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EDITORIAL Editor Charles Keen challenges us to rethink the place of shortterm missions in the light of their productivity. Though not against them, he has observed little impact because of them. Renaming them overseas vacations or missions work trips may save us from being inoculated against the call to missions later. PAGE 4
FIRSTBIBLE I N T E R N AT I O N A L OF MEXICO Mark Brown gives an update on the moving of God in Mexico and how it is changing from receptor to sender. He emphasizes the responsibility of “nationals” to go into all the world and reminds us Americans that they are trustworthy and responsible. PAGE 8
SPIRITUAL PROFILING Dr. Norris’ article on spiritual profiling makes us face our racial bias. He suggests that where racism starts, evangelism stops - being different is not synonymous with being inferior. Racism has divided nations but should not divide the church in its effort to evangelize the world. PAGE 5
THE SPREAD OF T H E N AT I O N S This article explains the history of nations, the origin of languages and the reason for the founding of Israel. Many see Israel as God excluding the rest of the world; Keith Krell sees her as God’s way of including the nations. PAGE 11
P I C T U R E O F T H E PA U L I N E C H U R C H Stalker suggests that Acts introduces us to N.T. churches and the Epistles allow us to stop in and participate in their fellowship. With the Church at Corinth as his specimen, we learn the N.T. Church was not much different from the one to which you belong. PAGE 16
FA C T S & S TAT S Facts are not static. These facts give us a profile of peoples and religions across our globe. They should serve as a prayer guide. PAGE 11
A N E N Q U I RY - A RT I C L E 1 William Carey’s Enquiry is certainly the most important document in modern times on the subject of missions. Many feel (as this editor does) it supercedes Luther’s Ninety-Five Thesis in over-all impact. We are going to run a chapter of it in each of next four issues. PAGE 13
THE ENGLISH BIBLE Dr. Keen condensed this article from Trinitarian Bible Society’s The English Bible: Its Origin, Preservation and Blessing. This scholarly and understandable extract should be read by all to examine the facts and be able to present them intelligently to others. PAGE 19
Unpublished WORD - Editor – Charles Keen, Assistant Editor – Ken Fielder, Circulation/Advertising – Jerry Rockwell, Graphic Design – the graphic edge, Frisco, TX,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: keen@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 d it is sin in the ungodly, an st ain ag up nd sta to er o live It is easy for a preach ong in the brethren wh wr d ive rce pe t ou int to po tance. not a hard assignment have personal acquain t no do we om wh th wi a half a continent away ry uncomfortable for a “know it all,” it is ve as off me where they may co to nt wa t tual burden of ministry Since I do no mu a d an es tiv mo od men who have go on the verge of l. In my view, we are me to discuss with good ria ito ed s thi of nd be try area. Such is the ee reasons: need to rethink a minis s trip. I say that for thr on ssi mi m ter t or sh the lue of m missions, I have over estimating the va veral years of short ter se ter Af . int po nd sta from a pragmatic or much desire First I will address this giving, going, praying e, nc da en att l iva rev s condition of our rease in our mission good indicators of the not observed much inc e ar se the of l (al s on can be indicage curriculum on missi visible results, but they for change in our colle on y lel so ing yth er ev you do not judge a cure-all for a t term missions trip as local churches). I know or sh the e se uld co n y pastors and layme missions effort, I thor and director of a tors. I do understand wh au an r, ito ed an am I encies and/or ministry. Because en ads from various ag sick world evangelism ete nin th wi e on t go I es. The other day were no ads or receive several magazin term missions. Yet there t or sh ing nn pla s he materials for churc cially in light of authors offering training asizing these trips, espe ph em erov of e rg ve ng. Are we on the articles on church planti ctivity? for a short term re is the Biblical basis their seeming non-produ he W . int po nd sta al n is from a Biblic lds; for they are The second observatio es, and look on the fie ey ur yo up ft “Li 35 4: mind in this pasase don’t quote John what our Lord had in missions trip? And ple is l ve tra m ter t or sh t st.” I seriously doub on what those in white already to harve pt John Mark. Based up ce ex le Bib the in y ar ul and be gone short term mission be in it for the long ha sage. I can’t think of a uld wo y the em se uld give up to go, it wo to a mission field the Bible were asked to business, etc. Is a trip d an ats bo his ok so ple of Peter who for an overseas vacaa while: as in the exam it from a missions trip to fy ssi cla reto r tte be the real thing. I not, but would it be them a small dose of wrong? Obviously it is ing giv by le op pe e lat think we might inocu long enough to get tion or a work trip? I c. Are our people there eti nth sy or l rea is re perience while the think where short our tourist appetite? I wonder if what they ex fy tis sa to gh ou en g lon evangelism or just nstructing a builda real burden for world on a work detail like co ld fie the to go o wh rk well is with those term missions does wo lar for the missionar y. he likes a group of ing or teaching a modu hy not ask him how W y. ar on ssi mi st ho w is from the local tourist The third point of vie entertaining them at the m, the ng sti ho , try nis mi people and Americans invading his does this have on his t ec eff od go t ha W . of maktraps, transportation, etc hat about the burden W ? ne go e ar u yo en wh results? how does he handle it necessity to show you the d an rs ito vis the for to say? ing his work look good What do you expect him . him g kin as t ou ab t ge s several On second thought, for ur support. Add to thi yo e los or l ua irit sp un k God He can’t afford to loo if you aren’t careful, the d an a, ide the on up k erica. other churches who pic short term team from Am the for ide gu r tou a s me a miscalled missionar y beco ss I am the product of nfe co to ed ne I t, tha After having said all one other man, Jim to Ralph McCoy’s with 96 19 in ico ex M o int sions trip a highly developed ons trip has become ssi mi m ter t or sh e Th Bargo. invited to “eat the articles where you are se tho of e on is is Charles F. Keen, editor Th industry. s.” fish and leave the bone
by Dr. Mike Noris
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) was an African American. In a struggle for racial equality, on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. Her action led to a decisive chapter in the civil rights movement in the United States. Parks later wrote in her autobiography, Rosa Parks: My Story (1992), “…I was a person with dignity and self-respect, and I should not set my sights lower than anybody else just because I was black.” When she refused to give up her place in the front of the bus, she was fined $10, plus $4 in court costs. The black community in Montgomery was outraged by the case and organized a boycott which lasted 381 days. In 1996 President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor that the U.S. government can give to a civilian, and in 1999 she received the Congressional Gold Medal from the Congress of the United States. She died in 2005 at the age of 92. She was the first woman in American history to lie in state at the Capitol’s Rotunda, an honor usually reserved for Presidents of the United States. This bio is not given to support the politics of the NAACP nor its leadership, but to suggest America needs to come to grips with its present day spiritual racism. In 1955 we discovered how deep the problem of racial profiling was ingrained in our culture. I have never marched in a parade nor demonstrated, but I do believe racism is a greater problem than simply where you sit on a bus or from which fountain you must drink. I believe racism was one of the main causes of the lack of world evangelism in Bible times and I believe it is still affecting our obedience to Him for the cause of global outreach.
John 4:9 “…How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” This was their testimony and we have our “Samaritans;” people with which we have no dealing and hence no burden for their soul. This is a truism: Where our racism starts our burden stops. Unpublished WORD
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Chapter 3 and 4 of John make an interesting couplet in the study of soul-wining. In chapter 3, we have a good man being saved and in chapter 4 - a bad woman. Chapter 3 is a night time scene and chapter 4 a noon time. In chapter 3 it is a Jew coming to Jesus; chapter 4 is a Samaritan. It is the winning of the Samaritan that will be the emphasis of this article. The noteworthy thing is the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. We could call that spiritual profiling (which is only another way to identify racism). Even the apostles were surprised He had carried His ministry to this extent as indicated in verse 27 “…and marveled that he talked with the woman…” I suggest racism isn’t just in recognizing the differences in us but in seeing a superiority in those differences. One of the biggest problems in world evangelism is thinking we are superior to others. I state emphatically that our soul-winning burden stops where our prejudices begin. The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans because they saw them as inferior. The Samaritan’s rejected the Bible except for the first five books of Moses; they were half-breed Jews who intermarried with the Assyrians in 730 BC; and they refused Jerusalem as the place of worship (v. 20). They had not only written off the Samaritans, and as all racists do, they had let their racism extend to the rest of God’s creation and wrote off the rest of the Gentile population – both acts of racism. I wonder whom you have written off. Who is it with which you have no dealings? Prejudices are not new nor are they just conditions only of the past. We have had them since we became a nation. We had a prejudice toward blacks in the south which led to the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Lincoln, then to the Civil Rights Act. We have had prejudices against the Japanese when we put them in detainee camps during World War II. We had prejudices against women which resulted in the Women’s Suffrage 19th Amendment. During our frontier days in the west there was a terrible prejudice against the American Indians that led to the formation of reservations. Do you have “Samaritans” with whom you have no dealings? Those on whom you are spiritual profiling – moving them to the back of your bus? Our prejudiced attitude is so unchristlike. Maybe the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans but Jesus had a lot of dealings with them. He healed ten lepers in Luke 17:14 and chided nine of them for a lack of gratitude. The tenth did return to 6.
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thank Him, a Samaritan. This would be an affront to the Jewish listener, for remember “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Remember the question asked in Luke 10:29: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus gives a parable in Luke 10:29-37 in which He describes a man in great need having been robbed and left for dead. A Jewish priest as well as a Levite, two of Israel’s best, noted the plight and in their callousness passed by lending neither assistance nor giving funds. Then a certain Samaritan came where he was, went to him, bound up his wounds pouring in oil and wine, set him on his own beast, took him to an inn, took care of him, and gave the inn keeper two pence, then pledged more if needed. Which was the neighbor? Those listening to the parable would not even
Our prejudiced attitude is so unchristlike. Maybe the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans but Jesus had a lot of dealings with them. acknowledge the neighbor by his classification, a Samaritan, but simply said: “He that showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said the unthinkable, “Go, and do thou likewise.” Go act like the Samaritan, overcome your prejudices, Wow! What an insult to a Jew. There are commendable things to be found in those against whom you have prejudices. Do you remember the Acts 1:8 rendering of the Great Commission? Jesus lifted the Samaritan to a level of worth equal to the Jerusalem dwellers as well as those of Judea. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Where is the first place the gospel went when it spilled out of the banks of Jerusalem? It went to Samaria. All these Biblical illustrations admonish us to get over your racial prejudices. Those you are prejudiced against are also included in the commission, the cross and the love of God. Isn’t this what the Lord was demonstrating to Peter in Acts 10? This sheet he was rejecting was full of all sorts of creatures, beasts and creeping things. Peter rejected interaction with them. God thundered after three rejected opportunities by Peter to become a part. “Call not what I have cleansed common or unclean.”
Thank God Peter got over his and so too must we. He concluded in Acts 10:34-35 “…Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation…” There is no way we can claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and have “Samaritans” with whom we have no dealings. The sad thing is many of those we choose to have no dealings with in gospel ministry would believe if given the opportunity: Acts 8:12 “But when they
I believe one of the major hindrances to world evangelism, if not the major hindrance, from a human point of view, is our racial prejudice or spiritual profiling. believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Do you know a place or a people where the gospel will not work? Do we believe He is their only hope of Heaven, missing Hell, and becoming an eternal worshipper of God? Are our prejudices so deep we refuse to have dealings with them? Isn’t this the basic sin of Jonah: “no dealings with the ‘Assyrians’”? Will God think more of us than Jonah if we duplicate his worldview? And will we fare better than he? I believe one of the major hindrances to world evangelism, if not the major hindrance, from a human point of view, is our racial prejudice or spiritual profiling. Ask William Carey what cultural obstacles he had to overcome as he went to India, David Brainerd as he went to the American Indian, David Livingstone as he went to Africa, Hudson Taylor as he went to
China, A.J. Gordon as he went to Korea. “Look on the fields; for they are white (red/yellow/ brown/black) unto harvest.” In America many have a prejudice or exercise a spiritual profiling against the Muslim world and from a human perspective it is understandable. On 9-11-01 they leveled two of our towers and damaged our Pentagon killing three thousand, disrupted the life-style of our nation and put our world into a terrible war, causing the loss of life of our military personnel and the spending of billions of dollars defending ourselves against them. Humanly speaking they are our Samaritans with whom we want to have no dealings. But we Christians cannot determine our conduct based on a horizontal view of the situation. We must work from a vertical point of view. The Jews had no dealings with them, but Jesus did and so too must we. We must because Jesus did include them on the cross. His blood is sufficient for them. God commands us to go to the whole world because all men are made in His image and He loves them as well as the Jews. We must include them because whatever they have done does not make them any more deserving of Hell than us. Somebody reached us when we were unreached and “Samaritans.” We must include the Muslim world because in not including them we exclude about one-third of the world’s population. Sixty-five nations of the Muslim world are in the 10/40 Window which comprises one of the largest bodies of false religion on earth. They are presently overlooked but we must cease to have “no dealings” with them. If one African American lady on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, had enough courage and conviction to force a nation to rethink its attitude toward a minority, let us pray that someone will rise up and bring the church of Jesus Christ to her senses and see that “difference” is not another name for inferiority. ❖
MONGOLIA REPORT: A team of 14 people including FBI Representatives, pastors and laymen from various churches just returned from a seven day trip to Mongolia on February 12. Look for an update on what God is doing through FirstBible International - Mongolia in our next edition of the Unpublished WORD Journal. Unpublished WORD
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“And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.” Ezra 3:11
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Mark Brown, Director
a time of rejoicing it must have been that day in Israel. The foundation had been laid for the place where God would be worshipped and from which His workmen would be sent forth to fulfill His commands. All the people praised and gave thanks to our God who had made it all possible. As Director of FirstBible International of Mexico, I too want to praise the Lord for the foundation that is being laid in this sister country. We at FirstBible International of Mexico are praying, working, and asking the Lord to allow us to have a small part in helping Mexico become a real missionary sending nation that will impact the world for Christ. Years ago the Lord directed my wife and me to Mexico. With the Lord’s help and guidance we were allowed to establish two independent fundamental Baptist churches. We fell in love with Mexico and her people. For reasons not understood by us, the Lord allowed my wife to suffer two bouts with cancer that required us to return to the United States to seek the medical help needed. Praise the Lord, He saw fit to graciously heal my wife and give her back to me. Again we did not understand, but beyond any doubt, the Lord directed us not to return to Mexico as missionaries at that time. Many others did not understand. His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always perfect. 8.
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Then not too many years passed and Dr. Keen asked me to head up FirstBible International of Mexico. His words were, “I believe you have come to FirstBible for such a time as this. You know the language, love the people, understand the culture, and have the respect of many of the leaders there.” With this ministry, God has allowed me to go back to the people I love and for whom I am burdened to potentially have an influence that will far outweigh what I could have done as a traditional missionary church planter. As an added bonus, I get to work hand in hand with one of my own preacher boys, Alfredo Diaz, who was saved and called to preach in our ministry there. God is so good! We at FirstBible believe the Hispanic world is becoming a real key in world evangelization. Missiologists today agree that one of the most exciting phenomenons in missions is the participation and growth of missionary involvement by people outside the United States, especially in Mexico and Latin America. In fact, one missiologist estimates that the mission force outside the United States is growing at a rate nearly five times faster than the U.S. The work of missions in Mexico is changing from being a mission field to becoming a country that is sending missionaries around the world. The churches that have been planted there are now strong enough to continue the work of evangelization. These new missionaries can go to many places that have been closed for years to American missionaries. They understand what it is to live in a third world economy. They believe the same God who has supported the North American missionary can support them without dependence upon the North American churches. Years ago the independent fundamental Baptist churches of America caught a vision of the great spiritual need in Mexico. Godly men and women gave their lives to spread the gospel among the Mexican people. The work accomplished has been phenomenal. In almost every state there are thriving soul-winning independent fundamental Baptist churches pastored by Mexican Nationals. In Monterrey, Tijuana, Cuernavaca, Champoton, Merida, Durango, Aguas Calientes, Chilpancinco, Saltillo, Torreon, Mexico City, Celaya, San Luis Potosi, and in many other cities evangelism and church planting are thriving. Dr. Luis Ramos, Pastor of the Bible Baptist Church in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, has partnered with FirstBible International of Mexico to see world mis-
sions take center stage in the local churches of Mexico. Dr. Ramos and his very capable staff, Brother Alfredo Dias and Brother Jorge Rocha, along with this preacher are holding regional meetings all over the country of Mexico. Our purpose is three-fold. First, we are seeking to aid the Mexican national pastors in developing a world vision consistent with Scripture. Second, we are holding classes for the national pastors concerning all aspects of biblical world missions. We are covering subjects such as how to begin a world missions program in your church; how to maintain it; how to raise the awareness among your people as to the world’s needs; how to organize and hold a local church missions conference; how to finance the world missions program; the methods of soul-winning, discipleship, and church planting; the role that Bible translation holds in world missions; and the role the Bible and prayer plays in missions. Third, following these classes which are held in the mornings and afternoons, evening revivals are held with a world missions empha-
sis seeking laborers who will surrender to the task, givers who will commit to support the laborers as they go forth, and servants like Aaron and Hur who will commit to hold them up in prayer. God is at work. A foundation for world missions in Mexico is being laid for His glory. More than fifty local churches have committed to establishing a World Missions program in the past year. More than fifty-four couples have surrendered to carry the gospel to more than twenty-seven nations outside of Mexico. Plans for this coming year are being made at this moment. We are seeking ways that we can be more effective. Brethren, this is exciting! Those of you who pray for us and support us have a vital part. Would you please continue to pray for us, FirstBible International of Mexico? The translation of materials and travel and conference expenses are heavy, but the rewards far outweigh the burdens. “And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.” Ezra 3:11 ❖
“I had perceived by experience, how that it was possible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue, that they might see the process, order, and meaning of the text.” - William Tyndale, Bible Translator and Martyr Unpublished WORD
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by Rex Cobb, Director of Baptist Bible Translators Institute
An inexpensive Bible with cheap paper and a vinyl cover costs only dollars, but if you want a nice, leathercovered Bible with thin pages, you will pay dearly for it. In Communist Europe a Bible once sold for $400.00 on the black market. However, this is not what I mean when I talk about the price of a Bible. I refer more to the sacrifice that must be made so that a people can have God’s Word. For instance, what did it cost William Tyndale to give the English world the Bible? It cost him years of work done in hiding; and he was rewarded in the end by being burned at the stake! Before the translator takes up his pen, he must first take up his cross. This is the price that any true disciple must pay. Death to self, death to his personal ambitions, is the first expense to pay. Translation is not a quick task. In spite of modern technology, it is still going to take the very best years of his life. In theory, computers should speed up the process, but computers cannot heal sick babies, disciple baby Christians, build airstrips and church buildings, home school the children, and a hundred other things that demand the translator’s time. The translator must master the meaning of a bunch of strange sounds and put them in a usable alphabet. He must also crack the culture code and decipher the thinking of the people. Before he begins to translate Scripture, he practices on fairly easy materials such as folk stories, books about health or agriculture, and simple Bible stories. During this time he is training himself 10.
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and his native translation helpers. He is also showing the people that their language can indeed be written. Now the work begins! Even though he has learned thousands of words, the translator hasn’t learned many Bible terms. Take Mark 1:4 for instance. How does he say “baptize”? They don’t baptize people, and if they do, it is a pagan baptism. Can he use the pagan word? What about the word “preach”? The missionary knows the words for “talk,” and maybe “teach,” but not “preach.” And how can someone “preach baptism”? What is repentance? And what is “the remission of sins”? Before the translation session, the translator must study and find out for sure what every word means in his own language. Then he must explain these strange new concepts to the native helper, and together they decide how to say those things. The temptation is to explain instead of translate, thus producing a commentary instead of a translation—we must not do that. In Mark 1:5 the translator might need to clarify to the helper that the “land of Judea” did not really go anywhere; it was the people of the land that did. Verse six mentions the camel, and there may be no word for it if none live in the region. Should the translator transliterate a word from the trade language? Or should he say, “a big animal like a horse with humps”? Because he could not find a word for donkey, one missionary said that Jesus came into Jerusalem on a large animal with long ears. The only animal the people knew with long ears was a rabbit, and they envisioned Jesus riding on an enormous rabbit. That was the first Easter Bunny! And on it goes. Nearly every verse presents a challenge. It can be done, but it is never easy. The initial translation is time consuming, but the checking and editing takes even longer. The translator or the helper must read a passage to others who have no knowledge of the Bible and ask them what it means. If their understanding doesn’t match the Bible, then it’s back to the drawing board. We attempt to translate literally, but sometimes a very literal translation of a verse will be a bad translation because the translator has matched words, but not meanings. In English we say, “We are going to supcontinued on page 14
(Genesis 10:1-11:26) By: Keith Krell BA Th.; M Div Edited by: Dr. Charles F. Keen
1. God made the world one big family (10:1-32). This chapter provides us much important information: This chapter has been called a table of nations because it traces the connected origins of various nations. The descendants of Japheth (10:2-5). Together they form what is known as the “Indo-European” family of nations. They became the coastline peoples, the peoples of the Gentiles (10:5). It was primarily into this area of the world that the New Testament church spread, under the apostle Paul. The descendants of Ham (10:6-20). Here we have the account of the descants of Ham. The nations connected to Ham inhabited northwestern Africa, the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and the Fertile Crescent from Egypt to Mesopotamia. The descendants of Shem (10:21-32). They are the Semitic peoples who inhabited the eastern lands: modern-day Iraq, Iran, and eastern Saudi Arabia. These are the Hebrews, the nation Israel. This section reveals that it was God’s plan to bless the human race by dividing the family of man by languages, locations, and leaders. So why is this important? What difference does this unity of the human race make? They are all our cousins! Their needs, their hopes, their dreams, their problems, their family struggles, their successes, and their failures are really not that much different than ours! All human people, even of different national and cultural identities are of the same origin, have the same dignity, and belong in the same world. Since God has a heart for the world, so must we. 2. The world will never enjoy unity apart from Christ (11:1-26). How did the world become so divided? That’s the point of Genesis 11:1-9. It explains what caused the nations to scatter. The story of the tower also looks ahead by anticipating the role that Abram (12:1-3) will play in restoring the blessing to the dis-
persed nations. Rather than sending something as devastating as a flood to annihilate mankind, however, God now places His hope in a covenant with Abraham as a powerful solution to humanity’s sinfulness. Please also notice that they “settled” in Shinar. In 9:1, God clearly commanded Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth” (cf. 8:17). There is no reason to suspect that Noah’s descendants did not understand what God wanted. God wanted them to move throughout all the earth but they banded together in order to defy God’s command. In 11:3-4, “They said to one another, ‘Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, ‘Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’” The motivation for building a city was to make the builders a name (cf. Ps 14:1). They wanted to “empower” themselves. Verse 4 makes what might be called the first public declaration of humanism: “They said, ‘Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’” This verse reveals three problems. First, man wanted to build a tower that would reach up to the top of the heavens. Secondly, they wanted to make a name for themselves. The third problem revealed in this verse was that they wanted to keep themselves from being scattered over the earth. “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So what was God’s plan? His plan was to foil man’s sin. Language is a unique tool to communicate. continued on page 14 Unpublished WORD
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FACTS
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STATICTICS
• In 1900, no Protestant churches existed in South Korea. Today, South Korea is 30% Christian. • In1900, Africa was 3% Christian. Today, subSaharan Africa is 50% Christian with 25,000 new belivers daily. • In1900, there were 50,000 Protestants in Latin America. Today, the number has risen to 100 million. • In 1950, there were 1 million Christians in China. Today, there are more than 70 million believers, and there are 35,000 new believers daily.
In 1908, the Earth’s population lived rurally. She held only 2 Supercities, London and New York. Today, Earth holds 20 Supergiants (cities over 10 million), 67 Supercities (over 4 million), 425 Megacities (over 1 million), 773 Urban Agglomerations (over 500,000), and 6,453 Metropolises (over 50,000). Missions has moved. 12.
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Source: Mission Maker Magazine, 2008
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 (Section I includes Carey’s treatment of Matthew 28:18-20 in relation to Christians of the late eighteenth century.)
Section One: AN ENQUIRY WHETHER THE COMMISSION GIVEN BY OUR LORD TO HIS DISCIPLES BE NOT STILL BINDING ON US. Our Lord Jesus Christ, a little before his departure, commissioned his apostles to Go, and teach all nations; This commission was as extensive as possible, and laid them under obligation to disperse themselves into every country of the habitable globe, and preach to all the inhabitants, without exception or limitation. They accordingly went forth in obedience to the command, and the power of God evidently wrought with them. The work has not been taken up, or prosecuted of late years (except by a few individuals) with that zeal and perseverance with which the primitive Christians went about it. It seems as if many thought the commission was sufficiently put in execution by what the apostles and others have done; that we have enough to do to attend to the salvation of our own countrymen; and that, if God intends the salvation of the heathen, he will some way or other bring them to the gospel, or the gospel to them. There seems also to be an opinion existing in the minds of some, that because the apostles were extraordinary officers and have no proper successors, and because many things which were right for them to do would be utterly unwarrantable for us, therefore it may not be immediately binding on us to execute the commission, though it was so upon them. To the consideration of such persons I would offer the following observations. FIRST, If the command of Christ to teach all nations be restricted to the apostles, or those under the imme-
diate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, then that of baptizing should be so too. SECONDLY, If the command of Christ to teach all nations be confined to the apostles, then all such ordinary ministers who have endeavoured to carry the gospel to the heathens, have acted without a warrant, and run before they were sent. THIRDLY, If the command of Christ to teach all nations extend only to the apostles, then, doubtless, the promise of the divine presence in this work must be so limited. That there are cases in which even a divine command may cease to be binding is admitted - As for instance, if it be repealed, as the ceremonial commandments of the Jewish law; or if there be no subjects in the world for the commanded act to be exercised upon, as in the law of septennial release, which might be dispensed with when there should be no poor in the land to have their debts forgiven. Or if, in any particular instance, we can produce a counter-revelation, of equal authority with the original command, as when Paul and Silas were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Bythinia, Acts 16:6,7. Or if, in any case, there be a natural impossibility of putting it into execution. But none of these things can be alleged by us in behalf of neglect of the commission given by Christ. We cannot say that it is repealed, like the commands of the ceremonial law; nor can we plead that there are no objects for the command to be exercised upon. Alas! the far greater part of the world, are still covered with heathen darkness! Nor can we produce a counter-revelation, concerning any particular nation, like that of Paul and Silas, concerning Bythinia; and, if we could, it would not warrant our sitting still and neglecting all the other parts of the world; for Paul and Silas, when forbidden to preach to those heathens, went elsewhere, and preached to others. Where a command exists nothing can be necessary to render it binding but a removal of those obstacles which render obedience impossible, and these are removed already. Natural impossibility can never be pleaded so long as facts exist to prove the contrary. Have not the missionaries of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian Brethren, encountered the scorching heat of Abyssinia, and the frozen climes of Greenland, and Labrador, their difficult languages, and savage manners? Or have not English traders, for the sake of gain, surmounted all those things which have generally been counted insurmountable obstacles in the way of preaching the gospel? Men can insinuate themselves into the favour continued on page 23 Unpublished WORD
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The Pri¢e of a Bible continued from page 10 port a missionary.” If we translate literally into Spanish, using the equivalent word for support and say, “We are going to soportar a missionary,” we actually say we are going to “tolerate” or “put up with” him. Translation is moving words, along with the correct meaning, from one language to another. We moved words, but by being too literal we failed to translate. Bible translation in virgin territory is a noble work, but it’s not hard to understand why very few take on this challenge. The living conditions are usually primitive, the work is tedious, and the results (salvation decisions, baptisms, churches) are usually very slow. The translator may be somewhat despised because he lives among people that are despised. He will be criticized by those who know nothing about translation, and by those who do, but use a different method and text. One
The Spread of the Nations continued from page 11 In 11:8-9, Moses writes, “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.” God did not allow human rebellion to reach the level that it had before the flood. And as soon as God confused the language, the engineers could not speak to the laborers. The masons could not speak to the city planners. All the work had to stop. By the way, it’s only from the Scriptures that we learn the true origins of the different languages in different nations in the world. The story of Babel is important for several reasons: •
It explains the beginning of and reason for the various languages of mankind.
•
It probably explains the origin of the “races” within humankind. As inbreeding and lack of access to the larger pool of genes occurred, ethnic characteristics developed.
•
Ethnic characteristics, such as skin color, arose from loss of genetic variability, not from origin of new genes through mutation, as suggested by evolution. All humans possess the same color, just different amounts of it.
•
In the building of the tower we see man’s desire to reach God in his own way. Man’s desire was
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day, the missionary translator is going to hand the people a book, and say, “This is God’s Word.” What an awesome responsibility! And he will stand at the judgment seat of Christ and give account for his work. May he honestly repeat the words of Jesus recorded in John 17:14, “I have given them thy word,” and hear Jesus say, “Yes, you have; and you did it right!” ❖
Rex Cobb graduated from FaithWay Baptist Institute in 1973 and Baptist Bible Translators Institute in 1975. The Cobbs served in Mexico until 1999 and now trains others at BBTI.
a return to Adam and Eve’s effort to become like God (3:5). One of America’s favorite pastimes is baseball. In some ways, the first eleven chapters of Genesis are like a baseball game. The world of humanity represented by Adam and Eve is the batter who stepped up to home plate for the first time in the garden of Eden. The ball—the opportunity to live forever in a right, loving relationship with the Creator and so possess the fullness of His blessing—was thrown. But through man’s choice to disobey God, the world of humanity missed, and that was strike one. In Noah’s day, humanity was back up to bat. The same ball—the opportunity to live in a right relationship with the Creator and receive His full, personal blessing—was thrown. This time the world chose to disregard God, and that was strike two. Chapter 11 of Genesis describes the third time the world of humanity came up to bat. The same ball was thrown at the world. Again, the world swung and missed. To use baseball terminology, we struck out. God is a God of grace. Instead of sending us to the dugout, He grants us grace. God is certainly a God of justice and judgment, but in His economy, grace always prevails. Printed by permission: Keith Krell, Timeless Word Ministries, 2508 State Ave NE Olympia, WA 98506, 360-352-9044, www.timelessword.com.
Nicene Creed We believe in one God, The Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Of all that is, seen and unseen. t, We believe in one Lord, Jesus Chris The only Son of God, Eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, True God from true God, Begotten, not made, Of one Being with the Father; . Through him all things were made For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven, d the Virgin Mary Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit an n. And became truly huma r Pontius Pilate; For our sake he was crucified unde buried. He suffered death and was On the third day he rose again In accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven the Father. And is seated at the right hand of He will come again in glory To judge the living and the dead, And his kingdom will have no end. Lord, We believe in the Holy Spirit, the The giver of life, d the Son Who proceeds from the Father an Is worshiped and glorified hets.* Who has spoken through the prop
*This edited Nicene Creed deals only with the deity of Christ. The following background is how the Nicene Creed came into existence. History records that the Council established the deity of Christ; we believe the Bible did that first.
Standing up for Jesus Athanasius Roman Empire c. A. D. 297-373
“No,” Anthanasius asserted, “Jesus was not other from the Father, but of the Father. Christ was of the same essence as the Father, eternal and divine. He was not created at a certain time, but was always one with the Father the Creator.” Thus, in summary, Athanasius answered Arius at the first church council before Emperor Constantine at Nicea in A.D. 325. Arius and his followers had declared that Jesus was created from nothing and was not of the same essence as the Father, nor was the Holy Spirit. Thus his arguments denied the divinity of Jesus and the existence of the Trinity. Though Athanasius won back his seat in the church leadership under Constantine’s son, Constantine II, and Arius had died suddenly in A.D. 334, the battle was still not over. Due to continued Arian influences, Athanasius was exiled another four times and spent a total of seventeen of his forty-six years as bishop in exile. In one instance an Arian bishop was put in his place in Alexandria, and those who had favored Athanasius’s views of Jesus were persecuted. The Voice of the Martyrs, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers, 2002, pp. 204-208.
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Edited by Dr. Charles Keen From The Life of St. Paul1
In the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles we receive thrilling accounts of the external details of Paul’s history; we are carried rapidly from city to city and informed of the incidents which accompanied the founding of the various churches; but we cannot help wishing sometimes to stop and learn what one of these churches was like inside. In Paphos or Iconium, in Thessalonica or Berea or Corinth, how did things go on after Paul left? What were the Christians like, and what was the aspect of their worship? Happily it is possible to obtain this interior view of things. As Luke’s narrative describes the outside of Paul’s career, so Paul’s own Epistles permit us to see its inside and deeper aspects. They rewrite the history on a different plane. First to the Corinthians a great Greek city – in which there was a Christian church, let us take the roof off the meeting-house of the Christians and permit us to see what was going on within. It is a strange spectacle we witness from this vantage point. It is Sabbath evening, but of course the heathen city knows of no Sabbath. The little company of Christians has been gathering from all directions to their place of worship. Glance round the benches and look at the faces. You at once discern one marked distinction among them: some have the peculiar facial contour of the Jew, while the rest are Gentiles of various nationalities; and the latter are the majority. But look closer still and you notice another distinction; some wear the ring which denotes that they are free, while others are slaves; but not many great, not many mighty, not many noble are there; the majority belong to what in this pretentious city would be reckoned the foolish, the weak, the base and despised things of this world. But observe one thing besides on all the faces present – the terrible traces of their past life. In this Corinthian congregation these awful hieroglyphics are everywhere. Look at that tall, sallow-faced Greek: he has wallowed in the mire of Circe’s swine-pens. Look at that low-browed Scythian slave: he has been a pick16.
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pocket and a jailbird. Look at that thin-nosed, sharp-eyed Jew: he has been a Shylock, cutting his pound of flesh from the gilded youth of Corinth. Yet there has been a great change. Another story besides the tale of sin is written on these countenances. “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Listen, they are singing; it is the fortieth Psalm: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay.” What pathos they throw into the words, what joy overspreads their faces! They know themselves to be monuments of free grace and dying love. But suppose them now all gathered; how does their worship proceed? There was this difference between their services and most of ours, that instead of one man conducting them – all the men present were at liberty to contribute their part. Nor does there seem to have been any fixed order in which the different parts of the service occurred. After the services, the members sat down together to a love-feast, which was wound up with the breaking of bread in the Lord’s Supper; and then, after a fraternal kiss, they parted to their homes. But truth demands that the dark side of the picture be shown as well as the bright one. There were abuses and irregularities in the Church which it is exceedingly painful to recall. These were due to two things – the antecedents of the members and the mixture in the Church of Jewish and Gentile elements. It startles us to learn that some of them were living in gross sensuality, and that the more philosophical defended this on principle. One member, apparently a person of wealth and position, was openly living in a connection which would have been a scandal even among heathens. Others had been allured back to take part in the feasts in the idol temples, notwithstanding their accompaniments of drunkenness and revelry.
“But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” It is evident that these abuses belonged to the Gentile section of the church. In the Jewish section, on the other hand, there were strange doubts and scruples about the same subjects. Some, for instance, had gone to the opposite extreme, whether widows might marry again, whether a Christian married to a heathen wife ought to put her away, and other points of the same nature. While some of the Gentile converts were participating in the idol feasts, some of the Jewish ones had scruples about buying in the market the meat which had been offered in sacrifice to idols, and looked with censure on their brethren who allowed themselves this freedom. These difficulties belonged to the domestic life of the Christian; but, in their public meetings also, there were grave irregularities. The very gifts of the Spirit were perverted into instruments of sin; for those possessed of the more showy gifts, such as miracles and tongues, were too fond of displaying them, and turned them into grounds of boasting. This led to confusion and even uproar; for sometimes two or three of those who spoke with tongues would be pouring forth their unintelligible utterances at once. But there were still worse things inside the Church. Even the sacredness of the Lord’s Supper was profaned. It seems that the members were in the habit of taking with them to church the bread and wine which were needed for this sacrament; but the wealthy brought abundant and choice supplies and, instead of waiting for their poorer brethren and sharing their provisions with them, began to eat and drink so gluttonously that the table of the Lord actually resounded with drunkenness and riot. One more dark touch must be added to this sad picture. In spite of the brotherly kiss with which their meetings closed, they had fallen into mutual rivalry and contention. Brother went to law with brother in the heathen courts instead of seeking the arbitration of a Christian friend. The body of the members was split up into four theological factions. Some called themselves
after Paul himself. Others took the name of Apollonians from Apollos, an eloquent from Alexandria. These were the philosophical party; they denied the doctrine of the resurrection. The third party took the name of Peter, or Cephas, as in their Hebrew purism they preferred to call him. The fourth party affected to be above all parties and called themselves simply Christians. Such is the checkered picture of one of Paul’s churches given in one of his own Epistles; and it shows several things with much impressiveness. It shows, for instance, how exceptional, even in that age, his own mind and character were, and what a blessing his gifts and graces of good sense. It shows that it is not behind but in front that we have to look for the golden age of Christianity. It shows how perilous it is to assume that the prevalence of any ecclesiastical usage at that time must constitute a rule for all times. This is what will always attract to the Apostolic Age the longing eyes of Christians; the power of the Spirit was energizing in every member, the tides of fresh emotion swelled in every breast, and all felt that the dayspring of a new revelation had visited them; life, love, light were diffusing themselves everywhere. Even the vices of the young Church were the irregularities of abundant life, for the lack of which the lifeless order of many a subsequent generation has been a poor compensation. ❖ 1 Excerpts taken from James Stalker, The Life of St. Paul (Old Tappan: NJ. 1950) pp. 104-113. It is out of print but available at amazon.com.
Advancing God’s Global Purpose
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Thinking Outside the Box Dr. Charles Keen Foreword by Dr. Tom Malone
$11.00 *
He Is Worthy Dr. Charles Keen Foreword by Dr. Raymond Barber
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Daily Prayer Calendar 365 unreached people group profiles compiled by Dr. Keen $17.95*
Missions: The Heart of God A four week adult Sunday School series by Ken Fielder (59 pages) $16.00 *
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Living Between Generations Rodney A. Agan Foreword by Dr. David Gibbs and Dr. Charles Keen
This book tackles the subject of how the church can face today’s culture without compromising it’s biblical values. $11.00 *
Thoughts from a Shepherd’s Heart These daily quotes from Dr. Keen will lift and inspire. $12.00 *
Let’s Spread the Word with visuals by Rhonda Brown
A four-week children’s Sunday School series with visuals. (87 pages) $24.95* Unpublished WORD
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AN ADAPTED EXTRACT BY DR. CHARLES KEEN FROM
B Y T H E T R I N I TA R I A N B I B L E S O C I E T Y
The Old Testament In the Jewish community the Word of the Lord was to be taught orally: “talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way…” (Deuteronomy 6.7). Thus, much of Hebrew Scripture has a cadence and rhythm which is easily memorized, and frequently uses devices such as repetition of sounds (as is found in Psalm 119) and parallelism (as seen in the Proverbs). However, the Scriptures were also to be written (e.g., Numbers 5.23; Deuteronomy 17.18, 31.19). During the life of Moses and into the Christian era, written Hebrew was without any punctuation marks or vowel designations in a simple consonantal text. The breaks between sentences and phrases and even words was to be known on the basis of the oral tradition. During the time of the dispersion of the Jews, the Hebrew Scriptures continued to be used, but they were also translated into Greek. This translation, known as the Septuagint, was used by Christ and the apostles in many of their quotations as recorded in the New Testament. In the first centuries after the birth of Christ, Jewish scholars and rabbis recognized that the understanding of the Hebrew text was in danger of being lost. A group known as the Masoretes set about producing a Hebrew Old Testament which provided not only a standardized consonantal text but also indicated the vowel sounds and accentuation as found in the oral tradition. Their work began around AD 200, and by the early 11th century AD the Masoretic Text had been established and standardized. Although some used the Septuagint, it is this Masoretic Hebrew text which became the standard throughout the centuries as the basis of the Old Testament in various languages.
The New Testament However, the canon of Scripture did not end with the Old Testament. God in His providence also moved men to write during the first century following the birth of Christ. Some He moved to write historical accounts of His Son and of the early church. Others He moved to send letters to the churches in order to encourage and correct them. To one man He gave a vision of what was to come when His church was in ‘the last days.’ Thus, God provided an inspired and inerrant text of the New Testament in a time when Greek was the most common language of the people. Greek was very well suited to the writing of the New Testament. Whereas Hebrew was easy to remember, Greek was precise and explicit. The Jews destroyed old manuscripts in order to avoid confusion which might be caused by differences in manuscripts, and accepted essentially one standardized Hebrew text. However, copious copies of the Greek writings were made and preserved, and today we have over 5,000 manuscripts containing various portions of the New Testament writings. Whereas our Old Testament text is based upon the standardized work of the Masoretes, the New Testament comes from the great quantity of manuscripts available today. The best and most faithful representation of this New Testament text is the Textus Receptus, also known as the Traditional or Received Text. The Scriptures in the Original Languages Various church fathers held differing positions as to which books of the New Testament should be added to the Old Testament to make up the Christian Scriptures, but in the end they recognized the twenty-seven books which, added to the Old Testament, make up what we Unpublished WORD
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know today as the Bible. During the first five hundred years of the Christian era translations of these Scriptures were made into various languages: Coptic, Gothic, Syriac, Armenian, Itala, etc. One of the most important of these, the Vulgate, was the Latin translation produced by Jerome in the 4th century. For several centuries this Latin translation became the basis of translations into other languages. As time went on, however, the Vulgate was often ‘corrected’ to reflect growing Roman Catholic doctrine, and these changes made their way into some of the translations that were made into other languages. A growing number of men realized the importance of translating the Scriptures from the Greek and Hebrew into the languages of the common people rather than leaving the common people to follow the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The Bible in English Several attempts were made to provide the Word of God in the language of the people of England, and numerous translations of various portions of Scripture were produced, although most were based upon the Latin rather than the original language texts. Early in the 8th century Aldhelm of Glastonbury translated the Psalms and Egbert of Holy Island translated the Gospels. In AD 735 Bede laboured at Jarrow on his translation of the Gospel. Alfred the Great desired that his people should be able to read the Word of God and he personally engaged in a translation of various passages of Scriptures until his death in AD 901. In the late 10th century Archbishop Aelfric and a number of others endeavoured to provide translations which could be read in the churches so that many who could not read would at least hear the Word of Truth. However, it was not until the thirteenth century that a language resembling present English came into being, and it was not until the fourteenth century that a truly English translation of the Scriptures was produced. Wycliffe, knowing no Hebrew or Greek, translated from the Latin Vulgate. This translation, because of the Vulgate’s Roman bias, was far from perfect; nevertheless it showed only too clearly how far the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church were removed from the plain teaching of God’s Word. Wycliffe was accused of heresy and excommunicated, but continued with his task until his death in 1384. Every copy of his translation had to be written by hand, but so many were written that a Bill was enacted in Parliament to 20.
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forbid its circulation. Yet the people were so hungry for the Word of God that Wycliffe’s Bible continued in circulation. In 1408 a convocation at Oxford under Archbishop Arundel decreed that any man found translating any text of Scripture into English or any other tongue, or found reading either publicly or privately any such translation, would suffer excommunication and be punished as a favorer of heresy and error. During the next hundred years many Christians were burned to death with Wycliffe’s Bible tied around their necks, but 170 copies remain to this day to testify to his faithfulness and the diligence of his helpers. During this period also a young man in Germany made one of mankind’s greatest discoveries – printing – and in the 1450s Gutenberg set up his famous press at Mainz. This epoch-making invention contributed greatly towards the revival of Greek learning, which had commenced about the middle of the fifteenth century, and in many ways led to the establishment of the Reformation in Europe. At the time of the Renaissance and the Reformation, men realized the importance of the original language texts of Scripture and began to study Greek and Hebrew. They worked to produce a single Greek New Testament text from the various manuscripts available to them. The form of Greek New Testament text produced by Erasmus, Beza, Stephanus and the Elzevirs, in time referred to as the Received Text, and the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament as printed by Bomberg in 1525, came to be used by most scholars until the late 19th century. Not everyone had opportunity to study the Scriptures in the original languages, but everyone had the moral right to study the Scriptures in their own languages. Because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that, the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.1
William Tyndale, using the Greek New Testament of Erasmus, translated the New Testament into English. For his ‘heresy’ he spent several years in exile, eventually being arrested, imprisoned, and burned at the stake in 1536 in what is today Belgium. His prayer as the flames grew near was “Lord! open the eyes of the King of England”, a prayer which God was pleased to answer two years later. In October 1535, Miles Coverdale published the first complete Bible in English. “Although it was translated from German and Latin, not from the biblical languages, it read well.”2 During the same time Matthew’s Bible, edited by John Rogers, was also published. “The Act of Supremacy passed by the English Parliament in 1534 separated the Church of England from Rome and made the king of England the head of the church,”3 thus beginning in earnest the Reformation in England. The Ten Articles, the basic theological guidelines for the new Church of England, were published in 1536. Then came the Injunction of 1538, which “called for Bibles to be made available to the people in every parish church: ‘one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume, in English, and the same set up in some convenient place within the said church that you have cure of, where your parishioners may most commodiously resort to the same and read it…’. The clergy were warned not to discourage any person from reading or hearing the Bible read but rather to encourage its use.”4 Henry VIII approved of the Coverdale Bible as well as Matthew’s Bible. The latter was essentially Tyndale’s work; thus, Tyndale’s dying prayer was answered as the English people were finally able to read the Scriptures in their own language. However, “after careful scrutiny Matthew’s Bible was discovered to be too true to the biblical languages for the Tudor government – hence it was altered in 1538-39. The revised edition became known as the Great Bible. This was the version that finally made it to the lecterns of the churches for the Sunday morning Scripture lessons.”5 The work of translation, however, did not stop. Other English translations include those of Taverner (1539), the Geneva Bible (1557-1560), and the Bishops’ Bible (1568). Because of the persecutions of Protestants during its translation, the Geneva Bible contained numerous marginal notes exposing the errors of the Roman Catholic Church. The Geneva was the first to divide chapters into verses, making it much easier to
use. It was popular and remained in use for a considerable time after the first appearance of the Authorized Version. The Bishops’ Bible was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to be free from the controversial notes found in the Geneva Bible. The Bishops’ Bible took the place of the Great Bible in the public services of the Church but never achieved great popularity. However, it was later used as the basis of the revision of 1611 which was to become known as the Authorized Version. The Authorized Version January 16, 1604: the Puritan John Rainolds6 stood before the new king of England in the palace at Hampton Court. “‘May your Majesty be pleased,’ said Dr. John Rainolds in his address to the king, ‘to direct that the Bible be now translated, such versions as are extant not answering to the original’.”7 Thus “started the greatest writing project the world has ever known, and the greatest achievement of the reign of James I – the making of the English Bible which has ever since borne his name.”8 Bishop Bancroft appointed fifty-four learned men from throughout the kingdom to fulfill the king’s will of producing a new English translation of the Bible. These were divided into six main groups: two at Westminster, one for the Old Testament and one for the New; two at Oxford, one for each Testament; and two at Cambridge, one for the Old Testament and one for the Apocrypha. “The King James Bible began to seep into common living.”9 It has undergone four major revisions. The last revision, done in 1769, became known as the Oxford ‘Standard’ Edition and is the edition used by most who use the Authorized Version today. ❖ This article is an adaptation of the Trinitarian Bible Society’s publication, “The English Bible: Its Origin, Preservation and Blessing”, Article No. 101. 1 Westminster Confession of Faith, I.viii. 2 William R. Estep, Renaissance and Reformation (Grand Rapids, MI, USA: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986), p. 258. 3 Ibid., p. 249. 4 Ibid., p. 258, quoting Documents of the Christian Church, 2nd ed., Henry Bettenson, ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), pp. 231-32. 5 Ibid. 6 Rainolds is also spelled Reynolds, Reinolds or Raynolds in other publications. 7 Gustavas S. Paine, The Men Behind the King James Version (Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Baker Book House, 1977), p. 1. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid., p. 154.
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The Librarian’s Choice THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL by James Stalker The Librarian’s Choice for this issue of the Unpublished WORD Journal is a small but powerful work by Rev. James Stalker, The Life of Chronological St. Paul. In Reese’s Encyclopedia of Christian Biographies, we learn that Stalker was a Church of Scotland minister at Kirkcaldy and Glasgow, a professor at the United Free Church College in Aberdeen and a frequent lecturer in America. He died in 1929, but his greatest contribution to his own generation and succeeding ones would be in the area of his literary skills. He wrote several books. His two most famous works are, The Life of Jesus Christ, thought by some to be one of the greatest non-inspired books ever written, and another very valuable one, The Life of St. Paul, which is the focus of this article.
Stalker’s strength in writing was not in his theological positions, but in his word crafting skills. He could reduce the story line to its lowest possible word count and not lose the flow of the narrative. Examples of his skills would be in his retelling of Paul’s week long storm and ship wreck in Acts 27 in a brief paragraph or his concise description of the church at Corinth and her worshippers. He has a way of reading between the lines. Stalker, like every student of Paul, has his own chronology as to the unfolding of the events of the apostle’s life. A condensed version of chapter eight from this book entitled “The Picture of a Pauline Church” is included in this edition of the UWJ on page 16. This is a good, readable book that will enrich your knowledge of Paul without becoming laborious. It is out of print but available at www.amazon.com.
AN ENQUIRY continued from page 13 of the most barbarous clans, and uncultivated tribes, for the sake of gain; and how different soever the circumstances of trading and preaching are, yet this will prove the possibility of ministers being introduced there. It has been objected that there are multitudes in our own nation, and within our immediate spheres of action, who are as ignorant as the South-Sea savages, and that therefore we have work enough at home, without going into other countries. That there are thousands in our own land as far from God as possible, I readily grant, and that this ought to excite us to tenfold diligence in our work, And in attempts to spread divine knowledge amongst them is a certain fact; but that it ought to supersede all attempts to spread the gospel in foreign parts seems to want proof. Our own countrymen have the means of grace, and may attend on the word preached if they choose it. They have the means of knowing the truth, and faithful ministers are placed in almost every part of the land, but with them the case is widely different, who have no Bible, no written language, (which many of them have not,) and no ministers. Pity therefore, humanity, and much more Christianity, call loudly for every possible exertion to introduce the gospel amongst them. � (We will be publishing a continuing series of all five chapters of William Carey’s An Enquiry in following editions of the Unpublished WORD Journal. The unabridged version may be purchased through Keen Publications.)
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A Fundamental Approach to the 10/40 Window www.firstbible.net