of Aeneas, through excess of propriety, did not, even in her terror at the capture of Troy, uncover herself; but, though fleeing from the conflagration, remained veiled.

What others write

• 1 Corinthians 14:33b-38 as a Pauline Quotation-Refutation Device by Kirk MacGregor
• 1 Corinthians 14:34: Did God Really Say...?
• Do Women Have to Keep Silent in the Church?
• Does Paul Require the Complete Silence of Women in Church: A Study of 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35
• “Is 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 a Marginal Comment or a Quotation? A Response to Kirk MacGregor
• Must Women Be Silent in Churches? (1 Corinthians 14:34)
• Orderly Participation or Silenced Women? Clashing Views on Decent Worship in 1 Corinthians 14
• “Silent in the Churches”: On the Role of Women in 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36
• Why Were Women Told to Keep Silent in Church?
• Women Silent in Church?
• Women “Should Remain Silent” - A Study of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

Recent book finds

I recently happened across these at Archive.org.

• Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, by Sharyl Corrado; Toivo Pilli, editors. Czech Republic: International Baptist Theological Seminary of the European Baptist Federation, 2007
• Hebraisms in the Authorized Version of the Bible, by William Rosenau, Baltimore, MD: The Friedenwald Company, 1903
• Historical Vindications: a Discourse on the Province and Uses of Baptist History, by Sewall Sylvester Cutting. Boston, MA: Gould and Lincoln, 1859
• Indiana Baptist History, 1798-1908, by William Taylor Stott. Franklin, IN: W. T. Stott, 1908
• Lectures on Baptist History, by William R. Williams. Philadelphia, PA: American Baptist Publication Society, 1877
• Memory and Hope: Strands of Canadian Baptist History, by David T. Priestley, editor. Waterloo, Ontario: Published for the Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion, 1996
• R. C. Buckner’s Life of Faith and Works, Comprising the Story of the Career of the Preacher, Editor, Presiding Officer, Philanthropist, and Founder of Buckner Orphans Home, by James Britton Cranfill and James Lafayette Walker. Dallas, TX: Buckner Orphans Home, 1915
• The Baptist History of South Dakota, by Thomas Miles Shanafelt. Sioux Falls, SD: South Dakota Baptist Convention, 1899
• The Gospel Ship (Baptist Hymns & White Spirituals From The Southern Mountains), by New World Records (NW 294), 1977 (Samples)
• The New Testament of our Lord Iesus Christ: translated out of Greeke by Theod. Beza, by Beza, Joachim Camerarius, Pierre Loyseleur de Villiers, Laurence Tomson, and Franciscus Junius the Elder. London: Deputies of Christopher Barker, Printer to the Queenes most Excellent Majestie, 1599
• The Small Sects in America: an Authentic Study of Almost 300 Little-Known Religious Groups, by Elmer Talmage Clark. New York, NY: Abingdon Press, 1949
• Theodore Beza: the Counsellor of the French Reformation, 1519-1605, by Henry Martyn Baird, New York, NY: Burt Franklin, 1899/1970

American Madness

Anthony the Great of Egypt, as recorded in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, said, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.’”

After the chief medical officer at the New York City Department of Health issued the tweet quoted below, for what did the Department of Health apologize?

“The urgency of this moment is clear. Mortality rates of birthing people are too high, and babies born to Black and Puerto Rican mothers in this city are three times more likely to die in their first year of life than babies born to non-Hispanic White birthing people.”

They apologized for “inadvertently” gendering Black and Puerto Rican birthing people!

I am not a biologist, but I know that all “birthing people” are women. I am not a dictionary, but I know that women who give birth are mothers.

Preaching voices, code switching, and naysayers

On the 28th of March, one of the clown princes of the Baptist Board posted a weird comment About the worst Baptist preacher I ever heard.[i] There are several interesting takeaways.

The “style” of the “worst Baptist preacher” who is referenced might be referred to as chanting or intoning. It was once much more common than it is today. We Baptists share this style as part of the heritage from our Separate Baptist ancestry, in my opinion (though subject to revision if new information of which I am unaware is revealed).[ii]

The original post and many of the comments judge that preacher and his preaching by their personal opinions rather than the content of the message. (Only the original poster has actually heard him; everyone else was commenting gratuitously). Rather than hearing the message and searching the scriptures whether these things are so, the preaching is outright dismissed because the hearers do not approve of the way the preacher talks. As far as I can tell, the scriptures teach us to judge a message by its conformity to the word of God. The preached word is the word to the extent that it agrees with the living Word (Jesus Christ) and the written word (the Bible). (Cf. e.g. Romans 10:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 4:2.)

Additionally, there is the judgment of the heart of the message bearer based on observing externals. “I believe he’s quite a sham.” “Deliberately using poor grammer & pronunciation is a sham…People in this area don’t talk that way…And the grunting every few words is certainly a sham…All phony as a $3 bill…he only does it when he preaches, which is LESS-THAN-HONEST, & anyone preaching should be honest as possible.” One confirms, “it’s still a pretense. They should talk the same on Sunday as they do the rest of the week, without putting on a show with their language.” Another chimes in “My wife and I all the time laugh at people who have preacher speak.”

There is little doubt that some preachers “put on a show.” That is not confined to a particular “style” of preaching, or to preachers who speak with a different accent, grammar, or vocabulary. The naysayers do not take into account several possible factors.

There are different views on what constitutes proper decorum in the pulpit (much based on pragmatism rather that biblical precept and example). There is both taught and learned behavior in preaching (i.e., how one preaches, stylewise). There is no doubt that some of us have beneath the surface “learned behavior” that is considered our “normal” when it comes to preaching. There is room for discussion of whether it is actually good or bad without calling it a sham, dishonest, put on, a performance, or a show. I honestly do not think a majority of preachers “talk the same on Sunday as they do the rest of the week” – whether for good or bad or indifferent reasons. Preaching is readily viewed as different from “normal” speech, as well as different from “normal” oratory. It is speaking on behalf of God and his word.

The naysayers may have it backwards! This man’s preaching may reflect his innate grammar and vocabulary, and what is his “normal” way of speaking.[iii] His “other” speech may reflect his learned behavior – a way to get along in a culture distinct from his church culture. People who move in two different “cultures” may have two ways of speaking. I work in an education industry setting, and when I am around administrators, I may speak differently than I do around my family, my friends, and the people I work with on a daily basis. If any of it is a “put on” or a “sham” it would actually be when I am apprehensive and make an effort to sound a little more intelligent than I figure I usually sound, on average.[iv]

I likely have a family voice, a work voice, a preaching voice, and even a writing voice.[v] More times than not, I try to write a little more “scholarly” than the sound of my voice and the patterns of my speech! However, when the occasion warrants, I may bring out the voice (or part of it) that reflects the way I grew up speaking, like Who You Gonna Believe?[vi] I ain’t gonna apologize for it when I do.

Sending conflicting and contradictory messages is deceitful. Speaking with “different voices” in different contexts is not. It is a “normal” part of human interaction. Yes, some preachers may put on a show. If you are familiar with the case and know what you are talking about, that can be one thing. If not, don’t assume or presume that you have some grand gnostic knowledge that, like a rabbit’s foot, lets you know that a certain “style” of preaching that you do not like is showmanship, and that the preaching “style” you like is the real deal. It’s simply not that simple, and you may be displaying some of your own ignorance.

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[i] Its oddity is reflected in the first reply, “Ummm ok? we have no idea what you are talking about, nor whom?” In addition, the original poster hoodwinks the readers by writing, “I can excuse his being KJVO.” This person is all over the internet opposing both the King James Bible and King James Version Onlyism, putting a bold question mark on his faint claim.
[ii] I am not aware that this style of preaching has a consistently common or regular name. It has been referred to a chanting, intonation, singsong preaching – as well as many less than complimentary terms. Stephen Garrett has copied several good quotes in his blog titled Singsong Preaching. H. B. Charles and Ralph D. West refer to the black experience of this preaching as the Celebrating, Whooping, Intoning Tradition. You can hear a bit of this style in this sermon closing of H. B. Charles, Jr., pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church at Jacksonville/Orange Park, Florida.
[iii] I searched and found radio messages by the unnamed preacher in question. Yes, his style may seem unusual to those unfamiliar with folks who preach this way. Most preachers I know do not preach in this style. On the other hand, I am quite familiar with it. To me, his preaching does not sound at all contrived or dishonest. It is just a man preaching the way he knows to preach. Dislike it if you will, but do not charge him with fakery on that account.
[iv] The speaking voice we use when we are comfortable and uninhibited is most likely our “normal” voice (though speaking of a “normal” voice in most cases may be a bit misleading). Many urban people think that rural-sounding speakers are not as educated as they are. Accent does not equal education level. However, some people adapt their speech patterns consistently to what they think should reflect their levels of education. Others do not care. Additionally, I know a person from England living in East Texas who learned and changed speech patterns in order to avoid the accent’s constant calling attention to itself.
[v] The online article “Appalachian Code Switching” gives an interesting perspective about how, when, and why people might change their speech patterns. “An Expert Explains Why Your Voice Changes in Different Situations” is also interesting, discussing how people use different voices to achieve different interactions. In addition “Finding the Right Tone of Voice in Communication” discusses how we use different tones of voice in different situations, such as motivation, humor, questioning, etc. (This latter article is about training oneself to use the “apt” tone, but we nevertheless learn and practice much of that subconscious through experience.)
[vi] I originally wrote that back in the 1980s, and (if I remember correctly) actually adapted some (much?) of the speech of the article “up” a bit when I posted it on my blog in 2016.