Unpublished Word Winter 2008

THE SPREAD OFTHE NATIONSThis article explains thehistory of nations, theorigin of languagesand the reason for thefounding of Israel.Many see Israel asGod excluding the restof the world; Keith Krellsees her as God’s wayof including thenations. PAGE 11

P ICTURE OF THE PAUL INE CHURCHStalker suggests that Acts introduces us to N.T. churches andthe Epistles allow us to stop in and participate in their fellow-ship. With the Church at Corinth as his specimen, we learnthe N.T. Church was not much different from the one to whichyou belong. PAGE 16

AN ENQUIRY - ART ICLE 1William Carey’s Enquiry is certainly the most important docu-ment in modern times on the subject of missions. Many feel(as this editor does) it supercedes Luther’s Ninety-Five Thesis inover-all impact. We are going to run a chapter of it in eachof next four issues. PAGE 13

FACTS & STATSFacts are not static. These facts give us a profile of peoplesand religions across our globe. They should serve as a prayerguide. PAGE 11

THE ENGLISH BIBLEDr. Keen condensed this article from TrinitarianBible Society’s The English Bible: Its Origin,Preservation and Blessing. This scholarly andunderstandable extract should be read by all toexamine the facts and be able to present themintelligently to others. PAGE 19

EDITORIALEditor Charles Keen challenges us to rethink the place of short-term missions in the light of their productivity. Though notagainst them, he has observed little impact because of them.Renaming them overseas vacations or missions work trips maysave us from being inoculated against the call to missions later.PAGE 4

F IRSTB IBLE INTERNATIONAL OF MEXICOMark Brown gives an update on themoving of God in Mexico and howit is changing from receptor tosender. He emphasizes the responsi-bility of “nationals” to go into all theworld and reminds us Americansthat they are trustworthy and respon-sible. PAGE 8

SP IR ITUAL PROFIL INGDr. Norris’ article onspiritual profiling makesus face our racial bias.He suggests that whereracism starts, evangelismstops - being different isnot synonymous withbeing inferior. Racismhas divided nations butshould not divide thechurch in its effort toevangelize the world.PAGE 5

Unpublished WORD - Editor – Charles Keen, Assistant Editor – Ken Fielder, Circulation/Advertising – Jerry Rockwell, Graphic Design – thegraphic edge, Frisco, TX, Production/Printing – Clark’s Printing Co./Ventura, CA

The Unpublished WORD Journal is a quarterly publication of FirstBible International.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: [email protected], website: www.firstbible.net. FirstBible International is a ministry of Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN, Dr. Mike Norris, Pastor.

C O N T E N T S

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.

It is easy for a preacher to stand up against sin in the ungodly, and it is

not a hard assignment to point out perceived wrong in the brethren who live

a half a continent away with whom we do not have personal acquaintance.

Since I do not want to come off as a “know it all,” it is very uncomfortable for

me to discuss with good men who have good motives and a mutual burden of ministry where they may

need to rethink a ministry area. Such is the bend of this editorial. In my view, we are on the verge of

over estimating the value of the short term missions trip. I say that for three reasons:

First I will address this from a pragmatic stand point. After several years of short term missions, I have

not observed much increase in our missions revival attendance, giving, going, praying or much desire

for change in our college curriculum on missions (all of these are good indicators of the condition of our

local churches). I know you do not judge everything solely on visible results, but they can be indica-

tors. I do understand why pastors and laymen could see the short term missions trip as a cure-all for a

sick world evangelism ministry. Because I am an editor, an author and director of a missions effort, I

receive several magazines. The other day I got one with nineteen ads from various agencies and/or

authors offering training materials for churches planning short term missions. Yet there were no ads or

articles on church planting. Are we on the verge of over-emphasizing these trips, especially in light of

their seeming non-productivity?

The second observation is from a Biblical stand point. Where is the Biblical basis for a short term

missions trip? And please don’t quote John 4:35 “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are

white already to harvest.” I seriously doubt short term travel is what our Lord had in mind in this pas-

sage. I can’t think of a short term missionary in the Bible except John Mark. Based upon what those in

the Bible were asked to give up to go, it would seem they would be in it for the long haul and be gone

a while: as in the example of Peter who forsook his boats and business, etc. Is a trip to a mission field

wrong? Obviously it is not, but would it be better to re-classify it from a missions trip to an overseas vaca-

tion or a work trip? I think we might inoculate people by giving them a small dose of the real thing. I

wonder if what they experience while there is real or synthetic. Are our people there long enough to get

a real burden for world evangelism or just long enough to satisfy our tourist appetite? I think where short

term missions does work well is with those who go to the field on a work detail like constructing a build-

ing or teaching a modular for the missionary.

The third point of view is from the host missionary. Why not ask him how he likes a group of

Americans invading his ministry, hosting them, entertaining them at the local tourist

traps, transportation, etc. What good effect does this have on his people and

how does he handle it when you are gone? What about the burden of mak-

ing his work look good for the visitors and the necessity to show you results?

On second thought, forget about asking him. What do you expect him to say?

He can’t afford to look unspiritual or lose your support. Add to this several

other churches who pick up on the idea, and if you aren’t careful, the God

called missionary becomes a tour guide for the short term team from America.

After having said all that, I need to confess I am the product of a mis-

sions trip into Mexico in 1996 to Ralph McCoy’s with one other man, Jim

Bargo. The short term missions trip has become a highly developed

industry. This is one of those articles where you are invited to “eat the

fish and leave the bones.”

EDITORIAL COMMENT

Charles F. Keen, editor

Unpublished WORD 5 .

Rosa Parks (1913-2005) was an AfricanAmerican. In a struggle for racial equality, onDecember 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama,Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a whiteman. Her action led to a decisive chapter in thecivil rights movement in the United States. Parkslater wrote in her autobiography, Rosa Parks:My Story (1992), “…I was a person with dig-nity and self-respect, and I should not set mysights lower than anybody else just because Iwas black.” When she refused to give up herplace in the front of the bus, she was fined$10, plus $4 in court costs. The black commu-nity in Montgomery was outraged by the caseand organized a boycott which lasted 381days.

In 1996 President Clinton awarded her thePresidential Medal of Freedom, the highesthonor that the U.S. government can give to acivilian, and in 1999 she received theCongressional Gold Medal from the Congressof the United States. She died in 2005 at theage of 92. She was the first woman inAmerican history to lie in state at the Capitol’sRotunda, an honor usually reserved forPresidents of the United States.

This bio is not given to support the politicsof the NAACP nor its leadership, but to suggestAmerica needs to come to grips with its presentday spiritual racism. In 1955 we discoveredhow deep the problem of racial profiling wasingrained in our culture. I have never marchedin a parade nor demonstrated, but I do believeracism is a greater problem than simply whereyou sit on a bus or from which fountain youmust drink. I believe racism was one of themain causes of the lack of world evangelism inBible times and I believe it is still affecting ourobedience to Him for the cause of globaloutreach.

John 4:9 “…How is it that thou, being aJew, askest drink of me, which am a woman ofSamaria? for the Jews have no dealings withthe Samaritans.” This was their testimony andwe have our “Samaritans;” people with whichwe have no dealing and hence no burden fortheir soul. This is a truism: Where our racismstarts our burden stops.

by Dr. Mike Noris

Chapter 3 and 4 of John make an interesting cou-plet in the study of soul-wining. In chapter 3, we havea good man being saved and in chapter 4 - a badwoman. Chapter 3 is a night time scene and chapter4 a noon time. In chapter 3 it is a Jew coming toJesus; chapter 4 is a Samaritan. It is the winning ofthe Samaritan that will be the emphasis of this article.

The noteworthy thing is the Jews had no dealingswith the Samaritans. We could call that spiritual pro-filing (which is only another way to identify racism).Even the apostles were surprised He had carried Hisministry to this extent as indicated in verse 27 “…andmarveled that he talked with the woman…”

I suggest racism isn’t just in recognizing the differ-ences in us but in seeing a superiority in those differ-ences. One of the biggest problems in world evangel-ism is thinking we are superior to others. I stateemphatically that our soul-winning burden stops whereour prejudices begin. The Jews had no dealings withthe Samaritans because they saw them as inferior. TheSamaritan’s rejected the Bible except for the first fivebooks of Moses; they were half-breed Jews who inter-married with the Assyrians in 730 BC; and theyrefused Jerusalem as the place of worship (v. 20).They had not only written off the Samaritans, and as allracists do, they had let their racism extend to the restof God’s creation and wrote off the rest of the Gentilepopulation – both acts of racism. I wonder whom youhave written off. Who is it with which you have nodealings? Prejudices are not new nor are they justconditions only of the past. We have had them sincewe became a nation. We had a prejudice towardblacks in the south which led to the Civil War and theEmancipation Proclamation signed by PresidentLincoln, then to the Civil Rights Act. We have hadprejudices against the Japanese when we put them indetainee camps during World War II. We had preju-dices against women which resulted in the Women’sSuffrage 19th Amendment. During our frontier daysin the west there was a terrible prejudice against theAmerican Indians that led to the formation of reserva-tions. Do you have “Samaritans” with whom youhave no dealings? Those on whom you are spiritualprofiling – moving them to the back of your bus?

Our prejudiced attitude is so unchristlike. Maybethe Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans but Jesushad a lot of dealings with them.

He healed ten lepers in Luke 17:14 and chided nineof them for a lack of gratitude. The tenth did return to

thank Him, a Samaritan. This would be an affront tothe Jewish listener, for remember “the Jews have nodealings with the Samaritans.” Remember the questionasked in Luke 10:29: “And who is my neighbor?” Jesusgives a parable in Luke 10:29-37 in which Hedescribes a man in great need having been robbedand left for dead. A Jewish priest as well as a Levite,two of Israel’s best, noted the plight and in their cal-lousness passed by lending neither assistance nor giv-ing funds. Then a certain Samaritan came where hewas, went to him, bound up his wounds pouring in oiland 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 neigh-bor? Those listening to the parable would not even

acknowledge the neighbor by his classification, aSamaritan, but simply said: “He that showed mercy onhim.” Then Jesus said the unthinkable, “Go, and dothou likewise.” Go act like the Samaritan, overcomeyour prejudices, Wow! What an insult to a Jew.

There are commendable things to be found in thoseagainst whom you have prejudices. Do you rememberthe Acts 1:8 rendering of the Great Commission?Jesus lifted the Samaritan to a level of worth equal to theJerusalem dwellers as well as those of Judea. “But yeshall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is comeupon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both inJerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and untothe uttermost part of the earth.” Where is the firstplace the gospel went when it spilled out of the banksof Jerusalem? It went to Samaria. All these Biblical illus-trations admonish us to get over your racial prejudices.Those you are prejudiced against are also included inthe commission, the cross and the love of God.

Isn’t this what the Lord was demonstrating to Peterin Acts 10? This sheet he was rejecting was full of allsorts of creatures, beasts and creeping things. Peterrejected interaction with them. God thundered afterthree rejected opportunities by Peter to become a part.“Call not what I have cleansed common or unclean.”

Our prejudiced attitudeis so unchristlike. Maybethe Jews had no dealingswith the Samaritans but

Jesus had a lot of dealings with them.

6 . Unpublished WORD

Thank God Peter got over his and so too must we. Heconcluded in Acts 10:34-35 “…Of a truth I perceivethat God is no respecter of persons: But in everynation…” There is no way we can claim to be a fol-lower of Jesus Christ and have “Samaritans” withwhom we have no dealings.

The sad thing is many of those we choose to haveno dealings with in gospel ministry would believe ifgiven the opportunity: Acts 8:12 “But when they

believed Philip preaching the things concerning thekingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, theywere baptized, both men and women.”

Do you know a place or a people where the gospelwill not work? Do we believe He is their only hope ofHeaven, missing Hell, and becoming an eternal wor-shipper of God? Are our prejudices so deep werefuse to have dealings with them? Isn’t this the basicsin of Jonah: “no dealings with the ‘Assyrians’”? WillGod think more of us than Jonah if we duplicate hisworldview? And will we fare better than he?

I believe one of the major hindrances to worldevangelism, if not the major hindrance, from a humanpoint of view, is our racial prejudice or spiritual profil-ing. Ask William Carey what cultural obstacles hehad to overcome as he went to India, David Brainerdas he went to the American Indian, David Livingstoneas he went to Africa, Hudson Taylor as he went to

China, A.J. Gordon as he went to Korea. “Look onthe fields; for they are white (red/yellow/brown/black) unto harvest.”

In America many have a prejudice or exercise aspiritual profiling against the Muslim world and from ahuman perspective it is understandable. On 9-11-01they leveled two of our towers and damaged ourPentagon killing three thousand, disrupted the life-styleof our nation and put our world into a terrible war,causing the loss of life of our military personnel andthe spending of billions of dollars defending ourselvesagainst them. Humanly speaking they are ourSamaritans with whom we want to have no dealings.But we Christians cannot determine our conduct basedon a horizontal view of the situation. We must workfrom a vertical point of view. The Jews had no deal-ings with them, but Jesus did and so too must we.

We must because Jesus did include them on thecross. His blood is sufficient for them. God commandsus to go to the whole world because all men are madein His image and He loves them as well as the Jews.

We must include them because whatever they havedone does not make them any more deserving of Hellthan us. Somebody reached us when we wereunreached and “Samaritans.” We must include theMuslim world because in not including them weexclude about one-third of the world’s population.Sixty-five nations of the Muslim world are in the 10/40Window which comprises one of the largest bodies offalse religion on earth. They are presently overlookedbut we must cease to have “no dealings” with them.

If one African American lady on December 1, 1955,in Montgomery, Alabama, had enough courage andconviction to force a nation to rethink its attitude towarda minority, let us pray that someone will rise up andbring the church of Jesus Christ to her senses and seethat “difference” is not another name for inferiority. ❖


I believe one of the majorhindrances to worldevangelism, if not the

major hindrance, from ahuman point of view, isour racial prejudice or

spiritual profiling.

MONGOLIA REPORT: A team of 14 peopleincluding FBI Representatives, pastors and

laymen from various churches just returnedfrom a seven day trip to Mongolia onFebruary 12. Look for an update on

what God is doing through FirstBible International - Mongolia in

our next edition of the Unpublished WORD Journal.

“And they sang together by coursein praising and giving thanks unto theLORD; because he is good, for hismercy endureth for ever toward Israel.And all the people shouted with agreat shout, when they praised theLORD, because the foundation of thehouse of the LORD was laid.” Ezra 3:11

What a time of rejoicing it must have been thatday in Israel. The foundation had been laid for theplace where God would be worshipped and fromwhich His workmen would be sent forth to fulfill Hiscommands. All the people praised and gave thanks toour God who had made it all possible.

As Director of FirstBible International of Mexico, Itoo want to praise the Lord for the foundation that isbeing laid in this sister country. We at FirstBibleInternational of Mexico are praying, working, and ask-ing the Lord to allow us to have a small part in helpingMexico become a real missionary sending nation thatwill impact the world for Christ.

Years ago the Lord directed my wife and me toMexico. With the Lord’s help and guidance we wereallowed to establish two independent fundamentalBaptist churches. We fell in love with Mexico and herpeople. For reasons not understood by us, the Lordallowed my wife to suffer two bouts with cancer thatrequired us to return to the United States to seek themedical help needed. Praise the Lord, He saw fit to gra-ciously heal my wife and give her back to me. Againwe did not understand, but beyond any doubt, the Lorddirected us not to return to Mexico as missionaries atthat time. Many others did not understand. His waysare not our ways, but His ways are always perfect.

Then not too many years passed and Dr. Keenasked me to head up FirstBible International of Mexico.His words were, “I believe you have come to FirstBiblefor such a time as this. You know the language, lovethe people, understand the culture, and have therespect of many of the leaders there.” With this min-istry, God has allowed me to go back to the people Ilove and for whom I am burdened to potentially havean influence that will far outweigh what I could havedone as a traditional missionary church planter. As anadded bonus, I get to work hand in hand with one ofmy own preacher boys, Alfredo Diaz, who was savedand called to preach in our ministry there. God is sogood!

We at FirstBible believe the Hispanic world isbecoming a real key in world evangelization.Missiologists today agree that one of the most excitingphenomenons in missions is the participation andgrowth of missionary involvement by people outsidethe United States, especially in Mexico and LatinAmerica. In fact, one missiologist estimates that themission force outside the United States is growing at arate nearly five times faster than the U.S. The work ofmissions in Mexico is changing from being a missionfield to becoming a country that is sending missionar-ies around the world. The churches that have beenplanted there are now strong enough to continue thework of evangelization.

These new missionaries can go to many places thathave been closed for years to American missionaries.They understand what it is to live in a third world econ-omy. They believe the same God who has supportedthe North American missionary can support them with-out dependence upon the North American churches.

Years ago the independent fundamental Baptistchurches of America caught a vision of the great spiri-tual need in Mexico. Godly men and women gavetheir lives to spread the gospel among the Mexicanpeople. The work accomplished has been phenome-nal. In almost every state there are thriving soul-win-ning independent fundamental Baptist churches pas-tored by Mexican Nationals. In Monterrey, Tijuana,Cuernavaca, Champoton, Merida, Durango, AguasCalientes, Chilpancinco, Saltillo, Torreon, Mexico City,Celaya, San Luis Potosi, and in many other cities evan-gelism and church planting are thriving.

Dr. Luis Ramos, Pastor of the Bible Baptist Churchin San Luis Potosi, Mexico, has partnered withFirstBible International of Mexico to see world mis-

8 . Unpublished WORD

Mark Brown, Director

sions take center stage in the local churches ofMexico. Dr. Ramos and his very capable staff,Brother Alfredo Dias and Brother Jorge Rocha, alongwith this preacher are holding regional meetings allover the country of Mexico.

Our purpose is three-fold. First, we are seeking toaid the Mexican national pastors in developing aworld vision consistent with Scripture. Second, we areholding classes for the national pastors concerning allaspects of biblical world missions. We are coveringsubjects such as how to begin a world missions pro-gram in your church; how to maintain it; how to raisethe awareness among your people as to the world’sneeds; how to organize and hold a local church mis-sions conference; how to finance the world missionsprogram; the methods of soul-winning, discipleship,and church planting; the role that Bible translationholds in world missions; and the role the Bible andprayer plays in missions. Third, following these class-es 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 theygo forth, and servants like Aaron and Hur who willcommit to hold them up in prayer.

God is at work. A foundation for world missions inMexico is being laid for His glory. More than fiftylocal churches have committed to establishing a WorldMissions program in the past year. More than fifty-fourcouples have surrendered to carry the gospel to morethan twenty-seven nations outside of Mexico. Plans forthis coming year are being made at this moment. Weare seeking ways that we can be more effective.Brethren, this is exciting! Those of you who pray for usand support us have a vital part.

Would you please continue to pray for us,FirstBible International of Mexico? The translation ofmaterials and travel and conference expenses areheavy, but the rewards far outweigh the burdens.“And all the people shouted with a great shout, whenthey praised the LORD, because the foundation of thehouse of the LORD was laid.” Ezra 3:11 ❖


“I had perceived by experience, how that it was possi-ble to establish the lay people in any truth, except the

Scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in theirmother tongue, that they might see the process, order,and meaning of the text.” - William Tyndale, Bible Translator and Martyr

An inexpensive Bible with cheap paper and a vinylcover costs only dollars, but if you want a nice, leather-covered Bible with thin pages, you will pay dearly forit. In Communist Europe a Bible once sold for $400.00on the black market. However, this is not what I meanwhen I talk about the price of a Bible. I refer more tothe sacrifice that must be made so that a people canhave God’s Word. For instance, what did it costWilliam Tyndale to give the English world the Bible? Itcost him years of work done in hiding; and he wasrewarded in the end by being burned at the stake!

Before the translator takes up his pen, he must firsttake up his cross. This is the price that any true disciplemust pay. Death to self, death to his personal ambi-tions, is the first expense to pay. Translation is not aquick task. In spite of modern technology, it is stillgoing to take the very best years of his life. In theory,computers should speed up the process, but computerscannot heal sick babies, disciple baby Christians,build airstrips and church buildings, home school thechildren, and a hundred other things that demand thetranslator’s time.

The translator must master the meaning of a bunchof strange sounds and put them in a usable alphabet.He must also crack the culture code and decipher thethinking of the people. Before he begins to translateScripture, he practices on fairly easy materials such asfolk stories, books about health or agriculture, and sim-ple Bible stories. During this time he is training himself

and his native translation helpers. He is alsoshowing the people that their language can

indeed be written.Now the work begins! Even though

he has learned thousands of words, thetranslator hasn’t learned many Bibleterms. Take Mark 1:4 for instance. How

does he say “baptize”? They don’t bap-tize people, and if they do, it is a pagan

baptism. Can he use the pagan word?What about the word “preach”? The mis-

sionary knows the words for “talk,” andmaybe “teach,” but not “preach.” And how

can someone “preach baptism”? What isrepentance? And what is “the remission of

sins”? Before the translation session, the translator muststudy and find out for sure what every word means inhis own language. Then he must explain these strangenew concepts to the native helper, and together theydecide how to say those things.

The temptation is to explain instead of translate,thus producing a commentary instead of a transla-tion—we must not do that. In Mark 1:5 the translatormight need to clarify to the helper that the “land ofJudea” did not really go anywhere; it was the peopleof the land that did. Verse six mentions the camel, andthere may be no word for it if none live in the region.Should the translator transliterate a word from thetrade language? Or should he say, “a big animal likea horse with humps”? Because he could not find aword for donkey, one missionary said that Jesus cameinto Jerusalem on a large animal with long ears. Theonly animal the people knew with long ears was a rab-bit, and they envisioned Jesus riding on an enormousrabbit. That was the first Easter Bunny!

And on it goes. Nearly every verse presents a chal-lenge. It can be done, but it is never easy. The initialtranslation is time consuming, but the checking andediting takes even longer. The translator or the helpermust read a passage to others who have no knowledgeof the Bible and ask them what it means. If their under-standing doesn’t match the Bible, then it’s back to thedrawing board.

We attempt to translate literally, but sometimes avery literal translation of a verse will be a bad transla-tion because the translator has matched words, but notmeanings. In English we say, “We are going to sup-

by Rex Cobb, Director ofBaptist Bible Translators Institute

continued on page 14

1 0 . Unpublished WORD

Unpublished WORD 1 1 .

1. God made the world one big family (10:1-32). Thischapter provides us much important information:

This chapter has been called a table of nationsbecause it traces the connected origins of variousnations.

The descendants of Japheth (10:2-5). Together theyform what is known as the “Indo-European” family ofnations. They became the coastline peoples, the peo-ples of the Gentiles (10:5). It was primarily into thisarea of the world that the New Testament churchspread, under the apostle Paul.

The descendants of Ham (10:6-20). Here we havethe account of the descants of Ham. The nations con-nected to Ham inhabited northwestern Africa, the west-ern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and the FertileCrescent from Egypt to Mesopotamia.

The descendants of Shem (10:21-32). They are theSemitic peoples who inhabited the eastern lands: mod-ern-day Iraq, Iran, and eastern Saudi Arabia. Theseare the Hebrews, the nation Israel. This section revealsthat it was God’s plan to bless the human race bydividing the family of man by languages, locations,and leaders.

So why is this important? What difference does thisunity of the human race make? They are all ourcousins! Their needs, their hopes, their dreams, theirproblems, their family struggles, their successes, andtheir failures are really not that much different thanours! All human people, even of different national andcultural identities are of the same origin, have the samedignity, and belong in the same world. Since God hasa heart for the world, so must we.

2. The world will never enjoy unity apart fromChrist (11:1-26). How did the world become so divid-ed? That’s the point of Genesis 11:1-9. It explains whatcaused the nations to scatter. The story of the toweralso 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 dev-astating as a flood to annihilate mankind, however,God now places His hope in a covenant with Abrahamas a powerful solution to humanity’s sinfulness.

Please also notice that they “settled” in Shinar. In9:1, 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’sdescendants did not understand what God wanted.God wanted them to move throughout all the earth butthey banded together in order to defy God’scommand.

In 11:3-4, “They said to one another, ‘Go to, let usmake brick, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they usedbrick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said,‘Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose topmay reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name,lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the wholeearth.’” The motivation for building a city was to makethe builders a name (cf. Ps 14:1). They wanted to“empower” themselves.

Verse 4 makes what might be called the first publicdeclaration of humanism: “They said, ‘Go to, let usbuild us a city and a tower, whose top may reach untoheaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scat-tered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’” Thisverse reveals three problems. First, man wanted tobuild a tower that would reach up to the top of theheavens. Secondly, they wanted to make a name forthemselves. The third problem revealed in this versewas that they wanted to keep themselves from beingscattered over the earth.

“Go to, let us go down, and there confound theirlanguage, that they may not understand one anoth-er’s speech.” So what was God’s plan? His plan wasto foil man’s sin. Language is a unique tool tocommunicate.

(Genesis 10:1-11:26)

By: Keith Krell BA Th.; M DivEdited by: Dr. Charles F. Keen



FACTS AND STATICTICS

In 1908, the Earth’s populationlived rurally. She held only 2Supercities, 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 (over500,000), and 6,453 Metropolises(over 50,000). Missions has moved.

• In 1900, no Protestantchurches existedin South Korea.Today, SouthKorea is 30%Christian.

• In1900, Africawas 3%Christian.Today, sub-Saharan Africais 50% Christianwith 25,000new belivers daily.

• In1900, there were 50,000Protestants in Latin America.Today, the number has risen to100 million.

• In 1950, there were 1 millionChristians in China. Today, thereare more than 70 million believers,and there are 35,000 new believers daily.

Source: Mission Maker Magazine, 2008


AN ENQUIRYINTO THE OBLIGATIONS OF CHRISTIANS TO USE MEANSFOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HEATHENSin which the Religious State of the DifferentNations of the World, the Success of FormerUndertakings, and the Practicability ofFurther 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 COMMISSIONGIVEN 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 allnations; This commission was as extensive as possible,and laid them under obligation to disperse themselvesinto every country of the habitable globe, and preachto all the inhabitants, without exception or limitation.They accordingly went forth in obedience to the com-mand, and the power of God evidently wrought withthem. The work has not been taken up, or prosecutedof late years (except by a few individuals) with thatzeal and perseverance with which the primitiveChristians went about it. It seems as if many thought thecommission was sufficiently put in execution by whatthe apostles and others have done; that we haveenough to do to attend to the salvation of our owncountrymen; and that, if God intends the salvation ofthe heathen, he will some way or other bring them tothe gospel, or the gospel to them. There seems also tobe an opinion existing in the minds of some, thatbecause the apostles were extraordinary officers andhave no proper successors, and because many thingswhich were right for them to do would be utterly unwar-rantable for us, therefore it may not be immediatelybinding on us to execute the commission, though it wasso upon them. To the consideration of such persons Iwould offer the following observations.

FIRST, If the command of Christ to teach all nationsbe restricted to the apostles, or those under the imme-

diate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, then that of bap-tizing should be so too.

SECONDLY, If the command of Christ to teach allnations be confined to the apostles, then all such ordi-nary ministers who have endeavoured to carry thegospel to the heathens, have acted without a warrant,and run before they were sent.

THIRDLY, If the command of Christ to teach allnations extend only to the apostles, then, doubtless, thepromise of the divine presence in this work must be solimited. That there are cases in which even a divinecommand may cease to be binding is admitted - As forinstance, if it be repealed, as the ceremonial com-mandments of the Jewish law; or if there be no subjectsin the world for the commanded act to be exercisedupon, as in the law of septennial release, which mightbe dispensed with when there should be no poor in theland to have their debts forgiven. Or if, in any partic-ular instance, we can produce a counter-revelation, ofequal authority with the original command, as whenPaul and Silas were forbidden of the Holy Ghost topreach the word in Bythinia, Acts 16:6,7. Or if, in anycase, there be a natural impossibility of putting it intoexecution. But none of these things can be alleged byus in behalf of neglect of the commission given byChrist. We cannot say that it is repealed, like the com-mands of the ceremonial law; nor can we plead thatthere are no objects for the command to be exercisedupon. Alas! the far greater part of the world, are stillcovered with heathen darkness! Nor can we producea counter-revelation, concerning any particular nation,like that of Paul and Silas, concerning Bythinia; and, ifwe could, it would not warrant our sitting still andneglecting all the other parts of the world; for Paul andSilas, when forbidden to preach to those heathens,went elsewhere, and preached to others. Where acommand exists nothing can be necessary to render itbinding but a removal of those obstacles which renderobedience impossible, and these are removed already.Natural impossibility can never be pleaded so long asfacts exist to prove the contrary. Have not the mission-aries of the Unitas Fratrum, or Moravian Brethren,encountered the scorching heat of Abyssinia, and thefrozen climes of Greenland, and Labrador, their diffi-cult languages, and savage manners? Or have notEnglish traders, for the sake of gain, surmounted allthose things which have generally been counted insur-mountable obstacles in the way of preaching thegospel? Men can insinuate themselves into the favour


port a missionary.” If we translate literally into Spanish,using the equivalent word for support and say, “Weare going to soportar a missionary,” we actually saywe are going to “tolerate” or “put up with” him.Translation is moving words, along with the correctmeaning, from one language to another. We movedwords, 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 onthis challenge. The living conditions are usually primi-tive, the work is tedious, and the results (salvation deci-sions, baptisms, churches) are usually very slow. Thetranslator may be somewhat despised because he livesamong people that are despised. He will be criticizedby those who know nothing about translation, and bythose who do, but use a different method and text. One

day, the missionary translator is going to hand the peo-ple a book, and say, “This is God’s Word.” What anawesome responsibility! And he will stand at the judg-ment seat of Christ and give account for his work. Mayhe honestly repeat the words of Jesus recorded in John17:14, “I have given them thy word,” and hear Jesussay, “Yes, you have; and you did it right!” ❖

Rex Cobb graduated fromFaithWay Baptist Institute in 1973 and Baptist BibleTranslators Institute in 1975. The Cobbs served in Mexico until 1999 and now trains others at BBTI.

The Pri¢e of a Bible continued from page 10


In 11:8-9, Moses writes, “So the LORD scatteredthem abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:and they left off to build the city.” God did not allowhuman rebellion to reach the level that it had before theflood. And as soon as God confused the language, theengineers could not speak to the laborers. The masonscould not speak to the city planners. All the work hadto stop. By the way, it’s only from the Scriptures that welearn the true origins of the different languages in dif-ferent 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

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 likea baseball game. The world of humanity representedby Adam and Eve is the batter who stepped up tohome plate for the first time in the garden of Eden. Theball—the opportunity to live forever in a right, lovingrelationship with the Creator and so possess the full-ness of His blessing—was thrown. But through man’schoice to disobey God, the world of humanity missed,and that was strike one.

In Noah’s day, humanity was back up to bat. Thesame ball—the opportunity to live in a right relation-ship with the Creator and receive His full, personalblessing—was thrown. This time the world chose to dis-regard God, and that was strike two.

Chapter 11 of Genesis describes the third time theworld of humanity came up to bat. The same ball wasthrown at the world. Again, the world swung andmissed. To use baseball terminology, we struck out.God is a God of grace. Instead of sending us to thedugout, He grants us grace. God is certainly a God ofjustice and judgment, but in His economy, gracealways prevails.

Printed by permission: Keith Krell, Timeless Word Ministries,2508 State Ave NE Olympia, WA 98506, 360-352-9044,www.timelessword.com.

The Spread of the Nations continued from page 11


*This editedNicene Creeddeals only withthe deity ofChrist.

The followingbackground ishow the NiceneCreed came intoexistence.History recordsthat the Councilestablished thedeity of Christ;we believe the Bible did thatfirst.

Standing up forJesusAthanasiusRoman Empirec. A. D. 297-373

“No,” Anthanasius asserted, “Jesus was not other from the Father, but of the Father. Christ was of thesame essence as the Father, eternal and divine. He was not created at a certain time, but was always one withthe Father the Creator.”

Thus, in summary, Athanasius answered Arius at the first church council before Emperor Constantine atNicea in A.D. 325. Arius and his followers had declared that Jesus was created from nothing and was not of thesame essence as the Father, nor was the Holy Spirit. Thus his arguments denied the divinity of Jesus and theexistence 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’sviews of Jesus were persecuted.The Voice of the Martyrs, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers, 2002, pp. 204-208.

Nicene CreedWe believe in one God,

The Father, the Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth,

Of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

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,

Was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary

And became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

He suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

In accordance with the Scriptures;

He ascended into heaven

And is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory

To judge the living and the dead,

And his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord,

The giver of life,

Who proceeds from the Father and the Son

Is worshiped and glorified

Who has spoken through the prophets.*

In the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles we receivethrilling accounts of the external details of Paul’s histo-ry; we are carried rapidly from city to city and informedof the incidents which accompanied the founding of thevarious churches; but we cannot help wishing some-times to stop and learn what one of these churches waslike inside. In Paphos or Iconium, in Thessalonica orBerea or Corinth, how did things go on after Paul left?What were the Christians like, and what was the aspectof their worship?

Happily it is possible to obtain this interior view ofthings. As Luke’s narrative describes the outside ofPaul’s career, so Paul’s own Epistles permit us to see itsinside and deeper aspects. They rewrite the history ona different plane. First to the Corinthians a great Greekcity – in which there was a Christian church, let us takethe roof off the meeting-house of the Christians and per-mit us to see what was going on within.

It is a strange spectacle we witness from this van-tage point. It is Sabbath evening, but of course the hea-then city knows of no Sabbath. The little company ofChristians has been gathering from all directions to theirplace of worship.

Glance round the benches and look at the faces.You at once discern one marked distinction amongthem: some have the peculiar facial contour of the Jew,while the rest are Gentiles of various nationalities; andthe latter are the majority. But look closer still and younotice another distinction; some wear the ring whichdenotes that they are free, while others are slaves; butnot many great, not many mighty, not many noble arethere; the majority belong to what in this pretentious citywould be reckoned the foolish, the weak, the base anddespised things of this world.

But observe one thing besides on all the faces pres-ent – the terrible traces of their past life. In thisCorinthian congregation these awful hieroglyphics areeverywhere. Look at that tall, sallow-faced Greek: hehas wallowed in the mire of Circe’s swine-pens. Lookat that low-browed Scythian slave: he has been a pick-

pocket and a jail-bird. Look at thatthin-nosed, sharp-eyed Jew: hehas been a Shylock, cutting his poundof flesh from the gilded youth of Corinth.

Yet there has been a great change. Another storybesides the tale of sin is written on these countenances.“But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye arejustified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spiritof our God.” Listen, they are singing; it is the fortiethPsalm: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit,out of the miry clay.” What pathos they throw into thewords, what joy overspreads their faces! They knowthemselves to be monuments of free grace and dyinglove.

But suppose them now all gathered; how does theirworship proceed? There was this difference betweentheir services and most of ours, that instead of one manconducting them – all the men present were at liberty tocontribute their part. Nor does there seem to havebeen any fixed order in which the different parts of theservice occurred.

After the services, the members sat down together toa love-feast, which was wound up with the breaking ofbread in the Lord’s Supper; and then, after a fraternalkiss, they parted to their homes.

But truth demands that the dark side of the picturebe shown as well as the bright one. There were abus-es and irregularities in the Church which it is exceed-ingly painful to recall. These were due to two things –the antecedents of the members and the mixture in theChurch of Jewish and Gentile elements.

It startles us to learn that some of them were livingin gross sensuality, and that the more philosophicaldefended this on principle. One member, apparently aperson of wealth and position, was openly living in aconnection which would have been a scandal evenamong heathens. Others had been allured back to takepart in the feasts in the idol temples, notwithstandingtheir accompaniments of drunkenness and revelry.


Edited by Dr. Charles Keen From The Life of St. Paul1


It is evident that these abuses belonged to theGentile section of the church. In the Jewish section, onthe other hand, there were strange doubts and scruplesabout the same subjects. Some, for instance, hadgone to the opposite extreme, whether widows mightmarry again, whether a Christian married to a heathenwife ought to put her away, and other points of thesame nature. While some of the Gentile converts wereparticipating in the idol feasts, some of the Jewish oneshad scruples about buying in the market the meatwhich had been offered in sacrifice to idols, andlooked with censure on their brethren who allowedthemselves this freedom.

These difficulties belonged to the domestic life ofthe Christian; but, in their public meetings also, therewere grave irregularities. The very gifts of the Spiritwere perverted into instruments of sin; for those pos-sessed of the more showy gifts, such as miracles andtongues, were too fond of displaying them, and turnedthem into grounds of boasting. This led to confusionand even uproar; for sometimes two or three of thosewho spoke with tongues would be pouring forth theirunintelligible utterances at once.

But there were still worse things inside the Church.Even the sacredness of the Lord’s Supper was pro-faned. It seems that the members were in the habit oftaking with them to church the bread and wine whichwere needed for this sacrament; but the wealthybrought abundant and choice supplies and, instead ofwaiting for their poorer brethren and sharing their pro-visions with them, began to eat and drink so glutto-nously that the table of the Lord actually resoundedwith drunkenness and riot.

One more dark touch must be added to this sadpicture. In spite of the brotherly kiss with which theirmeetings closed, they had fallen into mutual rivalry andcontention. Brother went to law with brother in theheathen courts instead of seeking the arbitration of aChristian friend. The body of the members was split upinto four theological factions. Some called themselves

after Paul himself. Others took the name ofApollonians from Apollos, an eloquent fromAlexandria. These were the philosophical party; theydenied the doctrine of the resurrection. The third partytook the name of Peter, or Cephas, as in their Hebrewpurism they preferred to call him. The fourth partyaffected to be above all parties and called themselvessimply Christians.

Such is the checkered picture of one of Paul’schurches given in one of his own Epistles; and it showsseveral things with much impressiveness. It shows, forinstance, how exceptional, even in that age, his ownmind and character were, and what a blessing his giftsand graces of good sense. It shows that it is not behindbut in front that we have to look for the golden age ofChristianity. It shows how perilous it is to assume thatthe prevalence of any ecclesiastical usage at that timemust constitute a rule for all times. This is what willalways attract to the Apostolic Age the longing eyes ofChristians; the power of the Spirit was energizing inevery member, the tides of fresh emotion swelled inevery breast, and all felt that the dayspring of a newrevelation had visited them; life, love, light were diffus-ing themselves everywhere. Even the vices of the youngChurch were the irregularities of abundant life, for thelack of which the lifeless order of many a subsequentgeneration 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.

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Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

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The Old TestamentIn the Jewish community the Word of the Lord was

to be taught orally: “talk of them when thou sittest inthine house, and when thou walkest by the way…”(Deuteronomy 6.7). Thus, much of Hebrew Scripturehas a cadence and rhythm which is easily memorized,and frequently uses devices such as repetition ofsounds (as is found in Psalm 119) and parallelism (asseen 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 orvowel designations in a simple consonantal text. Thebreaks between sentences and phrases and evenwords was to be known on the basis of the oral tradi-tion. During the time of the dispersion of the Jews, theHebrew Scriptures continued to be used, but they werealso translated into Greek. This translation, known asthe Septuagint, was used by Christ and the apostles inmany of their quotations as recorded in the NewTestament.

In the first centuries after the birth of Christ, Jewishscholars and rabbis recognized that the understandingof the Hebrew text was in danger of being lost. Agroup known as the Masoretes set about producing aHebrew Old Testament which provided not only a stan-dardized consonantal text but also indicated the vowelsounds and accentuation as found in the oral tradition.Their work began around AD 200, and by the early11th century AD the Masoretic Text had been estab-lished and standardized. Although some used theSeptuagint, it is this Masoretic Hebrew text whichbecame the standard throughout the centuries as thebasis of the Old Testament in various languages.

The New TestamentHowever, the canon of Scripture did not end with

the Old Testament. God in His providence also movedmen to write during the first century following the birthof Christ. Some He moved to write historical accountsof His Son and of the early church. Others He movedto send letters to the churches in order to encourageand correct them. To one man He gave a vision ofwhat was to come when His church was in ‘the lastdays.’ Thus, God provided an inspired and inerranttext of the New Testament in a time when Greek wasthe most common language of the people. Greek wasvery well suited to the writing of the New Testament.Whereas Hebrew was easy to remember, Greek wasprecise and explicit.

The Jews destroyed old manuscripts in order toavoid confusion which might be caused by differencesin manuscripts, and accepted essentially one stan-dardized Hebrew text. However, copious copies of theGreek writings were made and preserved, and todaywe have over 5,000 manuscripts containing variousportions of the New Testament writings. Whereas ourOld Testament text is based upon the standardizedwork of the Masoretes, the New Testament comes fromthe great quantity of manuscripts available today. Thebest and most faithful representation of this NewTestament text is the Textus Receptus, also known as theTraditional or Received Text.

The Scriptures in the Original LanguagesVarious church fathers held differing positions as to

which books of the New Testament should be added tothe Old Testament to make up the Christian Scriptures,but in the end they recognized the twenty-seven bookswhich, added to the Old Testament, make up what we

A N A D A P T E D E X T R A C T B Y D R . C H A R L E S K E E N F R O M

B Y T H E T R I N I T A R I A N B I B L E S O C I E T Y


know today as the Bible. During the first five hundredyears of the Christian era translations of theseScriptures were made into various languages: Coptic,Gothic, Syriac, Armenian, Itala, etc. One of the mostimportant of these, the Vulgate, was the Latin transla-tion produced by Jerome in the 4th century. For sever-al centuries this Latin translation became the basis oftranslations 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 thetranslations that were made into other languages. Agrowing number of men realized the importance oftranslating the Scriptures from the Greek and Hebrewinto the languages of the common people rather thanleaving the common people to follow the teachings ofthe Roman Catholic Church.

The Bible in EnglishSeveral attempts were made to provide the Word

of God in the language of the people of England, andnumerous translations of various portions of Scripturewere produced, although most were based upon theLatin rather than the original language texts. Early inthe 8th century Aldhelm of Glastonbury translated thePsalms and Egbert of Holy Island translated theGospels. In AD 735 Bede laboured at Jarrow on histranslation of the Gospel. Alfred the Great desired thathis people should be able to read the Word of Godand he personally engaged in a translation of variouspassages of Scriptures until his death in AD 901. In thelate 10th century Archbishop Aelfric and a number ofothers endeavoured to provide translations whichcould be read in the churches so that many who couldnot read would at least hear the Word of Truth.

However, it was not until the thirteenth century thata language resembling present English came intobeing, and it was not until the fourteenth century that atruly English translation of the Scriptures was pro-duced. Wycliffe, knowing no Hebrew or Greek, trans-lated from the Latin Vulgate. This translation, becauseof the Vulgate’s Roman bias, was far from perfect; nev-ertheless it showed only too clearly how far the doc-trines of the Roman Catholic Church were removedfrom the plain teaching of God’s Word. Wycliffe wasaccused of heresy and excommunicated, but continuedwith his task until his death in 1384. Every copy of histranslation had to be written by hand, but so manywere written that a Bill was enacted in Parliament to

forbid its circulation. Yet the people were so hungry forthe Word of God that Wycliffe’s Bible continued in cir-culation. In 1408 a convocation at Oxford underArchbishop Arundel decreed that any man found trans-lating any text of Scripture into English or any othertongue, or found reading either publicly or privatelyany such translation, would suffer excommunicationand be punished as a favorer of heresy and error.During the next hundred years many Christians wereburned to death with Wycliffe’s Bible tied around theirnecks, but 170 copies remain to this day to testify tohis faithfulness and the diligence of his helpers.

During this period also a young man in Germanymade one of mankind’s greatest discoveries – printing– and in the 1450s Gutenberg set up his famous pressat Mainz. This epoch-making invention contributedgreatly towards the revival of Greek learning, whichhad commenced about the middle of the fifteenth cen-tury, and in many ways led to the establishment of theReformation in Europe.

At the time of the Renaissance and theReformation, men realized the importance of the origi-nal language texts of Scripture and began to studyGreek and Hebrew. They worked to produce a singleGreek New Testament text from the various manu-scripts available to them. The form of Greek NewTestament text produced by Erasmus, Beza, Stephanusand the Elzevirs, in time referred to as the ReceivedText, and the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament asprinted by Bomberg in 1525, came to be used by mostscholars until the late 19th century.

Not everyone had opportunity to study theScriptures in the original languages, but everyone hadthe moral right to study the Scriptures in their ownlanguages.

Because these original tongues arenot known to all the people of God,who have right unto, and interest in theScriptures, and are commanded, in thefear of God, to read and search them,therefore they are to be translated intothe vulgar language of every nationunto which they come, that, the Wordof God dwelling plentifully in all, theymay worship Him in an acceptablemanner; and, through patience andcomfort of the Scriptures, may havehope.1


William Tyndale, using the Greek New Testament ofErasmus, translated the New Testament into English. Forhis ‘heresy’ he spent several years in exile, eventuallybeing arrested, imprisoned, and burned at the stake in1536 in what is today Belgium. His prayer as the flamesgrew near was “Lord! open the eyes of the King ofEngland”, a prayer which God was pleased to answertwo years later.

In October 1535, Miles Coverdale published thefirst complete Bible in English. “Although it was translat-ed from German and Latin, not from the biblical lan-guages, it read well.”2 During the same time Matthew’sBible, edited by John Rogers, was also published.

“The Act of Supremacy passed by the EnglishParliament in 1534 separated the Church of Englandfrom Rome and made the king of England the head ofthe church,”3 thus beginning in earnest the Reformationin England. The Ten Articles, the basic theologicalguidelines for the new Church of England, were pub-lished in 1536. Then came the Injunction of 1538,which “called for Bibles to be made available to thepeople in every parish church: ‘one book of the wholeBible of the largest volume, in English, and the same setup in some convenient place within the said church thatyou have cure of, where your parishioners may mostcommodiously resort to the same and read it…’. Theclergy were warned not to discourage any person fromreading or hearing the Bible read but rather to encour-age its use.”4

Henry VIII approved of the Coverdale Bible as wellas Matthew’s Bible. The latter was essentially Tyndale’swork; thus, Tyndale’s dying prayer was answered as theEnglish people were finally able to read the Scripturesin their own language.

However, “after careful scrutiny Matthew’s Biblewas discovered to be too true to the biblical languagesfor the Tudor government – hence it was altered in1538-39. The revised edition became known as theGreat Bible. This was the version that finally made it tothe lecterns of the churches for the Sunday morningScripture lessons.”5

The work of translation, however, did not stop.Other English translations include those of Taverner(1539), the Geneva Bible (1557-1560), and theBishops’ Bible (1568). Because of the persecutions ofProtestants during its translation, the Geneva Bible con-tained numerous marginal notes exposing the errors ofthe Roman Catholic Church. The Geneva was the first todivide chapters into verses, making it much easier to

use. It was popular and remained in use for a consider-able time after the first appearance of the AuthorizedVersion.

The Bishops’ Bible was commissioned by QueenElizabeth I to be free from the controversial notes foundin the Geneva Bible. The Bishops’ Bible took the placeof the Great Bible in the public services of the Churchbut never achieved great popularity. However, it waslater used as the basis of the revision of 1611 whichwas to become known as the Authorized Version.

The Authorized VersionJanuary 16, 1604: the Puritan John Rainolds6 stood

before the new king of England in the palace atHampton Court. “‘May your Majesty be pleased,’ saidDr. John Rainolds in his address to the king, ‘to directthat the Bible be now translated, such versions as areextant not answering to the original’.”7 Thus “started thegreatest writing project the world has ever known, andthe greatest achievement of the reign of James I – themaking of the English Bible which has ever since bornehis name.”8

Bishop Bancroft appointed fifty-four learned menfrom throughout the kingdom to fulfill the king’s will ofproducing a new English translation of the Bible. Thesewere divided into six main groups: two at Westminster,one for the Old Testament and one for the New; two atOxford, 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 commonliving.”9 It has undergone four major revisions. The lastrevision, done in 1769, became known as the Oxford‘Standard’ Edition and is the edition used by most whouse the Authorized Version today. ❖

This article is an adaptation of the Trinitarian Bible Society’s publication, “The EnglishBible: 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.

The Librarian’s Choice

THE LIFE OF ST. PAULby James Stalker

The Librarian’s Choice for this issue of theUnpublished WORD Journal is a small but pow-erful work by Rev. James Stalker, The Life ofSt. Paul. In Reese’s ChronologicalEncyclopedia of Christian Biographies, we learnthat Stalker was a Church of Scotland minister atKirkcaldy and Glasgow, a professor at theUnited Free Church College in Aberdeen and afrequent lecturer in America. He died in 1929,but his greatest contribution to his own genera-tion and succeeding ones would be in the areaof his literary skills. He wrote several books. Histwo most famous works are, The Life of JesusChrist, thought by some to be one of the great-est non-inspired books ever written, and anothervery valuable one, The Life of St. Paul, which isthe focus of this article.

Stalker’s strength in writing was not in histheological positions, but in his word craftingskills. He could reduce the story line to its lowestpossible word count and not lose the flow of thenarrative. Examples of his skills would be in hisretelling of Paul’s week long storm and shipwreck in Acts 27 in a brief paragraph or his con-cise description of the church at Corinth and herworshippers. He has a way of reading betweenthe lines. Stalker, like every student of Paul, hashis own chronology as to the unfolding of theevents of the apostle’s life.

A condensed version of chapter eight fromthis book entitled “The Picture of a PaulineChurch” is included in this edition of the UWJ onpage 16. This is a good, readable book thatwill enrich your knowledge of Paul withoutbecoming laborious. It is out of print but avail-able at www.amazon.com.


of the most barbarous clans, and uncultivatedtribes, for the sake of gain; and how differentsoever the circumstances of trading and preach-ing are, yet this will prove the possibility of min-isters being introduced there.

It has been objected that there are multi-tudes in our own nation, and within our imme-diate spheres of action, who are as ignorant asthe South-Sea savages, and that therefore wehave work enough at home, without going intoother countries. That there are thousands in ourown land as far from God as possible, I readi-ly grant, and that this ought to excite us to ten-fold diligence in our work, And in attempts tospread divine knowledge amongst them is acertain fact; but that it ought to supersede allattempts to spread the gospel in foreign partsseems to want proof. Our own countrymenhave the means of grace, and may attend onthe word preached if they choose it. They havethe means of knowing the truth, and faithfulministers are placed in almost every part of theland, but with them the case is widely different,who have no Bible, no written language,(which many of them have not,) and no minis-ters. Pity therefore, humanity, and much moreChristianity, call loudly for every possible exer-tion to introduce the gospel amongst them. ❖

(We will be publishing a continuing series of all five chap-ters of William Carey’s An Enquiry in following editions ofthe Unpublished WORD Journal. The unabridged versionmay be purchased through Keen Publications.)

AN ENQUIRY continued from page 13

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A Fundamental Approachto the 10/40 Window

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Unpublished Word Winter 2008

Documents

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