Pilgrims, we are marching home

The song And Live Through Endless Day appears in The Sacred Harp, 2012 Revised Cooper Edition, on pages 552 and 553a. George L. Beck wrote the very nice minor fuging tune, and it was added to the book in 1927.

The words are as follows:

Should earth against my soul engage, 
And fiery darts be hurled, (original = “hellish darts”)
Then I can smile at Satan’s rage, 
And face a frowning world.

So pilgrims, we are marching home
On earth no more to stay,
Long for the welcome call to come,
And live thro’ endless day.

Isaac Watts wrote the first four lines of the Common Meter hymn. These words are the second stanza of his well-known hymn “The Hopes of Heaven our Support under Trials on Earth” (“When I can read my title clear”). It first appeared in Watts’s Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1707. The Christian can face a frowning world, bid farewell to every fear, and wipe tears from weeping eyes – knowing of a clear title to a future home in heaven.

The author of the second four lines of the Common Meter hymn is unknown. They seem to appear mysteriously – and only – in connection with Beck’s song. The words are not part of the other hymn (“The Hopes of Heaven our Support under Trials on Earth”). I have not found them in any of Watts’s material that I can access. I have not found them anywhere – other than in this particular Sacred Harp book. It may be that G. L. Beck wrote them for his tune, or found them somewhere and used them with the tune. These words complement the Watts stanza, recognizing that we through God’s grace can face a frowning world, and also that we are pilgrims on a journey home. For that reason, we long for God’s call to that time when we will “live through endless day.”

As of today, 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.)

“As of today, you have 100% of your life left.” -- Tom Landry

“God tests the righteousness, but detests the wicked.” -- D. L. Moody, Psalm 11:5

“Never let us be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace.” -- J. C. Ryle 

“Expositors have a habit, like sheep, of going in flocks, and sometimes it may be said of them, ‘All we like sheep have gone astray.’” -- G. Campbell Morgan, Hosea: The Heart and Holiness of God, Eugene, p. 31

“He who rides to be crowned will not mind a rainy day.” -- John Trapp

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.” -- Attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci

“Biblical predestinarianism is a continuous non-segmented, flowing, falling out of God’s own eternal mind and purpose – a constant creating of causes and effects, constantly and actively directed toward a predetermined end.” -- Stanley Phillips

“To keep gospel truth in the church is even of greater importance than to keep peace...Unity without the gospel is a worthless unity; it is the very unity of hell.” -- J. C. Ryle

“It is not that we don’t have enough scoundrels to curse; it is that we don’t have enough good men to curse them.” -- G. K. Chesterton

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” -- Credited to Charles H. Spurgeon

“Sin kisses, but kills.” -- Old proverb

“Three things go to making a proverb – shortness, sense and salt.” -- Unknown

In other words, efflorescent sinecure

• altaltissimo, noun. The very highest point (a borrowing from Italian).
• atavistic, adjective. Of, relating to, or characterized by atavism; reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type.
• capisce (also capiche or capeesh), exclamation. (Informal US, borrowed from Italian) Do you understand?
• complementary, adjective. Forming a complement, or completing; complementing each other; forming a whole.
• complimentary, adjective. Of the nature of, conveying, or expressing a compliment, often one that is politely flattering; given free as a gift or courtesy.
• curatorium, noun. A group of curators (in various senses), typically acting as an advisory body.
• effloresce, verb. (used without object) To burst into bloom; blossom.
• Evidentialist, noun. One who takes nothing for granted without evidence. In Christian apologetics, the evidentialist asserts that one is justified in believing something only if that person has evidence to support that belief.
• Presuppositionalist, noun. One who takes for granted in advance. In Christian apologetics, the presuppositionalist  presupposes that the Bible is divine revelation. What one knows or can know is based on what God reveals. 
• savant, noun. A person of profound or extensive learning; learned scholar.
• sinecure, noun. A position requiring little or no work but giving the holder status or financial benefit.
• tots, noun. Bite-sized croquettes of shredded potato, fried or baked (often tater tots).
• verset, noun. (Prosody) a brief verse, especially from Scripture; (Music) a brief piece for pipe organ, formerly used as part of the music for the Catholic Mass; (Archaic) versicle.
• votum, noun. A vow or promise made to a deity.
• wabi-sabi, adjective and noun. Relating to or designating a Japanese aesthetic or world view characterized by finding beauty in imperfection, impermanence, or simplicity; also, designating a style, appearance, etc., reflecting this aesthetic.
• wasabi, noun. An Asian plant, Eutrema wasabi, of the mustard family; also, the pungent, greenish root of this plant, which can be grated and used as a condiment.

Its Relevance Among The Young, 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.

• The Authorised Version: Its Relevance Among The Young In A Multicultural Society -- “An audio sermon of Pooyan Mehrshahi at the Annual General Meeting of the Trinitarian Bible Society.”
• A Missing Ingredient in Today’s Preaching -- “The literary approach to the Bible, and the importance of genre as a chief ingredient of such an approach, are subjects of neglect.”
• Bridge collapses during ribbon-cutting ceremony in Congo -- “Just as an organiser cut the ribbon at the ceremony in Kinshasa’s Mont-Ngafula district, the bridge buckled, both its handrails broke off, and the central section slumped into the stream a couple of metres below.”
• Charlie Brown vs. Modern Bibles, and What Christmas is All About -- “Linus’s speech on the meaning of Christmas is probably the most memorable moment of the Charlie Brown Christmas special and one of the most well-known and well-beloved scenes in television history altogether.”
• Historic Editions of the English Bible Online -- “Editions that are available free online, listed chronologically.”
• Historic editions of the Greek New Testament online -- “Editions that are available for free somewhere on the internet.”
• Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots -- “It was sin that wove the crown of thorns—it was sin that pierced our Lord’s hands, and feet, and side—it was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross and to the grave. Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labour to get rid of it, though we may have to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye in doing it.”
• Hollywood Legend Who Started in the 1930s Dead at 104 -- “By the early 1950s, she was enough of a star to appear on the cover of Life magazine, and she seemed set to thrive in the new medium of television when suddenly ‘the work dried up’.”
• John Smyth: Not the Founder of Baptists -- “In his work on baptism published in 1691, Hercules Collins directly refuted the claim that the English Baptists had received their baptism from John Smyth. ”
• Moses Chapel, Almost Gone but not Forgotten, Org. 1836 -- “The sweet little church house you see above is located on a dirt road in far south Georgia close to the Florida line, where the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers converge to form the Apalachicola.”
• Queen Elizabeth II: How ‘Lilibet’ became one of Britain’s greatest ever monarchs – obituary -- “Throughout her reign, she remained neutral politically but her experience and knowledge of world affairs meant she was an invaluable source of good advice to politicians.”
• Pierpont: Requisites and Basics for Textual Criticism of the Greek New Testament -- “Scripture makes it plain that God would preserve His Word, and implies that He would do so verbally, though we are not told how, nor how the true is to be distinguished from the erroneous reading.”
• Pre-Columbian Latin Text Proves Early Knowledge of the Americas -- “The accepted mainstream story has long been that no one in southern or western Europe knew anything about the Americas before the discoveries associated with the voyages of Columbus. But a new translation of a rare medieval Latin text, which was composed by an Italian monk, shows that this perception was inaccurate.”
• Synod Resolution on Versions of the Bible, of the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland -- “We would urge our people not to be affected by the present tendency in professed Evangelical circles to use a variety of modern versions but to adhere to the Authorised Version of the Bible which is still unsurpassed in its fidelity to the original text of the Scriptures and in its beauty of language and diction.”
• The Date of Codex Sinaiticus -- “Codex Sinaiticus an ideal candidate for AMS radiocarbon analysis. The shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve during this period means that a well-executed radiocarbon analysis of the codex should have the potential to shed further light on the date the codex was produced.”
• The Lord Gave the Word: A Study in the History of the Biblical Text, Malcolm Watts -- “The Bible is the eternal Word of God. It has been given by God to man that it might be the absolute, supreme, authoritative, infallible, and unchangeable standard for faith and practice.”
• Unsolved Mystery: The Mary Shotwell Little Disappearance (1965) -- “It’s undoubtedly Atlanta’s, and one of the country’s, greatest unsolved mysteries. Recently, there has been new and significant movement in the case.”

Is it sinful to build new barns?

When I was a young teenager, I began to work summers for a contractor who built (mostly, but not only) residential homes. I persevered in the trade and became a master carpenter (that is mainly a union term, but we were not union). Sometimes we built new barns, and so this question is close to home. We never thought we were sinning building new barns. No, I do not think we were. However, could building new barns be sinful, and if so, when?

Barns filled with plenty and the need of more storage space might be a sign of God’s blessing: Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10). On the other hand, a rich and thoughtless fool brought the building of new barns into the realm of the sinful. See Luke 12:16-21.

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

The Thoughtless Fool

Learn ye of a man now dead—
What he did not think about,
Why he did not think ahead,
And how it all turned out.

Yes, building new barns can be sinful. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23).

When it is with the self-conception that ignores God’s power, providence, and governance.

The life and breath of all mankind is in the Lord’s hand (Job 12:10). The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein (Psalm 24:1). He that built all things is God (Hebrews 3:4). He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). God gives seed to the sower, and bread to the eater (Isaiah 55:10). A life lived without faith toward God and without recognition of God’s power, providence, and governance in all things is a life lived in sin. The experience of the rich and thoughtless fool demonstrates one who “thought within himself” and did not think about God in all his ways. See also Deuteronomy 8:18; Judges 17:6b; Psalm 10:4; 2 Corinthians 5:7; and 2 Corinthians 10:12.

When it is with the self-glorification that rests in one’s own accomplishments.

No flesh should glory in God’s presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). Yet man by nature praises the work of his own hands, and is snared in the work of his own hands (Psalm 9:16). Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). That the rich man would pull down his old barns, and build greater barns – rather than keep the old barns and build more as needed – suggests a pride that looked not only inward, but also outward to show the world, “Look at me. Look what I have done.” Yet his pride caused him to dwell careless, at ease, to see life going forward as only the enjoyment of his success. See Job 4:19-20; Ezekiel 16:49-50; Amos 6:1; Zephaniah 2:15; Matthew 24:37-39; and 1 John 2:16.

When it is with the self-deception that disdains the eternal perspective.

The rich fool viewed the rest of life as a constant source of pleasure, in which he had much goods laid up for many years, could concentrate on “taking it easy,” – in order to “eat, drink, and be merry.” However, he had not taken all into account. The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). He had ignored his appointment with the inevitable (Hebrews 9:27). He had not prepared to meet his God (Amos 4:12). Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? See Ecclesiastes 5:15; Isaiah 40:6-8; Matthew 6:219ff; Romans 14:11-12; Colossians 3:2; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; and 1 John 2:15-17.

2 Kings 6:27 …If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?

John 3:15 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

A trainload of Baptists

In lieu of a post here today, see “A trainload of Baptists” at the Mt. Carmel/Rusk County Baptist history blog.

Book Review: Why I Preach from the Received Text

Jeffrey T. Riddle & Christian M. McShaffrey, editors. Why I Preach from the Received Text: An Anthology of Essays by Reformed Ministers. Winter Springs, FL: The Greater Heritage Christian Publishing, 2022. 280 pp. $15.99. Paperback and Hardcover; also available in eBook, PDF and EPUB formats.

Since I discovered his Word Magazine, I listen regularly and profitably to Jeffrey Riddle, pastor of Christ Reformed Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia. He is a leading spokesman for Confessional Bibliology and often uses Word Magazine to support the traditional original language texts of the Bible against the ravages of the modern critical text. For that reason, I was excited when he teamed up with Christian McShaffrey (Editor-in-Chief of “Text and Translation”) to produce a book – Why I Preach from the Received Text – promoting some of the very things he promotes on his YouTube Channel.

This book is available from all the usual suspects (e.g. Amazon), but I chose to order it from the publisher. The Greater Heritage is a conservative Christian publishing company that issues original articles, books, Bible studies, and church resources. I purchased it, read it, and now give you my thoughts.

Why I Preach from the Received Text expands and extends the available resources confronting the modern text criticism and its associated texts and translations. A supporting cast of 22 Reformed ministers and 1 deacon joins editors McShaffrey and Riddle. The editors build this work with a simple design around a simple question to the contributors – “Why do you preach from the Received Text?” The answers furnish the chapters of the book. The answers have both simple significance and complex contents.

Why I Preach from the Received Text is a valuable contribution to the field of Bibliology. The editors launch the book with an “Editorial Introduction” (pp. 13-19), which demonstrates why this book matters. There is an attacking foe. “Modern academic textual criticism rejects divine preservation, and therefore proceeds to pursue reconstruction of the text based on human reasoning” (p. 15). There is a position to defend. “The primary purpose of this book is a defense of the traditional original Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible” (p. 17). The goal of testifying, teaching, and encouraging is soaked in prayer, “May the Lord use this book as an instrument to stimulate, revive, confirm, and defend intelligent and effective usage of the traditional text of the Word of God” (p. 19).

This book is a collection of writings by various authors. The contributors are “men who were gladly laboring in the trenches of local church ministry” (p. 16) – connecting to the work of God in the “highways and hedges” of church houses rather than the ivory towers of scholars in academia. These authors exhibit both unity and diversity – unity on the text of the Bible and Reformed theology, with diversity of denominational affiliations and geographical locations. Twenty-four of the chapter authors are preachers. One essay displays a non-pastoral perspective – a Baptist deacon explains why he wants to be preached to from the Received Text! The choice of introducing the essays in alphabetical order suggests that all these essays are equally important. The reader can fruitfully follow the established order, or may read them in any order. The essays not only complement each other, but also are capable of standing alone. The book’s style (conversational, with short chapters) and little larger than usual print makes it easy to read.

In his review of this work, Mark Ward “wondered how [he could] fairly describe a book that has more than two dozen authors,” writing, “There is, indeed, a spectrum of views represented here. The contributions do not all perfectly cohere.” I question that he succeeded in describing it fairly (here and elsewhere). A reader must understand the purpose of the book in order to understand whether the views expressed do or do not cohere. Yes, these chapters present the various views of 25 different authors. However, they do cohere (hold together, unite) at the place of the purpose of the book – defending and promoting preaching from the traditional text of Scripture.

Following the 25 essays, the editors return with a practical “Appendix” which offers “Steps Toward Change.” The book testifies and teaches, but also propels and persuades. The approach of “Steps Toward Change” is not academic, but pastoral, geared to local church ministry. May these steps be used and be successful.

An “Annotated Bibliography” on pages 261-276 rounds out the work. Rather than give a bare list, the editors chose brief descriptions and evaluations of each work – providing not only possible resources, but also guidance in selecting them. The bibliography is divided into 13 sections, beginning with “Books, Pamphlets, and Tracts” and concluding with “Websites that Defend the Traditional Text.” Though I consider myself well informed on this subject, I found two books of which I had never heard! (Historical Criticism of the Bible, by Eta Linneman, and Clash of Visions by Robert Yarbrough.) This bibliography will help the reader who will use it.

Why I Preach from the Received Text balances testimony and theology. Some authors “from a child” knew the traditional text, and some “fetched a compass” to get there. The authors are English speakers (residing in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Consequently, they preach from the Received Text (usually) via the Authorized Version, or (sometimes) the New King James Version. Though expressing consistent support for the Authorized or King James Bible, the writers are not King James Version Onlyists. They arrive at their common positions from their confession that original language copies of the Scripture have been “kept pure in all ages.” Supporters of the traditional original language texts and/or the King James translation who are not confessional may find the continuing appeal to the Confessions off-putting. If they will persevere, however, they will find much agreement with and support for their own viewpoint.

The authors present the positive and negative – what is right with the received text and what is wrong with the critical text – through testimonial, theological, and historical approaches. Positively, they believe that they have “scripture, theology, reason, and history on our side” (p. 259). The angles of approach allow each individual author to focus on the traditional text in his own way. For example, Pooyan Mehrshahi notes the value of a definitive text, “The TR-based historic translations [in various languages] give the church a standard and unifying text of the Holy Scriptures” (p. 171). Christopher Sheffield relates his journey, “I did not set out to disprove the claims of the modern Critical Text, only to understand them; but as time went on, I became increasingly convinced that the modern Critical Text and the philosophy which undergirded it, was an affront to the honor of God, the glory of Christ, and the good of the Church” (p. 206). Robert Truelove focuses on the canonical question of the text of the books of the Bible (pp. 225-233).

Due to the number of contributors, the essays are necessarily short. Some readers may find themselves wishing for more. Nevertheless, the brevity and autonomy of the chapters have an intrinsic sufficiency, and well suits the reader with a busy schedule. Due to the testimonial nature of the essays, there is an inevitable amount of repetition. However, that repetition can edify rather than annoy the reader. Good variety with repetition, unified on a central theme, is not inherently a bad thing. It helps us absorb and remember the points and their purpose.

The synopsis of the book is succinctly summed up in Scott Meadows’s chapter title “Why [do I preach from the Received Text (TR)]? It’s the Word of God” (p. 160). The theological position promoted by the contributors to this book sets their view above and apart from supporters of the modern Critical Text and Bibles translated from it. For the latter, there must always be some question whether all of it is the word of God. The contributors to this book do not settle for a gospel that is mostly good news, spiritual food that is mostly good food, or a spiritual sword that is mostly sharp. From what do they preach? The Received Text. It’s the word of God!

I highly recommend this book. This book can help us find answers to questions raised by the modern text critics. You will be better informed for having read it. Why I Preach from the Received Text is solid, accessible, and practical. It emanates from a biblical theology of the providential preservation of God’s inspired writings. It provides personal, thoughtful, and reasoned support for the traditional texts. It challenges, with personal, thoughtful, and reasoned objections, the modern critical texts. “To those who believe that God has providentially preserved his Word, the question of the veracity and tenacity of Scripture has been asked and answered. God has spoken” (p. 252). Those who favor the traditional texts of the Bible will find support, strength, and encouragement. King James “English Only” Defenders will find the book extremely respectful and supportive of the King James Bible, but also find that it does not directly support their position. Those who deny the traditional texts and favor the modern critical ones will be surprised, confronted, and challenged – perhaps even halt a little!

Why I Preach from the Received Text supports the time-honored traditional texts and offers a new vision for the old paths – a scriptural and suitable way forward in the original texts and Bible translations debates. Buy it. Read it.

A more technical theologically driven work would make an excellent sequel to Why I Preach from the Received Text.

Other related resources include: 

• Word Magazine 239, Christian McShaffrey and Jeff Riddle video discussing Why I Preach from the Received Text
• Greater Heritage Information Sheet
• Free Sample of the Introduction and First Chapter
• Search Jeff’s web site for interviews with the chapter authors
• 25 quotes from 25 chapter authors

“Why I Preach from the Received Text” quotes

Below find 25 quotes by 25 authors from 25 chapters of Why I Preach from the Received Text.

“The Bible teaches that the triune God is the primary author of the Scripture, and he never makes a mistake.” Archibald Allison, p. 27

“There is a sad and distressing discrepancy in the very supposition that no exact superintending or peculiar providence has watched over the inspired books of Scripture and the text contained in those books.” Jonathan Arnold, p. 41

“The purity of God’s words within creation is a testimony of God himself unto his creation.” Doug Barger, p. 51

“God did not donate or reveal his Word into the hands of a group of random secular academics, but he gave it to his Church.” Gavin Beers, p. 57

“The Bible itself teaches that God himself preserves the Scriptures by means of his covenant people…(Romans 3:2)…(I Timothy 3:15)…” Poul de Gier, p. 66

“If the reliability of holy Scripture is in question, we have no solid ground for our faith.” Tanner Dikin, p. 78

“Textual criticism has never been, and never will be, a neutral enterprise carried out by scholars who just want to know the ‘facts.’” William O. Einwechter, p. 88

“It is the written Word of God that is able to search our hearts (Hebrews 4:12), not we who are able to search the hearts of those that copied it.” Brent C. Evans, p. 97

“I was delighted when I received my first copy of the NIV, but was soon disappointed when reading the book of Job. Simply having a modern translation did not make that book any easier to understand!” Philip Gardiner, p. 102

“We can confidently say that no document in the history of the world has been more commented upon, picked through, preached, examined, or critiqued than the Received Text of the Bible via the Authorized Version [of the Bible].” Dane Johannsson, p. 112

“Some argue that no doctrine has been compromised by the differences [between the ‘stable TR’ and ‘unstable Critical Text’ rlv] One could remove the texts of Genesis 1:1 or John 3:16 and argue that no doctrine is compromised when considering the Bible as a whole, but this is unpersuasive.” Howie W. Owen Jones, p. 121

“God never promised to preserve the manuscripts upon which the text was written; rather, he promised to preserve the words. This is an important principle which is too often overlooked.” Trevor Kirkland, p. 126

“In ministry...I had to preach the text, but before I could preach it, I had to be sure what it was.” Brett Mahlen, p. 136

“In his opening salvo, the devil focused his attack on undermining the Word of God and nothing has changed since.” Robert McCurley, p. 143

“…I preach from the Received Text through the Authorized Version.” Christian McShaffrey, p. 160

“In certain respects, the Christian academy has devasted by wicked unbelief parading as scientific objectivity, and the churches have largely followed suit.” D. Scott Meadows, p. 164

“I have found that having a standard, textually stable, theologically faithful, accurate Bible is necessary in a faithful pulpit and evangelism ministry.” Pooyan Mehrshahi, p. 170

“The New King James was being recommended to me as a good translation, so it gave me cause to ask, ‘Why not try the King James Version itself?’ After all, it has stood the test of time...” Mark L. R. Mullins, p. 181

“The Word of God is invincible.” Christopher Myers, p. 185

“If the preaching of the Word was to be at the center of my ministry, I had to have confidence and certainty as to what the Word of God is.” Jeff Riddle. pp. 200-201

“I did not set out to disprove the claims of the modern Critical Text, only to understand them; but as time went on, I became increasingly convinced that the modern Critical Text and the philosophy which undergirded it, was an affront to the honor of God, the glory of Christ, and the good of the Church.” Christopher Sheffield, p. 206

“Surely God’s people want a Bible that they know is God’s Word in its entirety, not one that has parts of its New Testament either excised, or accepted in a qualified fashion.” John Thackway, p. 223

“‘Is this Scripture?’ is a canonical question, whether we are asking it of a book, or even of a particular reading within a canonical book. Under the term canon, we recognize what is (and what is not) authoritative Scripture.” Robert Truelove, p. 225

“I simply do not understand how evangelicals can defend German rationalism and an approach to Scripture that dishonors the sovereign providence of God.” J. D. “Doc” Watson, p. 238

“I became convinced that a significant shift had take place in the doctrine of scripture...No longer was the church serving as the proper curator of holy writ, but this task had been subcontracted out to those who were unorthodox.” Joshua White, pp. 248-249

See my Book Review: Why I Preach from the Received Text.

Worship, by Brian Crossley

When the Creator of heaven and earth performed the final act of creation, it was His pleasure to create man in His own image. In all of creation, it is man alone who has the capacity to see into the depths of space, to marvel at the order and design of the universe, and to delight in the beauty with which God has clothed His creation. As we contemplate the wonders of God’s handiwork, there are two contrasting impressions which are certain to invade our thoughts. On the one hand, we cannot help but be humbled at the awareness of our own insignificance to the creation. On the other hand, as we witness the grandness of His creation, the spirit that is within us simply demands our praise of the God whose Word brought it all into being.

This is the essence of worship – to fall upon our knees in humble adoration of the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth. This, brethren, is the ultimate reason for which we were created in His own image. There is no higher achievement to which man can attain than to testify of God’s glory, His sovereignty, and His holiness. He, and He alone, is worthy of worship!

Psalm 113:5 “Who is like unto the Lord our God...”

Brian Crossley; As published in The Baptist Waymark, Volume IV, No. 6, Nov-Dec 1996, page 4

Charles Wesley on Psalm XII

Psalm XII. Charles Wesley.

1. Help, O, Lord! the faithful fail,
Scarce a man continues just.
Shall the gates of hell prevail?
Shall the church on earth be lost?

2. Every soul from thee departs,
Bold to cast thy words behind;
Men of double tongues and hearts,
False as hell are all mankind!

3. God shall judge the faithless race,
Bruise them with an iron road,
All who walk in pride abase,
Makes the rebels own their God.

4. “Surely now,” the Lord hath said,
“I will in my might arise,
Bring my needy servants aid,
Answer all their plaintive sighs.

5. “I myself will save th’opprest;
Placed beyond the tyrant’s power,
Satan shall no more molest,
Sin shall never reach him more.”

6. True and faithful is the Lord,
All that he hath spoke shall be;
Pure his every written word,
From the dross of falsehood free.

7. In the earthly furnace tried,
In the soul of fallen man,
Lo! as silver purified
All his promises remain.

8. Thou, O Lord, shalt all fulfill;
Earth and hell a while may rage;
Thou art our Preserver still,
Christ is ours from age to age.

This Wesley metrical setting of Psalm 12 (7s. meter) was published posthumously in 1854, then later added to The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley: Reprinted from the Originals...Together with the Poems of Charles Wesley not Before Published, Volume VIII, (G. Osborn, editor. London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870, pp. 22-23). This publication contains the following explanation:

“First published in 1854, by the Rev. H. Fish, from a MS. in his possession, and inserted with his kind consent.”

We know Wesley wrote this in his lifetime (1707-1788), but do not know what year he wrote it. Wesley makes application of the text in verses 6-7 to the written word, but seems to take the second “preserve them” to be in reference to both God’s promises and his people.

In other words, ballast to umlaut

• ballast, noun. Anything that gives mental, moral, or political stability or steadiness; gravel, broken stone, slag, , etc., placed between and under the ties of a railroad to give stability, provide drainage, and distribute loads.
• beeline, verb. (intransitive) To travel in a straight line; to hurry somewhere by the quickest route possible; to make a beeline to or for someone or something.
• bender, noun. A person or thing that bends, as a pair of pliers or a powered machine; (Slang) a drinking spree.
• birdikin, noun. A little or young bird.
• cabal, noun. A small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority; the plots and schemes of such a group; intrigue.
• distigme (plural, distigmai), noun. A technical term used to text critics to describe certain symbols/ markings (double dots) in the Greek Codex Vaticanus; an umlaut (q.v.).
• emanant, adjective. Issuing or flowing forth; emerging from or as if from a source.
• eminent, adjective. Exhibiting eminence especially in standing above others in some quality or position; prominent; standing out so as to be readily perceived or noted; conspicuous; projecting.
• entente, noun. An arrangement or understanding between two or more nations agreeing to follow a particular policy with regard to affairs of international concern; an alliance of parties to such an understanding.
• fealty, noun. Fidelity; faithfulness; (Historical) fidelity to a lord; the obligation or the engagement to be faithful to a lord, usually sworn to by a vassal.
• flabbergast, verb. (used with object) To overcome with surprise and bewilderment; astound.
• halakic, adjective. Relating to the entire body of Jewish law and tradition comprising the laws of the Bible, the oral law as transcribed in the legal portion of the Talmud, and subsequent legal codes amending or modifying traditional precepts to conform to contemporary conditions.
• hegira (also hejira) noun. Any flight or journey to a more desirable or congenial place.
• imbroglio, noun. Aa misunderstanding, disagreement, etc., of a complicated or bitter nature, as between persons or nations; an intricate and perplexing state of affairs; a complicated or difficult situation.
• immanent, adjective. Remaining within; indwelling; inherent.
• imminent, adjective. Likely to occur at any moment; impending.
• parameter, noun. (in general use) A limit or boundary that defines the scope of a particular process or activity.
• perimeter, noun. The continuous line forming the boundary of a closed geometric figure; the outermost parts or boundary of an area or object.
• poddle, verb. (intransitive) To walk with slow, short, or unsteady steps; to proceed in a dawdling or uncoordinated manner; to waddle, toddle, potter.
• standing O, noun. A standing ovation (an occurrence in which the people at a play, speech, sporting event, etc., stand up and applaud to show enthusiastic approval or appreciation).
• umlaut, noun. (Orthography) A diacritic (¨) used over a vowel, as ä, ö, ü, to indicate a vowel sound different from that of the letter without the diacritic, especially as so used in German.

A Simple Guide to Family Worship, and other links

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

• A Simple Guide to Family Worship -- “Family worship brings glory to God. God is most glorified when His people value Him above all other things.”
• Are Seminaries Legitimate? A Critical Look at Modern Theological Education -- “It must be said at the outset, that to question the legitimacy of our modern seminaries is not to be equated with the mistaken notion that theological training for church leaders is unnecessary.”
• BillionGraves Eagle Scout Projects: New Record Set -- “Adam Stevenson led his group of volunteers in taking an amazing 59,349 photos!! Adam and his volunteers didn’t just break the record – they shattered it!”
• Can you define “woman”? -- “...either God, the Creator, defines, or has defined, what woman is, or anyone can make up for himself a definition, according to what is right in his own eyes.”
• Greek Language -- “We began with Modern Greek so that we could speak and think in Greek and treat it as a living language. Now for Attic Greek we will follow a similar process to what we began above.”
• How God Works All Things for Good for His People -- “God uses all things—everything in this life, including suffering (Rom. 8:17–18, 23–25)—to accomplish his purpose for us in his grand plan to conform us to his Son and to preserve us until he finally glorifies us.”
• Joel Beeke on Bible Versions: Practical Reasons for Retaining the KJV -- “...the KJV is widely studied and commented on in the literature of biblical scholarship. It will always be a standard of reference and comparison of Bible commentators. All other versions are compared to it, contrasted with it, tested by it.”
• Jordan Peterson Turns the Tables on Hollywood Star Olivia Wilde After She Calls Him the Inspiration for Her New Movie’s Villain -- “Wilde hates Peterson, of course, because he speaks the truth about human nature and biological sex, both of which are things the left wants to overhaul, change, and destroy in favor of its extremist agenda.”
• Okie Road Trip 2019: Visiting Helena, Ark.’s Magnolia Cemetery, Part I -- “Helena was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the county’s name sake.”
• The AV Pronoun Debate -- “Resolved: The superior accuracy of its second-person pronouns commends the continued use of the Authorized Version in public reading and preaching. Christian McShaffrey affirms. Mark Ward denies.”
• The Biblical Presuppositions for the Critical Text that Underlie the Modern Versions, Pt. 3 -- “The doctrine of inspiration comes entirely from scripture. The doctrine of preservation should too. We walk by faith, not by sight.”
• The Historical Ages Interpretation of the Churches of Revelation Two and Three -- “ The prophetic interpretation fits neither a Popish nor Protestant view of church history...A severe problem with the prophetic interpretation is that God’s view of church history is neither Papist nor Protestant, but Baptist.”
• The Language of the KJV -- “Some words and idioms may seem archaic to a North American, but they may be very familiar to the British or citizens of other commonwealth nations. There are millions of readers (of trhe KJV) outside of North America.”
• The Providence of God in Preserving Scripture -- “...to assert that the Hebrew and Greek texts of Scripture have been preserved in the same way as any other work of antiquity seems ‘to border on atheism.’”
• The Spirit ITSELF -- “Doug Kutilek and Rick Joyner...have written articles that claim the KJB use of ‘itself’ to refer to the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is borderline blasphemy.”
• “To Bloom Forever in Heaven”: Exploring Greenville, Ala.’s Pioneer Cemetery -- “These first two monuments are unlike any I have ever seen before and I’m willing to bet you haven’t either. I’ll let you be the judge.”
• What The World Lost: Heart-Wrenching Video Of Liza Fletcher Singing To Her Students Revealed -- “Miss you girls. And you need to let the light shine at your house. And I will see you later.”
• 5 Myths about Preaching -- “Let God’s Word shape your sermons into preaching that is faithful to Scripture and relevant to your hearer.”

Quotable quotes from Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Quotes from David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who was both a Welsh evangelical minister and a medical doctor. He was long-time pastor of Westminster Chapel in Westminster, London, England.

A very good way of testing any view that you may hold is this one: Is this view humbling to me, glorifying to God? If it is, it is probably right. You won’t go far wrong if whatever view you are holding is glorifying to God, humbling to man.

The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge [of Antinomianism, rlv] being brought against it.

If your presentation of the Gospel does not expose it to the charge of Antinomianism you are probably not putting it correctly. What do I mean by that? Just this: The Gospel, you see, comes as this free gift of God–irrespective of what man does. Now, the moment you say a thing like that, you are liable to provoke somebody to say, “Well, if that is so it doesn’t matter what I do.” The Apostle takes up that argument more than once in this great epistle. “What then,” he says at the beginning of chapter 6, “shall we do evil–commit sin–that grace might abound?” He’s just been saying: “where sin abounded grace does much more abound.” “Very well,” says someone. “This is a marvelous doctrine, this ‘Go and get drunk, do what you like the grace of God will put you right.’” Antinomianism. Now, this doctrine of the Scriptures–this justification by faith only, this free grace of God in salvation–is always exposed to that charge of Antinomianism. Paul was charged with it. He said, “You know, some people say that’s what I’m preaching.” Paul’s preaching was charged with Antinomianism…So I say, it is a very good test of preaching. You see–what is not evangelical preaching is this: It’s the kind of preaching that says to people, “Now, if you live a good life; if you don’t commit certain sins; and if you do good to others; and if you become a church member and attend regularly and are busy and active you will be a fine Christian and you’ll go to Heaven. That’s the opposite of Evangelical preaching–and it isn’t exposed to the charge of Antinomianism because…it is telling men to save themselves by their good works…And it’s not the Gospel–because the Gospel always exposes itself to this misunderstanding from the standpoint of Antinomianism. So, let all of us test our preaching, our conversation, our talk to others about the Gospel by that particular test…If you don’t make people say things like that sometimes, if you’re not misunderstood and slanderously reported from the standpoint of Antinomianism it’s because you don’t believe the Gospel truly and you don’t preach it truly.

Tyndale’s 1526 Preface

Preface to the 1526 translation of the New Testament, by William Tyndale:

“Give diligence, reader (I exhort thee) that thou come with a pure mind, and, as the Scripture saith, with a single eye, unto the words of health and of eternal life, by the which (if we repent and believe them) we are born anew, created afresh, and enjoy the fruits of the blood of Christ. Which blood crieth not for vengeance, as the blood of Abel, but hath purchased life, love, favor, grace, blessing, and whatsoever is promised in the Scriptures, to them that believe and obey God, and standeth between us and wrath, vengeance, curse, and whatsoever the Scripture threateneth against the unbelievers and disobedient, which resist, and consent not in their hearts to the law of God, that it is right, holy, just, and ought so to be.

“Mark the plain and manifest places of the Scriptures, and in doubtful places see thou add no interpretation contrary to them; but (as Paul saith) let all be conformable and agreeing to the faith.

“Note the difference of the Law and of the Gospel. The one asketh and requireth, the other pardoneth and forgiveth. The one threateneth, the other promiseth all good things to them that set their trust in Christ only. The gospel signifieth glad tidings, and is nothing but the promises of good things. All is not gospel that is written in the gospel book: for if the law were away, thou couldest not know what the gospel meant, even as thou couldest not see pardon, favor, and grace except the law rebuked thee, and declared unto thee thy sin, misdeed, and trespass.

“Repent and believe the gospel, as saith Christ in the first of Mark. Apply alway the Law to thy deeds, whether thou find lust [i.e. eager desire, rlv] in the bottom of thine heart to the law-ward, and so shalt thou no doubt repent, and feel in thyself a certain sorrow, pain, and grief to thine heart, because thou canst not with full lust do the deeds of the law. Apply the gospel—that is to say the promises—unto the deserving of Christ, and to the mercy of God and his truth, and so shalt thou not despair, but shall feel God as a kind and a merciful father. And his spirit shall dwell in thee, and shall be strong in thee, and the promises shall be given thee at the last (though not by and by, lest thou shouldest forget thyself, and be negligent) and all threatenings shall be forgiven thee for Christ’s blood’s sake—to whom commit thyself altogether—without respect either of thy good deeds or of thy bad.

“Them that are learned Christianly I beseech—forasmuch as I am sure, and my conscience beareth me record, that of a pure intent, singly and faithfully I have interpreted it, as far forth as God gave me the gift of knowledge and understanding—that the rudeness of the work now at the first time offend them not, but that they consider how that I had no man to counterfeit, neither was helped with English of any that had interpreted the same or such like things in the Scripture beforetime. Moreover, even very necessity and cumbrance (God is record) above strength—which I will not rehearse, lest we should seem to boast ourselves—caused that many things are lacking which necessarily are required. Count it as a thing not having his full shape, but as it were born before his time, even as a thing begun rather than finished. In time to come (if God have appointed us thereunto) we will give it his full shape, and put out if aught be added superfluously, and add to if aught be overseen through negligence, and will enforce to bring to compendiousness that which is now translated at the length, and to give light where it is required, and to seek in certain places more proper English, and with a table to expound the words which are not commonly used and show how the Scripture useth many words which are otherwise understood of the common people, and to help with a declaration where one tongue taketh not another; and will endeavor ourselves, as it were, to seethe it better, and to make it more apt for the weak stomachs; desiring them that are learned and able, to remember their duty, and to help thereunto, and to bestow unto the edifying of Christ’s body (which is the congregation of them that believe) those gifts which they have received of God for the same purpose. The grace that cometh of Christ be with them that love him.

“Pray for us.”

The First Printed English New Testament: translated by William Tyndale

Behind the Pine Curtain

“That sounds like home to me sounds like home to me, like where I want to be.”

“The people who live in the pine woods of Eastern Texas are very primitive in their habits. As this was the first part of Texas that was settled by the early pioneers, their descendants form the principal part of the population ..... You often find grown men and women that have never seen a prairie country, mountain or valley, railroad or steamboat. They grow to manhood and womanhood in the heart of the thick pine woods, and are contented and happy in their log cabins.

“Their diets would by no means please the stomach of an epicure. Cornbread, bacon and potatoes, with an occasional treat of venison, give them perfect satisfaction. Nearly all the children born and reared in the pine woods have light hair; it is rare to see a black-haired family.”

Attributed to: John A. Caplan, “The Sunny South,” November 5, 1887 (On Traces of Texas, Facebook)

The great fundamental of a Baptist church, 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.)

“The great fundamental of a Baptist church is not freedom but obedience. Our freedom is to believe as God pleases, and that alone.” -- Earle V. Pierce

“The real enemies of Israel were the Betweenites: Found neither with the enemies against Israel nor with the armies fighting for Israel.” -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon (this may be a misattribution; I have not yet found a source for this in Spurgeon)

“The question is not whether God has preserved his word. The question is where.” -- David Reid

“Some things are of that nature as to make one’s fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache.” -- John Bunyan

“All I am and have on the altar is in response to all Christ is and did on the cross.” -- Armen Thomassion

“The preservation of ancient manuscripts and the preservation of the words of God are not the same thing. God promised to preserve His words, not manuscripts.” -- Steven Hayes

“There’s never been a ‘fountain of youth,’ but in the Gospel there is a ‘fountain of grace,’ and it’s deeper and sweeter than every need we have.” -- Scotty Smith

“Some people could be given an entire field of roses and only see the thorns in it.” -- Amy Weatherly

“The traditional text of the Bible has a pedigree that goes beyond the latest tweet.” -- Dane Jóhannsson

“Six feet of earth make all men equal.” -- Italian Proverb

“Death is the great leveller. The worm has no respect for knighthood or nobility. The mighty monarch and the slave, find common bed within the grave.” -- Charles H. Spurgeon

“The law, that ‘came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ,’ John i. 17— a new volume of truths, which had not been true, if he by his blood had not made them so.” -- Thomas Goodwin

Ephesians 2:20 and preservation of the Scriptures

Ephesians 2:20 and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

I apply the meaning of Ephesians 2:20 to the preservation of Scripture, and so have others. The foundation of New Testament Christianity rests on the writings of the apostles and prophets who represent the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord who preserves the churches preserves this foundation of it (e.g., Matthew 16:18). We no longer have apostles and prophets, but their teachings are preserved in the Scriptures and are our sole rule of faith and practice.

“Learn here...that nothing is to be regarded as a fundamental part of the Christian system, or as binding on the conscience, which cannot be found in the ‘prophets and apostles;’ that is, as it means here, in the Holy Scriptures.” -- Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“Since apostles and prophets were both groups with a teaching role, it seems clear that what constitutes the church’s foundation is neither their person nor their office but their instruction. In practical terms this means that the church is built on the New Testament Scriptures.” -- John R. W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians: God’s New Society, Downer’s Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1979, pp. 106-107

“When he says the foundation, he is talking about the revelation the apostles and the prophets were given which they gave to us in its written form. That is called the New Testament.” -- Ephesians 2:19-22 by Wayne Barber

Israel was succoured by the law, a written covenant. However, in their existence as a visible nation, they also depended on their being the progeny of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were ordered by a succession of the priests from Aaron, (and, later, also a succession of kings), and were planted in a geographical location given them by God. In contrast, the church is a spiritual creature of the word, built on the revelation of Jesus Christ and kept by it (Matthew 16:18). The local churches are visible, but as a kingdom, this nation (Matthew 21:43) does not have geographical borders (John 18:36), ancestral lines according to the flesh (Galatians 3:28-29), or hereditary offices (1 Peter 2:5-9). To lose the word is to lose the church. According to God’s promise and providence, both have been preserved. Bible succession is a necessary part of the Lord keeping his promise of Matthew 28:18-20, as well as for the church to fulfill the commission of Matthew 28:18-20, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Thou shalt keep the Scriptures

A writer before Benjamin Wilkinson uses Psalm 12:6-7 as a proof-text concerning the Scriptures, contrary to the collected wisdom of the anti-KJVO movement.

Need I make any comment on these passages [i.e., the 6 passages of Scripture he is discussing, rlv]? Surely they assert themselves: for “the words of Jehovah are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Jehovah, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”1 For “the law,” or “doctrine” (margin), “of Jehovah is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple.”2

1 Psalm xii. 6, 7.
2 Psalm xix. 7

Outlines of Prophetic Truth, Robert Brown (of Barton-upon-Humber), London: S. W. Partridge and Co., 1890, pp. 155-56. I am not sure, but this author might be Robert Brown (1844-1912), solicitor and philologist, who lived at Barton-upon-Humber. However, I have not found any source that connects him directly to this work.

An incomprehensible Creator and a comprehensible idol

We have to choose whether we will accept the biblical doctrine of Scripture as it stands or permit ourselves to refashion it according to our fancy. We have to choose whether to embrace the delusion that human creatures are competent to judge and find fault with the words of their Creator or whether to recognize this idea for the blasphemy that it is and drop it. We have to decide whether to carry through our repentance on the intellectual level or whether we shall still cherish our sinful craving for a thought-life free from the rule of God. We have to decide whether to say that we believe the Bible and mean it or to say it and look for ways whereby we can say it without having to accept all the consequences.

If the human mind is set up as the measure and test of truth, it will quickly substitute for man’s incomprehensible Creator a comprehensible idol fashioned in man’s own image; man wants a god he can manage and feel comfortable with and will inevitably invent one if allowed. He will forget (because he cannot understand) the infinite gulf that separates the Creator from his creatures and will picture to himself a god wholly involved in this world and wholly comprehensible (in principle, at any rate) by the speculative intellect. It was no accident but a natural development that made the liberal theology of the nineteenth century so strongly pantheistic. Once people reverse the proper relationship between Scripture and their own thinking and start judging biblical statements about God by their private ideas about God, instead of vice versa, their knowledge of the Creator is in eminent danger of perishing and with it the whole idea of supernatural religion.

J. I. Packer, “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God: Some Evangelical Principles, 1958, pp. 170-171.

Luther’s metrical Psalm 12

Above are stanzas 5 and 6 (in German) from a hymn by Martin Luther on Psalm 12, beginning in the first stanza “Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein” (Oh God, from heaven look down). This hymn was first published in Etlich Christlich lider (Achtliederbuch, or “Eight-Song Book”) in Wittenberg in 1524.

The silver seven times tried is pure
From all adulteration;
So, through God’s Word, shall men endure
Each trial and temptation:
Its worth gleams brighter through the cross,
And purified from human dross,
It shines through every nation.

Thy truth thou wilt preserve, O Lord, 

Pure from their artful glozing, 

Oh! make us lean upon thy Word, 

With hearts unmov’d reposing;

Though bad men triumph and their crew

Are gather’d round, the faithful few

With crafty toils enclosing.

Translated by Frances E. Cox, 1841.

Four lines in German: Das wollst du, Gott, bewahren rein ßor diesem argen Gschlechte, Und laß uns dir besohlen sein, Daß sichs in uns nicht slechte.

Possible non-metrical translation: May you, O God, keep it pure from this evil, and let us be under your command that it not turn evil in us.

It seems reasonable that most translators of this hymn took Luther to be speaking of the Scriptures (or at least words and not people, in the first part). Here are some other examples:

Fry, 1845

Behold the Word of God shall stand
Unchanged, unchanging still,
Whilst the vicissitudes of time
Their destined course, fulfill…

R. Massie, 1854

O God, preserve it pure and free
From this world’s generation,
And let us be preserved by Thee
From all contamination…

Winkworth, 1863

Therefore, O God, preserve it pure
From all that would abuse it,
And in the Faith our hearts secure,
That we may never lose it...

G. Macdonald, 1867

God will its purity defend,
From all this folk besotted,
Our hearts to thee we could commend,
Lest it in us be spotted.

Two other older hymns may be translations of this hymn by Luther, but I am not certain. Here are those:

Miles Coverdale, 1539

O Lorde defende thou them therfore,

And preserve us graciously

From this generacyon evermore,

That persecute us so cruelly…

Gude and Godlie Ballatis, 1567

And Goddis word and promit

Is trewar, cleirar, and mair pure

Than siluer seuin tymes purifyit:

Sen that thow are in word sa sure,

Thow saif vs from sic sort of men,

And fra the doctrine that they ken.

Eternallie on us tak cure.

The Free Lutheran Chorale-Book uses this composite translation:

Preserve Thy Word e’er pure and free
From this vile generation,
And keep us subject unto Thee,
Safe from their infiltration.
The godless ev’rywhere abound,
Where’er such wicked men are found
Exalted midst Thy people.

A critic of the sacred book

From “The Progress of Error” by William Cowper

And of all arts sagacious dupes invent,
To cheat themselves and gain the world’s assent,
The worst is–Scripture warp’d from its intent...

A critic on the sacred book should be
Candid and learn’d, dispassionate and free;
Free from the wayward bias bigots feel,
From fancy’s influence, and intemperate zeal...

Whatever shocks or gives the least offence
To virtue, delicacy, truth, or sense
(Try the criterion, ’tis a faithful guide),
Nor has, nor can have, Scripture on its side.

Journal Jots on KJVO

The two following briefs come from Canadian newspapers in the 1950s. The first is excerpted from an article about some ordinations in the United Church of Canada. The quote below is relative to the discussion of a “basic crisis in Christian education.” A certain “reverend” objected to churches relying too much on the King James Bible. He seems to anticipate Mark Ward’s viewpoint that King James is like a foreign language.

“Earlier, Rev. Charles Pelletier of St. Hyacinthe, said he was worried about the extent to which the churches used the King James version of the Bible, ‘adopting the medieval church attitude of teaching in a foreign language.’ He urged, instead, the use of the revised standard version which had more modern language.”

“7 Ordained, Told Job ‘Thrilling’,” The Montreal Star, Thursday, June 2, 1955, p. 6 (This was in the United Church of Canada)

The second is a letter in reply to F. J. McNey, an atheist in Craigmyle, Starland County, Alberta, Canada, who seemed to enjoy sending letters to “The Voice of the People” column, questioning Christianity and the Bible. Mrs. M. Watson (possibly this person) writes to advise looking in the King James Bible – “the only Bible God has kept perfect all down through the ages.” So here we have some unknown lady in a small village in Starland County, Alberta, Canada in 1951 who is “King James Only.” Sure, she might have been Benjamin Wilkinson’s niece or J. J. Ray’s cousin, but I seriously doubt it!

“Dear Sir—In Answer to F. J. McNey’s remarks in the Voice column, I would ask ‘Have you a King James Bible, the only Bible God has kept perfect all down through the ages?’
“Morrin. Mrs. M. Watson.”

“King James Version,” The Beiseker Times (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) Friday, April 27, 1951, p. 2 [Note: Morrin is a community in central Alberta, north and east of Calgary.]

“We” do not know

I have on a few occasions quoted a leading New Testament scholar, Dan Wallace, (e.g., here and here) on his doubts about ever knowing “exactly what the authors of the New Testament wrote” (see below). Many others have quoted him as well. I think this is so shocking because it comes from a person who conservative Christians in the United States usually perceive as an evangelical scholar at a conservative theological institution. Perhaps. However, the concept cannot be shocking because it is new. It is not new! It follows, and perhaps adapts, the views of noted scholars who came before him. A few quotations below (which might be multiplied exponentially if other text critics were cited) trace the same kind of view across the 20th century into the 21st. [I have used bold italics to emphasize portions of the quotes. This is not in the original texts.]

Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare (1856-1924), Professor of Theology at the University of Oxford

“[Burgon] would not—perhaps could not, so dense was the veil of prejudice with which the old theory of inspiration covered his eyes—see that prior to the collection of the gospels in a canon, about the year 180, and while they were still circulating singly in isolated churches, their text was less fixed and more liable to changes, doctrinal and transcriptional, than they ever were afterwards; and that the ultimate text, if there was ever one that deserves to be so called, is forever irrecoverable.” (History of New Testament Criticism, F. C. Conybeare. London: Watts and Co., 1910, p. 129.)

Kirsopp Lake (1872-1946), Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School

“In spite of the claims of Westcott and Hort and of von Soden, we do not know the original form of the Gospels, and it is quite likely that we never shall. We can, however, reconstruct many of the various states through which it has passed between the third century and the invention of printing. (“Preface,” Family 13 (The Ferrar Group): The Text According to Mark with a Collation of Codex 28 of the Gospels, Studies and Documents Edited by Kirsopp Lake and Silva Lake, XI, Kirsopp and Silva Lake. London: Christophers; Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1941, p. vii.)

Robert McQueen Grant (1917-2014), Professor of New Testament at the University of Chicago

“The primary goal of New Testament textual study remains the recovery of what the New Testament writers wrote. We have already suggested that to achieve this goal is wellnigh impossible. Therefore we must be content with what Reinhold Niebuhr and others have called, in other contexts, an ‘impossible possibility’.” (A Historical Introduction to the New Testament, R. M. Grant. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1963, p. 51.)

Daniel Baird Wallace (1952-), Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary

“We do not now have—in our critical Greek texts or any translations—exactly what the authors of the New Testament wrote. Even if we did, we would not know it. There are many, many places in which the text of the New Testament is uncertain.” (“Foreword,” Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism, Elijah Hixson & Peter Gurry. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2019, p. xii.)

Wallace recommends avoiding the extremes of “radical skepticism” and “absolute certainty” in order to “land between these two extremes.”

The extract from Conybeare easily identifies him as one who rejected the verbal inspiration of the Bible. Kirsopp Lake’s son notes that Lake was an early doubter of Christianity, writing, “It was, I believe at this point [the years of his curacy at St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford, 1897-1904; rlv] that my father began to doubt the teachings of the church and to think in terms of history and exegesis rather than theology and parish difficulties.” (Quantulacumque, Studies Presented to Kirsopp Lake by Pupils, Colleagues and Friends, Robert Pierce Casey; Silva Tipple Lake; Agnes K. Lake; editors. London: Christophers, 1937, p. vii) Lake himself describes Christianity as a synthesized religion and a “sacramental cult.”

“It is becoming increasingly certain that Christianity in the first century achieved a synthesis between the Greco-Oriental and the Jewish religions in the Roman Empire. The preaching of repentance, and of the Kingdom of God begun by Jesus passed into the sacramental cult of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the details are complex and obscure. What were the exact elements in this synthesis? How was it effected?” (The Beginnings of Christianity: Part I: the Acts of the Apostles, Vol. I, F. J. Foakes Jackson, Kirsopp Lake, editors. London, MacMillan and Co., Ltd., 1942, p. vii.)

I am not familiar with Grant and his theology. I do not know much about Wallace beyond his academic career. I saw on one web page that he was ordained a Baptist minister in 1986 – I do not know if that is accurate. He identifies as an evangelical, has served as president of the Evangelical Theological Society, and is involved in the NET and NIV translations of the Bible.