Baptist History related links online

Links to various web sites that have information related to Baptist history. Their presence does not constitute an endorsement of the groups linked.

• American Baptist Historical Society Digital Collections -- “Photos, documents, and audio files will gradually become accessible via the internet.”
• Baptist and Reflector -- “Tennessee Baptist/Baptist and Reflector Digital Project.”
• Baptist Heritage -- “A website sponsored by the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions (ALABI).”
• Baptist Studies Center for Research -- “An open depository for important Baptist Studies resources, providing research support for Baptist Studies scholarship.”
• Baptist Studies Online -- “Dedicated to the study of Baptist history and thought, with special emphasis on Baptists in North America.”
• Baptistville -- “A memorial collection of sermons, history and pictures of Baptist preachers who spent their lives serving in American Baptist Association churches and other things ABA.”
• Baptists and the American Civil War -- “This project is a day-by-day journal of the Baptist experience during the Civil War, with an emphasis on Baptists North and South.”
• Baptist Archives - Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada -- “The Atlantic Baptist Archives houses the records of Baptist churches in Atlantic Canada along with their governing organization, the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (CBAC).”
• Baptist Bible Believers Website -- “Baptist Resources by Author and Topic.”
• Baptist General Conference History Center -- “The History Center provides stewardship of manuscript and digital materials, collects historically relevant materials, curates three-dimensional objects, offers access to special collections, assists researchers, documents the story of its institutions...”
• Baptist Heritage Revival Society -- “This society is a loosely connected fellowship of Baptist men who greatly appreciate our history and heritage as Baptists.”
• Baptist Historical Society -- “The Baptist Historical Society is here to...provide an opportunity for those who wish to study life of [British] Baptist churches, people and ideas.”
• Baptist History and Heritage Society -- “Since 1938, the Baptist History and Heritage Society has been a leading scholarly organization for Baptist historians in America.”
• Baptist History Homepage -- “A Great Source for Original Baptist Documents.”
• Baptist History Preservation Society -- “The Baptist History Preservation Society is dedicated to preserving and propagating the rich heritage of the Baptists.”
• Challenge Press Baptist History books -- “Challenge Press publishes, reprints, and distributes over 150 titles of distinctively Baptist publications worldwide. In 2008, Challenge Press and Book Heaven merged into one publishing and retail ministry.”
• Documenting the American South -- “Much broader than Baptist church history, but search for it.”
• Evangelist Ted Alexander Bookstore -- “Baptist Heroes of the Faith, and More.”
• Free Will Baptist History -- “The Free Will Baptist Historical Commission exists to preserve Free Will Baptist historical materials and to educate Free Will Baptists regarding their heritage.”
• Georgia Baptist History Portal -- “Resources to begin your research on the history of Baptists in Georgia, as well as other Baptist historical information.”
• Hall of Church History - The Baptists -- “The Baptists are probably the most diverse of all denominations.”
• Local Church Bible Publishers -- “History books.”
• Mount Carmel Blog -- "All About the Baptist Churches in Rusk County, Texas.”
• Seventh Day Baptist Historical Library & Archives -- “The purpose of the Seventh Day Baptist (SDB) Historical Library is to provide a resource for the study and appreciation of SDB life and thought, past and present.”
• Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage -- “Songs of and Interviews with the Old Regular Baptists.”
• Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives -- “The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives is a worldwide center for the study of Baptist history.”
• Spencer Journal Index -- “A Publication of the J. H. Spencer Historical Society.”
• Strict Baptist Historical Society (United Kingdom) -- “The Strict Baptist Historical Society was formed in 1960 to promote an interest in the history and stand for Scriptural truth maintained (through God’s grace) by Strict Baptists; and also to bring into being a central repository...”
• The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc. -- “The Baptist Standard Bearer predominantly publishes material that focuses upon the identity, history and theology of the evangelical Baptist churches.”
• The Biblical Recorder, 1834-1970 -- “For more information, please contact Special Collections & Archives at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University.”
• The Particular Baptist Library -- “Our primary purpose is to display the Theology, Christology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology and Bibliology contained in the First London Confession of Faith, with the various writings of their signers.”
• The Primitive Baptist Library -- “The Primitive Baptist Library of Carthage, Illinois is a Primitive Baptist doctrinal and historical research library.”
• The Reformed Reader -- “Historic Baptist & Reformed resources and beliefs.”
  

One to another

What do these scriptures have in common? By Michael Bell

• Colossians 3:16
• Romans 12:16
• Mark 9:50
• Ephesians 4:32
• Romans 12:10
• Galatians 6:2
• Ephesians 5:21
• John 13:34
• James 5:16

“These scriptures have the theme of unity, love, and mutual support among believers. They emphasize the importance of treating one another with kindness, forgiveness, humility, and love. They encourage believers to bear one another’s burdens, confess their sins to each other, and live in harmony within the body of Christ. These verses highlight the principles of community, compassion, and interpersonal relationships, emphasizing the need for believers to live in unity and love towards one another.”

160 Years of Rumbles on Bible Revision

Awhile back I began to put together a file to help keep up with and find again online materials related to opposition of revising the King James Bible. The research and file have expanded to include a few other things, that I thought worth formatting and sharing with others. I settled on a time frame of 19th century to “mid”-20th century. This began as an effort for my own benefit, because I have trouble keeping up with things that I have found. I decided it might be useful to others also. 

So, I cleaned up the file, did some formatting, created an index, and am posting it here. The material is divided into three sections. The first begins in the 19th century (1801) until the 1870 Convocation vote to revise the King James Bible. The second begins in 1870 until the appearance of the Revised Standard Version New Testament in 1946. The third is from 1946 to 1961. There ends the review.

The file is “Rumbles on Revision” and may be viewed by selecting the following link:

Rumbles on Revision: A Resource on the Rejection of, Objections To, or Uncertainty Toward Revising our Common English Bible, the Authorized or King James Version – Spanning 160 Years, 1801-1961

Any and all comments are welcome. Thanks.

Thirsty for more

“O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, ‘Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.’ Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long.”

A. W. Tozer

The Holy Ghost must give the wound

I came across this interesting hymn – Hymn No. 127, in common meter, on pages 133-135, in A Collection of Hymns, intended for the use of the citizens of Zion by Thomas Reed. I researched and found that it is one of Joseph Hart’s hymns. Not surprising, as he emphasizes the need of experience along with the “form of words.”

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 1 Cor. iv. 20. 

1. A form of words, though e’er so sound,
Can never save a soul;
The Holy Ghost must give the wound; 
And make the wounded whole.

2. Though God’s election is a truth, 
Small comfort there I see,
Till I am told by God’s own mouth
That he has chosen me.

 
3. Sinners, I read, are justified
By faith in Jesu’s blood; 
But when to me that bloods applied, 
’Tis then it does me good. 

4. To perseverance I agree; 
The thing to me is clear, 
Because the Lord has promis’d me, 
That I shall persevere. 

5. Imputed righteousness I own, 
A doctrine most divine,
For Jesus to my heart makes known
That all his merit’s mine. 

6. That Christ is God I can avouch,
And for his people cares, 
Since I have pray’d to him as such,
And he has heard my prayers.

 
7. That sinners black as hell, by Christ
Are sav’d, I know full well
For I his mercy have not miss’d,
And I am black as hell.

 
8. Thus Christians glorify the Lord;
His spirit joins with ours,
In bearing witness to his word,
With all its saving pow’rs.

According to John Julian in Dictionary of Hymnology, “‘Kingdom of God in Power’ [was] First published in his Hymns Composed on Various Subjects, 1759, No. 90, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines and based on i. Cor. iv. 20. ‘For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.’ In 1780, with slight alterations and the omission of stanzas vi. and vii. and the transposition of iv. and v. it was given in the Lady H. Collection No. 95, and from thence has passed into a limited number of ultra-Calvinistic hymnals.”

Tell the truth, 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.)

“Tell the truth and trust the people.” -- Common saying

“I began my education at a very early age; in fact, right after I left college.” -- Winston Churchill

“When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.” -- Unknown, often incorrectly attributed to C. S. Lewis

“Bad doctrine and bad deeds both reflect a lack of submission to the sole and supreme authority of the Scriptures.” -- Aulton B. Brown

“Don’t be so open-minded that your brain falls out.” -- sometimes attributed to G. K. Chesterton

“Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you.” -- J. C. Ryle

“God can pick sense out of a confused prayer...There is never a holy sigh, never a tear we shed, which is lost. ” -- Richard Sibbes

“There are many ways to mark your Bible, but...above all, let your Bible mark you.” -- John A. Kaiser

“Beware of the rubber conscience and the concrete heart.” -- Unknown

“We should work to alleviate suffering, not eliminate the sufferer.” -- Lila Rose

To All Concerned

 

The Enid Daily Eagle, Saturday, October 25, 1952, p. 3

Who is the mean guy denouncing my Bible translation?

Notes on Hugh Broughton, the rejected translator.

In certain attempts to discredit the King James Bible, Hugh Broughton is brought forward as a “representative” Puritan scholar who opposed the King James translation. For example, Ed Hindson in The King James Version Today writes, “Puritans opposed it violently as a dangerous compromise with Episcopacy. Some branded the K.J.V. translators as ‘damnable corruptors of God’s Word.’ Even the great scholar Dr. Hugh Broughton rejected it, saying: ‘I require it to be burnt!’ preferring his ‘trusted’ Geneva Bible.”

Perhaps when Hindson found Broughton opposed the KJV he knew all he needed to know and discontinued further research. It is true that the new translation met early opposition, though this is often overblown. However, when “the great scholar Dr. Hugh Broughton” is invoked as representative of its rejection, it is time to learn a bit about Hugh Broughton (1549–1612).

Yes, Broughton was a Puritan, a language scholar, and he severely criticized the translation. I think no one will dispute his scholarship. To the former, though a Puritan in his theology, Broughton held the episcopal polity of the Church of England to be apostolic. Obviously, then, Hindson is wrong to imply Broughton is among the Puritans who saw the new translation as a “compromise with Episcopacy.”

In An Explication of the holy Apocalyps, p. 444, he says the apostles were episcopi and writes, “Our Lord useth that speech in making his Apostles Bishops, in giving them authority to teach what is loose, and what is bound. But Iscariot, let another take his Bishoprick, the rest were faithful Bishops.” In Certain Notes of diverse Nature, he indicates various Bishops, et al. “should rule in the Church.” p. 721.

In A Censure of the Late Translation for our Churches, Broughton starts in immediately, “The late Bible, Right Worshipful, was sent me to cēsure: which bred in me a sadnes that will greeve me while I breath. It is so ill done. Tell his Maiest. that I had rather be rent in pieces with wilde horses, then any such translation by my consent should bee vrged vpon poore Churches...” He soon follows, asserting, “The New edition crosseth me, I require it be burnt...”

Despite his fine scholarship, Hugh Broughton was a vain fractious man who thought very highly of himself.

“And two and twentie yeares agoe admired by French in London, and by them to Zurick, how by Iewes I cleared the text: and by my enemies in London, as my friends wrote vpon the advertisement, to super-admirable report: that none before me did, nor would after match my heed. And what a prank is this: That translaters sould so mocke with the King.”

“I will suffer no scholer in the world to crosse me in Ebrew and Greek, when I am sure I have the trueth. Men that meant quietnes, would never have dealt thus.” A Censure of the Late Translation for our Churches

It was probably for such reasons that he was not invited to be a translator of the new work, and he likely felt slighted. Additionally, Broughton had been involved in severe disputes with others involved in the new translation, including John Rainolds, Edward Lively, and Thomas Bilson. Michael Haykin says Broughton was not considered to work on the translation “probably because of his combative spirit and violent temper...”

Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609), a French Calvinist religious leader and scholar, called Hugh Broughton “furiosuset maledicus” (abusive madman, frantic railer, raging maniac). Anglican theologian Richard Hooker called him vain. [Writing and footnote in “Giordano Bruno in England, Revisited,” Mordechai Feingold, in Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol. 67, No. 3, pages 329–346. © 2004 by the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. p. 337]

Broughton’s reputation was such that English playwright Ben Jonson happily satirized him in The Alchemist (1610). (In that day, those attending the play would readily get the Broughton reference.)

FACE. [the Housekeeper] You are very right, sir, she is a most rare scholar,

  And is gone mad with studying Broughton’s works.

  If you but name a word touching the Hebrew,

  She falls into her fit, and will discourse

  So learnedly of genealogies,

  As you would run mad too, to hear her, sir.

In Biblical Scholarship in an Age of Controversy: the Polemical World of Hugh Broughton (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021, p. 1), author Kirsten Macfarlane described Broughton’s activities as a “minefield.” He was “too friendly with the Jesuits, too quarrelsome with the Genevans; happy to denounce Theodore Beza as blasphemous, the English bishops as corrupt, and the Pope as Antichrist while also angling for a professorship in Geneva, begging Queen Elizabeth for a bishopric, and boasting of his favour with Cardinal Caesar Baronius.”

Even John Lightfoot, who collected and published Broughton’s works (The Works of the Great Albionean Divine, Renown’d in Many Nations for rare Skill in Salems & Athens Tongues, and familiar Acquaintance with all Rabbinical Learning, Mr. Hugh Broughton. 1662), and who Macfarlane (p. 2) describes as suppressing Broughton’s coziness with Catholicism, downplaying his “aggressive controversies,” and emphasizing his scholarship, nevertheless must assess him as “sharp and severe,” and could “withal be very angry with Scholars.” 

This creates an interesting apposition. King James Detractors who chide certain modern King James Defenders for being acerbic, crass and vain, nevertheless sheepishly bring in to testify on their behalf one of the most acerbic angry Ishmaels of all – Hugh Broughton. As I often say, “Pot, meet kettle.”

---

Note: I have seen “damnable corruptors of God’s Word” quoted several times in reference to the King James translators. However, up to this point I have not seen the source cited. It may be a completely bogus quote.

Smyrna Baptist Church, 150th Anniversary.

In August of 2023, Smyrna Baptist Church of Rusk County, Texas celebrates her 150th Anniversary. The church was organized Saturday August 16, 1873. In recognition of this Anniversary, the church will have the following services:

Wednesday August 16, 2023, 7 p.m. Preaching by Pastor Charles Williams. 

Thursday, August 17, 2023, 7 p.m. Preaching by former pastor John Paul Little.

Friday, August 18, 2023, 7 p.m. Preaching by former pastor Joe Griffith. 

Sunday, August 20, 2023, 10 a.m.         Bible study by Brother Jim Nixon.

Sunday, August 20, 2023, 11 a.m.         Preaching by former pastor R. L. Vaughn.

Noon meal.

After noon meal, circa 1-1:30 p.m.        Church history, member memories, testimonials.

For the 1978 history of Smyrna Baptist Church, click HERE.

Siloam Baptist, Greene County, formerly Smyrna

Historic Rural Churches of Georgia posted pictures of the building of Siloam Baptist Church of Greene County, Georgia. Siloam was originally called the Smyrna Church when it was organized in 1828, and was in the Smyrna Community. A later post office application changed the community name. Click HERE to see pictures and story. 

My ancestors Wyatt and Eliza Jane (Parker) Vaughn were early members of this church, as well as others of the Parker family. Several folks from Greene County populated the eastern portions of Rusk County, Texas, and some of the western portions of Panola. These folks became members of existing churches and/or organized new ones. They were in Baptist churches such as Liberty, Mt. Carmel, Mt. Zion, Shiloh, and so on. In August of 1873, some of the Parkers from Georgia, as well as others who had been members of the Mt. Carmel Church, organized the Smyrna Baptist Church. On August 19, Martha Frazier (originally of Greene County) joined by letter of recommendation. On February 14, 1874, my great-great-grandmother Eliza J. Vaughn came on letter of recommendation (her husband was already deceased).

I have long assumed that, in addition to choosing a Bible name, these Georgians named their church Smyrna because of their former connection to the Smyrna Church in Greene County, Georgia. This year, Smyrna Baptist Church of Rusk County, Texas will celebrate its 150th anniversary, Lord willing.

--

Organization minutes of Smyrna Baptist Church, Greene County:

December 19, 1828

A Presbytery being called met consisting of Brethren R. Pace, J. Roberts and J. Davis, in order to constitute a Church. Brother Pace Preached the Sermon from Colosians the 3rd & 1st. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. After which, Bro. Davis made some appropriate remarks and prayer, and then Proceded to the Constitution of the Church. Bro. Roberts asked the necessary questions. Prayer by Bro. Pace

Charge by Bro. Davis.

Done the 19th December 1828
Vincent Sanford, Clerk P.T.
Presbytery: Richard Pace, Joseph Roberts, Jonathan Davis.

--

Organizational minutes of Smyrna Baptist Church, Rusk County:

Sat. before the 3rd Sun. in Aug. 16, 1873. 

A number of Brethren and Sisters met at Chinquapin for the purpose of organizing a Missionary Baptist Church. After divine service by Elder John Sparkman. Solicited brethren called for, none present. On motion Bro. John Deason was called to preside with Eld. John Sparkman, Bro. F. O. Galloway to act as clerk protem. Opportunity then extended to those wishing to unite whereupon 17 came forward with letters of recommendation and were received. Namely E. S. Parker, Rebecca Parker, Jasper Parker, G. A. Parker, M.  T. Wells, E. Wells, W. J. Parker, C. A. E. Parker, Martha Moore, J. F. M. Reid, Mary V. Reid, Robert P. Goldsberry, Nannie E. Goldsberry, G. W. McNew, Martha McNew, C. M. Holleman, F. O. Galloway.  After letters being read, fellowship for each other called for and was granted, then we extended to each other the right hand of Christian and church fellowship. Prayer being offered by Eld. John Sparkman for the preservation and the unity of the church. We then proceeded in conference, elected J. F. M. Reid church clerk. On motion the meeting was protracted. No farther business. Conference adjourned, Conference approved.

            John Sparkman Mod. J.F.M. Reid, C.C.

Or one tittle

Or one tittle ] Not a hair-stroke, an accent on the top of an Hebrew Letter, the bending or bowing thereof, as a little bit on the top of a horn. The Masorites have summed up all the Letters in the Bible, to shew that one hair of that sacred head is not perished.

John Trapp. A Commentary Or Exposition Upon All the Books of the New Testament, London: R. W., 1656, p. 71

Come, by Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894) was an English poet. She wrote a good deal of devotional religious poetry, much of it designed for children. Her father was from Italy, and her mother also had Italian background. Some will recognize lines such as these:

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can give Him: give my heart.

The following poem can be found in The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti, with a Memoir and Notes by William Michael Rossetti (London: Macmillan and Co., 1904), under the title “Advent,” on page 148. Underneath the poetry is the date “12 December 1851.”

1. “Come,” Thou dost say to Angels,
To blessed Spirits, “Come”
“Come,” to the lambs of Thine own flock,
Thy little ones, “Come home.”

2. “Come,” from the many-mansioned house
The gracious word is sent;
“Come,” from the ivory palaces
Unto the Penitent.

3. O Lord, restore us deaf and blind,
Unclose our lips though dumb:
Then say to us, “I come with speed,”
And we will answer, “Come.”

I am not aware that this poem has ever been set to music. However, it appears it could be rendered well with common meter tunes such as New Britain, Avon, and others. I especially liked trying it with Ortonville.

The RSV, Modernism’s Masterpiece

The Enid Morning News, Tuesday, October 7, 1952, p. 6

Only the King James Version

In 1952, Bert Harrison was a new preacher at the Oak Street Baptist Church in Ponca City, Oklahoma,[i] and the Revised Standard Version was a new Bible. Harrison and the Oak Street Church – an “Independent Fundamental Missionary” Baptist Church – wasted no time in opposing it. On September 24th, a journalist reported on the upcoming community-wide commemoration of the RSV on Tuesday, September 30, sponsored by the Ponca City Ministerial Alliance. On Wednesday, October 1st, the Oak Street Church placed this advertisement in the Ponca City News:

Then on October 19th, the church placed this warning in a newspaper advertisement, with a clear statement on their sole use of the King James Bible:

Walter Bert Harrison was born September 3, 1924 in Hale Center, Texas, and grew up in Chickasha, Oklahoma, graduating from the High School there in 1942. Harrison was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1946, having served 24 months in the Pacific theater. He enrolled at the Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri in 1950, and was pastoring in Ponca City by March of 1952. Bert Harrison pastored several churches, including 29 years at the Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He died October 26, 1997, as is buried at the Pioneer Cemetery in Norge, Grady County, Oklahoma

No longer on Oak Street, the former Oak Street Baptist Church of Ponca City is now called Central Baptist Church. The church still stands for the King James Version as the Bible for English-speakers, and uses only it in the pulpit and in classes.

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[i] Harrison had possibly pastored in Missouri while attending the College in Springfield.

In other words, anti-huff to transmarine

• anti-huff, noun. A food additive used in the manufacture of skimmed milk cheese, intended to act as a preservative or to prevent expansion of gas bubbles within the cheese.
• assignation, noun. The act of assigning; an appointment for a meeting, especially a tryst.
• bonhomous, adjective. Characterized by bonhomie or cheerful friendliness; genial, affable.
• casuistry, noun. Specious, deceptive, or oversubtle reasoning, especially in questions of morality; fallacious or dishonest application of general principles; the application of general ethical principles to particular cases of conscience or conduct.
• cento, noun. A literary work made up of quotations from other works.
• clerisy, noun. Learned persons as a class; literati; intelligentsia.
• cordial, noun. A strong, sweetened, aromatic drink; a stimulating medicine.
• creole (aka creole language), noun. A stable natural language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form to become a full-fledged native language of a speech community.
• facile princeps, noun. (Latin phrase) Easily the first or best; the acknowledged chief.
• feechie, adjective. Dirty, filthy; disgusting. Also (of weather), foul, rainy.
• insouciant, adjective. Marked by blithe unconcern; carefree; nonchalant.
• muso, noun. Diminutive of musician.
• palimpsest, noun. A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely scraped off or erased and often legible. 
• parboil, verb. To cook partially by boiling for a brief period; to subject to intense, often uncomfortable heat.
• pidgin (aka pidgin language), noun. An auxiliary language or grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common.
• pother, noun. An uproar, commotion, or fuss.
• rhetorculist, noun. A mediocre orator.
• solace, noun. Comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness.
• thaumaturgy, noun. The performance of miracles: specifically, magic.
• tiffin, noun. Any light meal, especially lunch.
• transmarine, adjective. Crossing the sea; beyond or coming from across the sea.

Truth is a straight line, 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.)

“Truth is a straight line that favors neither the right nor the left.” -- Aulton B. Brown

“We ought to be living as if Jesus died yesterday, rose this morning, and is coming back this afternoon.” -- Adrian Rogers

“Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.” -- Unknown

“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.” -- attributed to Winston Churchill

“God can pick sense out of a confused prayer...There is never a holy sigh, never a tear we shed, which is lost.” -- Richard Sibbes

“Every second someone leaves this world behind. We are all in the line whether or not we know it. You or I could be next. We never know how many people are before us. We cannot move to the back of the line. We cannot step out of the line.” -- Unknown

“Independent nations of free men, in friendly and voluntary cooperation, constitute the key to peace and freedom.” -- William Jennings Bryan

“Not doing more than the average is what keeps the average down.” -- William Winans

“The average man can stand adversity better than prosperity.” -- D. L. Moody

“Whosoever is indifferent to false doctrine is indifferent to the truth.” -- Kenneth W. Vertz

“The fruit of every fake gospel is moral corruption.” -- Mark Osgatharp

Review of “What Makes a Bible Translation Bad?”

Review of “What Makes a Bible Translation Bad?” by Mark Ward, posted on the Text and Canon Institute site June 13, 2023.

A few days ago, Christopher Yetzer called attention to “What Makes a Bible Translation Bad?,” an article by Mark Ward posted on the Text and Canon Institute web site. In it, Mark creates two categories in which to dump Bibles that he is unwilling to recommend: sectarianism and crackpottery.[i] Ultimately this article (“What Makes a Bible Translation Bad,” part 1) comes off as “yes, I know I in principle recommend all kinds of translations, but here is a way to get around recommending translations I do not like.”

In doing so, Ward creates a strange mix of “sectarian” translations. Surely one who likes many translations still wouldn’t want to recommend a sectarian translation, would he?

Ward defines sectarian translations as “those that have more than the natural bias inherent in the effort of any person or group to do something as complex as translating the Bible.” Isn’t this definition somewhat circular and subjective? Your translation shows a bias that does not fit my bias, so your bias is biased toward a certain position that is not my position. There is no solid objective method of judgment. In the final analysis, it boils down to: “I do not like it,” and/or “my friends do not like it.” Working that way, one should be able to exclude any translation he does not want to recommend, even though in theory he should be able recommend all kinds of translations.

The strange mix of translations in this essay is:

• The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT). It is published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, an arm of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, an unorthodox sect that denies the eternity and deity of Jesus Christ.
• The New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition Bible (NRSVue). It was managed by the Society of Biblical Literature and published by the liberal ecumenical National Council of Churches. They sought broad representation of “faith-based constituencies” and consideration of “modern sensibilities.”
• Certain Bible translations for Muslim nations. Ward mentions a couple by name, The True Meaning of the Gospel of Christ and The Honored Injil. These translations compromise the deity of Jesus Christ in deference to Muslim preferences (including references to Allah easily interpreted as Islam’s god).
• The Tree of Life Version of the Holy Scriptures (TLV). It is produced by the Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society[ii] and The King’s University. It is created by Messianic Jews with a flavor of Messianic Jewish Christianity, a Bible that “speaks with a decidedly Jewish-friendly voice,” sprinkling in lots of transliterated Hebrew words not in common use in English.

Mark Ward begins well. Step No. 1 – Start with the NWT. Everyone except the Jehovah’s Witnesses will get on board. He seems to scrawl a fairly clear X over the NWT and “certain Bible translations for Muslim nations,” but equivocates regarding the NRSVue and TLV. Ward wants to keep folks “from using the NRSVue as the main pulpit Bible in our churches,” but “will happily check the renderings in the NRSVue in my Bible study in years to come.” He is “not saying that the TLV is a ‘bad Bible’,” but rather “mostly a traditional Protestant translation with a bunch of Hebrew transliterations bobbing up and down on the surface.” The conclusion is subjective: “But I will say that the effort falls completely flat for me.”

Mark thinks “Bible translations need to do what they can to avoid the appearance of sectarianism.” So does Shively T. J. Smith, a professor at Boston University School of Theology who worked on the “sectarian” NRSVue.[iii] She said that the NRSVue project “attempts to reverse the historic trend in translation history from the 19th and 20th centuries in which some Christian communities and scholars of the Bible were historically excluded from the translation endeavors of our English Bibles.”

Mark writes, “I like the tradition, going back at least to the NIV, of involving many Christian denominations—from complementarians to Messianic Jews—in a Bible translation committee, as a method of both eliminating and of appearing to the public to eliminate denominational bias.”

The “sectarian” NIV translation committee’s membership was restricted to those who were willing and able to subscribe to biblical inerrancy. The “sectarian” NRSVue update was a product “carefully reviewed and updated by a wide variety of the finest scholars in the academy today,” that welcomed “teams of translators that were both ecumenical and interfaith in their composition.” What makes one team more inclusive or more sectarian than the other? The subjective bias by which we assess the process and the product.

This piece is quivering with equivocation, and necessarily so. For example, Mark points to one bad or biased translation in the NRSVue, 1 Corinthians 6:9–10. However, he can also admit to a bad or biased translation in his own beloved “sectarian” English Standard Version in Genesis 3:16. Why recommend one and not the other? Our subjective bias.

Mark acknowledges that we have passed the stage of enjoying one standard English translation, but advises that “translators (or rather revisers, because we don’t need any more mainstream translations) should still aim for that possibility instead of giving in to the temptations of sectarianism.” I would argue that the fact we produce “New Bible Galore” is a testimony that we are “giving in” to something in a bad way.

The “sectarian” Bible claim is something of a misdirection. Mark needs more carefully crafted categories. But might such nuance defeat his purpose? The cited Bibles certainly are not all sectarian in the same sense, and in a broad sense all Bibles might be called “sectarian.” The issue finally comes down to how a person who happily encourages using multiple translations can restrict which of those multiple translations one uses. I don’t like it. My friends don’t like it.

Mark Ward is a regular chider of King James Defenders. He must criticize us for criticizing multiple Bible translations. Now he criticizes multiple Bible translations. Pot, meet kettle. Watch where you step.

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[i] Sectarianism, “excessive devotion to a particular sect, especially in religion.” Crackpottery, “the behavior of a crackpot or loony person, madness.”
[ii] Apparently now called The Tree of Life Bible Society.

[iii] The NRSVue is founded on the RSV of 1952. Its translators had degrees from some big-name institutions, such as Harvard, Yale, and University of  Chicago. The guy criticizing the NRSVue got his degree from a school started by a man who called the RSV the biggest hoax the Devil ever pulled on Bible-believing Christians. If the average American decides for or against this version based on Credentialism, who wins?

Mr. Haney, 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.

• You May Remember Him As Mr. Haney, But There’s a Lot More to Pat Buttram -- “The great Walt Disney called his voice one of the two most recognizable in the world. As an actor, he made appearances in hundreds of television episodes.”
• The one and only password tip you need -- “The article summarizes how a lot of what you’ve been told about passwords over the years was either wrong, misguided, or counterproductive.”
• The Need for Paying Attention to One Another -- “May we genuinely pay attention to one another, actively listen to each other’s stories, share experiences, partake in communal meals, and celebrate the grace of God.”
• Surf Your Turf -- “Texas doesn’t have the best or the biggest waves, but that’s never stopped surfers.”
• Standing Within ... and Without -- “The evangelicals felt they could no longer support the work being done and determined that an organization within the organization might be the answer, ‘the organization of an Association of Regular Baptists within the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Québec.’”
• Saying the Blessing -- “Nearly every faith has a tradition of some type of Blessing, but it’s doubtful most are as animated, or as lengthy, as a Baptist preacher blessing the church’s Homecoming meal.”
• Roman Catholicism Versus Protestantism: Candace Owens Show (part three) -- “Obviously, Farmer could just bring the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, and tradition. When you can make it up as you go along, you can believe anything.”
• Roman Catholicism Versus Protestantism: Candace Owens Show (part two) -- “Scripture is explicit that the Bible is the only infallible authority or the ultimate authority for faith and practice. When Stuckey loses on this point, she really does lose the debate, because all the extra-scriptural writing comes into play for Farmer.”
• Roman Catholicism (part one). Church Perpetuity, Sola Scriptura, and Roman Catholicism Versus Protestantism: Candace Owens Show -- “For a show episode included on youtube, Candace Owens invited her husband, George Farmer, a Roman Catholic, to debate Allie Beth Stuckey, a Southern Baptist.”
• On The Use Of Thou And You In The Revised Standard Version -- “...the translators compromised. They made the worst possible decision and thus introduced confusion and yielded the field to those who are not ready to confess clearly that the child born in Bethlehem and the Jesus who died on the cross is indeed our Lord and our God...”
• On Juneteenth -- “A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian describes the holiday’s long path out of Texas...I confess here, that I was initially annoyed, at least mildly so, when I first heard that others outside of Texas claimed the holiday.”
• Kiss the Royal Seal of “Or The Apparatus” -- “When boiled down our side is being castigated and ostracized because we exclude the ‘or the apparatus’ clause from confession of belief that we possess the whole of the New Testament between two covers.”
• Is Your Preaching Tone Deaf? -- “...the tenderness of Psalm 23 is very different than the tension of lament in Psalm 13. The celebratory tone of the Song of Moses in Exodus 15 is worlds apart from the somber delivery of the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20.”
• Battle for the Bible -- “The claim of belief in an infallible Scripture is a hollow one, for key truths concerning Scripture have been denied.”

Adders and Subtracters

Pharisees and Sadduccees, examples of those who adde to and dimimish from the words of God.

The earliest disciples had held Jesus, walked with Him, and learned directly from Him. This fostered a dedication that was unrivaled in the church age. Dedication and devotion marked the church as a unique body through the early portion of the church age. Martyrdom was common and fervor for the Lord ran rampant. However, during the days of the Byzantine church, the pureness of parts of the church strayed amongst many that identified themselves as Christians. This is easily identified in Deuteronomy 4:2 as adding to or subtracting from the Word of God.

Consider that the problem ran from Judaism into Christianity as Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees added to the Word by adding rules that were not given in the Word, such as additional rules for Sabbath. The Sadducees subtracted from the Word by removing doctrines such as the resurrection. These problems have been accrued under the name of Christianity throughout the church age. While some remain steadfast to the Word of God alone, other groups have identified under Christianity while compromising the foundations of the Word.

“Church History” column, John Melancon, in The Baptist Monitor, Nov/Dec 2022, Vol. 74 No. 6, p. 18

Dirk’s Decision, by John Kaiser

A True Story of Costly Christian Compassion

Excerpt from a story of Dirk Willems, as told by John A. Kaiser. Willems was an Anabaptist captured and imprisoned for his faith in 1569. This story is of his escape from his imprisonment.

Dirk Willems was born in Asperen, Gilderland, in the Netherlands, (southern Holland), about 500 years ago. So, why mention him now?

…

Hoping to escape his pursuers, Dirk ran across a frozen body of water which might have been expected to cause his pursuers to hesitate; but one bold fellow followed Dirk onto the ice. However, because he was heavier than Dirk, or because Dirk’s passage had weakened the ice, the ice broke underneath this pursuer, and with a shriek he sank into the freezing water, calling for help.

Dirk heard that call, and, knowing what it might cost him, he turned back and rescued his pursuer and helped him to shore. It is said that the rescued pursuer begged to allow Dirk to go free, but he was reminded of his oath to his master. And Dirk knew that if he turned and ran again, his pursuer might suffer further. So Dirk was taken to a different prison—one from which he could not so easily escape.

At his trial, Dirk was challenged to give up his beliefs and to conform to the doctrine and practice of the Roman Catholic Church. Because he refused to do so, he was condemned to be burned to death. We are told that he was tied to a stake and burned alive, and that he met his death bravely, repeatedly confessing his dependence upon God’s aid to bear his sufferings. Dirk paid a very great price to show kindness to his enemy.

After telling the story, John Kaiser calls attention to Dirk’s obedience to his Lord, our Lord’s obedience to his Father, and an hymn related to our Saviour’s love for us.

But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. Luke 6:27

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6

But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Such Scriptures and others inspired the following hymn.

1. My blessed Saviour, is thy love
So great, so full, so free?
Behold I give my love, my heart,
My life, my all, to thee.

2. I love thee for the glorious worth
In thy great self I see;
I love thee for that shameful cross,
Thou hast endured form me.

3. No man of greater love can boast
Than for his friend to die;
Thou for thine enemies wast slain!
What love with thine can vie?

4. Though in the very form of God,
With heav’nly glory crowned,
Thou didst a servant’s form assume,
Beset with sorrow round.

5. Thou wouldst like wretched man be made
In everything but sin,
That we as like thee might become
As we unlike had been:

6. Like thee in faith, in meekness, love,
In life in ev’ry phase;
From glory thus to glory changed,
Till we behold thy face.

7. O Lord, I’ll treasure in my soul
The mem’ry of thy love;
And thy dear name shall still to me
A grateful odor prove.

8. Thy friends, the excellent on earth,
Shall be my chief delight;
And when alone, I’ll make thy law
My study day and night.

9. Where thou dost pitch thy tent, and where
Thy honour deigns to dwell,
There I’ll fix mine, and there reside,
There thy love’s wonders tell.

10. The pledges of thy love shall there
Revive this heart of mine;
Thy love, more fragrant and more sweet
Than bowls of generous wine.

Joseph Stennett (1663-1713) wrote “Self-Consecration to God” / “My blessed Saviour, is thy love.” It first appeared in Stennett’s Hymns in Commemoration of the Sufferings of our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, Compos’d for the Celebration of His Holy Supper in 1697 (No. 22, pages 27-29). In the margins, Stennett lays out about two dozen references to Bible verses that are related to his hymn. They can be seen at the link above. The original has 10 stanzas, but most song books use only 4 or 5.

This common meter hymn has been set with a number of common meter tunes, including St. David by Thomas Ravenscroft. Sometimes the words are mistakenly attributed to his grandson, Samuel Stennett.

Joseph Stennett was an English Particular Baptist minister and hymnwriter. He pastored the Seventh Day Baptist Church in London from about 1690 until his death in 1713.