Unpublished Word Winter 2011 by Jack Fargo

WINTER 2011 Youth Edition Summer 2007

THE MISSION’S QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF FIRSTBIBLE INTERNATIONAL

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

We should be thankful that we didn’t have to endure the silent years.

THE KING JAMES BIBLE - 400 YRS.

The 400 years of the King James Bible should not go without notice. Its inﬂuence is immeasurable.

FIELD OF DREAMS

Can dreams inﬂuence our service to God? Read what Dr. Keen says about his dreams.

“…CLOAK… BOOKS… PARCHMENTS.” II TImoThy 4:13

CANONIZATION IS VITAL TO PRESERVATION

God gave the local church the responsibility of being a pillar of the truth, His Word.

TRANSLATORS TO THE READERS

A forgotten but important document is brought back to life. Read some of what the translators of the KJV had to say.

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MISSIONS

“cloaks...books...parchments” are some things Paul requested. How do these things apply to missionaries today?

Cover art designed by Will Stewart of Pleasant View Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina.

Unpublished WORD EDITOR: ASSISTANT EDITOR: CIRCULATION/ADVERTISING: GRAPHIC DESIGN:

Dr. Mike Norris Joel Powers Jerry Rockwell Steeple Press Publications, Jody Powers, Murfreesboro, TN 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 The Unpublished WORD Journal is a quarterly publication of FirstBible INTERNATIONAL.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 ofﬁcers at: FirstBible INTERNATIONAL, 3148 Franklin Road, Murfreesboro, TN 37128 (615) 796-0043 ∙ info@firstbible.net ∙ www.ﬁrstbible.net

FirstBible INTERNATIONAL is a ministry of Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

∙

Dr. Mike Norris, Pastor Unpublished WORD [3

EDITORIAL With this edition of the UWJ, we would like to say with others around the world, “Happy anniversary to the King James Bible!” On May 2, 2011, the world will recognize four hundred years of its amazing history and impact on the soul of man. This occasion has caused me to think about the four hundred “Silent Years” between the Old and New Testaments. After the historical record of Nehemiah and the prophecy of Malachi, no voice was heard or vision seen from Heaven until God sent His angel messenger to Zacharias to say, “Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:13). We know that Zacharias would later become the father of John the Baptist, who would announce to the world, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:4). We do not know if Zacharias was praying for a child for him and his wife or praying that God would send the world a Saviour, but we do know that he was praying in the darkness of the Inter-Testament Period! I rejoice that the English-speaking people did not have to endure four hundred silent years without a Bible! Because of the effort put forth by those under “His Majesty’s Special Command,” we can hold in our hands a copy of the Holy Bible. I vividly remember my first Bible. It was a big, black Bible originally given to my mother by my grandfather. Later, the Gideons gave me and every other sixth grader in my school a small, blue New Testament. They came right into our classroom, read the Bible out loud to us, and shared the Gospel. Can you believe that? Then, when I graduated from high school, my pastor presented me another Bible in front of the church. Today I have dozens of copies of the Scriptures written in plain English so that I might know what God requires of me. It is the goal of FirstBible International to make it possible for every people group in the world to have a copy of the Scriptures in their mother tongue. It is only fair for the unreached to know what English-speaking people know about God and His Word. The journal that you hold in your hands is simply the vehicle that we use to provoke this thought into the minds of pastors, missionaries, and other church leaders. As we celebrate this landmark anniversary of the King James Bible (1611-2011), may I remind you of some more recent anniversary dates for Bible translation? Over the past ten years, FirstBible has been involved in completing the translation of the Gospel of John and other Scripture portions for the Paite, Mongolian, KreyÓl, Burmese, Zobya, Simte, Mizo, Manipuri, Hakha Chin, Falam Chin, Chiru, Chakma, and Baulkhaw languages. As God led the men behind the King James Bible four hundred years ago, may He lead men today to see the importance of translating and distributing the Bible to the uttermost!

Dr. Mike Norris, Pastor Franklin Road Baptist Church Director of FirstBible INTERNATIONAL

4] Unpublished WORD

Formerly unknown Language Found in India BY JERRY ROCKWELL

According to the website Ethnologue, there are 6,909 known languages in the world.1 According to the Times of India, October 2010 issue, a new language group called the Koro language was discovered in India. The article also suggests that a language dies every fourteen days.2 It is reported that the Koro language has from eight hundred to twelve hundred speakers, which is only a small group of people using the language. What is interesting is that many of the younger people are opting for other languages like English or Hindi. This is alarming to two groups: the anthropologists and the older traditionalists within the language group who hang on desperately to the tongue of their ancestors. The traditionalist desperately wants the younger people to become committed to their birth language. The anthropologist has a different purpose in preserving the language. One writer suggests that “every time a language is lost, a complex and ancient constellation of stories, poems, myths, and legends also dies.”3 The Koro language is expected to die in this century. While there are languages that are obscure and even unknown, our mandate is still the same. We are to reach everyone with the Gospel. These “disappearing” languages represent people of the world who do not know of the one true God or of the saving work of Jesus Christ. Yet, the Bible is still not translated into their language. Bible translation is the most important ingredient in our Lord’s goal of church planting. When a language dies if we are concerned solely for the loss of cultural items like stories and poems, we have lost our way. Shouldn’t we be concerned about the countless thousands who have died without knowing the one true God? Are we as concerned about those Quoteworthy individuals who die without knowledge of the saving work of Jesus Christ as those linguists “Thinking outside the box will place who lament the loss of cultural significance? you in the 10/40 Window from where you can get the best and clearest view of the remaining billions of 1 See: http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution. asp?by=size. unreached peoples in our world.” 2 http://timesoﬁndia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6697954. 3

cms?prtpage=1 Elizabeth Weise, “Rare new language with only 800-1,200 speakers discovered in India,” USA Today, October 6, 2010.

-Dr. Charles Keen 2010 Unpublished WORD [5

The King James Bible ~ 400 Years I DR . MIKE NORRIS

n 1611, the world was introduced to a new translation that would have an impact on mankind that few could anticipate. King James I, recently ascended to the throne of England, met with a group of theologians and churchmen, some of them having grievances against the current condition of the church in England. Little did they expect that the meeting would result in the production of a new translation that would continue to be used for four hundred years. Those who study the history of the King James Bible know of the events in Hampton Court in January of 1604. Dr. John Reynolds, president of Corpus Christi College in Oxford, set forth the resolution to produce the new translation of the Bible. He was a leader of the Puritan element in the Church of England and considered one of the greatest biblical scholars of his day. Although some opposed the resolution, it passed and put into motion the production of what some have called one of the greatest accomplishments in modern ecclesiastical history. Alister McGrath made this observation about the effect this literary document had on the nation of England. He said, “The publication of the King James Bible in 1611 can be seen as the crowning literary and religious glory of a nation that had finally come of age and took pride in its own language.”

The King James Bible came from the line of English Bibles that began with the Wycliffe Bible. John Wycliffe, known as the “Morning Star” of the Reformation, was the first to translate the complete Bible into the English language. While there had been other translations of portions of the Bible into Saxon, the parent language of the English language, the Wycliffe Bible put these together into one complete English Bible. John Wycliffe brought to the Englishspeaking world a Bible they could understand. At that time, the Bible in any language other than Latin was forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church. Some have considered the King James Bible to be the “Reformation” Bible since it derived from the Wycliffe Bible 1 2 3

and came on the heels of Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible, which is considered to be the impetus behind the Reformation. When the King James Bible was first translated, there was not a wholesale acceptance of it. Attacks against the new translation began in the 1600s (and continue today). The translators addressed the opposition in the first sentence of the document “Translators to the Reader”: “Zeal to promote the common good, whether it be by devising anything ourselves or revising that which has been accomplished by others, deserves great respect and esteem yet finds only cold reception in the world.” The reception has progressed

from cold (in 1611), to wholesale use and acceptance (1611-1880), to a form of respect by some and a display of contempt by others in the present day. FirstBible International is part of the group that respects the King James Bible as God’s Word. For those who may have contempt for the KJV, let us examine the following question: “How does the KJV’s past four hundred years of spiritual accomplishments compare with the accomplishments of current English revisions and translations?” A brief overview of history will quickly prove the superiority of our beloved English copy.

In The Beginning, New York: Anchor Books, 2001, page 23. Revised edition by Jerry Rockwell, Murfreesboro: FirstBible Publications, 2010, page 1. These three languages have all become what some call “dead” languages as far as their public use is concerned. There are those who still use these languages but they are far from the biblical usage.

6] Unpublished WORD

• THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE OF AMERICA’S FOUNDING FATHERS. While the first Pilgrims and Puritans who arrived in America used the Geneva Bible, the King James Bible quickly took over and became the standard of our new nation. The early Congress of the United States had a definite commitment to the Bible. In September, 1782, Congress passed a resolution commending the first printing of the Bible in the United States by a man named Robert Aiken. They recorded in the Journals of the Continental Congress 17741789 on Thursday, September 12, 1782, “Gentlemen, our knowledge of your piety and public spirit leads us without apology to recommend to your particular attention the edition of the Holy Scriptures publishing by Mr. Aiken. He undertook this expensive work at a time when, from the circumstances of the war, an English edition of the Bible could not be imported nor any opinion formed how long the obstruction might continue. On this account particularly he deserves applause and encouragement. We therefore

wish you, reverend gentlemen, to examine the execution of the work; and if approved, to give it the sanction of your judgment and the weight of your recommendation. We are with very great respect, your most obedient, humble servants.” • THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE OF THE FIRST AND SECOND GREAT AWAKENING REVIVALS. There is little doubt concerning the inﬂuence of the King James Bible on the character and culture in the early life of the United States. The KJV Bible was used by the Holy Spirit of God to bring about two great revivals. Americans were convicted by the Holy Spirit when they heard the preaching of men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. They were confronted from the King James Bible with their sinfulness. As a result, many were saved; and their lives, as well as our nation, were changed for the better. (Obviously, the King James Bible does not supersede the work of the Holy Spirit, but its inﬂuence is very clear.)

• THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE THAT WAS TAUGHT IN OUR ORIGINAL BIBLE COLLEGES AND SEMINARIES. Most understand that the major Ivy League institutions like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale all began as institutions of higher learning to train men for the ministry. The Bible used in these institutions was the venerable King James Bible. These institutions and others did not depart from the use of the KJV until the1930s and ‘40s. Up until that time, almost without exception, the Scripture used was the King James Bible. • THE KING JAMES BIBLE WAS THE BIBLE USED IN THE MODERN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. Few dispute the modern missionary movement, which began with William Carey and lasted until the middle of the twentieth century. Meetings such as the Haystack Prayer Meeting spurred young people to commit to the call of the Lord to reach the heathen in foreign lands. The movement did not begin to diminish until the advent of the “new”

continued on page 16 Unpublished WORD [7

CHINA REPORT Truth or Propaganda? According to Michael A Vuj of the Christian Post Recorder, Amity Printing Company in the city of Nanjing, China, reports that it now prints one million Scriptures a month. Vuj says that Amity is the only oﬃcial Bible publisher in China and has grown to become the largest publisher of the Bible in the world, printing in English, French, Spanish, and Braille. They claim to have exported over twenty-six million copies of the Bible to sixty countries. Zhoghughul Qiu , chairman of the board of Amity Printing Company, attributes this achievement of printing eighty million total copies of the Bible since1988 to the Chinese Christians and even more so to the open policy of China to the Christian faith. Similarly, David Thome, Asian secretary of the United Bible Society (UBS), credits the support of the Chinese government for this achievement. Xiaohong Xu, general secretary of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TPM), reports that one quarter of all Bibles printed in the world today are now printed in China. Xinhua reports eighty million Bibles printed, while estimating only sixteen million Christians in China. This estimation makes his facts suspect because other freedom groups report over one hundred million believers in China, most in house or underground churches. 8] Unpublished WORD

By DR. ChARLES KEEN

Is this truth or propaganda? There are some questions we need to ask ourselves about this report: 1.

How are the Bibles that the Chinese print distributed? Todd Nettleton, director of media for Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), points out that of the five accepted religions in China, the only Holy Book not allowed to be sold in public bookstores is the Christian Bible.

If the Chinese are shipping millions of Bibles abroad, how many are left for the Christian public of China? And of those left, “what are they among so many?” ( John 6:9). What is one million a month in a population of over two billion people?

We cannot overlook the version issue. What text do the Chinese print, formal or critical? If they are partnering with the United Bible Society, as David Thomes says they are, they are printing a form of the Westcott and Hort critical text.

Thus, according to Nettleton of VOM, the need is still great for us to smuggle Bibles into China. For even more information on this topic, the Christianity Today magazine (though not necessarily of our theological position) has an interesting article called “Smuggle Bibles into China? It’s Still Necessary.”

FIELD

DREAMS

ome folks feel as if they need a little more history of where we are, how we got here, and where we’re going; so let me tell you about some things that God did in our lives to get us to where we are today. This is a briefing paper, designed to help the reader be more familiar with the history of FirstBible International (FBI), its present operation, and our vision for the future.

and thou shalt put them in the ark. And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the ﬁrst, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the ﬁrst writing, the ten commandments… And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.”

I entitled this article “The Field of Dreams” because my involvement with the Word of God came out of three diﬀerent dreams. When the Bible talks about a vision, a vision really is deﬁning how to get to the dream. The Bible uses those words interchangeably. The Bible says in Genesis 37:1-9, “And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren… And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed… And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more…”

From these verses, God gave First Baptist Church/Milford (FBC/M) a dream of getting the Bible back under the authority of the local church, which is the holiest place on earth. When Moses came off the mountain, he put the tables of stone in the Ark, being the most holy place in all Israel. It was a place of safety and protection, and it was under the authority of God’s people. Now, as ﬂawed as the church may be in some cases, it is still the most holy place there is on earth. We started the ministry in 1973 under the authority of the First Baptist Church/Milford and called it Bearing Precious Seed (BPS), named by Don Frazier. FBC/M just produced the 100 millionth copy of the Word of God under the leadership of Pastor Dr. Bill Duttry.

DREAM ONE: My first dream was to put Bible publishing back under the authority of the local church. God also used Deuteronomy 10:1-5, where we see Moses coming off the mountain with the tables of stone. It says, “At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the ﬁrst, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the ﬁrst tables which thou brakest,

When Moses came off the mountain with the Word of God, he put it in the Ark. The original stayed there, but there were copies made by the scribes. The scribes of

By Dr. Charles Keen

the tribe of Levi, the priests, were of God’s people. So we, as God’s priests, are to keep it; and we’re to preserve it, publish it, and print it. It is our responsibility and our privilege. DREAM TWO: Genesis 37:9 says, , “And he dreamed yet another dream.” Our second dream was to extend the dream into a missionary support effort. What most folks don’t realize is that BPS was not started for missions. It became a great missionary support effort for men and women who were involved in world evangelism. Now BPS has given away 100 million Bibles to missionaries (free, in most cases). Where did all that money come from? I often wonder how much it cost to print 100 million Scriptures and how much it cost to ship them. How much did it cost to build the buildings, buy the presses and support equipment, pay the shop people, buy the boxes to ship the Bibles and the glue to bind them? We do not know how many millions of dollars have gone into BPS efforts for missionaries since 1973, but we have learned that God always funds obedience. So, we went into a mission effort. That was my second dream, and it came from I Samuel 13:19-22. “Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, continued on page 18 Unpublished WORD [9

Canonization Is Vital to Preservation

By Dr. Charles L. Surrett 1

he “necessary ingredient” in the work of the church will bring about varied discussions. There are many A study of the canon of the New Testament should begin with the fact that God intended for believers and local churches throughout this dispensation to be the vehicles of preserving His Word.* He calls the local church the “pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). The “pillar,” according to the Greek language, is a “support or carrier.” Regarding the Greek word for “ground,” the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says,“No longer God alone, but also the Church of God, now guarantees the permanence of the (alethia).” Thus, God gave to the local church the responsibility to support, carry, protect, and maintain the accuracy and authority of the truth. This concept is seen in II Cor 11:2; Phil 2:16; I Tim 3:9, 15; 4:16; 5:17; 6:14, 20; II Tim 1:13-14; 3:14; Titus 1:9; II Pet 3:1-3, 16; and Jude 3.* God is still doing the preserving, but He uses the local church and individual believers to do so. One way this was done in history is through the process that we call “canonization.” Canon is a Greek word meaning “straight rod,” used by ancient craftsmen to determine the straightness of things and to reject that which was crooked. It would be akin to a modern carpenter’s framing square, which is used to determine if the studs being installed are plumb. In relation to the Scripture, it was a way for the local churches to describe which ancient books they considered to be “straight” in their origin (inspired by God) and to distinguish them from other good books or letters written by contemporary Christian authors. This was not necessarily a formal process by which a group of men decided what should be placed in the Bible. They simply listed what had already been accepted as Scripture. These were books that had to be (1) traceable to the Apostles or their immediate circle, (2) consistent with each other and with the old Testament, and (3) generally accepted by Christians and local churches as Scripture. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF CANONIZATION history reveals statements which indicate the early usage of New Testament books. As early as A.D. 95 (about the time of the writing of the book of Revelation), Clement of Rome referred in his writings to the books of matthew, Luke, Romans, I Corinthians, and hebrews, using them as authoritative. Justin martyr wrote (circa A.D. 140) that the Gospels were regularly read in church services, along with the old Testament. The “muratorian Fragment,” which comes from approximately A.D. 170, was a torn portion of a document that lists the Gospels, Acts, thirteen epistles of Paul, and two epistles of John, Jude, and Revelation as being universally accepted by believers. Irenaeus, in about A.D. 180, quoted as

Scripture many of the books listed in the “Fragment” as well as I John, I Peter, and hebrews. In about A.D. 200, Tertullian indicated that the New Testament books were not only accepted in the churches but had been translated into Latin, including all but three of the present New Testament books. origen*(A.D. 185-254) listed all twenty-seven books of the New Testament in his writings. Thus, within about 150 years of the completion of the writing of the book of Revelation, local churches viewed these twenty-seven New Testament books as having the same authority and inspiration that they ascribed to the old Testament. The Roman Emperor Diocletian persecuted Christians, ordering in A.D. 303 that church buildings should be destroyed and the Scriptures burned. This caused believers to distinguish between which writings were worth risking their lives for (the canon of Scripture) and which were not. That was one factor God used to impress upon them the need for diligence in this area. Although the Sinaiticus2 manuscript is not the most reliable text of the Greek New Testament,3 this fourth-century manuscript contains the same twentyseven books that we today call the New Testament. 1 2 3

The footnotes are not a part of the original article by the author but have been added to give some clarity to some of the words used herein. (Editor) The Sinaiticus manuscript is one of the major Greek manuscripts used by the new translations and is considered part of the “critical text” family of Greek documents of the Wescott/Hort tradition. FirstBible Int’l does not consider the Siniaticus manuscript to be a reliable document. It contained some of the Old Testament in Greek (the Septuagint) as well as the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Also included in the Sinaiticus manuscript were the Apocryphal books of the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas, which were not considered canonical even by Jerome (see the article above).

continued on page 13 10] Unpublished WORD

The King James Bible

and the English Language The impact of the King James Bible on the English language is undeniable. Have you ever accomplished something “by the skin of your teeth” ( Job 19:20)? Has anyone ever told you that the “handwriting was on the wall” when referring to an unchangeable event (Daniel 5:5)? Have you ever said, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). All of these sayings come from the King James Bible. Even baseball uses a word that has an undeniable link with the King James Bible. When players refer to a “sacrifice bunt” or a “sacrifice ﬂy,” they are using a concept that is intrinsically biblical. A player who executes a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice ﬂy makes a play that gives up his position so that someone else can succeed. This idea of sacrifice, giving oneself for another, comes from the Old Testament when the innocent lamb was sacrificed so that believers could have their sins forgiven. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sin so that we might have eternal life ( John 3:16; Hebrews 9:26). Below you will find a series of common sayings used by English-speaking people and derived from the King James Bible. It is not exhaustive but representative. (For those who would like a complete list of sayings derived from the King James Bible, you can contact First Bible International. It is available at no cost.) 12] Unpublished WORD

Common Saying

A little birdie told me so

By Jerry Rockwell KJV Passage

Ecclesiastes 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. Psalms 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger At my wits end like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Judges 16:30 And Samson said, Let me die Brought down the house with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. Can’t get blood out of a turnip Cain – Genesis 4:1-5 His non-blood offering Isaiah 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop Drop in the bucket of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. Isaiah 19:8 The fishers also shall mourn, and Fishermen called “anglers” all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the Go ahead; it won’t kill you woman, Ye shall not surely die. Jezebel – 2 Kings 9:36 Wherefore they came Gone to the dogs again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel. Job 15:7 Art thou the first man that was born? I wasn’t born yesterday or wast thou made before the hills? 1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Know-it-all Holy One, and ye know all things. Genesis 47:4 They said moreover unto Land of Goshen Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their ﬂocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his A leopard can’t change it’s skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also spots do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Daniel 5:5 In the same hour came forth fingers Handwriting on the wall of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

 Librarian’s Choice King James Holy Bible by God

n this issue, we have chosen the King James Version of the Bible as the Librarian’s Choice. It has been four hundred years since it was first placed in the hands of the people of England. Since its publication, it has become the over-all bestseller in the Bible market.

God is its author. The editorial staff was the greatest of any book ever produced; fifty-four leading theologians and scholars spent years investing their lives in this translation effort. It is unsurpassed in linguistic beauty, breadth of information, purity of truth, and longevity of shelf life. We have chosen it because we know it is God’s choice for the English-speaking world. It has one major character, Jesus; one major theme, salvation of man; and chronicles the founding of the two greatest enterprises on earth, Israel and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the time of its writing by holy men, the Bible was seventy-five percent prophesy. It addresses past issues known only to God, such as origin of matter; future issues, like the Rapture and the Marriage of the Lamb; and describes places unknown and/ or unvisited by man, Heaven and Hell. And, finally, we chose the KJV Bible because a man cannot claim to be educated and not know its contents and cannot claim to be saved and deny its truths.

continued from page 10 In A.D. 365, Athanasius issued a pastoral letter to the churches of Alexandria, listing all sixty-six books of our current Bible with the Apocrypha listed separately as a sort of appendix. The Synod at Rome in 382 affirmed the twenty-seven books of our current New Testament, as did the African Synods at hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LATIN VULGATE AND SYRIAC PESHITTA Jerome, in A.D. 383, began a Latin translation called the Vulgate, which was the common Bible for all of Europe for the next one thousand years, and it included the same twenty-seven books of the New Testament which we now accept. Jerome’s translation also included the seven Apocryphal books that the Roman Catholic Church calls “Deutero-canonical.”4 however, this is explained by a Roman Catholic website (www.drbo.org), which says, “St. Jerome considered the seven Deutero-canonical books to be NoT inspired by God, but he was commissioned by Pope Damasus to translate all seventy-three books into Latin.” It is also noteworthy that Jerome included mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11 (www.speedbible. com), which are omitted in modern versions by those who say those passages came from a “recent”

text. Jerome explained that he was using Greek manuscripts that he considered to be the oldest. The website www.vulgate.net discloses that in his letter to Damasus, Jerome said, “I therefore promise in this short preface the four Gospels only, which are to be taken in the following order: matthew, mark, Luke, John, as they have been revised by a comparison of the Greek manuscripts. only early ones have been used.” It appears that Jerome used Greek texts that predated the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus5 texts, which were produced in his day. This is important, in light of the concept held by modern scholars that the “Byzantine-type” Greek text of the New Testament did not exist in the earliest centuries of church history. If their assumption be true, then one would wonder how the ancient Syriac Peshitta (www.peshitta.info/ gospel/mark_16.htm) and the Latin translation by Jerome both contained the passages in mark 16 and John 8 that modern versions omit. It must be that these translations were made from ancient Greek manuscripts which have not yet been discovered... 4 5

Deutero-canonical means the “second canon,” which is promoted by the Roman Catholic Church. The believing church held to only one canon of Scripture as discussed in this article. The Vaticanus manuscript is also of the same manuscript family as the Sinaiticus (see footnote 1).

continued on page 17

Unpublished WORD [13

Translators to the Reader The following article contains excerpts from a document called “The Translators to the Reader.” It is an explanation by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible to the readers as to the translators’ intent and intentions. This article was included as the foreword in the KJV until recently. FirstBible International (FBI) believes that this is one of the most important extra-Biblical writings on the Bible issue and believes that it needs to be re-included as the foreword in future Bible printings as it was in the past. “The Translators to the Reader” is several pages in length. These are only excerpts meant to introduce it to you and hopefully to encourage you to become familiar with it in its entirety. FBI recommends the revision done by Jerry Rockwell. EXCERPT ONE: Zeal to promote the common good, whether it be by devising anything ourselves or revising that which has been accomplished by others, deserves great respect and esteem yet finds only cold reception in the world. Even in the church it is welcomed with suspicion instead of love and with jealousy instead of thanks... EXCERPT TWO: The Scriptures we are commanded to search ( John 5:39, Isaiah 8:20). They are commended that searched and studied the Scripture (Acts 17:11 and 8:28-29). They are reproved that were unskillful in the Scriptures or slow to believe them (Matthew 22:29, Luke 24:25). The Scriptures can make us wise unto salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). If we are ignorant, they will instruct us; if out of the way, they will bring us home; if out of order, they will reform us; if in heaviness, comfort us; if dull, quicken us; if cold, inﬂame us. EXCERPT THREE: That which they falsely or vainly attributed to these things for bodily good, we may justly and with full measure ascribe unto the Scripture for spiritual good. It is not only armor but also a whole armory of weapons, both offensive and defensive, with which we may save ourselves and put the enemy to ﬂight. It is not an herb but a tree, or rather a whole paradise of trees of life, which bring forth fruit every month;

14] Unpublished WORD

and the fruit thereof is for spiritual food and the leaves for healing (see Rev. 22:2). It is not a pot of manna or a cruse of oil, which were for memory only, or for a meal or two, but as it were a shower of heavenly bread suﬃcient for a whole host, be it ever so great; and as it were a whole cellar full of oil-filled vessels with which all our necessities may be provided for, and our sin debts paid for. In a word, it is a storehouse of wholesome food against a filthy way of life. It is a physician’s shop, as Saint Basil called it, a protection against poisoned heresies. It is a complete body of profitable laws against rebellious spirits. The Scripture is a treasury of most costly jewels against beggarly rudiments, and finally it is a fountain of most pure water springing up unto everlasting life. And what an amazing thing is it? The original originated from heaven, not from earth. The Author is God, not man. The writer is the Holy Spirit, not the clever astuteness of the apostles or prophets. EXCERPT FOUR: But how shall men meditate in that which they cannot understand? How shall they understand that which is kept shut up in an unknown tongue? ...lest the church be driven to the same urgency, it is necessary to have translations available. It is the translation that opens the window... Translation pulls aside the curtain, that we may look into the most holy

Excerpts for Unpublished Word Journal place. It removes the cover of the well, that we may obtain the water, even as Jacob rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well by which means the ﬂocks of Laban were watered (Gen. 29:10). Indeed, without translation into the common languages, the unlearned are like children at Jacob’s well (which was deep, John 4:11) without a bucket or something to draw water. As that person mentioned by Isaiah to whom was delivered a sealed book with this suggestion, “Read this, I pray thee,” he willingly made this answer: “I cannot, for it is sealed” (Isa. 29:11). EXCERPT FIVE: While God would be known only in Jacob and have His name great in Israel... At that point, all the people spoke the language of Canaan, which was Hebrew. At that point, the original in Hebrew was suﬃcient. But when the fullness of time drew near that the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the Son of God, should come into the world, whom God ordained to be a reconciliation through faith in His blood which was not for the Jew only but also for the Greek, yea, of all them that were scattered abroad. Then, behold, it pleased the Lord to stir up the spirit of a Greek prince (Greek for descent and language), even of Ptolemy Philadelph, king of Egypt, to procure the translating of the book of God out of Hebrew into Greek. This is the translation of the seventy interpreters, commonly so called the Septuagint, which prepared the way for our Saviour among the Gentiles by written preaching as St. John the Baptist did verbally among the Jews. Therefore, the Greek language was most appropriate to contain the Scriptures... Aside from this, though it was commended generally,

it did not fully satisfy the learned, especially the Jews. There were also, within a few hundred years after Christ, many translations produced into the Latin language. Now, though the church was thus provided with Greek and Latin translations even before the faith of Christ was generally embraced in the Roman Empire,... Yet for all that the godly scholars were not content to have the Scriptures in the language which only they themselves understood, Greek and Latin... These scholars provided translations into the common language for their countrymen insomuch that most nations under Heaven did, shortly after their conversion, hear Christ speaking unto them in their mother tongue, not by the voice of their minister only but also by the written Word translated. Every country that is under the sun had access to all of the words of the apostles and prophets, as well as the Hebrew tongue. Actually,...they had the Scriptures in the Hebrew tongue which was turned into the language of the Grecians… Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Armenians, Scythians, and Sauromatian. Actually, the Scripture was turned into the languages of all nations. In Gothic… Arabic... Saxon… Slavonian… Dutch, about the year 1160. Charles the Fifth, known as “The Wise,” had the Scripture translated into French… English… Syrian… Arabian… Indian, etc. So that to have the Scriptures in the mother tongue is not an outdated position taken up lately either by the Lord Cromwell in England, by the Lord Radevile in Poland, or by the Lord Ungnadius in the Emperor’s dominion but has been thought through and put in practice for some time, even from the first times of the conversion of any nation.

Unpublished WORD [15

continued from page 7 translations, beginning with the American Standard Version (1901) and the New American Standard Version (1957).

No other modern translation of the Scripture has stood the test of time like the King James Bible (the Greek, Hebrew, and Latin

by John Honeycutt 16] Unpublished WORD

notwithstanding), and its inďŹ&#x201A;uence for the past four hundred years is without a doubt a documentation of the movement of the Spirit of God in the affairs of man. Another notable four hundred years were the four hundred silent years in between Malachi and

Matthew. After those four hundred years, the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth. One cannot help but wonder if after four hundred years of having the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ will return again to gather His saints home!

continued from page 13 manuscripts that are part of the tradition called “Byzantine,” which ultimately resulted in the Textus Receptus, from which the King James Version of the Bible was translated.

it necessary to “hold fast the form of sound words” (II Tim. 1:13). The most accurate way to preserve the doctrines of the Scripture and the books of the Scripture is to preserve the words of the Scripture. This has been done in church history!

SCRIPTURES PRESERVED BY CHURCHES It seems unnecessary to state it, but these books Since God promised in Isaiah 59:21 that his that were included in the canon of Scripture were words (plural) would be in the “mouth” (denoting made up of words. Canonization of the books, then, accessibility) of every generation since the time constituted canonization of the words in those books. of its writing and since God wanted man to know In other words, canonization is preservation of the the “certainty of the words” (Prov. 22:20-21), it is words of Scripture. In the process of canonization, important to see which words have been accepted early believers were simply obeying the command and acknowledged throughout the history of Christ’s in II Peter 3:2 to be “mindful of the words” of churches. The ancient evidence of the existence the prophets (old Testament) and apostles (New of “Byzantine-type” Greek texts and the clear Testament). God knew that these words would be predominance of that same text-type during the under attack (II Pet. 3:16), so Jude 3 challenged middle Ages suggests that the churches endorsed believers to “earnestly contend for the faith” (the the Greek texts, which ultimately resulted in the King body of doctrines given in the Scriptures), which James Version of the Bible. Canonization helps us was once delivered to “saints” (not necessarily to see what ancient believers, in their desire to be scholars). These “words” in II Peter 3:2 are stated “mindful of the words,” have always accepted as in the plural so that readers understand this to be Scripture. This is why the Greek texts used became the precise verbiage used in expressing the message. known as the Received Text, or Textus Receptus. Canonization is a viable part of preservation. Sometimes, in modern usage, “word” in the singular is used to denote a general message, as in, “I would [FirstBible International does not necessarily agree like to have a word with you.” This singular “word” with some of the content of this article but believes it is usually composed of many words! But when the explains the Canon of Scripture and the significance plural is used, Peter is telling us not to just preserve a of the local church’s role in the establishment of the general message, but the precise words in which that body of Scripture we now use in the twenty-seven message is conveyed. Thus, early Christians thought books of the New Testament.]

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continued 99 continuedfrom frompage page and his mattock. Yet they had a ﬁle for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan.”

from the Philistines. I have been in places where you couldn’t say, “Please turn in your Bible to…” and give an address because they had no Bible with an address in which to turn. Only the missionary had a Sword or a spear. There is not much victory there.

These verses tell us that the Philistines took over the swordmaking places, and, in doing that, they controlled the strength of their enemy, the Israelite. So in the day of battle, guess what Israel didn’t have? Weapons! Now the situation is simply this. It’s not that they didn’t have the equipment to make weapons; they just didn’t have the vision to do it, and they didn’t have the liberty to do it. So if they wanted a weapon, where did they have to go to get their weapon? They had to go to their enemy, the Philistine. I have an idea that that’s a stacked deck. And I thought, Churches have printing equipment and a lot of big ministries, but we’re not using it to make Swords and spears. We’re going to the Philistines.

I had a dream to help the missionaries, but I had a problem. In fundamentalism, there were no Sword makers trained or being trained. I made a mental trip across America, and I went to the big churches. I said to Dr. Falwell in my mind,“Do you have anybody here making Swords?” He said, “No, we train youth workers, and we have bus drivers; but nobody here is making the Sword.” I traveled to Chattanooga and asked Dr. Roberson. I traveled to Dallas and asked Dr. Criswell, and I asked Dr. Hyles and Dr. Malone in my mental trip, but I could not find anybody in America in fundamentalism making Swords. Then I found a bigger problem than that. I traveled to all the colleges in fundamentalism. I asked Dr. Hyles, “Are you training any Sword makers?” “No,” he said, “we’re not training any Sword makers. We’re training Sunday school teachers and pastors, but we’re not training anybody to make the Sword and to print the Bible.” I traveled all over, and I found out that there were no Sword makers in churches and nobody training people to be Sword makers. How are we going to conquer a world for Christ if we don’t have the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit?

I used to go into churches and say, “Where’d you get your Bible?” Everybody got it at the same place, down at the Philistine store. By the way, that’s where a lot of you got yours, even today; some Philistine made it. So God burdened us to get Swords (Bibles, Heb. 4:12) for the missionaries. Missionaries, especially the kind that we’re talking about, go to battle without the Sword. They go to an unreached people group, and all they have is what they got 18] Unpublished WORD

I had a dream about Sword making, and God worked in my heart. He said, “Why don’t you do it?” Well, the problem is that so often we want to point out the problem but we don’t necessarily want to participate in the solution. I said, “Lord, you need to understand this. In case You’ve forgotten, my town’s five thousand; my church is small; I don’t know how to turn a press on; and nobody else does either.” So we brought a man home from the mission field to help us. We started raising money to print Bibles for the missionary. Honestly, I don’t know of any place I’ve been in this world where somebody didn’t thank me because BPS made Bibles available to them on the mission field. Now we can’t prove this, and I don’t need to; but we have been told more than once that for every John and Romans that is given out on the field, seven people will read it. And one of the seven, if shown how, will get saved. Now I can’t prove that, but I do know folks are getting saved. I thank God. DREAM THREE: In Genesis 37:9 Joseph says, “I have dreamed a dream more.” This is Joseph’s last dream, and this is mine, too. My third and final dream is really an extension of the second dream, and it is for my wife and me to give the rest of our lives to the remaining six thousand unreached people groups that do not have a Bible. God gave me that dream in 1999 because of two verses in Revelation (Rev. 5:9, 7:9). God wants to be worshipped by some from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue; and because of

that, we started a ministry called FirstBible International (FBI). It is not a replacement of BPS; it is an extension of the principle of BPS. BPS now has its own unreached-people-group ministry called Front Line. But FBI picks up where others leave off. FBI basically has to do with those who do not have the Bible or who only have a really bad Bible. At this point in our lives, there are six thousand language groups –3.4 billion individuals – who cannot and do not worship God because they do not know God. There are two reasons we have to get the Bible to them. One is that the Bible is a book of revelation. Think of how much you know that you wouldn’t know if you didn’t have a Bible. We have a record of divine origins. You wouldn’t know that without the Bible. Think of all the things in the past you wouldn’t know if you didn’t have a Bible, and then think of the things in the future you wouldn’t know if you didn’t have a Bible. How would you know about the Judgment Seat of Christ, the White Throne of Judgment, Heaven, Hell, the Millennium…? How would you know which plan of salvation God is accepting? There are a lot of different plans out there, you know. How would you know you’re going to see your loved ones again if it weren’t for the Bible? Someone has said that there are eight thousand promises in the Bible. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but there are a lot of them in there. We are so much more educated because we have the precious Word of God. The unreached need to know these things, too.

The second reason we ought to get them the Bible is more important than the first. The Bible is autobiographical. The Bible is a book by God about God. Who knows more about God than God knows about God? And here is the good news. God can’t lie, so He didn’t put anything in there about Himself that’s not true. Some more good news is that He can’t forget anything. He’s omniscient, so He won’t forget to tell us something about Himself that He wants us to know. Do you know why there are idolaters and why they are polytheistic in their faith? They have no description of the true God. Do you know what the basis of polytheism is? It is insufficiency. Do you know why they need so many gods? Because the one they have is not sufficient for everything. That’s why they have the god of harvest and the god of fertility and the god of the moon and the god of the stars and the god of the weather and all these gods. They don’t have any one sufficient god. The basis of monotheism is sufficiency. Do you know why I don’t have more than one God? He’s all I need. You name it, and He can do it. The unreached need to know that there is one true God. People tell me this: “I think we ought to leave them alone. I think they’re all right.” Well, you might think they’re all right, but they don’t think they’re all right. Do you know that every tribe they’ve ever discovered had two things: an altar and a cemetery? The altar says, “We know there’s something wrong; we’re in trouble

with somebody somewhere, so we have devised a way to try to get out of trouble.” But they never do. We have a Book that tells how to get out of trouble. Did you know that every pagan religion has only a taking god? No religion outside of Christianity and Judaism has a giving God. I go to India. India is not a poor country, but they’re theologically wrong. Therefore, they give all they have to buy off the gods, but they don’t know that there’s One that wants to give to them. So we have the truth about God, and they ought to have it. That was my dream. Let me give you three quick thoughts about dreams. First, there is the telling of the dream. Look at Genesis 37:6 and 9, “And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed… And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren.” The telling of the dream always precedes the realization of the dream. He told the dream to his brothers as well as to his parents. Do you know why he told them? Joseph believed in it. He believed that what God had shown him would someday be a reality. You’ve been there. That’s what preaching is, is it not? Preaching is telling about the promises of God, and the invitation is giving people a chance to respond to the reality of your dream. Faith cometh by hearing. We must tell our dream. Then there is the trouble caused by the dream. When you start telling a dream, you’ll be misunderstood, Unpublished WORD [19

and your motives and sanity will be challenged. I wonder if when Joseph got the dream, he knew that he would be thrown into a pit. The Bible says in Jeremiah 20:7, “O LORD, thou hast deceived me.” God doesn’t tell you everything. If He did, you wouldn’t tell the dream. You wouldn’t tell the dream if you knew of the pit that was out there because of the dream. You would not tell the dream if you knew there was a prison out there. Joseph, here’s your dream. Here’s a wonderful thing that’s going to happen to you someday, but there’ll be a pit and there’ll be a prison. People will lie about you, and a woman will say you tried to rape her. Joseph went to the pit and went to the prison, and the only guy in the prison that could help him get out of prison forgot about him. His brothers hated him. The system went against him. But can I give you this? There’s the triumph of the dream. Consider Genesis 50:18 just for a moment. “And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.” Do you know what that’s describing? That’s describing that first telling of the dream, back there in Genesis 37, when Joseph said, ‘I saw these shocks of wheat falling down before me.’ And they said, ‘Are you going to tell us we’re going to fall down before you and serve you some day?’ I don’t know what Joseph thought; but in Genesis 50:18, guess what his brothers are doing? Here Joseph is triumphing. Not, I don’t think, in pride; it’s just the fact that God’s Word is true. God’s Word is true for Joseph. I wonder if it’s true 20] Unpublished WORD

for me and for you. I read, “For I am the LORD, I change not” (Mal. 3:6). I read in another place, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). I read in another place that Joseph had the dream, and the dream caused him some troubles. But he stayed with it long enough, and he had some triumph. BPS has had a lot of triumph. Someday FBI will. I believe two things. If Jesus tarries, I won’t live long enough to see the triumph. I just believe that. I believe I’m like David. He wanted to build a temple, and Nathan said, ‘Go for it, son.’ And God said to Nathan, ‘Go back and tell him, don’t go for it but gather the material for the one that will do it.’ And David gathered the material for Solomon. Eventually there was a great big structure out there in a field. Solomon got the credit, but David gathered the material. I don’t know the man personally, but I know of a man named Bill Glass. He was a great football player when I was a young man. This is a story told about him. He was playing in a really important game, and his team was down at the goal line. The score was tied, time was running out, and the quarterback called for a quarterback sneak. Bill Glass was to give a block in a certain way to open up a hole in the line. He did, and he got all muddy and ended up on the bottom of the pile. The quarterback ran over the top of him and made the touchdown, and the crowd went wild because the home team won. They were chanting the quarterback’s name.

Bill Glass was under the pile. He had made the hole, but nobody knew his name. However, Bill Glass said this, “As I got up out of the pile, I saw the coach looking at me with his thumbs up. The coach approved of my part in the victory.” So it is with Jesus. As long as He approves my part, the rest is unimportant. The other night I was sitting in my home reading in Psalm 118:2223. “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” You know the story behind this verse. They were building the temple, and a different-looking stone showed up. Nobody knew where it fit. So they rolled it out of the way, and they worked and worked and worked. Finally, there came the day when they had a strange-shaped hole, and they couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Then somebody remembered, “We know where there’s a strangeshaped stone. It must go in that strange-shaped hole.” They went and uncovered the thing from the weeds and brought it up. It fit; it brought everything together and made everything fit. It added the final touch to all of their work. As I was reading those verses, God said this to me: “One of these days, it’s going to fit.” One of these days others will see that it takes reaching the unreached to finish the command to complete the Great Commission. One day the stone the builders rejected will become the head of the corner.

A real Macedonian church “How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality” (2 Cor. 8:1). The Pleasant View Baptist Church of Taylors, South Carolina, pastored by Rev. Stacey Shiflett, while in great trials and deep poverty, responded to the matching funds appeal with a gift of $12,018.18. Pastor Stacey and Grace Shiflett (left); Dr. Charles and Mary Keen (right)

Matching Funds Opportunity

God has blessed FirstBible International with some men with substance who want to use a portion of it to reach the unreached with His Word. We have been gifted with a $75,000 offering and believe God would have us work toward matching it so that it becomes $150,000. Would you pray about becoming a part of this effort? We have already had two churches give us over $10,000 each. Maybe you cannot do that level, but would you see how much, by faith, you and/or your church can do?

Unpublished WORD [21

HOLISTIC APPROACH TO MISSIONS Just Musing About the Missionary

“…CLOAK…BOOKS…PARCHMENTS.” It would not take much imagination to sketch a word portrait of this verse in our minds. Paul, the aged, is incarcerated; the cell is dark and damp. He sits alone in the glow of a single candle, frail from shipwrecks and beatings, and is alone because no man stood with him (but the Lord stood by him). In his mind he remembers some of his fiercest opponents, men like Alexander the coppersmith, who greatly withstood his words. The sad thoughts of failure also visit him as he remembers Demas who forsook him, but he is comforted by the memory of dear friends in the household of faith, like Onesiphorus. It is late fall, and the wind coming in the barred but glassless window is adding a chill to the cell. Hence in his writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, he encourages him twice within a few verses to come quickly before winter. Our heart breaks for the old warrior who is ready to be offered and whose time is at hand. Not knowing exactly the schedule of his departure from this world, he asks for three things, each full of meaning and instruction: a cloak he had left at Troas, some books, but especially the parchments. I would like to make some applications from this veteran’s request. The cloak reminds us of the physical needs of the missionary, the books remind us of the missionary’s mental development, and the parchments (Scriptures) speak of his spiritual growth. 22] Unpublished WORD

The local church provides the missionary with his basic needs, and, according to this passage, the missionary has three. Permit me to give a brief overview of these areas of need in the life of missionary. “…the cloak…” Paul was caught up into the third heaven, saw the Lord on the Damascus Road, wrote fourteen books in the New Testament, was Christianity’s greatest theologian, visited one hundred cities and thirty-seven sea ports, and left churches planted along the way; yet we find him asking for a cloak and thanking the church at Philippi for their monetary gift. His words suggest that your missionary, who is also an anointed man of God, needs cloaks and money; and the church is his provider, yea, his major care giver (see III John 5-10). “…the books…” This is astonishing to me. The books he is asking for do not refer to the books of the Bible. Those are covered in the next request when he asks for the parchments. Here is what is so astounding to me: what author could be so advanced as to feed the soul of the great Apostle to the Gentiles? He was one of only forty-two men allowed to write under inspiration, and yet he is asking for some uninspired books written by godly men. The fact that Paul asked for some books tells me three things. First, we can learn a lot of things from people who may not have attained our level of ministry. Those authors were ignorant men but had been with Jesus. Remember that out of the mouth of babes, gems can come forth. In fact, God also spoke

II Timothy 4:13 through a donkey and still another time through a rooster and yet still another time He said that if the people would hold their peace, the rocks would cry out. Stay teachable by staying humble. Second, we can learn that leaders must be readers. Two of the requests Paul made in this portion of Scripture had to do with reading: the book and the parchments. Third, it is noteworthy that this is an old man making this request. That tells me that we never get too old to learn; you can teach an old dog new tricks. (This verse is not too far from where Paul encourages Timothy to study to show himself approved, so I guess you can also teach a young pup as well.) “…but especially the parchments.” Of course, this request refers to the Old Testament Scriptures. The local church should supply Scriptures for the missionary and his ministry. However, it is interesting to note that Bible authors read other Bible authors. We know that Daniel read Jeremiah, the kings read the Scriptures, Jesus read the prophets, and the apostle Peter read the apostle Paul. If Bible authors needed to read other Bible authors, should not we see our need to make Bible reading a priority? Search the Scriptures daily, write them on your doorposts, and carry them in your heart.

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A Short History of the English Bible

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A Short History of

Dr. Charles Keen has published a brochure describing the development of the English language and how the English Bible, which resulted in the King James Version, came to pass.

The English Bible Used with permission

Adapted from Dr. R. Phil Stringer’s History of the English Bible by Dr. Charles Keen

1456: Johannes Gutenberg produces the first printed Bible, in Latin. 1516: Erasmus publishes first printed Greek New Testament. To Order Call: 615-796-0043 1517: Indulgence controversy; martin Luther posts the Ninetyfive Theses. Packages of 25 for $3/pk. 1520: Luther publishes The Appeal to the German Nobility, demanding that lay people be allowed to read the Bible 100+ for $.10/brochure for themselves. 1521: Diet of Worms; Luther works on translating the New Plus Shipping Testament. 1522: Luther publishes German translation of the New Testament. 1525: William Tyndale’s first attempt to publish the New Testament in English is thwarted by Cochlaeus. o unde rstand the Engl on New Testament 1526: The first complete English edition of the ish Bibl history of e must know e somethi the Engl ng of th O ish la is published by William Tyndale lainngWorms. ld English uage is th e e richest nguage. The En There ar of all th glish la nguage in (400 e at e mor 1530: Tyndale publishes his translation the Pentateuch vo e th ca dialof Scripture least ten partial -1150 AD) an 5,000 bulary ects on ea tra s la ng rt uages an h today. M translatio into Old English nslations of the rds com oder d It has (the first five books of the old wwo Testament). . The fir ns was do pa st of thes (1500 AD n Engli The mos ne ith 185,00 red to the Ger over 500,000 by Caed e t famous sh to presen m 0 on (A wo an rd In 1436 Jo la of t) with of 1531: Tyndale publishes his translation Jonah. s and the by the hi ng 100,00 han Guten storian an the ten translat D 680). French la uage 0. io the prin d Bede, Fa nguage ting pres berg of German ther of En theologian, the ns were 1535: Coverdale Bible published —E first complete English y invented s, Ve th gl an G ne e ish re d m ra at ngli in hi ovable ty bl , King of pe press. 1440 he invent England story and Alfred e allowed up of se sh is a “mongr Bible. ed the (871-901 th These in el” veral othe AD). ventions and in gr e Bible to be co r langua language made and Gre pi ea ges: Ce ed more ter quan 1537: matthew’s Bible published. three cateek. Our language, En ltic, Latin quickly M tities. id , d go le gl rie ish E s, , W fa 1150 AD (1150-15 Old En illiam Ty nglish glish (a lls into 1539: Great Bible published. 00 AD) ), bout 40 attended ndale was born In this and Mod Middle English 0ar bo pe (1150-15 ern Engl was a sk th Oxford an ound 1484. He Moderadvocate 00 AD), professo riod of the En 1540: Execution of Thomas Cromwell, Protestant d Cambr n English ishof(150 ill 0 AD to r from glish lang idge Hebrew, ed linguist in had its present). Oxford Wycliffe, developm uage a se m G veral lang and U os re di en ni ek t d t in the ideas and champion of English translations the vers rapiBible. , Latin a translat Italian. d rate of English the writ 17th of ion of th ity, John century While at , Spanish, Dut uages: ings of because e be Bi un ch, and Sh ca he th ha bl Ca de ak us e e ve it in r the wanted mbrid espear e of in Author Geneva 1557: Publication of William Whittingham’s New e and his peop to was later great Greek scho ge he studied years in their language. the King ized Version le to responsib la of hi H James Bi After Ty Testament. le for the r Erasmus who written co s translation wo e spent fifteen of 1611. ble nd Textus Re rk pies mad English, ale translated his ceptus. a scribe e for distr and had handno Bi m 1560: Geneva Bible published. to Germ body would prin ble into modern the equi onths to make ibution. It took any whe a co va re he met t it; so he moved For 145 lent of a year’s sa py, and it cost 1568: Bishops’ Bible published. Martin Lu ye lary to pu His first ther. the only ars the Wycliff pr e Transla rchase. co 1569: Geneva Bible published in Scotland. printing inting was 3,000 tion was language mplete translat of co io .

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