Changes To The KJV Since 1611
Aug/17/10 11:24
August 17, 2010 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
A question that comes up frequently in the Bible Version debate is this: “If you believe that the KJV is the preserved Word of God in English, which edition do you use, seeing that it has been revised many times and in thousands of places?”
ANSWER:
I will answer this question under the following five headings:
1. There were corrections of printing errors, typographical changes, and spelling updates.
These were done by the British publishers of the KJV and can be grouped into two time periods.
There were updates made between 1613 and 1639 for the purpose of correcting printing errors. The revisers included Samuel Ward and John Bois, two of the original translators. “Some errors of the press having crept into the first edition, and others into later reprints, King Charles the First, in 1638, had another edition printed at Cambridge, which was revised by Dr. Ward and Mr. Bois, two of the original Translators who still survived, assisted by Dr. Thomas Goad, Mr. Mede, and other learned men” (Alexander McClure, The Translators Revived, 1855). Read More...
The following is from “Answering the Myths on the Bible Version Debate,” which is available in print and e-book formats from Way of Life Literature.
___________________
ANSWER:
I will answer this question under the following five headings:
1. There were corrections of printing errors, typographical changes, and spelling updates.
These were done by the British publishers of the KJV and can be grouped into two time periods.
There were updates made between 1613 and 1639 for the purpose of correcting printing errors. The revisers included Samuel Ward and John Bois, two of the original translators. “Some errors of the press having crept into the first edition, and others into later reprints, King Charles the First, in 1638, had another edition printed at Cambridge, which was revised by Dr. Ward and Mr. Bois, two of the original Translators who still survived, assisted by Dr. Thomas Goad, Mr. Mede, and other learned men” (Alexander McClure, The Translators Revived, 1855). Read More...
Wycliffe Bible Translators and Rome
Jul/29/10 09:35
Republished July 29, 2010 (first published March 4, 2003) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) –
WYCLIFFE’S HISTORY
A linguistics training school called “Camp Wycliffe” was founded in 1934 by missionaries William Cameron Townsend and L.L. Legters. It was named after John Wycliffe, the father of the English Bible, and the goal was to provide Bibles in every language of the earth. This project became the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now known as SIL International). Townsend had created an alphabet for and translated the N.T. into Cakchiquel in Guatemala and he wanted to train missionaries to repeat this process in other minority languages. This small training school grew into the Summer Institute for Linguistics (now called SIL International). It is the linguistics arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators. It describes itself as “a non-profit, faith-based, scientific organization with the main purpose to study, develop and document lesser-known languages for the purpose of expanding linguistic knowledge, promoting world literacy and aiding minority language development.”
Wycliffe Bible Translators was founded in 1942. It focused on the actual translation work while the Summer Institute of Linguistics focused on linguistics and training. Later JAARS was established to focus on the technical, logistical, and transportation side of the work.
In 1948, the Jungle Aviation and Radio Service (JAARS) was established to provide support to the translation work through aviation, telecommunications, computers, construction, and shipping.
Today there are 5,000 people involved with Wycliffe, SIL, and JAARS. By 2004 Wycliffe had produced 611 Bibles or portions thereof and more than 1,000 translation projects were ongoing. Read More...
WYCLIFFE’S HISTORY
Wycliffe Bible Translators was founded in 1942. It focused on the actual translation work while the Summer Institute of Linguistics focused on linguistics and training. Later JAARS was established to focus on the technical, logistical, and transportation side of the work.
In 1948, the Jungle Aviation and Radio Service (JAARS) was established to provide support to the translation work through aviation, telecommunications, computers, construction, and shipping.
Today there are 5,000 people involved with Wycliffe, SIL, and JAARS. By 2004 Wycliffe had produced 611 Bibles or portions thereof and more than 1,000 translation projects were ongoing. Read More...
Wycliffe Bible Translators: Whither Bound?
Jul/28/10 11:12
Republished July 28, 2010 (first published in O Timothy magazine, volume 5, issue 9-10, 1988) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
From time to time, friends and churches have asked me about Wycliffe Bible Translators. This organization wields a very powerful influence through its sheer size, through the many translations it is producing, and through its training programs. I feel it is crucial that we put into print a concise answer to this matter.
GREAT DIVERSITY
First, we must emphasize that within Wycliffe is considerable diversity of thought and practice. When you are dealing with a group as massive as this--roughly 5,000 workers from 70 denominations--it is impossible that every individual within that group fit an exact mold. Let us make it clear, therefore, that we are not speaking of so much of individuals within Wycliffe; we are speaking of the organization as a whole. Not every Wycliffe person is a charismatic, for example. But many are. Not every Wycliffe person supports ecumenical relations with Rome. But a great many do.
Another example. Though Wycliffe, as a rule, uses the Westcott-Hort or United Bible Societies textual tradition, there are Wycliffe people who are opposed to this and who take a stand for a form of the Received Text underlying the KJV. A key example is Wilbur N. Pickering, author of the widely-read volume The Identity of the New Testament Text. Pickering contends that a modified form of the Received Text is the preserved Word of God. Let us be clear, though, that this is NOT the thinking which rules within Wycliffe. I am using Pickering and his writings as an example of the diversity within Wycliffe, not of Wycliffe's prevailing philosophy.
Read More...
From time to time, friends and churches have asked me about Wycliffe Bible Translators. This organization wields a very powerful influence through its sheer size, through the many translations it is producing, and through its training programs. I feel it is crucial that we put into print a concise answer to this matter.
GREAT DIVERSITY
First, we must emphasize that within Wycliffe is considerable diversity of thought and practice. When you are dealing with a group as massive as this--roughly 5,000 workers from 70 denominations--it is impossible that every individual within that group fit an exact mold. Let us make it clear, therefore, that we are not speaking of so much of individuals within Wycliffe; we are speaking of the organization as a whole. Not every Wycliffe person is a charismatic, for example. But many are. Not every Wycliffe person supports ecumenical relations with Rome. But a great many do.
Another example. Though Wycliffe, as a rule, uses the Westcott-Hort or United Bible Societies textual tradition, there are Wycliffe people who are opposed to this and who take a stand for a form of the Received Text underlying the KJV. A key example is Wilbur N. Pickering, author of the widely-read volume The Identity of the New Testament Text. Pickering contends that a modified form of the Received Text is the preserved Word of God. Let us be clear, though, that this is NOT the thinking which rules within Wycliffe. I am using Pickering and his writings as an example of the diversity within Wycliffe, not of Wycliffe's prevailing philosophy.
Read More...
The Bible's Proof
Jul/27/10 08:26
Updated July 27, 2010 (first published April 10, 2002) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) –
In the final analysis, a man must accept that the Bible is the Word of God by faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
At the same time, Bible faith is not a blind leap into the dark. It is confidence in a believable Record that God has given, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The writers of the Bible explain to us that they were not delivering cunningly devised fables but an inspired record based on “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3; 2 Peter 1:16).
Following are some of the objective, time-proven reasons why we can have complete confidence in the Bible:
1. The Bible’s unique construction proves that it is the Word of God.
The Bible was written by 40 different authors representing some 19 different occupations (shepherd, soldier, farmer, fisherman, tax collector, medical doctor, king, etc.) who lived during a period of some 1,600 years. That is approximately 50 generations. The first 39 books of the Bible were written in the Hebrew language over a period of about 1,000 years.
THINGS HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD (385 pages; $19.95)
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The Bible's Proof
Jan/19/10 09:04
Updated February 19, 2009 (first published April 10, 2002) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) –
In the final analysis, a man must accept that the Bible is the Word of God by faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
At the same time, Bible faith is not a blind leap into the dark. It is confidence in a believable Record that God has given, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The writers of the Bible explain to us that they were not delivering cunningly devised fables but an inspired record based on “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3; 2 Peter 1:16).
Following are some of the objective, time-proven reasons why we can have complete confidence in the Bible:
1. CHRIST’S RESURRECTION PROVES THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD.
Christ’s resurrection was witnessed by hundreds of people (1 Cor. 15:5-7). Paul wrote this less than 40 years after the resurrection, and many eyewitnesses were still living. Were they all lying? At times, the resurrected Christ was seen by many people at one time. They talked with him, touched him, walked with him, and ate with him (Luke 24:36-43). Before the resurrection, the apostles were fearful and were hiding from the authorities (John 20:19). After they saw the resurrected Christ with their own eyes, they became bold and fearless and were willing to lay down their lives for the Gospel. It took a powerful event to cause such a change in their lives. Read More...
Ten Tips for Daily Bible Reading
Dec/15/09 07:42
It is the Word of God that has the power to sanctify the believer and build him up in Christ. It imparts conviction, enlightenment, spiritual strength, faith, wisdom, repentance. Consider the following Scriptures:
“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psalms 1:1-3).
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalms 119:9). Read More...
A Timeline of 20th Century Apostasy
Sep/30/09 09:06
September 30, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
Book - $14.95
E-Book - $7.50
Having looked at the late 18th and the 19th centuries and seen the apostasy that swept into Christian churches in the same era that produced modern textual criticism, we will now show a timeline of 20th century apostasy to document what has happened within Christianity at large as the modern critical texts and modern English versions have become dominant. We will begin at the very end of the 19th century after the publication of the English Revised Version and the Westcott-Hort Greek New Testament and move through the 20th. We will see that the unbelief that had begun as a stream in the late 18th century and had become a river in the 19th century became “a veritable ocean of unbelief” in the 20th. Like ivy, the modernism that had slept in the late 18th century and crept in the 19th, leapt in the 20th.
1900 -- As a predecessor of the Pentecostal movement, John Alexander Dowie proclaimed that he was “Elijah the Restorer” who was to precede the Lord’s coming and that he was the first apostle of the renewed end time church. Dowie established Zion City north of Chicago, “where doctors, drugs, and devils were not allowed.” His own daughter died of serious burns when he refused medical assistance.
1901 -- The modern tongues movement was launched when on New Year’s day Agnes Ozman, a student at Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, allegedly began to speak in a language she had never learned. Read More...
BIBLE COMMENTARIES
May/12/09 21:11
Updated and enlarged May 13, 2009 (first published June 16, 2004) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
The following is excerpted from the Advanced Bible Studies Course “How to Study the Bible,” available in print, VHS, and DVD formats from Way of Life Literature:
On several occasions, I have heard preachers condemn commentaries. One year when I was a young Christian, in fact, I determined to read and study the Bible alone and to forgo consulting any commentaries or other extra-biblical sources. I did this religiously and prayerfully for a few weeks, and I can testify that the Lord made it plain to me that I need help from men and that He was not going to give me everything by direct enlightenment. It is not that the Bible is weak or insufficient; it is that I am only one weak man and can't possibly know and understand everything without help. When I rejected the use of commentaries, I was left with my own meager resources. And though I have recognized gifts in understanding and teaching the Bible, I am at best only a very puny man with very limited ideas. Any man who is honest before God will affirm that most of his knowledge and understanding was learned from other men. God has ordained this. That is why we start life as a child and are dependent upon parents and tutors, and even as we grow older, we remain very dependent upon the help of others. Read More...
The following is excerpted from the Advanced Bible Studies Course “How to Study the Bible,” available in print, VHS, and DVD formats from Way of Life Literature:
On several occasions, I have heard preachers condemn commentaries. One year when I was a young Christian, in fact, I determined to read and study the Bible alone and to forgo consulting any commentaries or other extra-biblical sources. I did this religiously and prayerfully for a few weeks, and I can testify that the Lord made it plain to me that I need help from men and that He was not going to give me everything by direct enlightenment. It is not that the Bible is weak or insufficient; it is that I am only one weak man and can't possibly know and understand everything without help. When I rejected the use of commentaries, I was left with my own meager resources. And though I have recognized gifts in understanding and teaching the Bible, I am at best only a very puny man with very limited ideas. Any man who is honest before God will affirm that most of his knowledge and understanding was learned from other men. God has ordained this. That is why we start life as a child and are dependent upon parents and tutors, and even as we grow older, we remain very dependent upon the help of others. Read More...
WAR ON GOD’S WORD IN THE END TIMES
Apr/09/09 06:46
WAR ON GOD’S WORD IN THE END TIMES
April 9, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalms 2:1-6).
The war on God’s Word is as old as man. It began in the Garden of Eden, when the Devil said to Eve, “Yea, hath God said,” and, “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:1-4). The Bible prophesies that the age-old warfare between God and Satan will grow throughout the church age and will come to a head at the end of this age just preceding the return of Christ. Paul described the course of the church age in 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” And in His parables, Christ said the leaven of error will increase until “the whole was leavened” (Matthew 13:33).
The bud of rebellion will grow into full bloom, and we see this on every hand. Over the past two centuries rebellion to God’s Word has spread like ivy. It is said that ivy has three stages. It sleeps; it creeps; and it leaps. End-time rebellion slept in the eighteenth century, crept in the nineteenth, and leapt in the twentieth. Read More...
April 9, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalms 2:1-6).
The war on God’s Word is as old as man. It began in the Garden of Eden, when the Devil said to Eve, “Yea, hath God said,” and, “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:1-4). The Bible prophesies that the age-old warfare between God and Satan will grow throughout the church age and will come to a head at the end of this age just preceding the return of Christ. Paul described the course of the church age in 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” And in His parables, Christ said the leaven of error will increase until “the whole was leavened” (Matthew 13:33).
The bud of rebellion will grow into full bloom, and we see this on every hand. Over the past two centuries rebellion to God’s Word has spread like ivy. It is said that ivy has three stages. It sleeps; it creeps; and it leaps. End-time rebellion slept in the eighteenth century, crept in the nineteenth, and leapt in the twentieth. Read More...
BEARING PRECIOUS SEED AND SIMILAR BIBLE-PUBLISHING MINISTRIES
Dec/08/08 12:41
Updated December 8, 2008 (first published October 24, 1996) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
The following is from the latest edition of FOR LOVE OF THE BIBLE: THE BATTLE FOR THE KING JAMES VERSION AND THE RECEIVED TEXT FROM 1800 TO PRESENT. This book traces the history of the defense of the KJV and the Received Text from 1800 to present. The book includes hundreds of testimonies and biographies; sketches of churches, schools, and organizations that have defended the KJV; a digest of reviews and condensations of major books and articles written in defense of the KJV in the past 200 years; excerpts from rare books on this subject which are no longer available; a comprehensive overview of the varied arguments in favor of the KJV. For Love of the Bible also gives a history of the modern English versions, beginning with the English Revised of 1881. Also included is a history of textual criticism, revealing that most of the textual scholars from the 19th-century on were rationalists who denied the infallible inspiration of Scripture. The 46-page annotated bibliography is the most extensive in print on the subject, to our knowledge. A detailed index is also included. The author spent several thousand dollars researching the book and has written several hundred letters in this connection, communicating with men from around the world who stand for the KJV today. Michael Maynard, author of A History of the Debate over 1 John 5:7,8, wrote: “For Love of the Bible is a masterpiece. It ought to be in every academic, public, and special library in the world.” 5th edition, October 2008, 522 pages, 5X8, soft cover. $19.95
________________________
Bearing Precious Seed (BPS) is both an organization and a concept. Its goal is “to put Bible publication back into the local New Testament church.” It is “a ministry of local churches working together to publish God’s Word for worldwide free distribution to independent Baptist missionaries.” Don Fraser (1926-2003) of Bowie, Texas, was the man with the original vision for Bearing Precious Seed in 1962. He didn’t like to be called the founder because that sounds like local church publishing work is something new. He saw himself, rather, as the “modern day initiator” of a work that dates back through the centuries. He renewed the scriptural vision and began teaching those principles to men who were willing to base their work on the Bible rather than a traditional methodology. Fraser’s burden was to get the pure Scriptures into the hands of missionaries across the world, and he understood that it is the churches that have the responsibility for this, not the traditional Bible publishers. It is the church which is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15). BPS was described by missionary Ron Helzerman as follows: “The Bearing Precious Seed movement is truly Baptist history in the making! Baptist churches publishing Scriptures—scripturally!”
The formation of Bearing Precious Seed was described to me as follows in a letter from missionary Dennis Deneau:
Dr. Don Fraser of Bowie, Texas, was the man to whom God gave the vision to print the Word of God in the local church. He had gone to Mexico as a missionary and found they had no Scriptures. He began to buy them from Bible societies and to search for a church that would begin to print. Since that time, many churches have taken on the burden. Most are called Bearing Precious Seed ministry which is the name that the Lord gave to Bro. Fraser for this ministry, but some have other names. Some churches that play a very important role in this ministry have no name for their ministry—they just help us immensely with ours (Deneau, Letter, March 27, 1995).
James McWhorter, pastor of Wildwood Baptist Church of Mabank, Texas, in a letter dated April 8, 1995, explained the origin of the name “Bearing Precious Seed”—
In 1962 Brother D.M. Fraser went to Mexico to begin a mission work to reach the areas that had never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. On that trip he witnessed with his own eyes the tremendous need for Bibles on the foreign mission fields. He came home with a great burden for the people of the world who did not have access, either because of poverty, or the unavailability of the Word of God. Because of this burden he began to go out to Independent Baptist churches to raise funds to furnish free Bibles to the people of Mexico, at first, then to other areas of the world. At first he called the work ‘Send the Word of God Abroad.’ He was given an office at his home church, Rolling Hills Baptist Church, from which to operate. One night as he was working in his office he began to pray. He was seeking the leadership of the Holy Spirit concerning the work he was doing. As he cried out to the Lord, he said, ‘Lord, what is this that is happening, what am I doing?’ Brother Fraser said that he did not hear an audible voice answer him, but in his mind came the words, ‘You are BEARING PRECIOUS SEED.’ Reaching for his concordance he looked up the passage in Psalm 126:6. ‘He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.’ From that moment forward the work became known as Bearing Precious Seed.
Later in that same year Brother Fraser obtained a picture of a man sowing seed. (I am not sure of the source.) He took the picture to Brother George Anderson who helped him design the logo for Bearing Precious Seed. They had the picture made into a slide (or perhaps used a projector that projects images off of pictures), and projected the image onto a large piece of paper on the wall. Brother George then added the Bibles falling from the man’s hand onto the earth.
Don Fraser was based in Texas. At first he purchased Scriptures from the American Bible Society and the World Home Bible League and shipped them to the foreign churches. It soon became obvious, though, that this was not a good plan. Again we quote from McWhorter:
Special plans were made with the American Bible Society of New York to provide New Testaments and Bibles for Bearing Precious Seed. Brother Fraser would collect the money from churches who supported the work. The funds were then sent in with the orders for Scriptures to the American Bible Society in New York. They had five major store houses in Latin America for the distribution of Bibles. When they received Brother Fraser’s order, they would break it up and send it out to these distribution centers where they were shipped to the missionaries. This distribution system, Brother Fraser called it a pipeline, was used to send the Word of God to twenty-two Spanish-speaking countries.
Later Brother Fraser developed a plan with the World Home Bible League for Scripture production and distribution. Volunteer workers would come in to help produce the books. The Home Bible League furnished the workers, building, and equipment and Brother Fraser supplied the paper, cover stock, etc. It was not long before Brother Fraser’s work with the Independent Baptist churches was accounting for about seventy-five percent of their total production. The World Home Bible League had a big warehouse in Mexico City that would hold about twenty tons of Scriptures. As the work developed and increased with the World Home Bible League Brother Fraser gradually ceased to work with the American Bible Society. On a trip to Mexico City with Brother Carlos Demarest, he and Brother Carlos discovered that the World Home Bible League was distributing the new popular language version of the Bible. They were the Spanish translation equivalent of the Good News for Modern Man. They were very upset about this discovery. He decided to sever relationships with the World Home Bible League even though he had no one else to go to for Bibles.
About two weeks after he ceased to work with the World Home Bible League he received a call from Brother Charles Keen, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio. He told Brother Fraser that their church wanted to begin to print the Scriptures.
Before the First Baptist Church of Milford began to do printing, a church in Texas got involved in Scripture production. Brother Bobby Lemmon working in his home church, the Hemphill Baptist Temple of Ft. Worth, produced the first Scriptures printed by a church in connection with Bearing Precious Seed. The first books printed were the Gospel of John. [Bob Lemmon was the pastor of Hemphill and his son, Bobby, did the printing. Today they operate the Bible & Literature Missionary Foundation of Shelbyville, Tennessee, about which more will be said later.]
By 1973 the churches associated with Bearing Precious Seed had already purchased and distributed one million Scriptures in the eleven years they had been involved in this ministry. In a prayer letter from that year Fraser gave this testimony:
“Eleven years of service has been a joy, and we believe that if we have not passed the one-million Testament mark already then we will soon. Many churches took on sponsorship of the Bearing Precious Seed method—to handle the funds and distribute the sacred Scriptures. Ton after ton after ton has gone abroad as seed to be handled carefully by missionaries who wanted precious seed to sow. The harvest of souls saved on so many fields have been so abundant in souls that we raised our hands in joy at the sheaves. The present rate of shipments is approximately three tons per month, with our highest month having been over 10 tons. However, missionaries are now waiting for over 150 tons to be shipped to them. We believe that the printing, publishing and distribution of the Scriptures on a scriptural basis is a responsibility of the local Baptist church. Since then, thousands of tons of Scriptures have gone to foreign fields from the churches associated with Bearing Precious Seed.”
There are dozens of churches involved with producing Bibles in a manner similar to Bearing Precious Seed. Fraser, in a telephone conversation on April 1, 1995, told me that he estimated there were 15 to 20 churches that were printing in a consistent manner at that time. He counted seven churches that operated large roll-fed presses, with another one that was being set up in the Philippines.
The largest Bearing Precious Seed ministry is located at First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio. This ministry was started in 1973 under the direction of Charles Keen, who was the pastor at First Baptist from 1964 to 1999. Since then Bill Duttry has been the senior pastor. Keen was influenced by Don Fraser’s aforementioned vision. First Baptist’s statement of faith says: “We believe God has preserved His Word in New Testament form in the manuscript text known as the Textus Receptus. We further believe God has preserved His Word in Old Testament form in the manuscript text known as the Masoretic Text. Finally, we believe we have His preserved Word in the English language in the Bible known as the King James Version or Authorized Version. The King James Version is our sole authority for all purposes of reading and studying in English.”
First Baptist’s printing ministry began with a small sheet-fed press located in the church’s basement. The first full year of production they printed and shipped 12,000 Scripture portions. Today they have a roll-fed press and produce more than four million Scriptures annually, including whole Bibles, New Testaments, and portions. Since 1973 they have printed and distributed more than 70 million Bibles and portions in 42 languages. There are 87 Seedline churches associated with Milford BPS.
As of 2008 there are 17 missionary families working out of this ministry. Five of them are based in El Paso, Texas, where a BPS printing operation focuses on Spanish Scriptures for distribution in Mexico and throughout Latin America. (It is important to emphasize again that the name Bearing Precious Seed is generic and that many men not directly connected with First Baptist of Milford use the name.) Among other things, First Baptist’s BPS missionaries travel to churches and speak on the importance of getting the Scriptures out to the ends of the earth, and they raise funds to keep the presses rolling and the supply lines full.
The Bearing Precious Seed vision is a cooperative effort among independent, fundamental Baptist churches. Some of them print the Scriptures, and others assist in the process through a ministry called “Seedline.” The seed is the precious Word of God, and it passes from the presses down the “line” to other churches which take over the binding process. First Baptist of Milford and other Bearing Precious Seed churches with printing ministries produce the signatures (folded sheets of paper with eight or sixteen pages in numerical order on one sheet) on their presses, and send them to the Seedline churches for assembly and shipping. Hundreds of volunteers are involved in this type of activity. This plan was described by James McWhorter:
A seed line is a group of churches that work together to collect funds for printing, help assemble, and distribute (ship to other seed lines, churches, mission fields, etc.) the Scriptures. The funds are collected and sent to a head water church. A head water church is a church where funds are collected or pooled from several seed line churches to buy large quantities of paper. They also coordinate the printing and shipment of the printed Scriptures. The head water church purchases paper and uses the paper to print or have printed the Scriptures. Often several head water churches pool their money in order to make larger paper buys possible thereby greatly reducing the cost of paper. Once the Scriptures are printed they are assembled at the church where they were printed, or they are sent to other seed line churches to be assembled there (McWhorter, Developing A Texas Seed Line, p. 1).
One of the goals of Bearing Precious Seed is to establish a local church Bible publishing work on every continent. In 1995, one was being established in Africa through the ministry of missionary Mike Shaver. Another, in Europe through missionaries Tom Miller and Colin Christensen. Another in Canada through Peter Hiebert, a Bearing Precious Seed missionary working out of the Open Door Baptist Church in Grand Centre, Alberta. Another was being established in the Philippines. A roll-fed press was being set up there for the printing of Scriptures for that part of the world.
We must emphasize once more that the name Bearing Precious Seed does not designate any one organization or church. It is the name of a vision for local church printing. In a message dated April 5, 1995, Tom Gaudet, director of Old Paths Scripture Press, gave a helpful overview of this:
There are basically three types of ministries such as these in independent Baptist churches. Some use the name ‘Bearing Precious Seed.’ Others operate in a similar fashion but do not use the name. Still others do not operate the same way but do use the name. I will here try to categorize the three basic types of ‘printing ministries’ whether they operate the same as others or use the same name or have nothing to do with any others:
1. The church with a printing ministry: You will see why I am making this distinction in a moment. These ministries have printing equipment which they use to print Bibles, Scripture portions, tracts, etc. Some have rather large operations with full-blown press and bindery operations which have cost many thousands of dollars. The larger operations generally have web presses, similar to the type newspaper and book publishers use.
The largest scripture printing ministry in an independent Baptist Church is First Baptist Church, Milford, Ohio. The largest tract printing ministry of any kind in the world is in an independent Baptist Church; Fellowship Baptist Church, Lebanon, Ohio. Still other churches have smaller equipment and use it faithfully to reproduce the Word of God. To name all of these churches would be quite a chore. Some of the higher production shops with web presses are Berean Baptist Church, Indianapolis, Indiana; Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, Oliver Springs, Tennessee; Lifeline Baptist Church, Broomfield, Colorado; Parker Memorial Baptist Church, Lansing, Michigan; Broken Arrow Baptist Church, Pearce, Arizona; Victory Baptist Church, Milton, Florida; Lock Haven Baptist Church, Kissimmee, Florida.
By the way, as far as I know, the highest production and the oldest printing ministry in a Baptist church is in a Southern Baptist Church, Milldale Baptist Church, Zachary, Louisiana. Their ministry is not supported by the Southern Baptist Convention, but by their local church and others around the country, much like the ministries in Independent Baptist churches.
2. The church with a publishing ministry: These are churches which have some printing equipment, with some production capabilities, but have chosen to have someone else do the printing and primarily organize the fundraising and assembly work in various places. This is a very visible type of ministry because of the fundraising aspect. Offerings are collected into the church, and the printing is done by someone with larger equipment capable of printing truckloads of paper quickly. Some of these projects have even been done by commercial printers. The printed material is then distributed to other churches to be assembled. Some of this material has even been shipped overseas to be assembled by national churches. A quantity of material is assembled by the church with the publishing ministry. This type of ministry is more conducted in the other churches rather than in a large printing plant as in #1.
A sampling of churches with ministries such as these would include, First Baptist Church, Park Rapids, Minnesota; Liberty Baptist Church, Rapid City, South Dakota; First Bible Baptist Church, Rochester, New York; Grace Bible Baptist Church, Springfield, Missouri.
3. The church with an assembly ministry: These churches are doing a tremendous amount of ‘hands on’ work assembling material which others have printed. Typically, the church is assembling Gospels and has invested from a couple of hundred to several thousand dollars on bindery equipment such as staplers, folders, and cutters. Some have equipment which will hot-glue larger books such as New Testaments and Bibles. Some have limited printing equipment on which they print covers for these books. Some of the ‘Bearing Precious Seed’ ministries call these churches ‘seed line’ churches. There are literally dozens of these churches around the country.
In addition to the above three types of ministries, there are several other churches who have men out doing the work of distribution. Some of these are connected with printing ministries; some are not. Wings Bearing Precious Seed, Alpine, Tennessee; Bearing Precious Seed International, El Paso, Texas; River Oaks Baptist Church, Porter, Texas; Central Baptist Church, Bowie, Texas.
The following is a list of some of the churches involved in producing Scriptures. Some of these have been mentioned already. Not all of them use the name Bearing Precious Seed or have any connection with Bearing Precious Seed in Milford. Please understand that this is just a sampling. It is not within the compass of this book to list all of the churches involved with Bible publishing. We mention these to illustrate the broad-based nature of this movement. The churches and ministries are listed in alphabetical order.
Berean Baptist Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, operates a 27-inch web press for the publication of Scriptures. This ministry was founded by Pastor Bill Gindelsperger in May 1977, through the exhortation of BPS missionary Carlos Demarest. Vern Vaughn, who was in the church at that time, took the challenge that year to become the printer, and he has been with this ministry ever since. They use the name Bearing Precious Seed to describe their ministry, though they are independent of any other BPS ministry. The pastor of Berean since February 1995 is Bill Blakley. In 1994 Berean’s printing ministry produced 270,000 Scripture portions. They work in 14 languages, and are preparing to produce Scriptures in two others, a special Romanian for gypsies and the Susu language of Africa.
Bible & Literature Missionary Foundation of Shelbyville, Tennessee, was founded in 1968 by Bob Lemmon. He died in August 2007, and today the ministry is overseen by his son, Bobby. Bob’s grandson Shannon also works in the ministry. In English they only print the King James Version. The ministry statement says that they are “dedicated to the preservation of the King James version of the received text (Textus Receptus) of other languages.” In a letter dated March 21, 1995, Bob , said of the KJV: “We believe it is God’s gift to the English speaking world. We believe all these other translations that have been produced have behind their production the ultimate motive to leave out vast portions of the inspired word and to water down some of the cardinal truths.” The Bible & Literature Missionary Foundation also prints Received Text Scriptures in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Hungarian, Swati, and other languages, and has printed tracts in Chinese and Korean. The Foundation sends many of its printed signatures to associated Seedline churches that bind and ship them. As of 2008 Houston Buchannan and Joshua Phillips represent the ministry.
Bob Lemmon gave us the following overview of his involvement in local church Bible publishing:
My son and I introduced the Bible printing ministry to several churches and pastors. Some of them printed for awhile and then dropped by the wayside. However, some of them are still going strong. I suppose that the most successful of them is Dr. Charles Keen at First Baptist Church in Milford, Ohio. The first press they used was one we bought here in Nashville, and my son delivered it to them there in Ohio and trained someone in the church to operate it. Another church that is still printing is Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Oliver Springs, Tennessee. My son Robert, Jr., established that ministry in the church and worked and supervised it for seven years (letter from Bob Lemmon, March 21, 1995).
Broken Arrow Baptist Church, Pearce, Arizona, has a web press and produces Scriptures in English and Spanish. Pastor Clyde Thacker founded this ministry in 1984. He was murdered in a robbery in 1994, and his son, Tim, assumed the pastorate of the church and oversight of the printing ministry. The press operated by Broken Arrow is 56 feet long and has four printing units. Two were in operation in 1995, producing 25,000 impressions per hour. In one month they produced 5,000 New Testaments. They were preparing to print and bind whole Bibles.
Lighthouse Baptist Press is operated by Liberty Baptist Tabernacle of Rapid City, South Dakota. The pastor is H. Wayne Williams and the director of the printing ministry (since 2001) is Tom Furse (b. 1944). Eric McCarty and his family are missionaries out of Liberty Baptist and represent the printing ministry to churches in the Rocky Mountain region. This Scripture printing ministry was founded in 1987 by William Byers (1944-2001), who resigned his pastorate in Custer, South Dakota, to enter the field of Scripture printing. In a message to me dated April 5, 1995, Byers said, “I am thankful for each and every Bearing Precious Seed church and ministry. I do not personally know a single BPS work that is not Textus Receptus/King James by conviction and historic Baptist in its doctrine. All are doing a great work and if I am privileged to be in a church supporting another BPS work, I promote that missionary and ministry before the people.” In 1996 Liberty purchased a web press from Milldale International Ministries and by September 1998 they were able to dedicate their new print building debt free. In 2002 they added another building to house three semi-truck loads of paper. The night the church voted in 1996 to purchase the press by faith a new convert named Bret Foley raised his hand and said he was a professional printer and knew how to operate the press! Today he is on staff as the print shop manager. There are 10-15 churches that work with Liberty Baptist in helping to print and distribute Scriptures. As of September 2008 they are printing Scriptures in Arabic, English, French, Malagasy, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Caprock Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas, under the leadership of Ken Black, become involved with Bearing Precious Seed in printing and binding in the mid-1990s. They were printing in the Czech language.
Another roll-fed press associated with Bearing Precious Seed is located in El Paso, Texas. Carlos Demarest is the BPS missionary there. Demarest works out of the First Baptist Church of Milford. James McWhorter gave us an overview of the El Paso work in 1995: “There is a great work going on in El Paso. A Bearing Precious Seed base is located there that has carried many tons of Scriptures into Mexico for the last several years. This base, while located in Texas, is not the work of Texas Baptists, but is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio.”
First Baptist Church, Milford, Ohio, operates a large web press and produces great quantities of Scriptures with the assistance of dozens of other churches. We have already described this ministry.
First Baptist Church of Park Rapids, Minnesota. The pastor is Joseph Sturtz. Bearing Precious Seed missionary Dennis Deneau and Don Fraser set up the ministry in First Baptist in 1984 when Pastor Klenk was there. They have produced Scriptures in English, Spanish, Telugu, Croatian, Russian, Serbian, and other languages.
Lock Haven Scripture Press is a ministry of the Lock Haven Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida. Neal Beard is the pastor of the church, and the printing ministry is directed by Edward K. Brown, Jr. This printing work started as a BPS ministry in 1981 and later changed the name. Another man who works full-time with Lock Haven is Duane Chase, who has been with the ministry since 1983. They operate a 24-inch web press and a 36-inch web press, as well as smaller equipment. Between September 1983, to December 1994, the Lock Haven Scripture Press produced 577,679 New Testaments in 11 languages; 151,512 John & Romans in three languages; 20,490 Gospels in three languages; and almost 6 million gospel tracts in 11 languages. In the first quarter of 1995 they produced more than 15,000 New Testaments in Chinese, English, Russian, Vietnamese-English, and Creole. They are gearing up to print in the Khmer language of Cambodia.
Lifeline Baptist Church of Broomfield, Colorado, is the home of the Old Paths Scripture Press, which has been printing Bibles, New Testaments, Gospels, Scripture portions, and other material since 1985. Tom Gaudet was the founder of this ministry. Since 1994 he has held the position of International Representative, and serves in the capacity of promotion, fundraising, and working with missionaries on the field, as well as opening up new avenues of paper acquisition for the presses. C.T.L. Spear is the pastor of Lifeline Baptist. They operate a roll-fed press. Old Paths Scripture Press has no connection with Bearing Precious Seed but has a similar burden and methodology and has had close fellowship with the various Bearing Precious Seed ministries through the years. Gaudet has been involved with local church Bible publishing since 1977. Before establishing the Old Paths Scripture Press, he spent one year in a school operated by First Baptist Church of Milford, Ohio, one year with a church in Kentucky, then five years working with the printing ministry of the Berean Baptist Church in Indianapolis.
The philosophy and methodology of local church Bible publishing is seen in a report given to me by Tom Gaudet on April 5, 1995:
There are three aspects of this ministry which are very important to us, and which we are committed to maintaining. These are convictions and serve as the basis for this ministry:
1. This is a Local Church ministry. It is literally Lifeline Baptist Church printing the Word of God. This is not to say we can do it alone. We could not have the far reaching impact we do without other churches helping. But this ministry is not a para-church organization. We concur with the Scripture which says, ‘... the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15).
2. We will only print Bible texts which have been proven to be based on the Textus Receptus. We make no apology for this position. Or course, in English we only print the King James Bible. A text must be proven by this"criteria and God’s blessing through its history for us to consider printing it. ‘The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times’ (Psalm 12:6).
3. The Scripture portions which we print are made available to missionaries and national churches at no cost. We never want to stand before the Lord and have to answer for warehousing the Word of God, looking for another customer. God intended His Word to be given to every creature. ‘The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it’ (Psalm 68:11).
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church of Oliver Springs, Tennessee, operates a Scripture printing ministry This church was founded in 1875. Garvan Walls has pastored the church since 1982. The printing director is H.B. Carey II. It began in 1975 when Don Fraser presented the burden for the need of Scriptures around the world and explained that the solution was “God’s people producing the Word of God through the local church.” The church set up a small A&M 1250 press in a corner of a basement Sunday School room, and volunteers began working long hours to produce the Word of God. Today Mt. Pisgah’s Scripture publishing ministry is housed in an 20,000-square-foot printing facility and is accomplished with the assistance of more than a million dollars worth of equipment. Hundreds of thousands of Bibles are produced annually in 16 languages: Arabic, German, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Olongo, Cambodian, Polish, Kituba, Swahili, Russian, and Italian. The print shop utilizes four different presses providing Scriptures in eight languages for worldwide distribution. The staff consists of three full-time workers, two part-time, and dozens of volunteers from surrounding churches. Through the years millions of Scriptures have been sent around the world for free distribution. As of 2008, three missionaries were representing the Scripture printing ministry.
Parker Memorial Baptist Church of Lansing, Michigan, operates a roll-fed press for the production of Scriptures. This ministry began in 1976. Don Green is the pastor. Ron Helzerman joined in 1981 as shop production manager. In 1995 he said: “The growth of our work has been slow but steady and the Lord has blessed us with a nice building, a web press, a good group of volunteers, and an increasing network of collating churches around us. We print Arabic, Spanish and English scriptures and have cooperated with other Bearing Precious Seed churches in collating and binding several other languages.” As of 2008 there were four Bearing Precious Seed missionaries working out of Parker Memorial: Dennis Deneau, John Green, Mark Chartier, and Rick Teremi. Brother Deneau studied under Don Fraser, founder of Bearing Precious Seed.
Parker Memorial is the home of Local Church Bible Publishers, which produces an excellent selection of high quality leather-bound Bibles, including study Bibles. The Bibles are sold at cost and are about one-third of the retail price. This ministry was a vision of Dennis Deneau.
Victory Baptist Church of Sherwood Park, Alberta, operates Scripture Printing Ministry Canada. This began as a ministry of Open Door Baptist Church in Cold Lake, Alberta, and moved to Victory in 2004. The pastor is Dave Harness and the director of the printing ministry is Reinhard Shumacher. Currently the church is working with English Scriptures and planning to expand into other languages.
Victory International Printers of Scriptures (VIPS), a ministry of Victory Baptist Church of Milton, Florida, operates a large web press for the production of Scriptures. This ministry was started in 1984 by Pastor Tom Woodward, who died on May 11, 1994. In 1995 the printing work was overseen by Al Berg. In a telephone conversation on April 12, 1995, he told me that in 1994 they printed 216,000 copies of the John and Romans Scripture booklets. These were in Spanish, English, and Russian. VIPS has no connection with Bearing Precious Seed.
Vision Baptist Church of Leduc, Alberta, has operated a Bearing Precious Seed Mobile ministry since 2000. The pastor is Jim Price and the director of the BPS ministry is Phil Smith. They call their ministry Mobile, because the printed signatures and binding equipment are transported to various churches in a dual axle trailer and the church members provide volunteer labor to produce the Scripture portions. On October 15, 2008, Brother Smith told me that in 2007 they were in eleven churches and assemblied 70,000 John-Romans. They assemble Scriptures in English and foreign languages for free distribution to church planters and missionaries.
Wyldewood Baptist Church of Oshkosh, Wisconsin has a Bear Precious Seed printing ministry. This church is pastored by Randall King, and the printer and Bearing Precious Seed missionary is James Hoffman. Tim Carpenter is a representative. The church’s Bearing Precious Seed ministry was established in 1979 and in 1996 moved into its own 3,700 square foot print shop. They distribute Scriptures in English and 20 foreign languages.
These and other churches are printing and binding Bibles, New Testaments, and Scripture portions by the hundreds of thousands each year. It is impossible to know how many Bibles, New Testaments, and Scripture portions have been published in this way. Only the Lord knows precisely, but it is many millions.
The point we need to make for the purpose of this study is that all of these Bibles and Scripture portions are King James in English or Received Text-based foreign language versions. This is not an accident; it is a conviction.
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FOR LOVE OF THE BIBLE: THE BATTLE FOR THE KING JAMES VERSION AND THE RECEIVED TEXT FROM 1800 TO PRESENT (D.W. Cloud) ISBN 1-58318-004-4. This book traces the history of the defense of the KJV and the Received Text from 1800 to present. The book includes hundreds of testimonies and biographies; sketches of churches, schools, and organizations that have defended the KJV; a digest of reviews and condensations of major books and articles written in defense of the KJV in the past 200 years; excerpts from rare books on this subject which are no longer available; a comprehensive overview of the varied arguments in favor of the KJV. For Love of the Bible also gives a history of the modern English versions, beginning with the English Revised of 1881. Also included is a history of textual criticism, revealing that most of the textual scholars from the 19th-century on were rationalists who denied the infallible inspiration of Scripture. The 46-page annotated bibliography is the most extensive in print on the subject, to our knowledge. A detailed index is also included. The author spent several thousand dollars researching the book and has written several hundred letters in this connection, communicating with men from around the world who stand for the KJV today. Michael Maynard, author of A History of the Debate over 1 John 5:7,8, wrote: “For Love of the Bible is a masterpiece. It ought to be in every academic, public, and special library in the world.” 5th edition, October 2008, 522 pages, 5X8, soft cover. $19.95
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IS THE KJV IN ERROR IN ROMANS 8:16?
Aug/20/08 10:18
IS THE KJV IN ERROR IN ROMANS 8:16?
August 20, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
“The Spirit ITSELF beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
Is it an error to refer to the Holy Spirit as “itself”? Were the translators of the King James Bible committing a blasphemy by doing so?
This is what Doug Kutilek charges.
He is a man who has tried to make a name for himself by “taking on” the defenders of the King James Bible, and toward this end he thinks he has found all sorts of glaring “errors” in the old English Bible.
Kutilek is an expert, but not in anything of consequence. He is an expert in straining at gnats and swallowing camels. He is incredibly adept at setting up strawmen and finding red herrings. He excels at refuting Ruckmanism, all the while implying that all defenders of the KJV are Ruckmanites.
In all of this he shines, but when it comes to spiritual discernment in regard to the Bible Version issue, he has none.
Kutilek says:
“Any honest evaluation of the King James Version leads to the conclusion that it has numerous defects as a translation, some major, most minor. But of these defects, among the most serious, quite probably the worst of the lot, is its occasional use of the English pronoun ‘it’ to refer to the Holy Spirit. ... I will plainly state my opinion on the matter: I think that here the KJV comes dangerously close to blasphemy, if it does not in fact actually wander into it.”
KUTILEK VS. THE KJV: WHO SHOULD BE FOLLOW?
I will answer this, first, by observing that Doug Kutilek is not a Bible translator of renown nor a recognized Greek or Hebrew scholar, whereas the men on the august committee that gave us the King James Bible were all of that and more. For Kutilek to condemn their work in such a glib manner is like a person who paints by numbers authoritatively criticizing Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. (In The Glorious History of the King James Bible we give the credentials of the KJV translators.)
It amazes me how that a man with literally no serious credentials in anything rushes in with no compunction to criticize a translation that went through such an extensive purifying process.
The KJV is not just another English version. It was a thorough revision of the Tyndale translation, which was already excellent. William Tyndale had a rare gift of translating Greek and Hebrew into simple, lovely, and forceful English, and the KJV committee left most of his work intact (e.g., nine-tenths of the First Epistle of John and five-sixths of the Epistle of Ephesians is Tyndale’s).
The KJV committee consisted of roughly 50 scholars, many of whom were incredibly gifted and knowledgeable. They were divided into six companies, and the revision went through the hands of each company. The finished product was submitted to a 12-man final-review committee composed of the two chief men from each company. By this process each part of the translation was examined at least 14 times. Further, the committee received assistance and feedback from other scholars throughout England. I am not aware of any Bible translation in history that has gone through such an extensive sifting process.
The King James Bible is an absolute masterpiece. It is a solid translation of the Hebrew and Greek and its English is peerless. It has been called “The Miracle of English Prose,” whereas the modern versions have never been called a miracle of anything.
I have about 100 books in my library that extol the excellence of the King James Bible, and that is not counting those that were written by its current defenders over the past 30 years.
In 1824 William Orme said that as a whole it has “no superior” and “has seized the spirit and copied the manner of the divine originals.” In 1850 John Dowling, famous Baptist leader and author of The History of Romanism, called the KJV “wonderful” and said that “to introduce any material alterations would be like gilding refined gold.” (Doug Kutilek is capable of doing exactly this!) In 1857 Arthur Cleveland Coxe called it “the noblest heritage of the Anglo-Saxon race” and said that “to complain of its trifling blemishes, is to complain of the sun for its spots.” In 1861 influential Presbyterian leader Joseph Philpot said the KJV translators “gave us a translation unequalled for faithfulness to the original, and yet at the same time clothed in the purest and simplest English.” In 1911 William Muir called it “a rare jewel fitly set” and said, “It has the divine touch, even in its diction.” In 1987 Gerald Hammond said that the KJV translators “have taken care to reproduce the syntactic details of the originals.”
Those are only a few examples of the testimonies and information that we have carefully documented in our book The Glorious History of the King James Bible.
I say all of that to say this: For Doug Kutilek and his buddies to boast that they can find errors so easily in the KJV is actually humorous to behold.
As to the issue of the translation of “it” in Romans 8:16 referring to the Holy Spirit, this is actually a non-issue.
IT IS A NON-ISSUE, FIRST, BECAUSE THE KJV IS AN ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK.
How can an accurate translation of the Greek be labeled an error? Isn’t the accuracy of a translation dependent upon how exactly and properly it translates the original language?
The phrase “the Spirit itself” is translated from the Greek “auto to pneuma.” The pronoun “auto” is correctly translated “it.” It is a neuter or genderless pronoun referring to a neuter noun. If Kutilek has a problem with that, he needs to take it up with the Holy Spirit, because it is the Holy Spirit who gave Paul these exact words by divine inspiration. And I would say that the Holy Spirit knows how to refer to himself in a proper manner.
In an e-mail to me dated July 21, 2008, Dr. Thomas Strouse of Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary observed: “Actually, the KJV translators had the choice to translate the Greek idiom (neuter noun and neuter pronoun) or put the Greek idiom into an English idiom ‘Spirit Himself.’ In some places, they, as well as other translations, have chosen the English idiom over the Hebrew/Greek idiom.”
The early Wycliffe translated Romans 8:16 “that Spirit.” The later Wycliffe translated it “the like Spirit.” The Tyndale, Geneva, and Bishops translated it “the same Spirit.”
All of these translations -- that, like, same, itself -- are proper.
THIS IS A NON-ISSUE, SECOND, BECAUSE THE WORD “ITSELF” IN ENGLISH DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFER TO A “THING.” IT ALSO PROPERLY REFERS TO A PERSON.
When we understand the English language properly we see that in using “itself” the KJV translators were not referring to the Holy Spirit as a non-person and there was nothing blasphemous about it. Such a charge is as ridiculous as it is ignorant.
The following is from Will Kinney:
“The Random House Webster’s College Dictionary of 1999 lists under the second definition of ‘itself’ -- ‘used to represent a PERSON or animal understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context.’ Examples given are: ‘Who is it? It is John.’ Did you see the baby? Yes, isn’t it cute.’ The Webster’s 1967 Collegiate Dictionary defines ‘it’ as ‘a PERSON or animal whose gender is unknown or disregarded.’
“The Father and the Son are clearly masculine, but the Spirit is sometimes referred to as masculine and sometimes as neuter, not because He is neuter, but rather because the gender is disregarded or not taken into account in that particular context. ...
“The NASB and NIV have two interesting and parallel verses in the NEW TESTAMENT. Both Matthew 12:45 and Luke 11:26 speak of a ‘spirit that takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than ITSELF.’ Here is a case of a spiritual entity that can see, hear, speak and has a personality, yet the gender is disregarded in the NASB and NIV and is referred to as ‘itself.’ This spirit was not an inanimate object, but rather a spiritual being with a distinct personality” (Kinney, “The Spirit Itself”).
THIS IS A NON-ISSUE, THIRD, BECAUSE THE BIBLE REFERS TO THE LORD JESUS IN THE SAME WAY THAT ROMANS 8:17 REFERS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Again we quote from Kinney:
“All Bible versions at times speak of Jesus Christ as being a thing or something neuter. In Matthew 1:20 the angel of the Lord says to Joseph, ‘fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for THAT WHICH is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.’ Notice the angel does not say ‘he,’ but ‘that which’: it is neuter both in Greek and in English. In Luke 1:35 the angel says to Mary, ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also THAT HOLY THING which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’ That holy thing is neuter, yet we all know that Jesus Christ is a person, in fact, God manifest in the flesh.
“The book of 1 John opens with a reference to Jesus Christ, yet it refers to Him as a thing. ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.’ Yet Christ is not a thing, but a person. In 1 John 5:4 we are told: ‘WHATSOEVER is born of God overcometh the world.’ This is a neuter. Are we to assume that everyone who is born of God is a thing?” (Kinney, “The Spirit Itself”).
THIS IS A NON-ISSUE, FOURTH, BECAUSE THE KJV IS NOT ALONE IN TRANSLATING “AUTO” IN ROMANS 8:16 AS “ITSELF” OR “IT.”
This translation is also found in Alford, Darby, the NRSV, and Green’s Interlinear.
The fact that this translation is repeated in these versions does not prove the KJV is accurate, but it does prove that the KJV is not alone here.
Friends in Christ, beware of pompous men who have been bitten by the debilitating bug that David Otis Fuller identified as “scholarolatry.”
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
August 20, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
“The Spirit ITSELF beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
Is it an error to refer to the Holy Spirit as “itself”? Were the translators of the King James Bible committing a blasphemy by doing so?
This is what Doug Kutilek charges.
He is a man who has tried to make a name for himself by “taking on” the defenders of the King James Bible, and toward this end he thinks he has found all sorts of glaring “errors” in the old English Bible.
Kutilek is an expert, but not in anything of consequence. He is an expert in straining at gnats and swallowing camels. He is incredibly adept at setting up strawmen and finding red herrings. He excels at refuting Ruckmanism, all the while implying that all defenders of the KJV are Ruckmanites.
In all of this he shines, but when it comes to spiritual discernment in regard to the Bible Version issue, he has none.
Kutilek says:
“Any honest evaluation of the King James Version leads to the conclusion that it has numerous defects as a translation, some major, most minor. But of these defects, among the most serious, quite probably the worst of the lot, is its occasional use of the English pronoun ‘it’ to refer to the Holy Spirit. ... I will plainly state my opinion on the matter: I think that here the KJV comes dangerously close to blasphemy, if it does not in fact actually wander into it.”
KUTILEK VS. THE KJV: WHO SHOULD BE FOLLOW?
I will answer this, first, by observing that Doug Kutilek is not a Bible translator of renown nor a recognized Greek or Hebrew scholar, whereas the men on the august committee that gave us the King James Bible were all of that and more. For Kutilek to condemn their work in such a glib manner is like a person who paints by numbers authoritatively criticizing Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. (In The Glorious History of the King James Bible we give the credentials of the KJV translators.)
It amazes me how that a man with literally no serious credentials in anything rushes in with no compunction to criticize a translation that went through such an extensive purifying process.
The KJV is not just another English version. It was a thorough revision of the Tyndale translation, which was already excellent. William Tyndale had a rare gift of translating Greek and Hebrew into simple, lovely, and forceful English, and the KJV committee left most of his work intact (e.g., nine-tenths of the First Epistle of John and five-sixths of the Epistle of Ephesians is Tyndale’s).
The KJV committee consisted of roughly 50 scholars, many of whom were incredibly gifted and knowledgeable. They were divided into six companies, and the revision went through the hands of each company. The finished product was submitted to a 12-man final-review committee composed of the two chief men from each company. By this process each part of the translation was examined at least 14 times. Further, the committee received assistance and feedback from other scholars throughout England. I am not aware of any Bible translation in history that has gone through such an extensive sifting process.
The King James Bible is an absolute masterpiece. It is a solid translation of the Hebrew and Greek and its English is peerless. It has been called “The Miracle of English Prose,” whereas the modern versions have never been called a miracle of anything.
I have about 100 books in my library that extol the excellence of the King James Bible, and that is not counting those that were written by its current defenders over the past 30 years.
In 1824 William Orme said that as a whole it has “no superior” and “has seized the spirit and copied the manner of the divine originals.” In 1850 John Dowling, famous Baptist leader and author of The History of Romanism, called the KJV “wonderful” and said that “to introduce any material alterations would be like gilding refined gold.” (Doug Kutilek is capable of doing exactly this!) In 1857 Arthur Cleveland Coxe called it “the noblest heritage of the Anglo-Saxon race” and said that “to complain of its trifling blemishes, is to complain of the sun for its spots.” In 1861 influential Presbyterian leader Joseph Philpot said the KJV translators “gave us a translation unequalled for faithfulness to the original, and yet at the same time clothed in the purest and simplest English.” In 1911 William Muir called it “a rare jewel fitly set” and said, “It has the divine touch, even in its diction.” In 1987 Gerald Hammond said that the KJV translators “have taken care to reproduce the syntactic details of the originals.”
Those are only a few examples of the testimonies and information that we have carefully documented in our book The Glorious History of the King James Bible.
I say all of that to say this: For Doug Kutilek and his buddies to boast that they can find errors so easily in the KJV is actually humorous to behold.
As to the issue of the translation of “it” in Romans 8:16 referring to the Holy Spirit, this is actually a non-issue.
IT IS A NON-ISSUE, FIRST, BECAUSE THE KJV IS AN ACCURATE TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK.
How can an accurate translation of the Greek be labeled an error? Isn’t the accuracy of a translation dependent upon how exactly and properly it translates the original language?
The phrase “the Spirit itself” is translated from the Greek “auto to pneuma.” The pronoun “auto” is correctly translated “it.” It is a neuter or genderless pronoun referring to a neuter noun. If Kutilek has a problem with that, he needs to take it up with the Holy Spirit, because it is the Holy Spirit who gave Paul these exact words by divine inspiration. And I would say that the Holy Spirit knows how to refer to himself in a proper manner.
In an e-mail to me dated July 21, 2008, Dr. Thomas Strouse of Emmanuel Baptist Theological Seminary observed: “Actually, the KJV translators had the choice to translate the Greek idiom (neuter noun and neuter pronoun) or put the Greek idiom into an English idiom ‘Spirit Himself.’ In some places, they, as well as other translations, have chosen the English idiom over the Hebrew/Greek idiom.”
The early Wycliffe translated Romans 8:16 “that Spirit.” The later Wycliffe translated it “the like Spirit.” The Tyndale, Geneva, and Bishops translated it “the same Spirit.”
All of these translations -- that, like, same, itself -- are proper.
THIS IS A NON-ISSUE, SECOND, BECAUSE THE WORD “ITSELF” IN ENGLISH DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFER TO A “THING.” IT ALSO PROPERLY REFERS TO A PERSON.
When we understand the English language properly we see that in using “itself” the KJV translators were not referring to the Holy Spirit as a non-person and there was nothing blasphemous about it. Such a charge is as ridiculous as it is ignorant.
The following is from Will Kinney:
“The Random House Webster’s College Dictionary of 1999 lists under the second definition of ‘itself’ -- ‘used to represent a PERSON or animal understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context.’ Examples given are: ‘Who is it? It is John.’ Did you see the baby? Yes, isn’t it cute.’ The Webster’s 1967 Collegiate Dictionary defines ‘it’ as ‘a PERSON or animal whose gender is unknown or disregarded.’
“The Father and the Son are clearly masculine, but the Spirit is sometimes referred to as masculine and sometimes as neuter, not because He is neuter, but rather because the gender is disregarded or not taken into account in that particular context. ...
“The NASB and NIV have two interesting and parallel verses in the NEW TESTAMENT. Both Matthew 12:45 and Luke 11:26 speak of a ‘spirit that takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than ITSELF.’ Here is a case of a spiritual entity that can see, hear, speak and has a personality, yet the gender is disregarded in the NASB and NIV and is referred to as ‘itself.’ This spirit was not an inanimate object, but rather a spiritual being with a distinct personality” (Kinney, “The Spirit Itself”).
THIS IS A NON-ISSUE, THIRD, BECAUSE THE BIBLE REFERS TO THE LORD JESUS IN THE SAME WAY THAT ROMANS 8:17 REFERS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.
Again we quote from Kinney:
“All Bible versions at times speak of Jesus Christ as being a thing or something neuter. In Matthew 1:20 the angel of the Lord says to Joseph, ‘fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for THAT WHICH is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.’ Notice the angel does not say ‘he,’ but ‘that which’: it is neuter both in Greek and in English. In Luke 1:35 the angel says to Mary, ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also THAT HOLY THING which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.’ That holy thing is neuter, yet we all know that Jesus Christ is a person, in fact, God manifest in the flesh.
“The book of 1 John opens with a reference to Jesus Christ, yet it refers to Him as a thing. ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.’ Yet Christ is not a thing, but a person. In 1 John 5:4 we are told: ‘WHATSOEVER is born of God overcometh the world.’ This is a neuter. Are we to assume that everyone who is born of God is a thing?” (Kinney, “The Spirit Itself”).
THIS IS A NON-ISSUE, FOURTH, BECAUSE THE KJV IS NOT ALONE IN TRANSLATING “AUTO” IN ROMANS 8:16 AS “ITSELF” OR “IT.”
This translation is also found in Alford, Darby, the NRSV, and Green’s Interlinear.
The fact that this translation is repeated in these versions does not prove the KJV is accurate, but it does prove that the KJV is not alone here.
Friends in Christ, beware of pompous men who have been bitten by the debilitating bug that David Otis Fuller identified as “scholarolatry.”
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
THE BIBLE VS. THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
Jul/03/08 12:28
THE BIBLE VS. THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
July 3, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
The ecumenical philosophy has spread widely within Christianity. It has been a theme song of the Roman Catholic Church since the Vatican II Council in the 1960s. It is a theme song of the World Council of Churches and of the various national councils and local clergy associations. It is a theme song of the Bible Societies.
The ecumenical philosophy has permeated evangelicalism, from parachurch groups like Campus Crusade and Youth for Christ to evangelists like Franklin Graham and Luis Palau to schools like Moody and Wheaton and publishers like Zondervan and publications like Christianity Today and missionary organizations like Wycliffe Bible Translators.
The ecumenical philosophy is a theme song of Contemporary Christian Music. In an interview with Christianity Today, Don Moen of Integrity Music said: “I’ve discovered that worship [music] is transdenominational, transcultural. IT BRIDGES ANY DENOMINATION. Twenty years ago there were many huge divisions between denominations. Today I think the walls are coming down. In any concert that I do, I will have 30-50 different churches represented.”
The ecumenical philosophy is also a theme song of the emerging church. Brian McLaren epitomizes this by calling himself “evangelical, post-protestant, liberal, conservative, mystical, poetic, biblical, charismatic, contemplative, fundamentalist, Calvinist, anabaptist, anglican, Methodist, catholic, green, incarnational, emergent” (A Generous Orthodoxy, subtitle to the book).
Yes, the ecumenical philosophy is widespread, but it also patently unscriptural.
The ecumenical philosophy is refuted by the Bible’s teaching on doctrine.
“As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach NO OTHER DOCTRINE” (1 Tim. 1:3).
We have already seen what the Bible teaches about doctrine. There is only one true apostolic Christian faith and we have been given the Holy Spirit so that we can know that one true faith and we are required to teach that faith and only that faith to others. Thus, the ecumenical philosophy is unscriptural. It is impossible to reconcile a strict stand for Bible doctrine with any sort of ecumenism. It is impossible to stand for all of the doctrine of the Bible and be ecumenical in any sense.
The ecumenical philosophy is refuted by the Bible’s command to contend for the faith.
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).
It is impossible to have the mindset of fighting for the one revealed faith and be ecumenical at the same time. These are contradictory programs. Fighting for the faith is a divisive thing that always ruins ecumenical harmony!
The ecumenical philosophy is refuted by the Bible’s warning of false teachers who preach heresies.
The New Testament is filled with warnings about false teachers. Jesus warned about them during His earthly ministry (Mat. 7:15-17) as well as in His messages to the seven churches following His resurrection and ascension (Rev. 2:2, 6, 14-16, 20-23). Paul warned about false teachers repeatedly (1 Cor. 15:12; 2 Cor. 11:1-4, 12-15; Gal. 1:6-9; 5:7-12; Phil. 3:17-21; Col. 2:4-8, 20-23; 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:5-13; 4:3-4). Peter warned about them (2 Peter 2). John warned about them (1 John 2:18-27; 4:1-3). Jude warned about them (Jude 3-19). It is impossible to be on the outlook for false teachers as diligently as the Bible commands and be ecumenical at the same time. To be on the outlook for false teachers and to be diligently comparing every teaching with the Scripture to know whether it is true or false is contrary to the broadminded emerging church philosophy.
The ecumenical philosophy is refuted by the Bible’s command to separate from error.
“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).
Not only are we to hold to sound doctrine and contend for it and be on the outlook for false teaching, but we are also to separate from those who teach false doctrine. And what is the standard for judging what is true and what is false? The Bible is, and according to the Bible we can know truth from error in a dogmatic sense, and we are responsible to God for doing so.
“If any man will do his will, HE SHALL KNOW OF THE DOCTRINE, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as THE SAME ANOINTING TEACHETH YOU OF ALL THINGS, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).
The biblical practice of separation is diametrically opposed to the doctrine of ecumenism. It is impossible to practice both at the same time, and no amount of clever emerging church “orthoparadoxy” can change that fact.
The ecumenical philosophy is refuted by the Bible’s definition of true Christian unity.
Consider some major passages on Christian unity:
“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21).
The modern ecumenical movement has taken John 17:21 as one of its theme verses, claiming that the unity for which Christ prayed is an ecumenical unity of professing Christians that disregards biblical doctrine. The context of John 17 destroys this myth. In John 17 the Lord plainly states that the unity for which He was praying is a unity based on salvation and truth and separation from the world.
“I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and THEY HAVE KEPT THY WORD. ... For I HAVE GIVEN UNTO THEM THE WORDS WHICH THOU GAVEST ME; AND THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEM, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. ... I HAVE GIVEN THEM THY WORD; AND THE WORLD HATH HATED THEM, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ... Sanctify them through THY TRUTH: thy word is TRUTH. ... And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified THROUGH THE TRUTH” (John 17:6, 8, 14, 17, 19)
This is not a unity of true Christians with false, nominal with genuine, sound doctrine with heresy. It is not a unity that ignores doctrinal differences for the sake of an enlarged fellowship.
In fact, there is nothing in Christ’s prayer to indicate that man is to do anything whatsoever to create the unity described herein. John 17 is not a commandment addressed to men; it is a High Priestly prayer addressed to God the Father, and the prayer was answered. It describes a spiritual reality that was created by God among genuine born again saints who are committed to the Scriptures, not a possibility that must be organized by man.
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
We see in this verse that biblical unity is first of all a matter of having one mind. This is contrary to the ecumenical philosophy of “unity in diversity.” The type of “unity” that we find in the ecumenical movement is not true unity at all; it is confusion; it is “Babel.”
Observe, secondly, that the unity that God requires is in the assembly. This exhortation was addressed first of all to a church. It is possible to have the type of unity described here in the congregation, because doctrine can be agreed upon and enforced through a church covenant and statement of faith. In the church we can have the same doctrine of Christ, the Holy Spirit, salvation, spiritual gifts, sanctification, Christian living, prophecy, you name it, because we have a statement of faith and requirements for church membership and we have pastors and discipline; but this is impossible in a broad ecumenical context.
“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:1-6).
In this passage we see true biblical unity and it is far removed from the ecumenical philosophy.
First, true Christian unity is a unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:3). This means that it is a unity involving those who are regenerated by and led by the Spirit of God. Contrast this with the ecumenical concept of bringing together anyone that names the name of Christ regardless of his or her actual spiritual condition. At a large ecumenical conference in St. Louis in 2000 (the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit & World Evangelization), I asked many of the people who were manning ministry booths, “When were you born again?” Not one gave a scriptural answer. Some said they were born again when they were baptized. Some, when they had a charismatic style experience. Others weren’t even familiar with the term. Yet all of these people are intimately involved in leadership within the ecumenical movement.
Second, true Christian unity is a unity of the one faith (Eph. 4:5). Biblical unity is impossible apart from the once-delivered faith taught by the apostles. God’s people are called upon to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). There is no unity between those who believe and follow the Bible and those who do not. Note that “the faith” is not divided into cardinal and secondary issues. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus taught that while not everything in Scripture is of equal importance, everything has some importance. Nothing clearly taught in Scripture is to be despised and set aside for the purpose of unity. In 1 Timothy 6:14, Paul taught Timothy to keep the apostolic doctrine “without spot” until the return of Christ. Spots are small, seemingly insignificant things. Thus, Paul was teaching Timothy to value everything in Scripture. The theme of 1 Timothy is practical church truth (1 Tim. 3:15). In this epistle Paul dealt with things such as church government (1 Tim. 3) and the woman’s role in church work (1 Tim. 2). These are the very things that are typically downplayed in ecumenical ventures, because they are considered of “secondary” importance. Yet Paul taught Timothy to keep all of these things without spot until Jesus comes. Timothy was instructed to allow “no other doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:3). That is the strictest kind of standard for doctrine, and when one holds that standard of doctrine it is impossible to be ecumenical even in the mildest New Evangelical sense.
Third, true Christian unity is a unity that is found in the New Testament assembly. The command in Ephesians 4:3 is addressed to the church at Ephesus (Eph. 1:1). It was not addressed to “the worldwide body of Christians.” As we have seen, it is possible to practice biblical unity within the assembly because doctrine and righteousness can be enforced and preserved there. Outside of the assembly, though, there is no biblical discipline, leadership, or oversight. When Christians attempt to practice interdenominational and parachurch unity, there is always compromise because respect for every aspect of the New Testament faith results in division rather than unity. I am not responsible to maintain a unity with every professing Christian in the world but with the believers in my assembly, in my local body, and with others with whom I am truly likeminded. The Bible says we are to glorify God “with one mind and one mouth” (Romans 15:6). That is not a description of any type of ecumenism! This is only possible in the New Testament assembly, where believers can be united together in doctrine and spirit and purpose in a way that is impossible in a broader context.
“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
The teaching of this passage is that, first, biblical unity is a function of the local church. This instruction was addressed to the church at Philippi. True Christian unity is not a parachurch or interdenominational issue.
Second, biblical unity means having one mind. It is not an ecumenical “unity in diversity.” Compare Romans 15:5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 2 Corinthians 13:11.
Third, biblical unity requires total commitment to the one apostolic faith. The New Testament faith is not many separate doctrines but is one unified body of truth into which all doctrines fit. It is unscriptural to think that only a few “cardinal” Bible doctrines are necessary while other New Testament teachings and practices are tertiary and can be ignored for the sake of unity. As we have seen, the apostle Paul instructed Timothy to keep every aspect of biblical truth “without spot” until the return of Christ (1 Tim. 6:14). This refers to the details of the Word of God. And it is impossible to stand unequivocally for New Testament truth in all its aspects and to be ecumenical at the same time. As one wise pastor observed, we will either limit our message or we will limit our fellowship. If you determine to preach everything in Scripture, then you will automatically limit your sphere of fellowship. The choice is clear. If one is faithful to the New Testament faith, it is impossible to have a wide fellowship in this apostate hour, and if one is committed to a wide fellowship he must be willing to limit his message.
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
THE BIBLE’S PROOF
May/28/08 12:28
THE BIBLE’S PROOF
Updated May 28, 2008 (first published April 10, 2002) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) –
In the final analysis, a man must accept that the Bible is the Word of God by faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
At the same time, Bible faith is not a blind leap into the dark. It is confidence in a believable Record that God has given, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The writers of the Bible explain to us that they were not delivering cunningly devised fables but an inspired record based on “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3; 2 Peter 1:16).
Following are some of the objective, time-proven reasons why we can have complete confidence in the Bible:
1. CHRIST’S RESURRECTION PROVES THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD.
His resurrection was witnessed by hundreds of people (1 Cor. 15:5-7). Were they all lying? At times, the resurrected Christ was seen by many people at one time. They talked with him, touched him, walked with him, and ate with him (Luke 24:36-43). Before the resurrection, the apostles were fearful and were hiding from the authorities (John 20:19). After they saw the resurrected Christ with their own eyes, they became bold and fearless and were willing to lay down their lives for the Gospel. It took a powerful event to cause such a change in their lives.
2. THE BIBLE’S UNIQUE CONSTRUCTION PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible was written by 40 different authors representing some 19 different occupations (shepherd, farmer, fisherman, tax collector, medical doctor, king, etc.) who lived during a period of some 1,600 years. That is approximately 50 generations. The first 39 chapters of the Bible were written in the Hebrew language over a period of about 1,000 years. There was then a 400-year gap when no Scriptures were written. After that, the last 27 chapters of the Bible were written in the Greek language during a period covering roughly 50 years. The writers could not have collaborated, because they did not even live at the same time. The product is one book that fits together perfectly and contains no contradictions or errors. There is nothing else like this in all of man’s history.
3. THE CONFIDENCE AND SINCERITY OF THE BIBLE’S AUTHORS PROVE THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible testifies that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21), and an examination of the lives of the Bible’s writers rings true to this testimony. These were serious men. They came from all walks of life. They were men of good reputation and sound mind. Many of them were viciously persecuted and killed for the testimony they held. They were not enriched by the prophecies they gave. Far from it; many were impoverished. Moses, the author of the first five books of the Bible, chose to live a life of terrific hardship and struggle in the service of God as opposed to the millionaire’s life he could have lived as the adopted son of Pharaoh. Many Bible writers made similar choices. Their motivation certainly was not covetousness and worldly advantage. These were not perfect men, but they were holy men. They all claimed that God had put His hand upon them to speak His Word. The lives they lived, and the testimonies they held, and the deaths they died gave mighty evidence that they were telling the truth.
4. FULFILLED PROPHECY PROVES THE BIBLE TO BE THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible contains a vast amount of prophecy, much of which has been fulfilled. The predictions are precise and detailed, and the fulfillment is exact.
Prophecies Pertaining to Jesus Christ
Jesus’ entire life was prophesied before he was born. These prophecies described his birthplace (Micah 5:2), virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), sinless life (Isaiah 53:9), miracles (Isa. 35:5), wonderful speech (Isaiah 50:4), rejection by the Jewish nation (Isaiah 53:2), crucifixion (Psalm 22:16), burial in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9), and resurrection (Psalm 16).
Prophecies about Israel
The continued existence of Israel is one of history’s most amazing stories, and it was prophesied in Scripture in great detail.
Israel’s history was prophesied by Moses and recorded in the book of Deuteronomy about 4,000 years ago. God warned that if Israel broke His law she would be “plucked from off the land” and scattered “among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other” (Deut. 28:63-64). There the Jews would “find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life” (Deut. 28:65-66). This is an accurate description of Israel’s history from the first century until now. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman armies under Titus and then in 135 A.D. Jerusalem was plowed under on the order of Emperor Hadrian in response to the Jewish rebellion led by Bar Kochbar. The Jewish people were scattered to the ends of the earth and found no rest. They were hated by the Muslims and hounded and persecuted by the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church for a thousand years. Hitler’s regime tried to destroy them. Giving preference to the Arabs, England tried to keep them from returning to their land after World War II. They are the object of hatred until this very day. Most of the world is opposed to Israel and the reporting in secular publications about the Middle East crisis is generally slanted against her.
But Bible prophecy foretold that Israel would be brought back into her land and that she would remain a nation even after all of this, and that is exactly what happened in 1948. Never before in the history of the world has a race of people been scattered throughout the world and persecuted for 2,000 years and then come back together as a nation with their ancient language intact.
Bible prophecy describes the restoration of Israel in two parts. First, she would return to the land in a position of unbelief. Then she would be converted. The amazing prophecy in Ezekiel 37:1-14 describes Israel’s restoration in these two stages. She is described as a valley of bones that are resurrected.
“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:4-6).
In verses 11-14, Ezekiel states that this vision pertains to the restoration of Israel to her land and to her repentance toward God. First the bones are given sinews and flesh, and next God breaths upon these dead bones and they live.
The first part of the prophecy has been fulfilled. Israel has been back in her land as a nation since 1948, but she is there in unbelief and spiritual death. She continues to reject her Messiah, Jesus Christ. She has no temple and priesthood and no true worship.
But she is back in the land just as the Bible prophesied. In 1800 there were only six thousand Jews in Palestine, but by 2000 there were over five million (John Ecob, Amillennialism Weighed and Found Wanting, Herald of Hope, p. 44-45).
During the Great Tribulation God will grant repentance unto Israel and will breathe spiritual life into her and she will live.
The continued existence of Israel is a very great miracle and an irrefutable evidence of the divine inspiration of the Bible.
5. THE BIBLE’S FACTUALNESS PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
Everything the Bible says is true and factual. The Bible says man is a sinner, and that is not difficult to confirm. Just look at the world! The Bible is not a scientific manual, but it is scientifically accurate, even from its earliest pages. Following are some examples, beginning with statements from the pages of Job, probably the oldest book in the Bible and written at least 3,500 years ago. The late scientist Henry Morris said:
“These references are modern in perspective, with never a hint of the mythical exaggerations and errors characteristic of other ancient writings ... perhaps of even greater significance is the fact that in a 4000-year-old book filled with numerous references to natural phenomena, there are no scientific mistakes or fallacies” (The Remarkable Record of Job).
Job says the earth is hung upon nothing (Job 26:7). This is obvious to our modern generation, as we have seen the actual pictures of the earth hanging in space, but to previous generations it was not obvious and there were many commonly-held myths about the earth riding on the back of Atlas or a turtle or elephant, etc.
Job says the air has weight (“the weight for the winds,” Job 28:25). It was not until the 17th century that Galileo discovered that atmosphere has weight, and the modern science of aerodynamics is based on this scientific fact. Further, the weight of air is important in the function of the earth’s weather. “The study of air flows and their relation to the weight of the air has been developed into the science of aerodynamics, eventually becoming the basis of all modern aerospace developments. ... The ‘weight of the winds’ controls the worldwide air mass movements that transport the waters evaporated from the oceans inland over the continents” (Morris, The Remarkable Record of Job).
Job describes the amazing balance of the atmosphere and hydrosphere (Job 28:24-25). “We now know that the global weights of air and water must be in critical relationship to each other, and to the earth as a whole, to maintain life on earth. ... Planet earth is uniquely designed for life, and its atmosphere and hydrosphere are the most important components of that design. If the weights of either air or water were much different than they are, life as we know it could not survive” (Morris).
Job describes the amazing process of cloud formation and rain making.
First, he describes how that water can be transported in the air when water weighs more than air (Job 36:27-28). “Water is converted by solar energy into the vapor state. Since water vapor is lighter than air, the winds can first elevate, then transport the water from the oceans to the lands where it is needed. There, under the right conditions, the vapor can condense around dust particles, salt particles, or other nuclei of condensation. When this happens, clouds are formed. Water vapor is invisible, whereas clouds are aggregations of liquid water droplets” (Morris).
Job also describes how the clouds can stay aloft, how they can be balanced in the sky (Job 37:16) and how water can be bound up in a cloud and not rent (Job 26:8). The answer is in Job 36:27, “For he maketh small the drops of water....” “The water droplets are indeed very small, and their weight is sustained by the drag force of the uprushing winds, as the air is pushed skyward due to temperature decrease with elevation” (Morris).
Next, Job describes how the clouds are finally rent so that rain comes forth (“by watering he wearieth the thick cloud,” Job 37:11). “That is, the water droplets coalesce to form larger and larger drops, which finally become so large that their weight is greater than the drag forces of the uprushing atmospheric turbulence, causing them to fall to the ground as rain or snow” (Morris).
Finally, Job describes the role that lightning plays in the creation of rain (“he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder,” Job 28:26; “a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause it to rain on the earth,” Job 38:25-26). “These violent electrical currents, in some complex energy exchange not yet fully understood, cause the small water droplets to bind together with others to form larger drops. Finally, this remarkable series of events delivers the rain to the thirsty ground” (Morris).
Job describes the rotation of the earth that produces the night and day sequences (Job 38:12-14). “Job suggests not only that the earth was suspended in space but also that it rotates about its north-projecting axis. Though figurative language, this reflects a true physical process. God is pictured as taking hold of the two ends of the earth’s axis and turning it as if it were a clay cylinder receiving an impression from a seal. The seal toward which the earth is turned, however, is not a metallic pattern. Rather, it is the ‘dayspring,’ evidently the sun fixed in its place. The welcome light of the morning dispels the formlessness of the earth’s surface when shrouded in darkness and unveils the beauties of the earth’s structure and verdure” (Morris).
Job describes the springs of the sea (Job 38:16). Man had no way to know about the fresh-water springs on the ocean floor by firsthand observation until recent times. Modern science has discovered that there are thousands of underwater springs that add millions of metric tons of water into the oceans each year.
Job understands that light has a way and that darkness has a place (Job 38:19). “That is, light is not to be located in a certain place or situation. Neither does it simply appear, or disappear, instantaneously. Light is traveling! It dwells in a ‘way,’ always on the way to someplace else. Though usually traveling in waves, sometimes it seems to move as a stream of particles, but it is always moving. When light stops, there is darkness. Thus, darkness is static, staying in place; but light is dynamic, dwelling in a way” (Morris).
The Bible describes the parting of light (Job 38:24). It was not until the 17th century that it was discovered that light passing through a prism is separated into seven colors. Further, “This may refer not only to the visible light spectrum (red to violet) but also to all the physical systems developed around the basic entity of light” (Henry Morris).
The Bible says that the light creates wind (Job 38:24), but it is only in recent times that modern weather science has discovered that wind is created as the sun heats up the surface of the earth, causing the hot air to rise and cooler air to fall, creating weather systems.
Job describes the amazing hydrological cycle (evaporation, atmospheric circulation, condensation, precipitation, run-off) (Job 38:25-30). The process of evaporation and condensation was not discovered until the 17th century and not well understood until the 20th.
The Bible says plants and animals reproduce after their kind (Genesis 1). This is in perfect harmony with everything that can be observed and tested by modern science. There is great variety within kinds, all sorts of different roses and trees and frogs and dogs, but there is no reproduction between kinds, between roses and trees or frogs and dogs.
The Bible says the heavens cannot be measured and the stars are without number (Genesis 22:17; Jeremiah 31:37). Before the invention of the telescope, man could see only a few hundred stars at the most with the naked eye. Yet today we know that the stars are innumerable and that space is seemingly infinite. There are 300 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone. In 1999, observations by NASA astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope, suggested that there are 125 billion galaxies in the universe. The most up-to-date star count was announced in July 2003 as 70 sextillion observable stars (70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). This was the conclusion of the world’s largest galaxy study, the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey, which is considered 10 times more accurate than previous ones. The team of scientists did not physically count the stars. Instead they used some of the world’s most powerful telescopes to count all of the galaxies in one region of the universe and then to estimate how many stars each galaxy contained by measuring its brightness. They then extrapolated these figures out to the whole universe visible through telescopes. This massive figure, of course, probably covers only a tiny percentage of the actual stars.
The Bible says the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). This was not understood until very recent times. Even in the 19th century, doctors were using “blood letting” as a healing method. George Washington, America’s first president, probably died because of this bogus practice. Modern medicine has learned what the Bible has taught all along, that the life of the flesh is in the blood.
The Bible describes the circuit of the winds (Ecclesiastes 1:6), but this was not discovered until modern times. “As the land in the equator heats up, it causes the hot air to rise. In the upper atmosphere, the air flows away from the equator. Cooler air will move along to replace it. This produces six major wind belts around the world” (Y.T. Wee, The Soul-Winner’s Handy Guide).
The Bible says the earth is a circle (Isaiah 40:22). In past centuries many have believed that the earth is flat, but the Scriptures have always been scientifically accurate in this matter.
The Bible says there are paths in the sea (Isaiah 43:16). Since the 19th century the ocean currents or paths have been charted and ships travel these paths just as trucks travel on roads. Writing in the mid-1800s, Matthew Fontaine Maury, Superintendent of the U.S. Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments in Washington, D.C., observed, “There is a river in the ocean: in the severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows; its banks and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm; the Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Arctic Seas. It is the Gulf Stream” (Maury, The Physical Geography of the Sea, 6th ed., 1856, p. 25).
The Bible says the stars differ in glory (1 Corinthians 15:41). “J. Bayer, in 1603, devised a method or system to indicate their brightness or magnitude. No astronomer today will deny this fact. Stars are now known to differ in size, color, light emitted, density, and heat. Our sun, which is a star, is over 1,000,000 times the size of our earth, yet there are some stars at least a million times as large as our sun, and some smaller than the planet Mercury” (World’s Bible Handbook).
6. THE BIBLE’S CANDOR PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
When men write biographies of their heroes, they commonly omit or whitewash their faults; but the Bible exhibits its divine quality by showing man as he is. Not only is the Bible true; it is candid. Even the best of men in the Bible are described with all their faults. We are told plainly of Adam’s rebellion, Noah’s drunkenness, David’s adultery, Solomon’s apostasy, Jonah’s pity party, Peter’s disavowal of his Master, Paul and Barnabas’ strife, and the disciples’ unbelief in the face of Christ’s resurrection. The Bible was written by Jews, yet it candidly describes the faults of the Jewish people: their stubbornness and unbelief that caused them to have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, their idolatry during the period of the judges, their rebellion that caused them to be rejected from the land and scattered throughout the earth for two millennia.
7. THE BIBLE’S INDESTRUCTIBILITY PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The following is from the Christian Home Bible Course:
The Greek writer, Porphyry, tried to destroy the credibility of the Bible back in 304 A.D. In the process he wrote fifteen books against the Bible and Christianity in general. Did he succeed? Apparently not. The Bible is still around. And as for Porphyry, well, let’s put it this way; can you name his fifteen books? Can anybody name just one?
Porphyry is just one of the many people who, throughout history, have tried to ban, burn, destroy, outlaw, restrict, ridicule or discredit the Bible.
Another example is a Greek writer of satire by the name of Lucian, who wrote two books in the second century to ridicule the Bible. These books were named The Dialogue of the Gods and The Dialogue of the Dead. There’s an extremely good chance that you don’t have a copy of either of these two books in your personal library. Yet you probably have a Bible somewhere around the house, which is a testimony to the Bible’s ability to “out survive” its attackers.
If Porphyry and Lucian would have just read the Bible instead of attacking it they could have saved a lot of time, because the Bible says: “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalm 12:6-7).
In A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict to stop Christians from worshipping Jesus Christ and to destroy their Scriptures. Twenty-five years later his successor, Constantine, issued another edict ordering fifty Bibles to be published at government expense. Too bad Diocletian didn’t believe the Bible’s promise. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).
Atheist Robert Ingersoll once boasted, “Within 15 years I’ll have the Bible lodged in a morgue.” Well, within 15 years, Robert Ingersoll was lodged within a morgue, but the Bible lives on!
Down through the centuries many attacks have been made against the Bible, but there have been some, who after examining the facts have changed their opinion. Here are two examples:
General Lew Wallace was a Territorial Governor following the days of the U.S. Civil War. He had been a Senator in Indiana at the age of 29 and was considered a very scholarly man. He had no confidence in Christianity or the Bible, so he set out to write a skeptical book to disprove both. In his study he instead found the Bible and Christ to be true, and became himself a devout Christian. General Wallace never wrote his book against the Bible. He wrote instead the classic Christian novel Ben Hur.
William Ramsey, the English scholar went to Asia Minor with the expressed purpose of proving the Bible was historically inaccurate. As he painstakingly poured over the ancient artifacts and details, to his amazement he found that the Bible was accurate down to the tiniest detail. The evidence was so convincing that Sir Ramsey himself became a Christian and a biblical scholar.
Down through the years, the Bible has been a mighty anvil that has worn out many of the puny hammers of the scoffers. (Point #7 is from the Christian Home Bible Course; used by permission.)
8. THE BIBLE’S DOCTRINE OF SALVATION PROVES IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible is the only religious scripture that teaches the doctrine of salvation by grace. Every other one teaches salvation by works. The Roman Catholic Church says salvation is through participating in its sacraments, beginning with baptism. Hinduism says salvation is through practicing dharma and working out one’s karma. Islam says salvation is by surrender to Allah and obedience to his commands. Buddhism says salvation is by reaching nirvana through life works and meditation and ascetism. If you visit the Buddhist monastery at Boudha in Kathmandu any time of the day you will find Buddhists walking clockwise, fingering their prayer beads and twirling their prayer wheels. They do this every day because they are trying to find salvation.
The Bible, on the other hand, says that salvation is God’s free gift to sinners. This gift was very costly for the Giver. It was purchased with a great price, which was the atoning sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross. But for the sinner it is free.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The Bible says there is nothing that the sinner could offer God in order to atone for his sins. What could we offer? Righteous works and almsdeeds? The Bible says our very righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God’s great holiness (Isaiah 64:6). Money? What would the God of creation do with our pathetic currency? A pure heart? The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). How, then, could we purchase our own salvation?
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
No, salvation is the wonderful gift of a loving and deeply compassionate God. As the Christian hymn says, “We owed a debt we could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe.”
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
9. THE BIBLE’S INVITATIONS PROVE IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible invites the hearer to partake of its spiritual realities and thus prove for himself its genuineness: “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psa. 34:8); “come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden” (Mat. 11:28); “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17); “ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ... come ye, buy and eat” (Isa. 55:1); “look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa. 45:22).
The Bible promises that “he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself...” (1 John 5:10).
God will prove Himself to the sincere seeker.
What a Book is the Bible!
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In the final analysis, a man must accept that the Bible is the Word of God by faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
At the same time, Bible faith is not a blind leap into the dark. It is confidence in a believable Record that God has given, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The writers of the Bible explain to us that they were not delivering cunningly devised fables but an inspired record based on “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3; 2 Peter 1:16).
Following are some of the objective, time-proven reasons why we can have complete confidence in the Bible:
1. CHRIST’S RESURRECTION PROVES THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD.
His resurrection was witnessed by hundreds of people (1 Cor. 15:5-7). Were they all lying? At times, the resurrected Christ was seen by many people at one time. They talked with him, touched him, walked with him, and ate with him (Luke 24:36-43). Before the resurrection, the apostles were fearful and were hiding from the authorities (John 20:19). After they saw the resurrected Christ with their own eyes, they became bold and fearless and were willing to lay down their lives for the Gospel. It took a powerful event to cause such a change in their lives.
2. THE BIBLE’S UNIQUE CONSTRUCTION PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible was written by 40 different authors representing some 19 different occupations (shepherd, farmer, fisherman, tax collector, medical doctor, king, etc.) who lived during a period of some 1,600 years. That is approximately 50 generations. The first 39 chapters of the Bible were written in the Hebrew language over a period of about 1,000 years. There was then a 400-year gap when no Scriptures were written. After that, the last 27 chapters of the Bible were written in the Greek language during a period covering roughly 50 years. The writers could not have collaborated, because they did not even live at the same time. The product is one book that fits together perfectly and contains no contradictions or errors. There is nothing else like this in all of man’s history.
3. THE CONFIDENCE AND SINCERITY OF THE BIBLE’S AUTHORS PROVE THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible testifies that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21), and an examination of the lives of the Bible’s writers rings true to this testimony. These were serious men. They came from all walks of life. They were men of good reputation and sound mind. Many of them were viciously persecuted and killed for the testimony they held. They were not enriched by the prophecies they gave. Far from it; many were impoverished. Moses, the author of the first five books of the Bible, chose to live a life of terrific hardship and struggle in the service of God as opposed to the millionaire’s life he could have lived as the adopted son of Pharaoh. Many Bible writers made similar choices. Their motivation certainly was not covetousness and worldly advantage. These were not perfect men, but they were holy men. They all claimed that God had put His hand upon them to speak His Word. The lives they lived, and the testimonies they held, and the deaths they died gave mighty evidence that they were telling the truth.
4. FULFILLED PROPHECY PROVES THE BIBLE TO BE THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible contains a vast amount of prophecy, much of which has been fulfilled. The predictions are precise and detailed, and the fulfillment is exact.
Prophecies Pertaining to Jesus Christ
Jesus’ entire life was prophesied before he was born. These prophecies described his birthplace (Micah 5:2), virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), sinless life (Isaiah 53:9), miracles (Isa. 35:5), wonderful speech (Isaiah 50:4), rejection by the Jewish nation (Isaiah 53:2), crucifixion (Psalm 22:16), burial in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9), and resurrection (Psalm 16).
Prophecies about Israel
The continued existence of Israel is one of history’s most amazing stories, and it was prophesied in Scripture in great detail.
Israel’s history was prophesied by Moses and recorded in the book of Deuteronomy about 4,000 years ago. God warned that if Israel broke His law she would be “plucked from off the land” and scattered “among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other” (Deut. 28:63-64). There the Jews would “find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life” (Deut. 28:65-66). This is an accurate description of Israel’s history from the first century until now. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman armies under Titus and then in 135 A.D. Jerusalem was plowed under on the order of Emperor Hadrian in response to the Jewish rebellion led by Bar Kochbar. The Jewish people were scattered to the ends of the earth and found no rest. They were hated by the Muslims and hounded and persecuted by the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church for a thousand years. Hitler’s regime tried to destroy them. Giving preference to the Arabs, England tried to keep them from returning to their land after World War II. They are the object of hatred until this very day. Most of the world is opposed to Israel and the reporting in secular publications about the Middle East crisis is generally slanted against her.
But Bible prophecy foretold that Israel would be brought back into her land and that she would remain a nation even after all of this, and that is exactly what happened in 1948. Never before in the history of the world has a race of people been scattered throughout the world and persecuted for 2,000 years and then come back together as a nation with their ancient language intact.
Bible prophecy describes the restoration of Israel in two parts. First, she would return to the land in a position of unbelief. Then she would be converted. The amazing prophecy in Ezekiel 37:1-14 describes Israel’s restoration in these two stages. She is described as a valley of bones that are resurrected.
“Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 37:4-6).
In verses 11-14, Ezekiel states that this vision pertains to the restoration of Israel to her land and to her repentance toward God. First the bones are given sinews and flesh, and next God breaths upon these dead bones and they live.
The first part of the prophecy has been fulfilled. Israel has been back in her land as a nation since 1948, but she is there in unbelief and spiritual death. She continues to reject her Messiah, Jesus Christ. She has no temple and priesthood and no true worship.
But she is back in the land just as the Bible prophesied. In 1800 there were only six thousand Jews in Palestine, but by 2000 there were over five million (John Ecob, Amillennialism Weighed and Found Wanting, Herald of Hope, p. 44-45).
During the Great Tribulation God will grant repentance unto Israel and will breathe spiritual life into her and she will live.
The continued existence of Israel is a very great miracle and an irrefutable evidence of the divine inspiration of the Bible.
5. THE BIBLE’S FACTUALNESS PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
Everything the Bible says is true and factual. The Bible says man is a sinner, and that is not difficult to confirm. Just look at the world! The Bible is not a scientific manual, but it is scientifically accurate, even from its earliest pages. Following are some examples, beginning with statements from the pages of Job, probably the oldest book in the Bible and written at least 3,500 years ago. The late scientist Henry Morris said:
“These references are modern in perspective, with never a hint of the mythical exaggerations and errors characteristic of other ancient writings ... perhaps of even greater significance is the fact that in a 4000-year-old book filled with numerous references to natural phenomena, there are no scientific mistakes or fallacies” (The Remarkable Record of Job).
Job says the earth is hung upon nothing (Job 26:7). This is obvious to our modern generation, as we have seen the actual pictures of the earth hanging in space, but to previous generations it was not obvious and there were many commonly-held myths about the earth riding on the back of Atlas or a turtle or elephant, etc.
Job says the air has weight (“the weight for the winds,” Job 28:25). It was not until the 17th century that Galileo discovered that atmosphere has weight, and the modern science of aerodynamics is based on this scientific fact. Further, the weight of air is important in the function of the earth’s weather. “The study of air flows and their relation to the weight of the air has been developed into the science of aerodynamics, eventually becoming the basis of all modern aerospace developments. ... The ‘weight of the winds’ controls the worldwide air mass movements that transport the waters evaporated from the oceans inland over the continents” (Morris, The Remarkable Record of Job).
Job describes the amazing balance of the atmosphere and hydrosphere (Job 28:24-25). “We now know that the global weights of air and water must be in critical relationship to each other, and to the earth as a whole, to maintain life on earth. ... Planet earth is uniquely designed for life, and its atmosphere and hydrosphere are the most important components of that design. If the weights of either air or water were much different than they are, life as we know it could not survive” (Morris).
Job describes the amazing process of cloud formation and rain making.
First, he describes how that water can be transported in the air when water weighs more than air (Job 36:27-28). “Water is converted by solar energy into the vapor state. Since water vapor is lighter than air, the winds can first elevate, then transport the water from the oceans to the lands where it is needed. There, under the right conditions, the vapor can condense around dust particles, salt particles, or other nuclei of condensation. When this happens, clouds are formed. Water vapor is invisible, whereas clouds are aggregations of liquid water droplets” (Morris).
Job also describes how the clouds can stay aloft, how they can be balanced in the sky (Job 37:16) and how water can be bound up in a cloud and not rent (Job 26:8). The answer is in Job 36:27, “For he maketh small the drops of water....” “The water droplets are indeed very small, and their weight is sustained by the drag force of the uprushing winds, as the air is pushed skyward due to temperature decrease with elevation” (Morris).
Next, Job describes how the clouds are finally rent so that rain comes forth (“by watering he wearieth the thick cloud,” Job 37:11). “That is, the water droplets coalesce to form larger and larger drops, which finally become so large that their weight is greater than the drag forces of the uprushing atmospheric turbulence, causing them to fall to the ground as rain or snow” (Morris).
Finally, Job describes the role that lightning plays in the creation of rain (“he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder,” Job 28:26; “a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause it to rain on the earth,” Job 38:25-26). “These violent electrical currents, in some complex energy exchange not yet fully understood, cause the small water droplets to bind together with others to form larger drops. Finally, this remarkable series of events delivers the rain to the thirsty ground” (Morris).
Job describes the rotation of the earth that produces the night and day sequences (Job 38:12-14). “Job suggests not only that the earth was suspended in space but also that it rotates about its north-projecting axis. Though figurative language, this reflects a true physical process. God is pictured as taking hold of the two ends of the earth’s axis and turning it as if it were a clay cylinder receiving an impression from a seal. The seal toward which the earth is turned, however, is not a metallic pattern. Rather, it is the ‘dayspring,’ evidently the sun fixed in its place. The welcome light of the morning dispels the formlessness of the earth’s surface when shrouded in darkness and unveils the beauties of the earth’s structure and verdure” (Morris).
Job describes the springs of the sea (Job 38:16). Man had no way to know about the fresh-water springs on the ocean floor by firsthand observation until recent times. Modern science has discovered that there are thousands of underwater springs that add millions of metric tons of water into the oceans each year.
Job understands that light has a way and that darkness has a place (Job 38:19). “That is, light is not to be located in a certain place or situation. Neither does it simply appear, or disappear, instantaneously. Light is traveling! It dwells in a ‘way,’ always on the way to someplace else. Though usually traveling in waves, sometimes it seems to move as a stream of particles, but it is always moving. When light stops, there is darkness. Thus, darkness is static, staying in place; but light is dynamic, dwelling in a way” (Morris).
The Bible describes the parting of light (Job 38:24). It was not until the 17th century that it was discovered that light passing through a prism is separated into seven colors. Further, “This may refer not only to the visible light spectrum (red to violet) but also to all the physical systems developed around the basic entity of light” (Henry Morris).
The Bible says that the light creates wind (Job 38:24), but it is only in recent times that modern weather science has discovered that wind is created as the sun heats up the surface of the earth, causing the hot air to rise and cooler air to fall, creating weather systems.
Job describes the amazing hydrological cycle (evaporation, atmospheric circulation, condensation, precipitation, run-off) (Job 38:25-30). The process of evaporation and condensation was not discovered until the 17th century and not well understood until the 20th.
The Bible says plants and animals reproduce after their kind (Genesis 1). This is in perfect harmony with everything that can be observed and tested by modern science. There is great variety within kinds, all sorts of different roses and trees and frogs and dogs, but there is no reproduction between kinds, between roses and trees or frogs and dogs.
The Bible says the heavens cannot be measured and the stars are without number (Genesis 22:17; Jeremiah 31:37). Before the invention of the telescope, man could see only a few hundred stars at the most with the naked eye. Yet today we know that the stars are innumerable and that space is seemingly infinite. There are 300 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone. In 1999, observations by NASA astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope, suggested that there are 125 billion galaxies in the universe. The most up-to-date star count was announced in July 2003 as 70 sextillion observable stars (70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). This was the conclusion of the world’s largest galaxy study, the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey, which is considered 10 times more accurate than previous ones. The team of scientists did not physically count the stars. Instead they used some of the world’s most powerful telescopes to count all of the galaxies in one region of the universe and then to estimate how many stars each galaxy contained by measuring its brightness. They then extrapolated these figures out to the whole universe visible through telescopes. This massive figure, of course, probably covers only a tiny percentage of the actual stars.
The Bible says the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). This was not understood until very recent times. Even in the 19th century, doctors were using “blood letting” as a healing method. George Washington, America’s first president, probably died because of this bogus practice. Modern medicine has learned what the Bible has taught all along, that the life of the flesh is in the blood.
The Bible describes the circuit of the winds (Ecclesiastes 1:6), but this was not discovered until modern times. “As the land in the equator heats up, it causes the hot air to rise. In the upper atmosphere, the air flows away from the equator. Cooler air will move along to replace it. This produces six major wind belts around the world” (Y.T. Wee, The Soul-Winner’s Handy Guide).
The Bible says the earth is a circle (Isaiah 40:22). In past centuries many have believed that the earth is flat, but the Scriptures have always been scientifically accurate in this matter.
The Bible says there are paths in the sea (Isaiah 43:16). Since the 19th century the ocean currents or paths have been charted and ships travel these paths just as trucks travel on roads. Writing in the mid-1800s, Matthew Fontaine Maury, Superintendent of the U.S. Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments in Washington, D.C., observed, “There is a river in the ocean: in the severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows; its banks and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm; the Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Arctic Seas. It is the Gulf Stream” (Maury, The Physical Geography of the Sea, 6th ed., 1856, p. 25).
The Bible says the stars differ in glory (1 Corinthians 15:41). “J. Bayer, in 1603, devised a method or system to indicate their brightness or magnitude. No astronomer today will deny this fact. Stars are now known to differ in size, color, light emitted, density, and heat. Our sun, which is a star, is over 1,000,000 times the size of our earth, yet there are some stars at least a million times as large as our sun, and some smaller than the planet Mercury” (World’s Bible Handbook).
6. THE BIBLE’S CANDOR PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
When men write biographies of their heroes, they commonly omit or whitewash their faults; but the Bible exhibits its divine quality by showing man as he is. Not only is the Bible true; it is candid. Even the best of men in the Bible are described with all their faults. We are told plainly of Adam’s rebellion, Noah’s drunkenness, David’s adultery, Solomon’s apostasy, Jonah’s pity party, Peter’s disavowal of his Master, Paul and Barnabas’ strife, and the disciples’ unbelief in the face of Christ’s resurrection. The Bible was written by Jews, yet it candidly describes the faults of the Jewish people: their stubbornness and unbelief that caused them to have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, their idolatry during the period of the judges, their rebellion that caused them to be rejected from the land and scattered throughout the earth for two millennia.
7. THE BIBLE’S INDESTRUCTIBILITY PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The following is from the Christian Home Bible Course:
The Greek writer, Porphyry, tried to destroy the credibility of the Bible back in 304 A.D. In the process he wrote fifteen books against the Bible and Christianity in general. Did he succeed? Apparently not. The Bible is still around. And as for Porphyry, well, let’s put it this way; can you name his fifteen books? Can anybody name just one?
Porphyry is just one of the many people who, throughout history, have tried to ban, burn, destroy, outlaw, restrict, ridicule or discredit the Bible.
Another example is a Greek writer of satire by the name of Lucian, who wrote two books in the second century to ridicule the Bible. These books were named The Dialogue of the Gods and The Dialogue of the Dead. There’s an extremely good chance that you don’t have a copy of either of these two books in your personal library. Yet you probably have a Bible somewhere around the house, which is a testimony to the Bible’s ability to “out survive” its attackers.
If Porphyry and Lucian would have just read the Bible instead of attacking it they could have saved a lot of time, because the Bible says: “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalm 12:6-7).
In A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict to stop Christians from worshipping Jesus Christ and to destroy their Scriptures. Twenty-five years later his successor, Constantine, issued another edict ordering fifty Bibles to be published at government expense. Too bad Diocletian didn’t believe the Bible’s promise. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).
Atheist Robert Ingersoll once boasted, “Within 15 years I’ll have the Bible lodged in a morgue.” Well, within 15 years, Robert Ingersoll was lodged within a morgue, but the Bible lives on!
Down through the centuries many attacks have been made against the Bible, but there have been some, who after examining the facts have changed their opinion. Here are two examples:
General Lew Wallace was a Territorial Governor following the days of the U.S. Civil War. He had been a Senator in Indiana at the age of 29 and was considered a very scholarly man. He had no confidence in Christianity or the Bible, so he set out to write a skeptical book to disprove both. In his study he instead found the Bible and Christ to be true, and became himself a devout Christian. General Wallace never wrote his book against the Bible. He wrote instead the classic Christian novel Ben Hur.
William Ramsey, the English scholar went to Asia Minor with the expressed purpose of proving the Bible was historically inaccurate. As he painstakingly poured over the ancient artifacts and details, to his amazement he found that the Bible was accurate down to the tiniest detail. The evidence was so convincing that Sir Ramsey himself became a Christian and a biblical scholar.
Down through the years, the Bible has been a mighty anvil that has worn out many of the puny hammers of the scoffers. (Point #7 is from the Christian Home Bible Course; used by permission.)
8. THE BIBLE’S DOCTRINE OF SALVATION PROVES IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible is the only religious scripture that teaches the doctrine of salvation by grace. Every other one teaches salvation by works. The Roman Catholic Church says salvation is through participating in its sacraments, beginning with baptism. Hinduism says salvation is through practicing dharma and working out one’s karma. Islam says salvation is by surrender to Allah and obedience to his commands. Buddhism says salvation is by reaching nirvana through life works and meditation and ascetism. If you visit the Buddhist monastery at Boudha in Kathmandu any time of the day you will find Buddhists walking clockwise, fingering their prayer beads and twirling their prayer wheels. They do this every day because they are trying to find salvation.
The Bible, on the other hand, says that salvation is God’s free gift to sinners. This gift was very costly for the Giver. It was purchased with a great price, which was the atoning sacrifice of God’s Son on the cross. But for the sinner it is free.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
The Bible says there is nothing that the sinner could offer God in order to atone for his sins. What could we offer? Righteous works and almsdeeds? The Bible says our very righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God’s great holiness (Isaiah 64:6). Money? What would the God of creation do with our pathetic currency? A pure heart? The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). How, then, could we purchase our own salvation?
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
No, salvation is the wonderful gift of a loving and deeply compassionate God. As the Christian hymn says, “We owed a debt we could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe.”
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
9. THE BIBLE’S INVITATIONS PROVE IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
The Bible invites the hearer to partake of its spiritual realities and thus prove for himself its genuineness: “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psa. 34:8); “come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden” (Mat. 11:28); “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17); “ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ... come ye, buy and eat” (Isa. 55:1); “look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa. 45:22).
The Bible promises that “he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself...” (1 John 5:10).
God will prove Himself to the sincere seeker.
What a Book is the Bible!
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
THE END RESULT OF IMMORALITY
May/27/08 12:28
THE END RESULT OF IMMORALITY
May 27, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
The following is from the new Advanced Bible Studies Series course on the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs warns frequently of the danger of the “strange woman,” referring to all forms of immorality. It also teaches us that one important way of victory over the strange woman is to ponder her end. Hollywood, as Satan’s instrument, commonly fails to show the end of sin, tending to make it appear glamorous and exciting and rarely showing its awful consequences. God’s Word, on the other hand, shows the end of sin in the plainest manner as a warning to men. Proverbs 5:4-23 describes six results of immorality. Though the deeds of the strange woman appeal to the flesh and there are pleasures in her sin for a season, her end is what we must consider, and her end is fearful in the extreme.
(1) The strange woman leads to hell (Prov. 5:4-5). The Bible warns often about hell. Jesus preached about it many times and warned people not to go there (e.g., Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:22-31). In Proverbs 5:4-5 hell is likened to the bitterness of wormwood and the pain of a sharp sword. In fact, it is far worse because the pain of hell has no end.
(2) The strange woman leads to the loss of honor (Prov. 5:9). Consider David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, and how that his honor is stained to this very day by his dalliance with immorality. I think of many preachers who have committed adultery during my lifetime and they are out of the ministry and their dishonor remains in spite of the good that they accomplished.
(3) The strange woman leads to the loss of wealth (Prov. 5:10). Samson lost everything to immorality. An article in the Baptist Press that described two ministers who became addicted to pornography concluded with these words: “Both of the guys I’m dealing with right now, here’s what they’ve lost: They’ve lost their marriage. They’ve lost their job. They lost a lot of friends in the sense it will never be the same. They’ve lost custody of their children and now they are both doing something that they don’t really want to do or feel called to do, and they’re just trying to get by” (“Flood of Pornography Breaching the Church,” Baptist Press, Jul. 6, 2007).
(4) The strange woman leads to the loss of health (Prov. 5:11). God has loosed special diseases into the realm of immorality. There are many venereal diseases that a person will never catch if he remains morally pure and faithful to his marital spouse. There is also often loss of health through the drunkenness and drug abuse that often accompanies immoral living. This has resulted in the early death of tens of thousands of rock & rollers. We think of Elvis Presley, who died at age 42 because of his debauched lifestyle. We also think of Hollywood movie stars such as Errol Flynn, who died at age 50 from his “kamikaze lifestyle” and lost much of his money to multiple divorces and careless sexual relationships.
(5) The strange woman leads to remorse (Prov. 5:12-14). Those who follow the strange woman are temporarily blinded by lust, but they wake up one day to find that they have lost much. They are filled with remorse that they did not listen to the voice of wisdom. They hated instruction and despised reproof and obeyed not the voice of their teachers, but it is too late to go back. What is done is done and cannot be undone. We must understand that remorse is not the same as repentance unto salvation. Paul contrasted these two things in 2 Corinthians 7:10. He mentioned the sorrow of the world as opposed to godly sorrow that worketh repentance to salvation. The sorrow of the world is to be sorry for the consequences of sin, but it is not to be sorry toward God in the sense of repenting of breaking His laws and being ready to change direction in life and submit to Him. The sorrow of the world is centered upon this world, whereas repentance is centered upon God. While working in a county jail ministry for a few years I met many men who had the sorrow of the world. They were sorry that their actions had gotten them into a lot of trouble and had brought dishonor upon them and had hurt their loved ones, but they were not repentant toward God and were not ready to be saved.
(6) The strange woman leads to slavery (Prov. 5:22-23). Solomon ends with this warning because it explains why the sinner cannot easily walk away from the strange woman after once entertaining her. There are strong cords associated with sin, and those cords grow tighter with time, and few cords are stronger than the cords of immorality. Those who are addicted to pornography can testify to this. Compare John 8:34 and 2 Timothy 2:26.
In light of these warnings we need to thank the Lord that He offers salvation to sinners, and that salvation brings cleansing from all sin. When Proverbs says the sinner “shall die without instruction” (Prov. 5:23), it is speaking from the standpoint of the Law of Moses rather than the grace of the gospel. The Bible’s Good News is that Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood to make atonement for our sins, and by faith in Him we can be forgiven and converted. See 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
May 27, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
The following is from the new Advanced Bible Studies Series course on the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs warns frequently of the danger of the “strange woman,” referring to all forms of immorality. It also teaches us that one important way of victory over the strange woman is to ponder her end. Hollywood, as Satan’s instrument, commonly fails to show the end of sin, tending to make it appear glamorous and exciting and rarely showing its awful consequences. God’s Word, on the other hand, shows the end of sin in the plainest manner as a warning to men. Proverbs 5:4-23 describes six results of immorality. Though the deeds of the strange woman appeal to the flesh and there are pleasures in her sin for a season, her end is what we must consider, and her end is fearful in the extreme.
(1) The strange woman leads to hell (Prov. 5:4-5). The Bible warns often about hell. Jesus preached about it many times and warned people not to go there (e.g., Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:22-31). In Proverbs 5:4-5 hell is likened to the bitterness of wormwood and the pain of a sharp sword. In fact, it is far worse because the pain of hell has no end.
(2) The strange woman leads to the loss of honor (Prov. 5:9). Consider David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel, and how that his honor is stained to this very day by his dalliance with immorality. I think of many preachers who have committed adultery during my lifetime and they are out of the ministry and their dishonor remains in spite of the good that they accomplished.
(3) The strange woman leads to the loss of wealth (Prov. 5:10). Samson lost everything to immorality. An article in the Baptist Press that described two ministers who became addicted to pornography concluded with these words: “Both of the guys I’m dealing with right now, here’s what they’ve lost: They’ve lost their marriage. They’ve lost their job. They lost a lot of friends in the sense it will never be the same. They’ve lost custody of their children and now they are both doing something that they don’t really want to do or feel called to do, and they’re just trying to get by” (“Flood of Pornography Breaching the Church,” Baptist Press, Jul. 6, 2007).
(4) The strange woman leads to the loss of health (Prov. 5:11). God has loosed special diseases into the realm of immorality. There are many venereal diseases that a person will never catch if he remains morally pure and faithful to his marital spouse. There is also often loss of health through the drunkenness and drug abuse that often accompanies immoral living. This has resulted in the early death of tens of thousands of rock & rollers. We think of Elvis Presley, who died at age 42 because of his debauched lifestyle. We also think of Hollywood movie stars such as Errol Flynn, who died at age 50 from his “kamikaze lifestyle” and lost much of his money to multiple divorces and careless sexual relationships.
(5) The strange woman leads to remorse (Prov. 5:12-14). Those who follow the strange woman are temporarily blinded by lust, but they wake up one day to find that they have lost much. They are filled with remorse that they did not listen to the voice of wisdom. They hated instruction and despised reproof and obeyed not the voice of their teachers, but it is too late to go back. What is done is done and cannot be undone. We must understand that remorse is not the same as repentance unto salvation. Paul contrasted these two things in 2 Corinthians 7:10. He mentioned the sorrow of the world as opposed to godly sorrow that worketh repentance to salvation. The sorrow of the world is to be sorry for the consequences of sin, but it is not to be sorry toward God in the sense of repenting of breaking His laws and being ready to change direction in life and submit to Him. The sorrow of the world is centered upon this world, whereas repentance is centered upon God. While working in a county jail ministry for a few years I met many men who had the sorrow of the world. They were sorry that their actions had gotten them into a lot of trouble and had brought dishonor upon them and had hurt their loved ones, but they were not repentant toward God and were not ready to be saved.
(6) The strange woman leads to slavery (Prov. 5:22-23). Solomon ends with this warning because it explains why the sinner cannot easily walk away from the strange woman after once entertaining her. There are strong cords associated with sin, and those cords grow tighter with time, and few cords are stronger than the cords of immorality. Those who are addicted to pornography can testify to this. Compare John 8:34 and 2 Timothy 2:26.
In light of these warnings we need to thank the Lord that He offers salvation to sinners, and that salvation brings cleansing from all sin. When Proverbs says the sinner “shall die without instruction” (Prov. 5:23), it is speaking from the standpoint of the Law of Moses rather than the grace of the gospel. The Bible’s Good News is that Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood to make atonement for our sins, and by faith in Him we can be forgiven and converted. See 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
IS THE BIBLE THE SOLE AUTHORITY FOR FAITH AND PRACTICE?
Feb/20/08 19:56
IS THE BIBLE THE SOLE AUTHORITY FOR FAITH AND PRACTICE?
Updated February 20, 2008 (first published March 5, 1999) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) –
Is the Bible the sole authority for faith and practice? The Roman Catholic Church says it is not. The Vatican II Council affirmed that “both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal feelings of devotion and reverence” (Vatican II documents, “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,” Chap. 2, 9, p. 682).
Thus, Rome has boldly exalted its traditions to a status equal with Holy Scripture.
I frequently receive letters and e-mails from Catholics who challenge me about the authority of the Bible. They know that they cannot defend Catholic doctrine strictly from the Bible. If the Bible alone is the authority for faith and practice, it can easily be demonstrated from Scripture that the Catholic Church is false. The authority of the Bible is therefore at the heart of the difference between Roman Catholicism and churches that base their doctrine and practice strictly upon the Holy Scriptures.
Following is an example of the many challenges I have received:
“I haven’t found anything in the Bible that says it should be used as the only authority. It seems to me that the Bible itself is a sort of tradition, as it wasn’t even considered complete in its present form for many years after the death of all of the apostles. We had to trust somebody for its authenticity and completeness. I have found in the scriptures the exhortation to follow proper traditions, whether written or spoken. Of course, I understand that ‘traditions of men’ are wrong to follow” (e-mail from a Catholic who found Way of Life articles on the Internet, March 2, 1999).
REPLY FROM BROTHER CLOUD:
You tell me you haven’t found anything in the Bible that says it should be used as the only authority. I can only say that you must not have read the Bible very carefully.
FIRST, 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 TEACHES THAT THE SCRIPTURE IS SUFFICIENT FOR FAITH AND PRACTICE.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be PERFECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS.”
The Scripture alone is given by inspiration of God and is able to make the man of God perfect. Obviously nothing else is needed, then, beyond the Scripture.
Catholic tradition is not Holy Scripture, is not therefore inspired by God, and is not therefore necessary to make the man of God perfect. I say this on the authority of 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
This one passage alone refutes Rome’s teaching that its tradition is equal to Scripture. Only Scripture can be equal to Scripture, because only Holy Scripture is inspired of God.
Paul contrasts the word of men with the word of God.
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when YE RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD WHICH YE HEARD OF US, YE RECEIVED IT NOT AS THE WORD OF MEN, BUT AS IT IS IN TRUTH, THE WORD OF GOD, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
We must continue to make this crucial distinction today. If a teaching is not the word of God, it is the word of men. Rome’s traditions are not the Word of God. Rome does not even claim that its traditions are the Word of God. Thus, they are the word of men and are not to be followed. The Word of God, the Scripture, is all the believer needs, because it is able to make him perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
SECOND, WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE WE ARE TOLD THE FAITH WAS ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS.
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS” (Jude 3).
“The faith” refers to the body of New Testament truth delivered by the apostles through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The term “once delivered” tells us that this body of truth was given during one particular period of time and was completed. It refers to the New Testament Scriptures that was completed during the days of the apostles.
Jude 3 singularly refutes the idea that the Christian faith has been progressively given through the Roman Catholic Church.
THIRD, A SEAL WAS PLACED ON THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE FINAL BOOK OF THE BIBLE, SIGNIFYING ITS COMPLETION AND WARNING EVERY MAN NOT TO ADD TO OR SUBTRACT FROM IT.
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18,19).
Those who claim to have a new revelation or a tradition equal to the Bible fall under the judgment described in this passage. The book of Revelation concludes and completes the Holy Scripture. Nothing is to be added or removed.
FOURTH, THE COMPLETED CANON OF SCRIPTURE WAS RECOGNIZED IN THE SECOND CENTURY, LONG BEFORE THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH EXISTED.
Christian leaders in the second century recognized the canon of the New Testament and accepted the apostolic writings as Holy Scripture on equal authority with the Old Testament. God gave them wisdom in this process and they did not need to wait for the statements of councils that came centuries later (Jn. 16:13; 17:8; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Jn. 2:20).
Irenaeus (125-192), for example, in his extant writings, made 1,800 quotations from the New Testament books and used them “in such a way as to imply that they had for some time been considered as of unquestioned authority” (Herbert Miller, General Biblical Introduction, p. 140). Irenaeus accepted the four Gospels, and four only, as Scripture.
Clement of Alexandria (150-217) quoted from and acknowledged the four Gospels and most other New Testament books, calling them “divine Scriptures.”
Tertullian (150-220) made 7,200 citations from the New Testament books and accepted them as Scripture.
The Latin Itala translation, which was probably made in the second century, “contained all the books that now make up the New Testament” (John Hentz, History of the Lutheran Version, p. 59).
A list of New Testament Scriptures dating to the latter half of the second century was discovered in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, Italy, in 1740. This second-century list contains all of the 27 books of the New Testament canon (Hentz, p. 60).
Thus the completed New Testament Scriptures were being circulated and accepted by God’s people under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Many of the modernistic textual scholars who write today about these early centuries deny, or totally overlook, the working of the Holy Spirit in the inspiration and canonicity of the New Testament. The Apostles were not left to their own devices to transcribe the record of Christ, nor were the early Christians left to their own devices to recognize which writings were Scripture (1 Thess. 2:13). The words of the New Testament are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ through divine inspiration, and the Lord’s sheep know the voice of their Good Shepherd and can discern His voice from false shepherds (John 10:4, 5, 27).
FIFTH, PASSAGES THAT URGE CHRISTIANS TO FOLLOW TRADITION REFER TO THE INSPIRED TRADITION GIVEN BY THE APOSTLES, NOT TO THE UNINSPIRED TRADITIONS OF MEN WHO HAVE COME AFTER THEM.
The term “tradition” is used in two ways in the New Testament. First it refers to apostolic doctrine given by divine inspiration (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6). The churches are bound to obey this tradition as it is supernaturally recorded in the New Testament Scripture. Second, tradition refers to uninspired teachings that religious teachers attempt to add to the Scripture and by which they attempt to bind the lives of men (Matt. 15:1-6; Mk. 7:9-13; Col. 2:8). In this sense, tradition is condemned, as we see in the following references:
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).
“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye” (Mark 7:13).
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
We are thankful that the Lord that has given us a complete and sufficient Revelation and that we are not dependent upon extra-biblical prophecies, visions, voices, tongues, or traditions. In the Bible we have everything the churches need for faith and practice.
Therefore, though it is true that “the Bible itself is a sort of tradition” this does not mean that it is merely another of various authoritative traditions. The Bible alone is GOD INSPIRED tradition. That is what sets it apart from every other writing. The Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God. Over two thousand times the Bible uses phrases such as “thus saith the Lord.”
SIXTH, THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CANNOT BE FOUND IN SCRIPTURE.
The Roman Catholic Church did not exist until centuries after the writing of the New Testament. The churches described in the New Testament are nothing like the Roman Catholic Church. That “church” was formed over a period of centuries following the death of the apostles, as false teachers corrupted the New Testament church pattern and added their man-made traditions. In the New Testament we find no papacy, no priesthood after the fashion of Rome’s, no sacraments that are added to faith for salvation, no archbishops or cardinals, no baptismal regeneration, no mass, no infant baptism, no last unction, no Mary as queen of heaven, no Mary as Mother of God, no sinless Mary, no prayers to the saints, no treasury of grace, no purgatory, no holy relics or holy robes or holy water, no crucifixes, no candles, no cathedrals, no monks, no “celibate” pastors, no enforced days of fasting, no prohibition against marriage or against eating meat, nothing about the church of Rome being exalted over other churches.
SEVENTH, ROMAN CATHOLIC TRADITION CANNOT BE RIGHT BECAUSE NOT ONLY DOES IT ADD TO THE BIBLE, IT CONTRADICTS THE BIBLE.
The Holy Scripture always upholds itself as the absolute and sole standard for truth.
See, for example, Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Those who speak contrary to the Scriptures are in darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ severely rebuked the Pharisees because they added their manmade tradition as authority with the Scriptures and thereby contradicted the Scriptures:
“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:1-9).
Not only is Roman Catholic doctrine and practice not based on the Bible, it contradicts the Bible, so it cannot be its source. Catholic dogmas such as the papacy, Mariolatry, the Saints, the Priesthood, the Mass, and Purgatory are not only not found in the New Testament, they contradict plain New Testament teaching and practice. The papacy contradicts 1 Pet. 5:1-4, among many other passages. Mariolatry and the Saints contradict 1 Tim. 2:5. The Mass contradicts 1 Cor. 11:23-26. Purgatory contradicts 2 Cor. 5:1-8 and Phil. 1:23. The Priesthood contradicts the New Testament in that Christ alone is a priest after the order of Melchisedec (Heb. 7:21-27) and Christ established no priesthood for the New Testament churches other than the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5, 9). There is not one example in the New Testament of a priest being ordained and set apart or performing the type of ministry that we see in the Roman Catholic Church. The N.T. gives qualifications for pastors and deacons, but none for priests.
If I obey 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 3:6 and compare Catholic tradition with the teaching of the apostles, I must reject Catholicism because it is contrary to this pattern. The apostles did not teach that there is a special priesthood among the believers. The apostles did not teach that there is a pope. The apostles did not teach that the Lord’s Supper is to be a sacrifice of any sort. The apostles did not teach that Mary is sinless or perpetually a virgin or ascended bodily to Heaven or that she is the Queen of Heaven or that Christians are to pray to her. The apostles did not teach that their office was to be passed on at their deaths and they gave no instruction for “apostolic succession.” The apostles did not teach that the churches are to have sacraments. The apostles did not teach that there are special saints to whom Christians can pray. These are only a few of the Catholic traditions that are contrary to the teaching of the apostles in the New Testament Scriptures.
You say, “We had to trust somebody for its authenticity and completeness.” You are right. I have the choice between trusting the Bible as the authoritative and complete Word of God and trusting the Catholic Church. They cannot both be right, because they are in contradiction. The Bible proves itself to be the inspired and infallible Word of God in countless ways: fulfilled prophecy, its scientific accuracy, its cohesive unity even though it was written over a period of hundreds of years, its power to change lives, its universal appeal, its testimony of Jesus Christ, the testimony of the Apostles (study the book of Acts, for example, to see what the Apostles thought of Scripture).
On the other hand, the Catholic Church proves itself to be false by any standard that I use. It is morally corrupt and doctrinally heretical. The Bible does not contradict itself, but the popes have continually contradicted themselves. I have the choice between trusting the apostles and trusting the popes. The apostles were not morally reprobate nor did they contradict the Holy Scriptures. Everything they taught was in complete conformity with Scripture. I find it very easy to trust the apostles and to reject the popes.
EIGHTH, THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS NO AUTHORITY IN THE BIBLE. ITS CLAIM TO AUTHORITY MUST COME FROM OUTSIDE OF THE BIBLE.
The Roman Catholic Church claims that its authority lies in the popes as the successors of the apostles and in the priesthood. There is not a hint of this in the New Testament Scripture.
1. Show me in the Bible where Jesus Christ established the office of the pope as it is found in the Catholic Church and where He made provision for the continuation of such an office.
2. Show me in the Bible where Jesus Christ established the Catholic priesthood. Where do we find such a priesthood described? Where do we find the standards for how to choose such priests? Where do we find a description of how to ordain such priests? Where do we find a description of the seven sacraments that they perform?
For my part, I have Scriptural authority for the gospel that I believe (that salvation is by the grace of Jesus Christ alone through His completed atonement alone through faith alone without works and sacraments—Acts 16:30-31; Rom. 3:23-26; 4:1-8; Eph. 2:8-10; 1 Cor. 15:1-4) and for the type of simple New Testament church that I attend. My faith is in Jesus Christ, and I learn of Him through the Scriptures that He gave through divine inspiration.
I have an infallible test whereby to judge the teachings of man. Every teaching and tradition that is contrary to that inspired Scripture I reject on the authority of God’s Word.
These decisions have eternal consequences, and I refuse to stake the eternal salvation of my soul on anything but the very highest authority.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
Updated February 20, 2008 (first published March 5, 1999) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) –
Is the Bible the sole authority for faith and practice? The Roman Catholic Church says it is not. The Vatican II Council affirmed that “both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal feelings of devotion and reverence” (Vatican II documents, “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation,” Chap. 2, 9, p. 682).
Thus, Rome has boldly exalted its traditions to a status equal with Holy Scripture.
I frequently receive letters and e-mails from Catholics who challenge me about the authority of the Bible. They know that they cannot defend Catholic doctrine strictly from the Bible. If the Bible alone is the authority for faith and practice, it can easily be demonstrated from Scripture that the Catholic Church is false. The authority of the Bible is therefore at the heart of the difference between Roman Catholicism and churches that base their doctrine and practice strictly upon the Holy Scriptures.
Following is an example of the many challenges I have received:
“I haven’t found anything in the Bible that says it should be used as the only authority. It seems to me that the Bible itself is a sort of tradition, as it wasn’t even considered complete in its present form for many years after the death of all of the apostles. We had to trust somebody for its authenticity and completeness. I have found in the scriptures the exhortation to follow proper traditions, whether written or spoken. Of course, I understand that ‘traditions of men’ are wrong to follow” (e-mail from a Catholic who found Way of Life articles on the Internet, March 2, 1999).
REPLY FROM BROTHER CLOUD:
You tell me you haven’t found anything in the Bible that says it should be used as the only authority. I can only say that you must not have read the Bible very carefully.
FIRST, 2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17 TEACHES THAT THE SCRIPTURE IS SUFFICIENT FOR FAITH AND PRACTICE.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be PERFECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS.”
The Scripture alone is given by inspiration of God and is able to make the man of God perfect. Obviously nothing else is needed, then, beyond the Scripture.
Catholic tradition is not Holy Scripture, is not therefore inspired by God, and is not therefore necessary to make the man of God perfect. I say this on the authority of 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
This one passage alone refutes Rome’s teaching that its tradition is equal to Scripture. Only Scripture can be equal to Scripture, because only Holy Scripture is inspired of God.
Paul contrasts the word of men with the word of God.
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when YE RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD WHICH YE HEARD OF US, YE RECEIVED IT NOT AS THE WORD OF MEN, BUT AS IT IS IN TRUTH, THE WORD OF GOD, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
We must continue to make this crucial distinction today. If a teaching is not the word of God, it is the word of men. Rome’s traditions are not the Word of God. Rome does not even claim that its traditions are the Word of God. Thus, they are the word of men and are not to be followed. The Word of God, the Scripture, is all the believer needs, because it is able to make him perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
SECOND, WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE WE ARE TOLD THE FAITH WAS ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS.
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED UNTO THE SAINTS” (Jude 3).
“The faith” refers to the body of New Testament truth delivered by the apostles through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The term “once delivered” tells us that this body of truth was given during one particular period of time and was completed. It refers to the New Testament Scriptures that was completed during the days of the apostles.
Jude 3 singularly refutes the idea that the Christian faith has been progressively given through the Roman Catholic Church.
THIRD, A SEAL WAS PLACED ON THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE FINAL BOOK OF THE BIBLE, SIGNIFYING ITS COMPLETION AND WARNING EVERY MAN NOT TO ADD TO OR SUBTRACT FROM IT.
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18,19).
Those who claim to have a new revelation or a tradition equal to the Bible fall under the judgment described in this passage. The book of Revelation concludes and completes the Holy Scripture. Nothing is to be added or removed.
FOURTH, THE COMPLETED CANON OF SCRIPTURE WAS RECOGNIZED IN THE SECOND CENTURY, LONG BEFORE THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH EXISTED.
Christian leaders in the second century recognized the canon of the New Testament and accepted the apostolic writings as Holy Scripture on equal authority with the Old Testament. God gave them wisdom in this process and they did not need to wait for the statements of councils that came centuries later (Jn. 16:13; 17:8; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Jn. 2:20).
Irenaeus (125-192), for example, in his extant writings, made 1,800 quotations from the New Testament books and used them “in such a way as to imply that they had for some time been considered as of unquestioned authority” (Herbert Miller, General Biblical Introduction, p. 140). Irenaeus accepted the four Gospels, and four only, as Scripture.
Clement of Alexandria (150-217) quoted from and acknowledged the four Gospels and most other New Testament books, calling them “divine Scriptures.”
Tertullian (150-220) made 7,200 citations from the New Testament books and accepted them as Scripture.
The Latin Itala translation, which was probably made in the second century, “contained all the books that now make up the New Testament” (John Hentz, History of the Lutheran Version, p. 59).
A list of New Testament Scriptures dating to the latter half of the second century was discovered in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, Italy, in 1740. This second-century list contains all of the 27 books of the New Testament canon (Hentz, p. 60).
Thus the completed New Testament Scriptures were being circulated and accepted by God’s people under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Many of the modernistic textual scholars who write today about these early centuries deny, or totally overlook, the working of the Holy Spirit in the inspiration and canonicity of the New Testament. The Apostles were not left to their own devices to transcribe the record of Christ, nor were the early Christians left to their own devices to recognize which writings were Scripture (1 Thess. 2:13). The words of the New Testament are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ through divine inspiration, and the Lord’s sheep know the voice of their Good Shepherd and can discern His voice from false shepherds (John 10:4, 5, 27).
FIFTH, PASSAGES THAT URGE CHRISTIANS TO FOLLOW TRADITION REFER TO THE INSPIRED TRADITION GIVEN BY THE APOSTLES, NOT TO THE UNINSPIRED TRADITIONS OF MEN WHO HAVE COME AFTER THEM.
The term “tradition” is used in two ways in the New Testament. First it refers to apostolic doctrine given by divine inspiration (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6). The churches are bound to obey this tradition as it is supernaturally recorded in the New Testament Scripture. Second, tradition refers to uninspired teachings that religious teachers attempt to add to the Scripture and by which they attempt to bind the lives of men (Matt. 15:1-6; Mk. 7:9-13; Col. 2:8). In this sense, tradition is condemned, as we see in the following references:
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).
“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye” (Mark 7:13).
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
We are thankful that the Lord that has given us a complete and sufficient Revelation and that we are not dependent upon extra-biblical prophecies, visions, voices, tongues, or traditions. In the Bible we have everything the churches need for faith and practice.
Therefore, though it is true that “the Bible itself is a sort of tradition” this does not mean that it is merely another of various authoritative traditions. The Bible alone is GOD INSPIRED tradition. That is what sets it apart from every other writing. The Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God. Over two thousand times the Bible uses phrases such as “thus saith the Lord.”
SIXTH, THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CANNOT BE FOUND IN SCRIPTURE.
The Roman Catholic Church did not exist until centuries after the writing of the New Testament. The churches described in the New Testament are nothing like the Roman Catholic Church. That “church” was formed over a period of centuries following the death of the apostles, as false teachers corrupted the New Testament church pattern and added their man-made traditions. In the New Testament we find no papacy, no priesthood after the fashion of Rome’s, no sacraments that are added to faith for salvation, no archbishops or cardinals, no baptismal regeneration, no mass, no infant baptism, no last unction, no Mary as queen of heaven, no Mary as Mother of God, no sinless Mary, no prayers to the saints, no treasury of grace, no purgatory, no holy relics or holy robes or holy water, no crucifixes, no candles, no cathedrals, no monks, no “celibate” pastors, no enforced days of fasting, no prohibition against marriage or against eating meat, nothing about the church of Rome being exalted over other churches.
SEVENTH, ROMAN CATHOLIC TRADITION CANNOT BE RIGHT BECAUSE NOT ONLY DOES IT ADD TO THE BIBLE, IT CONTRADICTS THE BIBLE.
The Holy Scripture always upholds itself as the absolute and sole standard for truth.
See, for example, Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Those who speak contrary to the Scriptures are in darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ severely rebuked the Pharisees because they added their manmade tradition as authority with the Scriptures and thereby contradicted the Scriptures:
“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:1-9).
Not only is Roman Catholic doctrine and practice not based on the Bible, it contradicts the Bible, so it cannot be its source. Catholic dogmas such as the papacy, Mariolatry, the Saints, the Priesthood, the Mass, and Purgatory are not only not found in the New Testament, they contradict plain New Testament teaching and practice. The papacy contradicts 1 Pet. 5:1-4, among many other passages. Mariolatry and the Saints contradict 1 Tim. 2:5. The Mass contradicts 1 Cor. 11:23-26. Purgatory contradicts 2 Cor. 5:1-8 and Phil. 1:23. The Priesthood contradicts the New Testament in that Christ alone is a priest after the order of Melchisedec (Heb. 7:21-27) and Christ established no priesthood for the New Testament churches other than the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5, 9). There is not one example in the New Testament of a priest being ordained and set apart or performing the type of ministry that we see in the Roman Catholic Church. The N.T. gives qualifications for pastors and deacons, but none for priests.
If I obey 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 3:6 and compare Catholic tradition with the teaching of the apostles, I must reject Catholicism because it is contrary to this pattern. The apostles did not teach that there is a special priesthood among the believers. The apostles did not teach that there is a pope. The apostles did not teach that the Lord’s Supper is to be a sacrifice of any sort. The apostles did not teach that Mary is sinless or perpetually a virgin or ascended bodily to Heaven or that she is the Queen of Heaven or that Christians are to pray to her. The apostles did not teach that their office was to be passed on at their deaths and they gave no instruction for “apostolic succession.” The apostles did not teach that the churches are to have sacraments. The apostles did not teach that there are special saints to whom Christians can pray. These are only a few of the Catholic traditions that are contrary to the teaching of the apostles in the New Testament Scriptures.
You say, “We had to trust somebody for its authenticity and completeness.” You are right. I have the choice between trusting the Bible as the authoritative and complete Word of God and trusting the Catholic Church. They cannot both be right, because they are in contradiction. The Bible proves itself to be the inspired and infallible Word of God in countless ways: fulfilled prophecy, its scientific accuracy, its cohesive unity even though it was written over a period of hundreds of years, its power to change lives, its universal appeal, its testimony of Jesus Christ, the testimony of the Apostles (study the book of Acts, for example, to see what the Apostles thought of Scripture).
On the other hand, the Catholic Church proves itself to be false by any standard that I use. It is morally corrupt and doctrinally heretical. The Bible does not contradict itself, but the popes have continually contradicted themselves. I have the choice between trusting the apostles and trusting the popes. The apostles were not morally reprobate nor did they contradict the Holy Scriptures. Everything they taught was in complete conformity with Scripture. I find it very easy to trust the apostles and to reject the popes.
EIGHTH, THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS NO AUTHORITY IN THE BIBLE. ITS CLAIM TO AUTHORITY MUST COME FROM OUTSIDE OF THE BIBLE.
The Roman Catholic Church claims that its authority lies in the popes as the successors of the apostles and in the priesthood. There is not a hint of this in the New Testament Scripture.
1. Show me in the Bible where Jesus Christ established the office of the pope as it is found in the Catholic Church and where He made provision for the continuation of such an office.
2. Show me in the Bible where Jesus Christ established the Catholic priesthood. Where do we find such a priesthood described? Where do we find the standards for how to choose such priests? Where do we find a description of how to ordain such priests? Where do we find a description of the seven sacraments that they perform?
For my part, I have Scriptural authority for the gospel that I believe (that salvation is by the grace of Jesus Christ alone through His completed atonement alone through faith alone without works and sacraments—Acts 16:30-31; Rom. 3:23-26; 4:1-8; Eph. 2:8-10; 1 Cor. 15:1-4) and for the type of simple New Testament church that I attend. My faith is in Jesus Christ, and I learn of Him through the Scriptures that He gave through divine inspiration.
I have an infallible test whereby to judge the teachings of man. Every teaching and tradition that is contrary to that inspired Scripture I reject on the authority of God’s Word.
These decisions have eternal consequences, and I refuse to stake the eternal salvation of my soul on anything but the very highest authority.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
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