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The work of the historian is a precarious one. Reporting on the past without prejudice is a passing discipline. George Orwell’s 1984 said it best, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” As a record of God’s providence, the progression of history does not fit a logically linear,Continue reading “The Great Bible, 1540 and the preservation of the saints”

Clement of Alexandria (153-217?): The Stromata, or Miscellanies For we have, as the source of teaching, the Lord, both by the prophets, the Gospels, and the blessed apostles, “in divers manners and at sundry times,” leading from the beginning of knowledge to the end. But if one should suppose that another origin was required, thenContinue reading “First Principles, the voice of the Lord in Scripture, and learning the truth”

In 367, Athanasius of Alexandria (A.D. 296-373), the most prominent theologian of the fourth century who served as bishop of Alexandria wrote the following in his Thirty-Ninth Festal Epistle commonly referred to as his “Easter Letter.” [1] His was the first official pronouncement of a list of canonical books identical with our present-day list. Athanasius’Continue reading “Athanasius’ 4th century Thirty-Ninth Festal Epistle and the Christocentricity of a Closed Canon”

John Rodgers, a staunch disciple, and friend of William Tyndale edited the Matthew’s Bible under the pseudonym of Thomas Matthew in the hope that his work would not be immediately recognized as that of Tyndale.[1] Tyndale’s martyrdom cut short his translation of the Old Testament completing the Pentateuch and Joshua through 2 Chronicles.[2] For theContinue reading “The Matthews Bible 1537, (1549) and Psalm 12:6-7”

Bible versions, like Ecclesiastical confessions, represent the conclusion of literary, grammatical, and syntactical deliberations. Rather than showing the aggregate steps in the process, the conclusion of the process is the reading selected for the version. Continuing to build a case for the antecedent of “keep them” being the “pure words” Reformation era versional testimony isContinue reading “Coverdale Bible, 1535, and Psalm 12:6-7”

Celebrated non-Conformist scholar and Hebrew exegete Henry Ainsworth (1571-1622 or 1623) emphasized knowledge of the literal sense of the Hebrew as the prerequisite for determining the principal interpretation. After “the natural meaning of scripture being known, the mysteries of godliness therein applied may be better discerned.” He goes on to say that this discernment “mayContinue reading “Reading Matthew 5:18 from an Eschatological Perspective”

“The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” אִֽמֲרֹ֣ות יְהוָה֮ אֲמָרֹ֪ות טְהֹ֫רֹ֥ות כֶּ֣סֶף צָ֭רוּף בַּעֲלִ֣יל לָאָ֑רֶץ מְ֝זֻקָּ֗ק שִׁבְעָתָֽיִם                             אַתָּֽה־יְהוָ֥ה תִּשְׁמְרֵ֑ם תִּצְּרֶ֓נּוּ׀ מִן־הַדֹּ֖ור ז֣ו לְעֹולָֽם                                                        “words” אִֽמֲרֹ֣ות: plural, feminine, nounContinue reading “Dr. Mark Ward, Psalm 12:6-7, and the Historic Exegetical Argument for the Providential Preservation of God’s word”

Himself an advocate of the historical critical approach, A. T. Robertson acknowledges the difficulty of reconciling “anti-supernatural scholarship” with “reverence for the Bible as God’s only revelation” in an 1892 article entitled “The Inerrancy of Scriptures.” Robertson observed, “In Germany, Rationalism has so long held sway that no man has to apologize for any theoryContinue reading ““The strange thing about it all is that here it is men considered evangelical who accept the results of anti-supernatural scholarship.””

Accenting the accuracy of the scientific method, relying wholly on the assiduity of the rational subject, and with the omission of God from the scenario, it is argued with relative ease that Ludwig Feuerbach was in fact correct in his philosophical formulation. In 1843 Feuerbach wrote, The Essence of Christianity, an enchiridion for future theologicalContinue reading “A Wake-up Call from Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872)”

If, as has been shown in the earlier part of this discussion, Scripture is divine in its origin, character and authority, it must bear the marks of divinity.  If the heavens declare the glory of God and therefore bear witness to their divine Creator, the Scripture as God’s handiwork must also bear the imprints ofContinue reading “Imprints of God’s Authorship”