January 17, 1997 (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The following is by the late E.G. Cook (1898-1987) --

So far as I am able to learn, the title "reverend" was never used in connection with a mere man for at least 1,400 years after all those elders were ordained in New Testament times. The word "reverend" in Psa. 111:9 comes from the Hebrew Word "yare." This word is used more than 300 times in the Scriptures, but only one time is it translated "reverend." Other meanings of this word "yare" are "dreadful," "feared," and "terrible." The title "terrible" would seem to fit some preachers I know better than "reverend."

According to the Oxford Universal Dictionary, the title of "reverend" was first applied to persons of age and character in 1449. In 1485, the deans in the Catholic Church were given the title of "Very Reverend" and the bishops were called "Right Reverend." God's title was "Reverend," so in order for the deans and bishops to be more highly honored than God, they used "Very Reverend" for the deans and "Right Reverend" for the bishops.

It would seem that by this time man would have been satisfied to just leave God this far behind. It appears, however, that there is no limit to man's carnal desires; not only to be like the Most High, but to go beyond Him. In 1642 the Arch-Bishops began to be called "Most Right Reverend." Just how much more reverend can you be than that! Three years later, in 1645, just exactly 200 years before the Southern Baptist Convention was born, the title of "reverend" was applied to the clergy as a whole.

The Catholic Church had already taken over the matter of saving people. They just dash a little water on a person's head, and there you have it. That is so much more comfortable than hanging on a tree for six hours, by means of nails through the hands and feet.

The matter of forgiving sins had already been taken care of as well. If you have the money, I understand you can have the sins you have already committed forgiven, and even the ones you plan to commit next weekend. Surely they have the most convenient religion in all the world.

Now that they had taken over God's function in the matter of saving people and forgiving their sins, it was only a little thing for them to take over His title. All this will culminate in the man of sin in 2 Thess. 2:3-4. If you notice in Revelation 19:20, our Lord does not even go to the trouble of killing that old rascal. He just casts him into the lake of fire alive. ...

It seems to me that if Baptist preachers would investigate the origin of their title, they would prefer the one given to them in God's Word, rather than one given to them by the Catholic Church. If Baptists would discard all the junk the Catholic Church has sold them through the centuries, they would find they have a lot more room for Bible truth. --copied from The Historic Baptist