C O N T E N T S EDITORIAL The real question is not: “Why are independent, fundamental Baptists cooperating with the Southern Baptists?” The better question is: “Why are we not cooperating with each other?” This editorial challenges us to unify, not for the sake of unity, but for the sake of world evangelism. PAGE 4
HARMONY IS ESSENTIAL IN THE WORK OF GOD Dr. Ernest Gambrell lists nine scriptural reasons why harmony is necessary for the cause of world evangelism. The subject of unity is either stated directly or exemplified all through the Bible. PAGE 6
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Where did English come from and how did it come to be a dominant world language? In this article edited by Dr. Keen, the history and growth of the English language is traced. PAGE 7
WILL THE TRANSLATION EFFORT BE A KING JAMES EQUIVALENT? This transcribed lesson first taught at the 2008 FirstBible National Conference in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, attempts to clarify the position of FirstBible concerning the translation of Scriptures and calls for those who hold strongly to the King James to extend grace to those who are in total darkness. PAGE 10
ADONIRAM JUDSON BIOGRAPHY In this short biographical sketch, we see qualities that must be emulated in today’s missionaries: great courage, fearlessness in blazing new trails for the gospel, perseverence through very trying times and diligence to translate the Scriptures for a people without them. PAGE 19
WHAT IS WORLD MISSIONS What is the Biblical definition of missions? Whose assignment is it? What strategy is necessary to complete the assignment? These questions must be answered if we are to ever have a clear view of world evangelism. PAGE 12
A N E N Q U I RY - A RT I C L E 4 This is the third of four chapters from William Carey’s An Enquiry. This treatise is considered by many to be the most important document in modern times on the subject of missions. PAGE 15
IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE WORD The Word of God is the most vital element of all missionary activity and success. After 2000 years of missionary effort, where do we stand? How far are we from being able to say that the world has the Word of God? Will you help? PAGE 18
Unpublished WORD - Editor – Charles Keen, Assistant Editor – Ken Fielder, Circulation/Advertising – Jerry Rockwell, Graphic Design – the graphic edge, Frisco, TX, Production/Printing – Clark’s Printing Co./Ventura, CA Some of the authors and their material featured in UW Journal are not necessarily in agreement with the theological position of the UW Journal. Their writings are included because of their insight into the particular subject matter published in the UW Journal. The Unpublished WORD Journal is a quarterly publication of FirstBible International. All correspondence should be sent to the editorial offices at: FirstBible International, 3148 Franklin Road, Murfreesboro, TN 37128. Phone (615) 796-0043, email: info@firstbible.net, website: www.firstbible.net. FirstBible International is a ministry of Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN, Dr. Mike Norris, Pastor.
EDITORIAL COMMENT - THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT At the risk of being misunderstood by my brethren I want to address the area of cooperation and/or unity, or the lack thereof, among us independent, fundamental Baptists. There are those who are concerned, and rightly so, about the close fellowship between some independents and the Southern Baptist Convention. I believe that is an important issue but not the critical issue. I think the big question is not: “Why are we cooperating with the Southern Baptists?” I think the better question is: “Why are independent, fundamental Baptists not cooperating with each other?” I do not need to spend time illustrating the fact that we are divided. Only the dishonest and the disinterested would challenge the existence of that problem Charles F. Keen, editor among us. Nor do I wish to do an MRI on our movement looking for every crack and fault line. I suspect we have been the victim of that type of scrutiny far too long already. As a member, participant and observer of fundamentalism for over forty-four years, I do not believe our dividedness is necessarily caused by bad doctrine, mean men, or flawed methods, but a minuscule response to our Lord’s charge to world evangelism. We have seen our assignment as church growth rather than world evangelism, and we have not seen our failure in world evangelism which results in our God not being worshipped eternally by some from every people group on earth. It is true we are to go from “…house to house…” and we need to ”save America.” It is even more true that we need to keep in mind those are only intermediate steps toward our great assignment of “…all nations,” “…every creature,” or “world evangelism.” Anything short of that goal is partial obedience. “You reap a harvest where you sow an emphasis.”1 If that be true, and we know it is, our results show we have not put much emphasis on world evangelism. The average pastor’s pulpit ministry is evidence of a lack of Great Commission emphasis. National conferences are void of world evangelism emphasis. National periodicals and their sermon material and ad pages support our observation of lack of importance placed upon mission activity. Look at the attendance at our mission conferences and we see the laymen are not deep into the Great Commission. Our authors are not writing books or songs on the missionary theme. Where are the major colleges that offer courses and curriculum that convince us that missions is emphasized on campus? We need to come to a bedrock realization that His original assignment of world evangelism for the church is binding, though beyond our individual church abilities. We need, yea must have, the cooperation of sister churches which in turn would lead us to start looking for ways to work together (a novel idea), rather than always looking for issues over which to divide. I know what some are thinking: “A desire for unity is the first baby step toward ecumenicalism.” I suggest you take it up with Jesus for I remind you it was He who prayed five times in His High Priestly Prayer in John 17, “…that they may be one.” Or take issue with Paul who said, “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (I Cor. 9:22). I would remind you that when Jesus was asked about praying fire down on them that did not walk exactly the way His disciples did, he said “Forbid them not, for he that is not against us is for us.” (Luke 9:50) If we adopt the world as our goal and see the necessity of ecclesiastical cooperation in its completion, we need to consider three things in this order (They are scripturally interrelated.): 1). Re-establish our one mutual goal among fundamentalists. This will be the easiest to identify but may be the hardest to implement. 2). Renew our doctrinal imperatives. Obviously all doctrines are not of equal value. Hence, there are some we can live with and some we can live without - identify each. 3). Revisit our cultural hurdles.
These are the areas with the most latitude present and where we must allow the most liberty. They are culturally related and based more on interpretation than inspiration. These areas are where dying to self will be required most. There are areas in the Christian life so important that we must stretch our grace to its limits in an effort to include each other on the team. We cannot violate Scripture in this effort but must be sure it is Scripture over which we are dividing. I am sure you would agree world evangelism would be the area that is so large, critical and demanding that we must make every effort within the Scriptural framework to get in lock step for the good of the world and the glory of our God. Maybe we need the mentality of the Olympians: “at home we may be competitors but on the world scene, we are companions.” In closing, may I say we fundamentalists are often historically inconsistent? While we rail on the brother down the street who does not have “our light” in some ministry area, we honor those of the past, advertise them in our papers, quote them in our sermons, sing the songs they authored, etc., who applied the very Christian positions in their ministry by which we critique and charge our contemporaries with “abandoning the fundamentals of the faith” and violating the Scriptures. May I suggest that we may be hard put to scripturally support some of the lines we have drawn in the sand, and that this type of approach may be at least in part why we see such abdication in our ranks (another article for another day)? I am not suggesting we abandon our separatist position, but I am making an appeal that we keep our position biblical, historical and consistent. When it comes to church ministry in our local areas we must not rob churches of their autonomy nor should the individual believer lose his soul liberty. What I am saying is that we have an assignment from our Lord Jesus that is far bigger than our immediate ministry ability and when it comes to world evangelism we need/must have different rules of engagement in that battle. From a pragmatic point of view, we would be forced to conclude the way we have chosen to go about it is not working. Though there are no doubt other mitigating factors, our narrow approach in the area of ecclesiastical separation has impeded, at least in part, our world evangelism effort. Why is it that under our watch, one-half of the world still remains church-less, Bible-less and gospel-less in light of the
travel possibilities in this informational and technological age? 1). Some estimate there are 85 countries without a fundamental Baptist missionary. 2). It takes four of our fundamental churches to produce one missionary 3). We only give .2 of 1% of our mission dollar to evangelizing the unreached while giving 99.8% to reaching the already reached. 4). In our churches, only 3% of the membership have a worldview in place by which they are making a conscientious effort to obey our Lord’s command in world evangelism. To quote Dr. Clarence Sexton: “You will never change the future until you are willing to disturb the present,” and someone has said “If you do what you have always done, you will have what you have always had.” My observation is that most of us are aware of our failure but do next to nothing to change it. Or even worse, we have become like those in Malachi’s day who, when confronted with sinful practices asked the question: “Wherein have we…?” Maybe what we need before revival is a reformation in missionary thinking, and if it costs some their lives and “blood” to bring about the change, I am in line. It is time we make His major emphasis our emphasis, and take Him at His Word when He said we must become one. Realize if we are to do what is closest to His heart, world evangelism, we must find a basis from which to cooperate with other churches of like faith. Each of us willing to die in non-critical areas for the greater benefit of the lost. I believe we have “come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” O 1. Dr. Clarence Sexton
The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It needs no furlough and is never considered a foreigner. Cameron Townsend
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an excerpt from The Missionary and Interpersonal Relationships by Dr. Ernest Gambrell, Director of Fundamental Baptist World-Wide Mission
E. Harmony is exemplified in the first marriage (Genesis 2:24). “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” F.
A. Harmony is exemplified in the Godhead (John 17:21). “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.” B. Harmony is exemplified in Heaven (Revelation 5:11-12). “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts, and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” C. Harmony is exemplified in the Universe (Colossians 1:16-17). “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” D. Harmony is exemplified in the earthly creation (Genesis 1:31). “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” He who cannot see the working of a Divine wisdom in the order of the heavens, the change of the seasons, the flowing of the tides, the operations of the wind and other elements, the structure of the human body, the circulations of the blood through a variety of vessels wonderfully arranged and conducted, the instinct of beasts, their tempers and dispositions, and the growth of plants; he who cannot see all these and many other things as the evident contrivance of a Divine wisdom is sottishly blind, and unworthy of the name of man. - William Jones 6.
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Harmony is exemplified in the Old Testament Scriptures. 1. Singers and trumpeters were of one accord as the Temple was dedicated (II Chr. 5:13). 2. People were of one accord during revival under King Hezekiah (II Chr. 30:12). 3. Returning Israelites gathered in Jerusalem in one accord under Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:1). 4. People gathered in one accord to hear Ezra preach (Neh. 8:1).
G. Harmony is exemplified in the Gospels in the High Priestly Prayer of our Lord in John 17:22. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” H. Harmony is exemplified in the early Church as recorded in the book of Acts (Acts 1:14; 2:1; 2:46; 4:24; 4:32; 5:12; 8:6; 15:25). I.
Harmony is encouraged in the Epistles. 1. Romans 12:4-5, 10-16; 15:5-6 2. I Corinthians 1:10; 3:1-4, 6:1-8; 8:1-13; 11:17-34; 12:12-26; 14:40 3. Galatians 3:28; 5:13-15; 6:1-10 4. Ephesians 4:1-4; 5:21-6:9 5. Philippians 1:27; 2:2; 4:2 6. Colossians 2:1-2; 3:12-25 7. I Thessalonians 3:12; 4:9-10 8. James 2:1; 3:1, 4:12 9. I Peter 2:1-2; 3:8; 4:8; 5:5 10. I John 2:9-11, 3:11-18; 4:7-21 11. II John 5
People Are People
- Dr. Tom Sexton
People are people no matter when they live, With the battles they fight and the lessons they give. We get an insight in the Spirit of a man When we hear of their faith and their courage to stand. Untold millions have been given new birth By the ones taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Yes, people are people no matter when they live, But the ones who count are the ones who give.
Edited by Dr. Charles Keen (Original source unknown)
About 2,000 years ago, that area we know as England, was once inhabited by a group of people known as the ‘Celts’, who spoke Celtic languages. These same people also inhabited a great part of Western Europe including Gaul, Spain, Western Germany, and Northern Italy. In A.D. 43, Emperor Claudius of Rome successfully conquered the Celts in the area of England, and introduced Roman ways as well as the Latin language. Latin was further introduced as the Roman Catholic Church began sending its missionaries into England in the 5th and 6th centuries. In about A.D. 410, the Romans began leaving England, and in about A.D. 449 Germanic tribes began their invasion of Britain and became the founders of what we know as the English nation. The mixture of the Germanic dialects in England resulted in the definite beginnings of the English, which is spoken today, and this is why we see many similarities between English and German. Over the years, there developed three main divisions of the English language: Anglo-Saxon or ‘Old English’ (A.D. 450-1066); ‘Middle English’ (A.D. 1066-1500); and ‘Modern English’ (A.D. 1500 till today). The differences between the three divisions involve changes in spelling, pronunciation, grammar and the introduction of new words. In fact, the changes are so vast, that without special training, an English speaking person today could not possibly read or converse in Old English. Then came the event that literally changed the whole course of the English Language… in A.D. 1066 William the Conqueror came to England and defeated King Harold, thus winning the ‘Battle of Hastings’. William brought into England a new ruling class of people from France and, for the next 300 years or so, French was the dominant language of the courts, as England developed its own Anglo-French aristocracy. Though hard for us to understand, the English language was considered, during those 300 years, to be
an inferior and ‘crude’ language, not fit for the translation of the great literary works, including the Scriptures. Latin was, without question the superior language at the time. And so, there arose strong arguments both for and against the translation of the Scriptures into English, but, alas, those against the translating of the Scriptures (during those 300 years) had won out for the time being. It seemed that the English language still needed improvement in order to properly convey the meanings of the words of the Scriptures. But the English language was developing, and in A.D. 1382, Wycliffe published his translation of the Scriptures into English. Yet still, the language continued to grow and develop and later a brilliant Christian scholar by the name of William Tyndale (1495-1536) risked his life to translate the New Testament into the English of his day. He said that he wanted the plowman to know more Bible than the priests he had met. King Henry VIII was set against any English version, so Tyndale went into exile where he wrestled with the English language and grammar to produce his final New Testament in 1534, after which he worked on the Old Testament. During the period from about A.D. 1530-1660, the language literally exploded with the growth of new words, many of which were ‘borrowed’ from Latin. Approximately 26,000 new words were added in the fields of theology, philosophy, architecture, law, navigation, commerce, technology, biology and medicine. This represents the fastest period of growth in the history of the English language. From about A.D. 1580 onward, the argument that ‘the English language is inferior’ was not a valid one. No one could say that English was inadequate in which to translate the Scriptures. This was due to four reasons: 1). important literary works had now been translated into English; 2). the vocabulary had grown to provide adequate words; 3). English was made eloquent by its continued on page 20 Unpublished WORD
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Chad Mann – Missionary to India I grew up in Douglas, Wyoming, in an active Christian home and attended a Christian school. At the age of fifteen I was saved and immediately surrendered to God's call to get involved in scripture publishing. That call guided me in the summer of 1995 to First Baptist Church in Milford, Ohio. I began working at Bearing Precious Seed as a printer and was then asked by Dr. Keen to train others overseas. Faith and I married and headed to Northern India for our first overseas assignment with BPS. We went on to train many men in the area of scripture publishing in several countries, but the burden God placed on our hearts would not leave. In November 2003, we surrendered to return to Northern India as church planting missionaries. Our focus is to make the gospel available and understood to the large number of unreached people groups. Our contact information is go2india@gmail.com or 513-226-3109.
Front Row: Dr. Mike Norris, Everett Tabor, Dr. Charles Keen Back Row: Gary Wimberly, Mickey Cofer, Ken Fielder, Mark Brown, Joel Powers, Todd Wentz, Dr. Fred Schindler Not pictured: Wayne Holder, Jeff Lanier, Eric Lee, Dr. Jerry Rockwell 8.
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by Dr. Charles Keen
This is one of two questions most frequently asked of our translation efforts. The other is: “Why not just teach them to read English?” Our desire is to be as correct as possible as soon as possible, but in all probability we will not be at that level on the maiden effort. If we have had any consistent challenge of the ministry of FirstBible International (FBI) it has been from those that have a great love for the King James Version and make an unrealistic expectation of translation accuracy. What they do not understand is that they require more out of us than the initial English translators could produce, a final copy in the initial effort. Please consider the following historical facts: • We did not get a KJV equivalent initially. • The Scriptures came into the English language for the first time in 600 A.D. What year was your Bible translated? It was 1611. This means it took 1,000 years from when it first came into the English language until it finally got to the equivalent which you hold now. Would you please show a little grace? We are not going to get it to the unreached in the King James equivalent first. I have had good men who love God resent that and challenge me on that. In all truthfulness, how can you withhold from others what was not withheld from you? God gave it to you in less than final edition quality. It came to you through several major translation efforts: Erasmus (1516), Tyndale NT (1526), Coverdale Bible (1535), Matthew’s Bible (1537), Great Bible (1539), Geneva Bible (1560), Bishop’s Bible (1568). Did you know that it was 300 10.
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years after the first whole Bible was put in English, by Tyndale, before you got your KJV in 1611? First we are going to have to rethink this unrealistic demand on our Bible translation effort if we expect to reach the 6,000 unreached people groups. What we are going to have to decide is to give them what we can now, give them more, and more, etc. until finally it is right and it is whole. Why do we not give them enough so they can miss Hell? Why do we not give them enough so they can know the major doctrines and from which we can fill in the blanks later? God Himself gave the Word in portions. That is our goal and desire at FBI. Why do you want to hold everything back until the water is totally pure? That is unrealistic, unhistorical and against common sense. Second we will probably translate from a translation. We will probably translate from a KJV Bible or a Bible of some trade language in the area of the country where we are working. Then we will check that with the Greek and the Hebrew through credible scholarship after our initial work. You say, “I do not believe you should translate from a translation.” Historically much of translation work was done from translations. Did you know that Wycliffe did not know Greek or Hebrew when he translated his Bible? He translated his Bible from Jerome’s Vulgate. It was the best he could do. But he did it and we are glad that he did it. Tyndale came later and he knew Greek and Hebrew and did the translation differently than Wycliffe. Add to that, it took 5,000 Greek manuscripts to get the
Beza Manuscript Edition from which the KJV came and another 1,000 years to get to the KJV level after it was initially put into English. Concluding Thoughts: 1. The challenge of translating the Scriptures in the 6,000 plus languages is somewhat reduced by the fact that we are suggesting the publishing of Scripture portions. Portions will be printed as soon as they are available and the New Testaments and whole Bible projects will come later as a church is established in these people groups. God gave His Word in portions over a 1,600 year period. He first gave the 10 Commandments. It was a portion from the prophets the eunuch was reading in Acts 8. The New Testament was given in portions. The Old Testament books were portions of a whole to come later. Do you not think that it would be better to give them a John and Romans than to wait until we have II Chronicles finished? My goal is to see that everyone has some portion – enough to miss Hell, enough to worship God and claim Christ.
2. We would not have to break new ground with each translation because languages are related and one translation may open doors to make several others easier. Add to this the technology that is available. I know a sister in Christ who spent 20 years in her first translation effort and with new technology, her second translation effort reduced to just 3 years. 3. We can expect God to help. It is His Word, His Son, and His Commission. I am just getting on board with what He is doing – reaching the world with the gospel. There is a growing interest in translation work among our churches. God will lead in producing men, women, funds and prayer. There is no doubt in my mind we have “come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” O
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by Dr. Mike Norris
There are three areas where we need to arrive at the right answers if we are to have a clear view of world evangelism, our place in it, and how to get it accomplished. 1). What is the biblical definition of missions? 2). What agency has God assigned to do missions? 3). What is the God-given strategy the agency is to employ to complete the assignment? Missions is not formally defined in Scripture. In fact, the word is not even mentioned. We will have to arrive at the definition and discover the concept through observing Jesus and others who did missions in Scripture. There is much discussion today about what missions is. First there are those who are holistic in their approach to their mission responsibility. They see missions as the answer to all the ills in a cross-cultural setting, whether it be in sinking water wells, organizing political systems, staffing orphanages, practicing medical procedures, helping with education, teaching 12.
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agriculture, etc. Obviously these are real needs and that can be addressed, but the question is: Are they things the church has been charged to solve? It is important that we define missions because our definition determines how we spend our dollars and where we deploy our people as well as how we judge our success. I believe missions has a far greater goal than solving humanistic problems in a cross-cultural setting. Secondly there are other good people who see missions as solving man’s spiritual needs, which is superior to emphasizing water wells and political systems. Having a burden for the soul of man and his eternal welfare is an integral part of missions, but is it to be the first emphasis in cross-cultural ministry? Though this is a high and lofty aspiration, it seems to me to still fall far short of the concept for missions as demonstrated in Scripture. It still makes missions man centered and therefore a form of humanism (though no doubt, humanism at its best, if humanism has a best, but it is still humanistic).
I do not think either of the two points above really explain or define Biblical missions from a Scriptural point of view. My best effort at defining Biblical missions is: “God in the process of bringing His creation back under His dominion for His pleasure and its good.” I think this definition puts God into the equation and in the right order. Missions is first and foremost done for God and man enjoys the residual benefit. Man is not major in missions, God is, but man is included. I think most of us would agree with this definition in theory, but we often hear missions presented in a reverse order where man is the goal and God is included. It is too obvious that much of the time the major goal is to get people to pity the lost instead of focusing on the Lord and His glory. It is not that we should not present the plight of man, but we should present it in the right order. The greatest commandment is to first love the Lord thy God and the second is like unto it thy neighbor as thyself. We, as a church, cannot afford to get sidetracked into social efforts and we must not misunderstand the church’s purpose of preaching the gospel in all the world because nobody else has that particular assignment, gifts and talents. Allow me to give some Scriptural basis for my definition. If you will go to I Corinthians 15:22-28, you find some of the richest verses in all the Bible on the purpose of Jesus’ earthly mission which is summarized in v.28 “…that God may be all in all.” A close examination of the pronouns in the verses leading up to v.28 would make it clear Jesus came to put down all rule and authority and deliver it as a conquered foe to lay at the feet of the Father, making all things subject unto him, even death. Look at v.24 “…delivered up…put down…” v.25 “…put all enemies under his feet…” v.26 “…last enemy…death…” v.27 “…put all things under his feet…put under him…put all things under him…” v.28 “…all things shall be subdued… THEN SHALL THE SON ALSO HIMSELF BE SUBJECT UNTO HIM THAT PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIM, THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL.” All of these verses speak to the earthly mission of Jesus in bringing creation back under the dominion of our Creator-Father God. And when Jesus said go ye into all the world armed with the gospel, it is for the same purpose, to liberate and free those in the kingdom of darkness so that God will regain lost dominion. Basically we are partnering with Jesus in bringing His creation back under His dominion for His pleasure.
See Revelation 4:11 “…thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Genesis 1 tells us He saw everything He had made and it was good, yea very good, just another way to say He had pleasure in His creation. It fell out of pleasure at the fall of Adam as evidenced by His expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden, the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. Because He still loved His creation He put a plan in place that was developed in eternity past (Titus 1:1-3), to bring it back under His pleasure. That plan involved Israel, Jesus and the Church. May I suggest He wants it all back? “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel…” And may I say the degree in which He wants it back is demonstrated by the great lengths He would go to get it back? He gave His dear Son, and Jesus gave His life so God could be pleased with His creation again. If He has gone to such lengths to get it back and if you as a church member are to be a part of that process, should we not be willing to make whatever contribution He calls upon us to make? In the process He not only finds pleasure but we find joy in His presence again eternally. Missions is God in the process of bringing His creation back under His dominion for His pleasure and its good. Please do not dedicate yourself to “missions.” That is simply the strategy we are to use to achieve this high purpose of returning His creation to Him. And do not make man the motivation for missions. He is not worth the price you will have to pay to get Him returned. Revelation 4:11 opens up with the glorious thought: “Thou art worthy, O Lord…” We hear it again in v.5:9 “…Thou art worthy…” and in v.5:12 “…Worthy is the Lamb that was slain…” Of what is He worthy? He is worthy, and only He, of anything He may ask you to do or give up in the process of bringing His creation back under His dominion for His pleasure and its good. O
is your church ready to move from a supportive role to an active role in world missions? Missions Frontiers, March-April 2007
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Significance of the Gutenberg Press Compiled by Ken Fielder
No other event in the history of humans has influenced them more than the invention of the printing press constructed by Gutenberg. The ways in which the printing press affected the growth and development of the human race are almost too numerable to count. Johannes Gutenberg is believed to have been born in the German city of Mainz in the year 1400. Only thirty documents give accurate accounts of his life and of these there are only three which refer to printing. Gutenberg worked as a goldsmith and gem cutter as a young man and had learned about metallurgy. Gutenberg first designed type that would space evenly on a page and also look pleasing to the eye. His first type was cast of the metals lead, antimony, and tin and consisted of two-hundred and ninety separate symbols. Gutenberg also had to find an ink that would not fade or be too thick and came up with the combination of boiled linseed oil and soot. Gutenberg adapted a wine press for printing that was waist high and had a rolling tray so that he could slide the paper in and out. The press would also enable him to also squeeze water out of the damp paper while printing at the same time. The Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1455, was the first Bible ever printed and the first book ever printed in
Europe. Gutenberg printed two hundred copies of this book which was known as the 42-line Bible or the Mazarin Bible. It was a printed version of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. It was his major work, and it has iconic status as the start of the “Gutenberg Revolution” and the “Age of the Printed Book.” Gutenberg’s invention sparked many religious revolutions that allowed the common man to possess a Bible for his own interpretation. The printing press allowed knowledge and ideas to be passed from one man to the other and paved the way for schools and media. As of 2007, there are 48 Gutenberg 42-line Bibles known to exist, of which 21 are perfect. This includes eleven complete copies (four of which are perfect) on vellum, and one copy of the New Testament only on vellum. Facts: • How many Bible and New Testaments have been printed since 1450 A.D.? 6.5 billion. • How many of these have been printed in English? 85% of them. • What percentage of the world speaks English as their mother tongue? Only 9%. • Of the total number of Bibles and New Testaments printed since 1450, how many have been printed for the rest of the world’s languages? 15% printed for 91% of the world’s population!
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Rev. Ken Fielder, FBI Assistant Director, will report on the August trip to India with Dr. Keen, Coy Stinson, Dr. Paul Rowland and Dr. William Jeffcoat. This team of men visited Dr. P.D. Cherian to interview for the possible establishment of FirstBible International/India.
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AN ENQUIRY INTO THE OBLIGATIONS OF CHRISTIANS TO USE MEANS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HEATHENS in which the Religious State of the Different Nations of the World, the Success of Former Undertakings, and the Practicability of Further Undertakings are Considered. by William Carey and edited by Charles Keen (This is the third in the series featuring four sections of Carey’s Enquiry.)
Section Four: THE PRACTICABILITY OF SOMETHING BEING DONE, MORE THAN WHAT IS DONE, FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HEATHEN THE impediments in the way of carrying the gospel among the heathen must arise, I think, from one or other of the following things; FIRST, As to their distance since the invention of the mariner's compass, nothing can be alleged for it, with any colour of plausibility in the present age. Men can now sail with as much certainty through the Great South Sea, as they can through the Mediterranean, or any lesser Seas. Scripture likewise seems to point out this method, Surely the Isles shall wait for me; the ships of Tarshish first, to bring my sons from far, their silver, and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord, thy God. Isa. 60:9. This seems to imply that in the time of the glorious increase of the church, in the latter days, (of which the whole chapter is undoubtedly a prophecy,) commerce shall subserve the spread of the gospel. The ships of Tarshish were trading vessels, which made voyages for traffic to various parts; thus much therefore must be meant by it, that navigation, especially that which is commercial, shall be one great mean of carrying on the work of God; and perhaps it may imply that there shall be a very considerable appropriation of wealth to that purpose. SECONDLY, As to their uncivilized, and barbarous way of living, this can be no objection to any, except
those whose love of ease renders them unwilling to expose themselves to inconveniences for the good of others. It was no objection to the apostles and their successors, they did not wait for the ancient inhabitants of these countries, to be civilized, before they could be Christianized, but went simply with the doctrine of the cross; and TERTULLIAN could boast that "those parts of Britain which were proof against the Roman armies, were conquered by the gospel of Christ." It was no objection to an ELLIOT, or a BRAINERD, in later times. They went forth, and encountered every difficulty of the kind, and found that a cordial reception of the gospel produced those happy effects which the longest intercourse with Europeans, without it could never accomplish. It is no objection to commercial men. It only requires that we should have as much love to the souls of our fellow-creatures, and fellow sinners. After all, the uncivilized state of the heathen, instead of affording an objection against preaching the gospel to them, ought to furnish an argument for it. Can we as men, or as Christians, hear that a great part of our fellow creatures, whose souls are as immortal as ours, and who are as capable as ourselves, of adorning the gospel and contributing by their preaching, writings, or practices to the glory of our Redeemer's name, and the good of his church, are enveloped in ignorance and barbarism? Can we hear that they are without the gospel and not exert ourselves to introduce amongst them the sentiments of men, and of Christians? Would not the spread of the gospel be the most effectual means of their civilization? Would not that make them useful members of society? We know that such effect did in a measure follow the afore-mentioned efforts of Elliot, Brainerd, and others amongst the American Indians; and if similar attempts were made in other parts of the world, and succeeded with a divine blessing. THIRDLY, In respect to the danger of being killed by them, it is true that whoever does go must put his life in his hand, and not consult with flesh and blood; but do not the goodness of the cause, the duties incumbent on us as the creatures of God, and Christians, and the perishing state of our fellow men, loudly call upon us to venture all and use every warrantable exertion for their benefit? PAUL and BARNABAS, who hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Elliot, Brainerd, and the Moravian missionaries, have been very seldom molested. Nay, in general the heathen have shewed a willingness to hear the word; and have Unpublished WORD
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principally expressed their hatred of Christianity on account of the vices of nominal Christians. FOURTHLY, As to the difficulty of procuring the necessaries of life, this would not be so great as may appear at first sight; for though we could not procure European food, yet we might procure such as the natives of those countries which we visit, subsist upon themselves. And this would only be passing through what we have virtually engaged in by entering on the ministerial office. A Christian minister is a person who in a peculiar sense is not his own; he is the servant of God, and therefore ought to be wholly devoted to him. By entering on that sacred office he solemnly undertakes to be always engaged, as much as possible, in the Lord's work, and not to choose his own pleasure, or employment, or pursue the ministry as a something that is to subserve his own ends, or interests, or as a kind of bye-work. He engages to go where God pleases, and to do, or endure what he sees fit to command, or call him to, in the exercise of his function. He virtually bids farewell to friends, pleasures, and comforts, and stands in readiness to endure the greatest sufferings in the work of his Lord, and Master. Thus the apostles acted, in the primitive times, and endured hardness, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; and though we living in a civilized country where Christianity is protected by law, are not called to suffer these things while we continue here, yet I question whether all are justified in staying here, while so many are perishing without means of grace in other lands. Sure I am that it is entirely contrary to the spirit of the gospel, for its ministers to enter upon it from interested motives, or with great worldly expectations. On the contrary the commission is a sufficient call to them to venture all, and, like the primitive Christians, go every where preaching the gospel. It might be necessary, however, for two, at least, to go together, and in general I should think it best that they should be married men, and to prevent their time from being employed in procuring necessaries, two, or more, other persons, with their wives and families, might also accompany them, who should be wholly employed in providing for them. They would have the advantage of choosing their situation, their wants would be few; the women, and even the children, would be necessary for domestic purposes; and a few articles of stock, as a cow or two, and a bull, and a few other cattle of both sexes, a very few utensils of husbandry, and some corn to sow their land, would be 16.
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sufficient. Those who attend the missionaries should understand husbandry, fishing, fowling, &c. and be provided with the necessary implements for these purposes. FIFTHLY, As to learning their languages, the same means would be found necessary here as in trade between different nations. In some cases interpreters might be obtained, who might be employed for a time; and where these were not to be found, the missionaries must have patience, and mingle with the people, till they have learned so much of their language as to be able to communicate their ideas to them in it. It is well known to require no very extraordinary talents to learn, in the space of a year, or two at most, the language of any people upon earth, so much of it at least, as to be able to convey any sentiments we wish to their understandings. The Missionaries must be of great piety, prudence, courage, and forbearance; of undoubted orthodoxy in their sentiments, and must enter with all their hearts into the spirit of their mission, encounter all the hardships of a torrid, or a frigid climate, an uncomfortable manner of living, and every other inconvenience that can attend this undertaking. Their first business must be to gain some acquaintance with the language of the natives, (for which purpose two would be better than one) and by all lawful means to endeavour to cultivate a friendship with them, and as soon as possible let them know the errand for which they were sent. They must take every opportunity of doing them good, and labouring, and traveling, night and day, they must instruct, exhort, and rebuke, with all long suffering, and anxious desire for them, and, above all, must be instant in prayer for the effusion of the Holy Spirit upon the people of their charge. It might likewise be of importance, if God should bless their labours, for them to encourage any appearances of gifts among the people of their charge; if such should be raised up many advantages would be derived from their knowledge of the language, and customs of their countrymen; and their change of conduct would give great weight to their ministrations. O
the country with the fastest christian expansion ever is china, now at 16,500 new converts every day. IBMR, vo. 32, No. 1, January 2008
The following chart is intended to help identify the major landmarks leading to the production of the King James Bible. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but simply to help locate some of the major events that led to the production of this work, and which affected its early reception. 1455 Johannes Gutenberg produces the first printed Bible, in Latin 1516 Erasmus publishes first printed Greek New Testament 1520 Luther publishes The Appeal to the German Nobility, demanding that lay people be allowed to read the Bible for themselves 1522 Luther publishes German translation of the New Testament 1526 The first complete English edition of the New Testament is published by William Tyndale in Worms 1535 Coverdale Bible published—first complete English Bible 1537 Matthew’s Bible published 1539 Great Bible published 1540 Execution of Thomas Cromwell, advocate of Protestant ideas and champion of English translations of the Bible 1560 1568 1604 1611 1675
Geneva Bible published Bishop’s Bible published Hampton Court Conference, which took decision to publish new English translation of the Bible Publication of the King James Bible King James Bible published by Cambridge
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CUTTING EDGE MINISTRY: After 2,000 years of missionary effort, fulfilling the Great Commission has gradually come to include almost anything ministry-oriented, but seldom does the priority encompass Scripture publishing. And yet that’s exactly what’s needed most in the 21st century. Less than 15% of the languages of the world have any portion - even a few pages - of God’s Word. Of the more than 6,000 languages in the world today, only about 400 have the Bible translated and published. Tens of millions of people have yet to hold a complete Bible, much less own one. The need for the Word of God is staggering. That is where FirstBible can make a pivotal difference. FirstBible is committed to partner with Christian ministries of like faith in the translation of the Scriptures. We will print and implement the distribution of Scripture portions, New Testaments, Bibles, and other ministry aids. In each instance, FirstBible works with churches and organizations that not only share our core convictions, but also places the highest priority on Biblical inerrancy. FirstBible is neither a Bible society nor a developer of the “latest” biblical translation. Instead, we are true to the Textus Receptus/Masoretic Text based translations and publish the best versions of the Scriptures possible. FirstBible produces the Scriptures for a people group when at least one of the following elements is true: 1). No written translation exists for their language. 2). A translation exists in their language, but has not been published nor is it being considered for current publication. 3). A written translation exists that does great damage to major biblical doctrines.
BELIEVING IS SEEING: FirstBible International IS BURDENED FOR THE AREA OF THE WORLD KNOWN AS THE 10/40 WINDOW WHERE AS MANY AS 97% OF UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS RESIDE. While the challenge of planting a potential harvest within these boundaries is daunting, FirstBible has always believed that God provides a way for His Word. We believe and are involved in a three-fold strategy in our effort to bring closure to the Great Commission: 1. Scripture translation & Bible publishing 2. Training nationals 3. Church planting When Jesus gave the Great Commission to the church to go into all nations and “make disciples,” it was obvious that His plan was to see churches planted and new believers discipled. As the early church evangelized throughout their world, local congregations were organized and churches became the framework through which God executed His plan. The Scriptures were used as the authority for faith and practice of these churches. Today the plan is the same. The ultimate goal of missions is to see churches flourishing among the unreached people groups of the world. But all missions activity and the fulfillment of “discipling” hinges on the Word of God. It is the cornerstone for every program and activity that is conducted by the church. THE BIBLE’S ROLE: DOMINANT OR DORMANT? Getting the Bible into the hands of spiritually impoverished people groups of the world is the whole idea behind FirstBible International. We are on the move globally to translate, publish, and distribute the Word of God for unreached people groups so that they might know God’s glory and worship Him. By producing the Scriptures in the heart languages of people, FirstBible empowers local church leaders to spread the Gospel and strengthen believers through the planting of indigenous churches. Once the churches have been nurtured to the point of possessing a strong faith, the congregations multiply themselves by starting new cell churches. The result is a biblical church movement that not only adds thousands of souls to the Kingdom but also makes an eternal impact in the destiny of a people group. Every believer wanting to be obedient to the mandate given by Jesus recognizes that it all begins with God’s Word. Without the Word of God in the heart language of the people, evangelism and discipleship continued on page 20
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Adoniram Judson (1788-1850):
Father of Baptist Missionaries by Fred Barlow Edited by Dr. Charles Keen
American Baptist missionary, lexicographer, and Bible translator to Burma, Judson was born in Massachusetts in 1788. He helped form the American Baptist Missionary Union, and in 1834, completed a translation of the whole Bible into the Burmese language. During the Anglo-Burmese War, he spent twenty-one months in prison. From 1845-1847, after thirtyfour years in Burma, he took his only furlough to his native land. Returning to Burma, he spent his remaining years working on his English-Burmese dictionary. He died in 1850 and was buried at sea. He mastered the Burmese language (possibly the most difficult language to acquire, excepting Chinese), writing and speaking it with the familiarity of a native and the elegance of a cultured scholar, and he also translated the Bible into Burmese. His biographers believe that his translation was “undoubtedly his greatest contribution to the people among whom he chose...to spend and be spent for Christ’s sake.” Judson was not saved until he was 20 years of age. His conversion not only saved his soul, it smashed his dreams of fame and honor for himself. His one pressing purpose became to “plan his life to please his Lord.” In 1809, the same year he joined the Congregational church, he became burdened to become a missionary. He found some friends from Williams College with the same burden and often met with them at a haystack on the college grounds to earnestly pray for the salvation of the heathen and petition God to open doors of ministry as missionaries to them. That spot has been marked as the birthplace of missions in America. Three years later, February 19, 1812, young Adoniram Judson, and his bride of seven days, Ann Haseltine Judson, set sail for India, supported by the first American Board for Foreign Missions. But on that voyage, Judson, while doing translation work, saw the teaching of immersion as the mode of baptism in the
Bible. Conscientiously and courageously, he cut off his support under the Congregational board until a Baptist board could be founded to support him! The Judsons were rejected entrance into India to preach the Gospel to the Hindus but they finally found an open door in Rangoon, Burma. There was not one known Christian in that land of millions. A baby was born to alleviate the loneliness of the young couple, but it was to be only for a temporary time. Eight months later, Roger William Judson was buried under a great mango tree. And there were no converts. It was to be six, long, soul-crushing, heart-breaking years before the date of the first decision for Christ. Then, on June 27, 1819, Judson baptized the first Burman believer, Moung Nau. But opposition came, also. Finally Judson was imprisoned as a British spy — an imprisonment of twenty-one months. Judson was condemned to die, but in answer to prayers to God and the incessant pleadings of his wife to officials (one of the most emotionalpacked, soul-stirring stories in evangelism), Judson’s life was spared and finally British intervention freed him from imprisonment. On April 12, 1850, at the age of 62, Judson died. Except for a few months, Judson had spent thirty-eight years in Burma. Although he had waited six years for his first convert, sometime after his death a government survey recorded 210,000 Christians, one out of every fifty-eight Burmans! Used with permission from WholesomeWords.org from Profiles in Evangelism by Fred Barlow, Sword of the Lord Publishers, ©1976.
Left to right: Joel Powers, Dr. Charles Keen, Rev. David Smith
FirstBible International is pleased to announce... that the people of Myanmar (Burma) will soon be the recipient of thousands of Adoniram Judson’s translation of the Burmese Bible (1933 revision) through the generosity of the Gethsemane Baptist Church, Long Beach, California, Rev. David Smith, Pastor. These fine people have made a $50,000 donation so that these storm ravaged people might get the Scriptures. (If you/your church would like to donate toward the shipping costs, please contact FirstBible International.)
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DEVELOPMENT... continued from page 7 new ability for rhetoric (the art of public speaking, such as Shakespeare’s plays); and 4). A solid beginning to establish word spellings and rules of grammar. Although actual English dictionaries and grammar books were practically non-existent until the late 17th century, they still did fairly well. In 1828, Noah Webster (America’s greatest lexicographer* was able to read about 20 different languages) published a definite work with numerous Biblical references, entitled, ‘An American Dictionary of the English Language’
IT ALL BEGINS... continued from page 18 are severely hindered. There is nothing small about all the missionary effort in the world today. But if these concerned Christians could sum up what is missing in their labors into one idea, it might be, “Whatever happened to the Bible?” OUR GREATEST NEEDS: 1. Prayer. We at FirstBible have always marveled that Jesus never taught the disciples how to preach...but how to pray! So it is important that believers pray for continued access to unreached people groups because those 20.
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(containing 12,000 words), which was adopted as the national standard by Congress in A.D. 1831. Today, Global Reach (w) estimates that almost 37% of the world speaks English (only 9% of the world has it as their mother tongue) and it is estimated the number of English words are now well over one million (some estimates are over two million, but even one million is more than any other language by tens of thousands). O *A lexicographer is a writer or compiler of a dictionary.
prayers can help change the face of the world. If you want to be a member of the prayer team with FirstBible, contact our office for free materials that will help you pray in a strategic way or visit our website at www.firstbible.net. 2. Funding for translating and publishing scriptures. Our vision is to help you to be strategic in providing the Scriptures for a world in need. How can we partner with you and serve you in fulfilling our Lord’s command? Contact us today and find out how you can partner with us in publishing the Word of God and making it available to the unreached peoples of our world.
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The Librarian’s Choice EXPLORE THE BOOK by J. Sidlow Baxter Australian born J. Sidlow Baxter (1903-1999) was raised in Lancashire, England. He attended Spurgeon’s College in London before pastoring in England, Scotland, Northampton and Sunderland. He ministered in churches, Bible Conferences, and missionary centers throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and around the world. He authored as many as thirty books analyzing the Bible and advocating a fundamentalist Christian theological perspective. His most popular was a 1760
page work that analyzes each book of the Bible. His work is scholarly but very practical and helpful. Explore the Book contains for each book of the Bible a thorough introduction which discusses the writer, the date of authorship and the major theme and background. A structural outline of each book and a two to five page summary of the meaning and message follows with sufficient explanation to provide a good understanding of the purpose. Following most sections are questions one can use for further study. Baxter deals briefly with outstanding characteristics of particular books such as the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, the three visions of Ezekiel, and the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5. The concise yet thorough nature of this work should cause us to consider it among the best of those books which seek to give a survey of the Scriptures in one volume.
MISSIONARIES TO THE UNREACHED recommended by FirstBible International. If you know of others, please send us their prayer card.
NAME & FIELD
PERSONAL CONTACT INFO
SENDING CHURCH INFO
Chad Mann – India
Go2india@gmail.com - 513.226.3109
First Baptist – Milford, OH - 513-575-1705
Joshua Mead - West Africa
joshuamead@hotmail.com - 810.688.8508 or 810.247.2457
Fostoria Baptist Church - 989.795.2185
Olacheas – Bible Translation
olacheadj@yahoo.com - 352.694.2212
Central Baptist Church
Jeff O’Derry – Madagascar
jeff@theoderrys.com - 427-545-197
Lighthouse Baptist Church
Bill Patterson – Mongolia
bpindia@aol.com
Riverview Baptist Church - 509.547.2021
Mike Paris – Israel
mikeparis@juno.com - 615.330.0274
Franklin Road Baptist Church - 625.890.0820
Paul Scott – Vietnam
PLScott7@yahoo.com
Emmanuel Baptist Bible Church - 315.564.6087
Jerry Sellers – Nepal
jwsellers@juno.com - 731.616.7278 or 7277
Bethlehem Baptist Church
Nathan Sloan – Nepal
423.313.8987
Fairview Baptist Church - 423.745.6781 churchoffice@fairviewathens.org
Cherith Stevens – P. New Guinea Cherith@TheRegionsBeyond.com - 267.882.7668 Margaret Stringer – Indonesia
Faith Baptist Church - 215.946.7550
mstringer16@aol.com - 864-268-3071
Michael Sullivant, Jr. – Thailand
Pembina Valley Baptist Church - 204.325.5670 pvbc@mts.net
Gabriel Swope – Liberia
Fairview Baptist Church - 423.745.6781 churchoffice@fairviewathens.org
Martin White – Mongolia
bbcmongolia@yahoo.co
Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church - 585.288.3243 lbbc1@frontiernet.net
Lewis Young – P. New Guinea
lwjlyoung@earthlink.net - 704.472.5986
Emmanuel Baptist Church - 704.739.9339
*Some names have been withheld for their safety. 22.
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FirstBible International has discovered and compiled the New Testament for 6,000 plus languages and dialects that is presently being used worldwide. It contains a listing of the fundamental Baptist leaders who recommend it, the Baptist Translation Committee that produced it, and a foreword by compiler Dr. Charles Keen, a fundamental Baptist pastor for thirty-five years who is presently the Director of FirstBible International. It is not under copyright and therefore can be reproduced for ministry use. There is a money back guarantee if for any reason you are satisfied with its translation source, linguistic level, or orthography. Because of the limited quantity of these New Testaments and the anticipated responses, we can only allow up to 6 copies per order. A check or money order must accompany each order. •No phone, email, or credit card orders please. •Be sure to include your mailing address •Enclose check payable to FirstBible International for $12.00 per book •Shipping and Handling paid for by FirstBible International
FirstBible International, 3148 Franklin Road, Murfreesboro, TN 37128
This is a real motivator for your missions conference.
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