The Mysterious Case of Missing Scripture

By G. Gabriel Powell 11/12/2015

     No book is more important than the Bible. God’s perfect, inspired, inerrant Word is loved, treasured, and protected by His people. From the first prophets who put the Word of the Lord into writing until now, God’s people have taken the utmost care to keep, copy, and preserve the Word of God.

     Long before printing presses could ensure consistent copies, Israel and the church fastidiously copied Scripture, not word by word, but letter by letter. Given its uniquely eternal, transcendent nature, God’s people showed meticulous care in transcribing it, preserving it for generations to come. Their painstaking efforts helped fulfill the words of Jesus’ promise, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass away from the Law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18, ESV).

     It’s no surprise, then, why many people are shocked and upset when a verse in their Bible appears to be missing. We are so used to the chapter/verse addressing system that when a verse number is skipped it’s like our GPS broke down and we’re not sure where to turn.

     This brief article is intended to explain why some verses “disappear” from the Bible in modern translations. My hope is not merely to calm fears, but to confirm and build your trust in the Bible you hold in your hands.

Ancient Texts Down Through the Ages

     There are more copies of Scripture in ancient Hebrew, Greek, and other long-dead languages than any other text. For the New Testament, the oldest known copies date back to less than one hundred years from the original manuscripts, and possibly as close to 25 years.[1] The significance of this can only be understood in contrast with other ancient literature.

     Two popular ancient authors are Aristotle and Homer. Aristotle is a world-renowned philosopher from the fourth century B.C. whose ideas continue to be taught in classrooms today. The oldest copies of his writing date to 1,400 years after the original versions. Is it possible that over the course of a millennium his writings were altered? It is impossible to know; there aren’t enough ancient texts to validate the accuracy of the available copies.

     Homer’s Iliad has fared better, but not much. The oldest available copies date to 500 years after its original composition. The hundreds of ancient copies available reveal that the copies are about 95% accurate. That’s remarkable.

     But when we come to the Bible, not only are the oldest copies less than 100 years from their original compositions, but there are thousands of ancient Greek copies which reveal a 99.5% accuracy among them. That is nothing less than incredible, and it attests to the faithfulness of ancient believers who were devoted to preserving and passing on God’s Word.

The Making of the English Bible

     John Wycliff was the first person to translate the Bible into English; he did so in the fourteenth century from the Latin Vulgate. Less than two hundred years later, William Tyndale developed a more accurate English translation using Hebrew and Greek texts. Tyndale’s work—which consisted of the entire New Testament and a portion of the Old—became the foundation of the King James Version (KJV). In fact, the New Testament of the KJV is 83% Tyndale’s translation from the early 1500s.

     While the KJV is an accurate and beautiful translation, Tyndale and his contemporaries could only work with Hebrew and Greek manuscripts available at the time. In the centuries since then, archaeologists have discovered thousands of much older copies. As a result, we are able to compare these thousands of texts and produce a translation that more accurately reflects the original Scriptures.

     By comparing these thousands of texts that span hundreds of years, we can see how small errors in copies were introduced over time. There are clear examples where, for example, a scribe added a phrase in Matthew’s gospel that they likely remembered from Luke, but which is absent from the much older copies of Matthew.

     While the KJV and the New King James Version (NKJV) have remained largely unchanged from their seventeenth century counterparts,[2] modern translations reflect improved accuracy by marking out words and phrases that were almost certainly not penned by the authors of Scripture. In some translations, as with the English Standard Version (ESV), such passages are removed from the flow of the text and a footnote is provided to explain why.

Missing Verses

     The Bible was not written with chapter and verse numbers. In fact, the first English Bible to be printed with both chapter and verse numbers was the Geneva Bible in 1560. The 1611 edition of the King James Bible slightly altered the chapter and verse divisions, and all modern English translations followed suit. Dividing the text this way makes it easy for Christians around the world to teach, preach, write, and speak about the Bible in a way that allows others to follow along easily.

     But what happens when a verse that was assigned a number in the 1500s turns out to not be part of the original text? As mentioned before, some modern translations have determined to remove the verse and add a footnote. But for the uninformed reader, that creates a problem when they read, for example Matthew 18:10-12 in the ESV. There is no verse 11 in the text—it goes from 10 to 12, with only a footnote at the end of 10 offering an explaining (and we must admit, footnotes are often left unread).

     To the reader it looks like something is missing — Scripture has been removed! The reality is the Bible text is more accurate to the original, but the address system is broken.

Passages in Question

     So what verses are missing? The following list reflects the verses that no longer appear in the flowing text of the English Standard Version:

• Matthew 17:21
• Matthew 18:11
• Matthew 23:14
• Mark 7:16
• Mark 9:44
• Mark 9:46 Mark 11:26
• Mark 15:28
• Mark 16:9–20
• Luke 17:36
• Luke 23:17
• John 5:3–4 John 7:53-8:11
• Acts 8:37
• Acts 15:34
• Acts 24:6b–7
• Acts 28:29
• Romans 16:24

     The only passage above that readers will find still in the main text of their Bibles is Mark 16:9-20. While the originality of this text is highly debated, John MacArthur preached a helpful message explaining why it should not be considered part of Scripture. Click here for that message.

Conclusion

     So what do you do when you see a missing verse? First, look for a footnote. There will usually be an explanation on why that particular verse was not included. But even if there isn’t, now you know why Bible verses go missing. In the history of Bible publishing, there have been Bibles with very serious errors—some more famous than others.[3] In every case, publishers have done a great job in stopping the presses when they find errors. So when you find a missing verse, know that it’s not a misprint or something more malicious.

     If anything, let the absence of a verse spur you on to more closely examine the version of God’s Word you read and study, and get to know how it differs from other reliable texts. Whether you prefer the English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Holman Christian Standard Version, or another modern translation recommended by evangelical pastors and scholars, you can rest in the confidence that it is a trustworthy translation—that it is “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12), “inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

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[1] Dan Wallace, a Greek scholar, has offered hints that a fragment of the gospel of Mark has been found and may date to the A.D. 80s or 90s. See here for more information: http://danielbwallace.com/2012/03/22/first-century-fragment-of-marks-gospel-found/.

[2] Despite what some KVJ-Onlyists would have us believe, the 1611 KJV has been modernized in terms of spelling, formatting, and correcting some errors.

[3] See the following article for some examples. We do not necessarily endorse all the content at this website, but this particular article provides a helpful list of famous Bible publishing mistakes: http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2013/01/famous-bible-translation-mistakes-throughout-history/.

By John Walvoord (1990)

Parenthetic Revelation III: The Beast out of the Land

     Revelation 13:11–18. A second personage is introduced, and John wrote,  “Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed” (vv.  11–12 ). Considerable attention has been given this passage by interpreters who try to determine who this person is. The fact that he comes out of the earth refers to the fact that he comes out of the world, not simply the land of Palestine. The fact that he had two horns would indicate he had some authority as a political character, and he also was pictured as a lamb, which would point to the fact that he has religious character, which is supported by the fact that he is called a prophet in  Revelation 19:20. Though many attempts have been made to read into this passage more than it says, it does not indicate his racial background or his geographical background, and it is probable he is a Gentile revealed here to be a supporting character who has some of the supernatural power of the world ruler, but he uses this power to cause people to worship the world ruler.

     In the process of supporting the rule of the world dictator, the beast out of the sea performs miraculous works:  “And he performed great and miraculous sings, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived” ( Rev. 13–14 ). It is often overlooked that Satan has miraculous powers, though limited and less extensive than those of God.

     As a false prophet, the beast out of the earth (v.  13 ) is able to provide some basis for belief in the beast out of the sea through the miracles he performs. As a part of his work in getting people to honor the first beast, he sets up an image of the beast which, though it is not stated, may well be an idol depicting the beast himself. The image is referred to several times in this chapter and also six more times throughout  Revelation ( Rev. 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4 ). Because the fire comes down from heaven, he, no doubt, compares himself to some of Elijah’s miracles ( 2 Kings 1:10–12 ) or to the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2:3 ). Also, in  Revelation 11:5 in connection with the two witnesses, they had the power to kill when the fire came out of their mouths.

     Once the image has been made, he gives it the capacity to have breath:  “He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed” ( 13:15 ). Though some have interpreted this as giving the image life, it is rather that he is able to contrive, either supernaturally or naturally, the impression that the beast is breathing. In any case, he causes people to worship this beast, and if they do not, they are put to death.

     One of the most commented-on aspects of this work is the introduction of a mark indicating the worshippers of the beast. John recorded,  “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive the mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666” (vv.  16–18 ).

     The step requiring people to have a mark, either on their forehead or on their right hand, to identify them as worshippers of the beast, is not hard to understand as various types of identification are used for beasts today, such as cattle, fish, birds, and others. The enforcement applies to all, and the six classes of people referred to here cover the entire human race. Because this mark is absolutely essential to either buy or sell, it puts tremendous pressure on Christians who resist this as they are helpless to conduct ordinary business and to care for their loved ones.

     The number of the beast, as mentioned in verse  18, has called for extensive study. The Bible itself does not interpret the  “666.” Because in some languages the alphabet that is used has numerical value, some felt that this pointed to the beast as a character out of the past whose name in its numerical value would reveal the number  “666.” Accordingly, schemes abounded in which many different names were suggested.

     Probably the most widely recognized numerical system is found in Latin where the capital V represents 5, X represents 10, C represents 100, with corresponding values in other numbers. The task of the expositor was to find a name which, with the letters added up in their numerical equivalency, would add up to 666. Many characters of history were so identified, often using the alphabet that yielded the right numbers. All attempts to date using this method have failed.

     Though there may be more light cast on it at the time this prophecy is ful-filled, the passage itself declares that this number is  “man’s number.” In the book of  Revelation the number  7 is one of the significant numbers indicating perfection. Accordingly, there are 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls of the wrath of God, 7 thunders, etc. This beast claims to be God, and if that were the case, he should be 777. This passage, in effect, says, “No, you are only 666. You are short of deity even though you were originally created in the image and likeness of God.” Most of the speculation on the meaning of this number is without profit or theological significance.

     The important revelation of this chapter is that the world history leading up to the second coming of Christ will be dominated by these two characters, especially in the last three and a half years before the second coming. The world ruler will actually for a time exercise political authority over the entire world and the supporting character, the beast out of the earth, will give his support supernaturally and cause people to worship the world ruler. The worship of this world ruler and the recognition of Satan also as deity brings apostasy to its most dramatic revelation. The evil in Satan’s and men’s hearts is allowed its full manifestation but will be subject to the judgment of God at the time of the second coming.

Parenthetic Revelation III: Vision of the 144,000 on Mount Zion

     The parenthetical chapters,  12 through  14, focus on important characters of the period. In chapter  12, Israel, Christ, Satan, and Michael are linked to the final great drama. In chapter  13, the future world ruler, the beast out of the sea, and his associate, the beast out of the earth, and the details of their world government are described. Chapter  14 may be summarized as a prediction of Christ in His ultimate triumph, the judgment of the wicked, and the pronouncements and visions supporting this.

     Revelation 14:1–5. Expositors have had problems uniting on a specific interpretation of this passage, one of the problems being whether Mount Zion is a reference to earth or to heaven. A careful study of this chapter, however, does not support the concept that Zion here is heaven. The one hundred forty-four thousand, introduced in chapter  7, were sealed to be kept safely through the tribulation without losing their lives and are still in their natural bodies. They will go into the millennium without dying. Accordingly, they would not be seen in heaven. Preferable is the interpretation that in a prophetic vision John sees the triumph of the Lamb following His second coming and the one hundred forty-four thousand on Mount Zion as tokens of His keeping power and their induction to the millennial reign.

     Scholars have had difficulty determining whether the one hundred forty-four thousand of chapter  14 is the same as that of chapter  7. Though various explanations have been given, it is preferable to regard them as the same group, as it would be most unlikely to have two different groups of one hundred forty-four thousand each, especially when the original one hundred forty-four thousand is based on twelve tribes of twelve thousand each in order to arrive at this number. Scriptures record that they have the name of Christ and the name of the Father written on their foreheads, indicating possession and safety. It is rather obvious that while the one hundred forty-four thousand refers to Israel racially, they would not be preserved through the great tribulation unless they were also Christian.

     There is nothing in Scripture that indicates that they are evangelists, as is often taught, or that they are prophets, but their role is one of illustrating the keeping power of God in this most awful period of the tribulation.

     John  “heard a sound from heaven” that is compared to  “the roar of rushing waters” or a  “peal of thunder.” It is, of course, a demonstration of divine power. The sound, however, has a musical quality as if played on the harp. Coupled with instrumental music, those before the throne sing a new song. This new song is not sung by the one hundred forty-four thousand on earth as they are in a different location, and it states simply that no one but the one hundred forty-four thousand can learn it. The heavenly choir is probably the martyred dead of the tribulation mentioned in  7:9–17. The song mentioned, however, is not the same as that of the twenty-four elders in  5:9–10. In  Revelation 5 the elders sing the song; in chapter  14 the song is sung to the four living creatures and the elders.

     The one hundred forty-four thousand are also described.  “These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure” (v.  4 ). They are described as  “redeemed” (v.  3 ) and as those  “offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb” (v.  4 ). The implication from all these descriptive terms is that the one hundred forty-four thousand have been kept clear from doctrinal or moral impurity and that they are characterized as those who  “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (v.  4 ). Under ordinary circumstances, the married state is not regarded as less pure than the single state, but in the terrible period of the great tribulation, a normal married life would be impossible, and in order to serve the Lord without distraction, they remain unmarried.

     The description of the one hundred forty-four thousand brings to the fore the importance of having a life of purity in the testimony of a Christian to the world. Christians are to be  “holy and blameless,” ( Eph. 1:4; 5:27 ) and  “without fault” ( Jude 24 ). The one hundred forty-four thousand constitute an amazing testimony of the holiness of God in the midst of a generation that is utterly wicked and worshipping Satan.

          __________________________________________________________________

Every Prophecy of the Bible: Clear Explanations for Uncertain Times

Our Daily Bread

By Eric Watkins 2/01/2015

     This simple request in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer may be one of the most time-and tear-tested portions of prayer itself. About seven years ago, as our economy began to tumble   ( 2008 )  and financial insecurities threatened many families, praying for the simple provisions of our lives became a reinvigorated practice. As a pastor, I have to admit that though the church felt the economic effects of that struggle in various ways, it was not all bad.

     For many people, it became a moment in which they had to stop and assess what their priorities in life really were. It became a time of husbands and wives holding hands in prayer, and even praying this portion of the Lord’s Prayer together through tears. Children watched as their parents had to cut their excess spending and were humbled in the process. Family worship was renewed, and in the center of it, requesting God’s provision for simple things became a healthfully renewed practice.

     It is a pastoral irony to me that so often it proves to be the case that  the more we struggle materially, the more we seem to grow spiritually.  God frequently helps us grow the most when we have the least, or at least when our focus is less on the things of this world and more on God Himself. If we find this a little perplexing, we can take heart; it is nothing new (1 Cor. 10:13).

(1 Co 10:13) 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.   ESV

     This petition in the Lord’s Prayer has raised a number of questions throughout the centuries of its interpretation, largely due to the fact that the word daily occurs only in the Lord’s Prayer in the New Testament. In his commentary on Matthew, James Montgomery Boice noted that the word here for daily was found on a woman’s shopping list from the biblical period, referring to items needed for the next day. He thus takes the petition as asking God to “give us the necessities of life for this day (or the day immediately ahead).”

     Such language, as other commentators also point out, takes us back to Israel’s pilgrimage through the wilderness. There, day after day, God provided the manna or “daily bread” that was needed for their physical lives. Proof that God would provide for their future was found in the faithful manner in which he provided for their present. We note with interest what God did the day before the Sabbath. On that day only, the Israelites were allowed to gather twice as much bread, enough for that day and also for the Sabbath day. By granting this provision, God enabled Israel to keep the Sabbath (by not working to gather bread on the Sabbath day). Even more importantly, it showed that God was already granting to them the blessings of the Sabbath even though it had not yet actually come. Through God’s provision of physical bread, He demonstrated His desire to give them even greater things that were yet to come — things such as Sabbath rest.

     Reformers such as John Calvin rightly pushed back against allegorical readings of this petition in the Lord’s Prayer, and we appreciate their caution. Yet it would have been hard for a first-century Jew to hear this request for “daily bread” and not think of Israel in the wilderness, including the fact that on the day before the Sabbath, God gave them not only the bread of that day, but tomorrow’s bread as well. That God did this for Israel year after year while they were in the wilderness was meant to serve a catechetical function: they were to learn week after week that God would provide for them, even though they could not yet see how He would do so.

     Is not our covenant-keeping God continuing to teach us this same lesson? He teaches us to trust Him not only for our daily bread, but also for the eternal things of His heavenly kingdom. He faithfully gives us the things we need day by day for our material lives, and He also gives us the blessings of heaven through Jesus Christ, who is the bread of life that God has granted us for the salvation of our souls. In Christ, we have already received the blessings of the eternal Sabbath.

     God teaches us to prayerfully depend upon Him for all our needs, trusting Him not only when we can see how these things will come to us, but even more when we have to look up with the eyes of faith to behold the glory of the Lord, even in the simplest things of this life — like daily bread. As we pray this petition in the Lord’s Prayer, God continues to return us to the school of first things because too often we love and trust in the blessings of God more than the God of those blessings. Whether God has providentially placed us in an economic wilderness or bountifully blessed us with the milk and honey of prosperity, may we daily humble ourselves before Him in prayerful devotion, and praise our God from whom all blessings flow.

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     Dr. Eric B. Watkins is pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, Fla.

Religion and Politics: An Interview with Russell Moore

By Russell Moore 2/01/2015

     Tabletalk: How did you come to pursue a career as a systematic theologian and Christian ethicist?

     Russell Moore: I felt a call to ministry early on and preached my first sermon at my home church in Biloxi, Miss., when I was twelve. I then drifted from that calling toward a career in politics. When I was working on Capitol Hill as a very young man, I picked up in the Library of Congress a copy of a Free Will Baptist manual on weddings, funerals, and so forth. After I returned home I wondered, “Why did I want this?” The Lord used that to rekindle my sense of His call to ministry. I never imagined how God would merge these callings together.

TT: What is the mission of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and how does it carry out its work?

     RM: We are an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. We have two basic functions. We equip churches to think through moral and ethical concerns in light of the gospel. And we speak for our churches, articulating a gospel vision of the common good to government, media, and culture. In everything, we seek to connect the agenda of the kingdom of God to the cultures of local congregations for the sake of the gospel in the world.

TT: What are the biggest challenges for Christians who work in government? What are the best ways that we can pray for and support believers who work there?

     RM: One challenge is the temptation to expect too much of government. Our vote for president of the United States is critically important, but our vote to receive members into our local churches is more important. The United States is important, but one day the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument will stand in ruins; every other great power has fallen. Those who are in Christ, however, are the future rulers of the cosmos. The other temptation is to be embarrassed by Jesus. It’s easy to talk about “values, faith, and principles,” but many who do so cringe to hear themselves say things such as “the Bible says” or “the blood of Jesus.” People on Capitol Hill work hard. There are many believers there, and there are some tremendously good churches evangelizing and discipling Christians there.

TT: Is it right for Christians to advocate religious liberty for people of all religions, or should we seek religious liberty only for Christian denominations? Why?

     RM: Emphatically, yes, we should advocate religious liberty for all. Religious liberty for everyone is a corollary of the gospel of Jesus Christ. No bureaucrat can stand on anyone’s behalf before the judgment seat of Christ, and the government cannot issue regeneration the way it issues driver’s licenses. To give the government oversight over religious beliefs and practice, even over those with whom we disagree, is to confer spiritual lordship on the state, a lordship Jesus never delegated to it.  Only a losing religion needs the government to support or enforce it.  The gospel is big enough to fight for itself.

TT: The gospel sounds increasingly strange to Americans as our culture becomes more hostile to Christianity. What are two ways that Christians can be effective witnesses in a society increasingly hostile to the Christian faith?

     RM: We should embrace the strangeness. Every time Jesus or His Apostles articulated the gospel, the response was the same: people assumed they were insane. In fact, when people didn’t see how crazy the gospel sounded, Jesus would often clarify until they did. When people see Christianity as strange, they are starting to actually hear it. What’s passing away before us, with the slow-motion collapse of the Bible Belt, is nominal, cultural Christianity, or “normal” American religion. J. Gresham Machen identified this as liberalism, no matter its politics. Good riddance. We now have the opportunity for people to see Christianity for what it really is, not a message on how to be a good American but a freakishly strange message of a virgin birth, bloody cross, and empty tomb. That freakishness saves.

     At the same time, we must engage the outside world with convictional kindness. This is more than civility — it is active kindness toward those who disagree with us. Paul wrote that we should correct our opponents with gentleness that God might grant them repentance leading to knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 2:25). Such kindness isn’t weakness or passivity. It is, in fact, spiritual warfare. People don’t change when they are vaporized by superior arguments. They change when they are confronted with a person, Jesus of Nazareth. Our end goal is not proving ourselves right; our end goal is to see people reconciled to God and to one another through the gospel (2 Cor. 5).

TT: What are some ways that the church can appropriately defend a biblical view of marriage as our culture increasingly approves of “same-sex marriage”?

     RM: The first thing is to learn how to articulate why marriage matters. The outside world assumes that marriage is simply a romantic partnership. For too long, the church has assumed the same thing. Marriage is much more than that. Marriage is an icon of the Christ-church union, an unveiling of the mystery of the universe itself. The church should take it far more seriously than we do. That means disciplining those who unbiblically divorce, repenting of the times our churches have joined together those biblically forbidden to be married (for instance, believers to unbelievers), and spending time in our preaching and teaching showing why marriage is a gospel issue and also a matter of human flourishing.

     This will require a church that neither capitulates nor panics. Some will suggest that we could reach the next generation if only we would jettison our sexual ethic, which the next generation cannot accept. They have always told us that. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, they told us the “next generation” couldn’t accept miracles. The churches that followed that line died because  you can’t build Christian churches with a sub-Christian message.  Will the culture find our sexual ethic strange? Yes, and not only on same-sex marriage, but on fornication, cohabitation, divorce, and pornography as well. We need to be ready to say, “Yes, and we believe even stranger things than that.”

     Moreover, we should recognize that there will probably be same-sex marriage in all fifty states, probably within just a few years. That’s where the culture and the courts are moving. Even so, that’s not the end of the story. Marriage is resilient; God designed it that way. The sexual revolution cannot keep the promises it makes. We need to be waiting on the other side for a generation of those who, like the woman at the well, are thirsting for living water.

TT: What does the gospel have to say to a man who claims to be a female trapped in a male body or to a woman who claims to be a man trapped in a female body?

     RM: All of us are sinners, but none of us are freaks. Jesus was never shocked or disgusted by those He encountered, and neither should we be. There are some people who feel alienated from their identities as men or as women. Of course, that would be the case in a fallen universe in which all of us are alienated in some way from how God created us. Christian congregations must teach the truth that our maleness and femaleness point us to an even deeper reality, to the unity and complementarity of Christ and the church. But we must also be loving and patient toward those who disagree with us, affirming that God loves all people, while calling all people to repentance and offering the reconciliation of the gospel to all who are living apart from God’s design. And we must be patient with those who have embraced Christ out of such a background. All of us have points of vulnerability; that’s why we need the whole body of Christ (Gal. 6:1-2).

TT: How does adoption fit into the church’s mission to work toward eliminating abortion on demand in our culture?

     RM: We should recognize that the abortion culture is not a historical accident. From Eden onward, children have always been targeted for destruction. Both Moses and Jesus emerged in a context of a government-sponsored Planned Parenthood campaign from Pharaoh and Herod. The church is called to recognize the dignity of all people based not on their perceived usefulness but on the basis of the image of God. We care then for widows and orphans in their distress (James 1:27). That means advocating for the lives of those imperiled by abortion, by helping to keep families together, by ministering to vulnerable mothers who need economic help or emotional support, and by seeking to provide families for children who need them.

TT: What advice do you have for a couple who is considering adoption?

     RM: Every Christian is called to care for widows and orphans, but not every Christian is called to adopt. There is one thing worse than someone not adopting who should, and that’s someone adopting who shouldn’t. Ask yourself why you want to adopt. If you seek a risk-free adventure in finding your dream baby, get a cat. A child needs parents who have counted the cost and are willing to risk being hurt in order to love that child, no matter what, for life.

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Russell Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the moral and public policy agency of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. He is a TGC Council member and he blogs at Moore to the Point and you can follow him on Twitter. He is a frequent cultural commentator, an ethicist and theologian by background, and an ordained Southern Baptist minister. He and his wife Maria are the parents of five sons.

     Jon Bloom serves as author, board chair, and co-founder of Desiring God. He and his wife live in the Twin Cities with their five children.

     Russell Moore Books |  Go to Books Page

Columbus: God Over Gold

By Wallbuilders Oct. 12, 2019

     One of the tired old myths promoted by the anti-Columbians (as they might well be called) is that the lust for gold drove Columbus leading him to commit innumerable atrocities. Critics shout that all wickedness was done in Columbus’s “vain pursuit of his obsession for gold.”[i] This accusation gets thrown in with all the others, painting Columbus as a heinous villain instead of the noble navigator (as he was largely known for centuries). For example, it is common to hear anti-Columbians boast how:

     Recent years have brought us Columbus the Bumbling Idiot who bumped into America by accident, Columbus the Gold-Obsessed Slave Driver, and Columbus the Mass Murderer.[ii]

     Unlike many of the other accusations, Columbus’s relationship with gold has always been under the spotlight. One of Columbus’ crew members was even led to think that all Columbus cared for was gold. That man remarked on the second voyage:

     After we had rested for several days in our settlement it seemed to the Lord Admiral that it was time to put into execution his desire to search for gold, which was the main reason he had started on so great a voyage full of so many dangers as we shall see more completely in the end.[iii]

     Often people point to this quote as definitive proof that the primary goal of Columbus was gold and wealth — Columbus only cared about getting rich and he enslaved, raped, pillaged, and destroyed anything that got in his way. However, this statement from Columbus’ ship mate, and the myths of the anti-Columbus critics, directly contradicts everything Columbus wrote about his motivations.

     Based off the overwhelming primary source documentation Columbus was not an explorer driven by greed — much rather he was a discoverer who sought to restore a shattered world. The discovery of gold was important to him but not at all in the way critics represent it today.

     First off, we must note that Columbus immediately instituted a policy of mutual free market exchange when it came to trading with the native tribes for gold. It is recorded that Columbus sought to:

     Prevent the others from imposing upon the Indians. As the Indians are so simple, and the Spaniards so avaricious and grasping, it does not suffice that the Indians should give them all they want in exchange for a bead or a bit of glass, but the Spaniards would take everything without any return at all. The Admiral always prohibits this, although, with the exception of gold, the things given by the Indians are of little value. But the Admiral, seeing the simplicity of the Indians, and that they give a piece of gold in exchange for six beads, gave the order that nothing should be received from them unless something had been given in exchange.[iv]

     But ultimately, the most important question to ask is, “Why did Columbus search for gold?” What was his ultimate motivation? If it wasn’t for personal wealth, then what was it for? Thankfully, Columbus’ own journal answers this question by explaining that after the first voyage Columbus:

     Trusted in God that, when he returned from Spain, according to his intention, he would find a ton of gold collected by barter by those he was to leave behind, and that they would have found the mine, and spices in such quantities that the Sovereigns would, in three years, be able to undertake and fit out an expedition to go and conquer the Holy Sepulcher. “Thus,” he says, “I protest to [ask] your Highnesses that all the profits of this my enterprise may be sent in the conquest of Jerusalem.”[v]

     Note that Columbus writes to the King and Queen explicitly calling upon them to devote all of the profits to liberate Jerusalem from the grip of the Muslim conquerors. It may be shocking to someone who only knew that “in fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” but Columbus actually considered himself someone called by God to help restore the lands conquered by Islamic Jihad in the previous centuries (see Dr. Warner’s video explaining the historical context). In another letter he writes to Ferdinand and Isabella explaining, “the argument I have for the restitution of the Holy Temple to the Holy Church.”[vi]

     In the same letter to the King and Queen, Columbus explains that going back to St. Augustine, many within the Church predicted that the world would end 7,000 years after creation. Based on the work of Augustine, Pierre d’Ailly, and others, Columbus concluded:

     there are but 155 years left for the fulfillment of the seven thousand, at which time I said above, by the authorities cited, that the world will come to an end.[vii]

     Columbus seriously thought that he would have a pivotal role in preparing the world for receiving the returning Messiah at His triumphant return in Jerusalem. In one of the least discussed but most important documents for understanding Columbus — the Book of Prophecies — Columbus actually collects all the supposed evidence and prophecies for the discovery of the New World and his spiritual and religious motivations for sailing across the ocean. Therein he presents his argument again for using the discovery to push back the Islamic invasion of the Holy Land while they still had time. He writes:

     Who doubts that this illumination was from the Holy Spirit? I attest that he [the Spirit], with marvelous rays of light consoled me through the holy sacred Scriptures, a strong and clear testimony, with forty-four books of the Old Testament, and four Gospels with twentythree Epistles of those blessed Apostles, encouraging me to proceed, and, continually, without ceasing for a moment, they inflame me with a sense of great urgency. Our Lord wished to perform the clearest miracle in this [matter] of the voyage to the Indies, to console me and others in this other [matter] of the Holy Temple.[viii]

     Clearly, Columbus’s main motivation in seeking the New World was religiously motivated and not driven by personal greed for riches. Much rather, he advocated that all proceeds be directed by the King and Queen to the interests — at the time — of the Church. In fact, Columbus closes his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella by focusing on the fact that the discovery of the “Indies” meant that Christianity was being spread across the world:

     And I say that the sign which convinces me that our Lord is hastening the end of the world is the preaching of the Gospel recently in so many lands.[ix]

     So, contrary to the anti-Columbus academics of today, Columbus cared more about God than gold.

[i] Edward Stone, “Columbus and Genocide,” American Heritage (October 1975, Volume 26, Issue 6), at: https://www.americanheritage.com/content/columbus-and-genocide
[ii] Jason Gotts, “Beyond Columbus the Hero, the Slave Driver, or the Bumbling Idiot,” Big Think (October 6, 2011), at: https://bigthink.com/think-tank/beyond-columbus-the-hero-the-slave-driver-orthe- bumbling-idiot
[iii] Michele de Cuneo, translator Samuel Morrison, “Michele de Cuneo’s Letter on the Second Voyage, 28 October 1495,” Journals and Other Documents on the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (New York: Heritage Press, 1963), p. 214.
[iv] Clements Markham, “December 22, 1492,” Journal of Christopher Columbus (London: Hakluyt Society, 1893), p. 127-128.
[v] Clements Markham, “December 26, 1492,” Journal of Christopher Columbus (London: Hakluyt Society, 1893), p. 139.
[vi] Christopher Columbus, trans. Kay Brigham, “Letter from the Admiral to the King and Queen,” Christopher Columbus’s Book of Prophecies (Fort Lauderdale: CLIE Publishers, 1992), 179.
[vii] Christopher Columbus, trans. Kay Brigham, “Letter from the Admiral to the King and Queen,” Christopher Columbus’s Book of Prophecies (Fort Lauderdale: CLIE Publishers, 1992), 181.
[viii] Christopher Columbus, trans. Kay Brigham, “Letter from the Admiral to the King and Queen,” Christopher Columbus’s Book of Prophecies (Fort Lauderdale: CLIE Publishers, 1992), 179. Firefox https://wallbuilders.com/columbus-god-over-gold/ 3 of 4 6/30/2023, 4:04 PM
[ix] Christopher Columbus, trans. Kay Brigham, “Letter from the Admiral to the King and Queen,” Christopher Columbus’s Book of Prophecies (Fort Lauderdale: CLIE Publishers, 1992), 183.

https://wvw.wallbuilders.com/

Reformed Pastor, President, Professor: An Interview with W. Robert Godfrey

By W. Robert Godfrey 3/01/2015

Tabletalk: Your book An Unexpected Journey: Discovering Reformed Christianity describes how you discovered Reformed Christianity. Please describe why coming to believe Reformed theology was an “unexpected journey” for you.

     W. Robert Godfrey: My journey to Reformed Christianity was unexpected in that I was not raised in a Reformed church and was not particularly searching for Christ. In high school, I simply began to talk to a fellow student on our long walk home together after swimming practice. We initially talked of many things, but increasingly our conversation turned to the Bible, Christ, and church. He was a member of the local Christian Reformed Church, which in time I began to attend. Hearing the Bible preached there and studying the Bible in various classes increasingly convinced me that Reformed theology is what is taught in the Bible and drew me to Christ. Decades of study since then have only served to reinforce and validate that original conviction. I really experienced the grace of God leading me to Christ. The Lord unexpectedly used the simple witness and great love of Christians in the church to begin my journey.

TT: Why was Westminster Seminary California founded?

     RG: Westminster Seminary California was initially founded as a branch campus of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia to provide an education particularly for students in the Western United States and to focus on a strong program of pastoral preparation. Since 1983, Westminster California has been an independent seminary serving students from many Reformed and evangelical denominations from around the world. Our faculty come from the Presbyterian Church in America, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and the United Reformed Churches, and are all committed to serious and faithful preparation of students for ministry according to the Bible and the Reformed confessions.

TT: As pastor, president, and professor, what are the qualities you most wish to see in graduating seminary students? How does Westminster California try to create and nurture those qualities in their students?

     RG: My hope is that all our students graduate with a settled assurance that the Bible is the Word of God that provides all that the church needs for its faith and life, and all that the world needs to learn the message of salvation. From that assurance, my hope is that students will develop the abilities they will need for a lifetime of study so that they will continue to grow in the Word themselves and to teach others to do the same. Finally, I hope that assurance and those abilities will strengthen graduates to apply the Word faithfully and carefully at every opportunity. The great work of pastors, and the reason for the character of their seminary education, is to apply the Bible discerningly, interestingly, and helpfully to those who hear them. The seminary works hard to develop the various abilities that students need in Hebrew, Greek, exegesis, systematic theology, church history, and homiletics. That stress on abilities is always in the context of an assured confidence in the Bible and a reflection on the ways in which to apply the Word.

TT: Why is seminary education necessary today, especially when the Internet makes so many resources readily available?

     RG: As you cannot learn surgery on the Internet, as you cannot have a church on the Internet, so you cannot get a good pastoral education on the Internet. The Internet is valuable for various kinds of information, but it cannot provide the kind of personal interaction and mentoring necessary for seminary education. The community of faculty and students and the community of students interacting with fellow students are both crucial for learning academic and interpersonal skills.

TT: Is seminary only for men seeking ordination as pastors? Who else should consider attending seminary, and why?

     RG: While our seminary is focused vocationally on the education of future pastors, it also off—ers education in the Bible, theology, and church history to men and women who are interested in learning. They then can use that learning for their own personal edification, to teach in the local church, or to serve churches around the world.

TT: What are two ways that churches can better prepare young men for the pastorate?

     RG: First, seminaries need the support of churches to do their work. Prayer and financial support from the churches are vitally necessary for the seminaries to do their work of pastoral preparation. We work for the future of the church, and we need the help of the churches to flourish. Second, churches need to take on seminarians as interns to give them experience and encouragement. Seminary can teach many things, but the actual experience of serving and working in a church can only happen in the church.

TT: What is the main challenge that U.S. Seminaries face today? How is Westminster California working to meet that challenge?

     RG: A great challenge that seminaries face today is the increasingly poor preparation that many students receive in their undergraduate education. Too many are not prepared to read analytically, to write research papers, or to study a foreign language. Many also are far less familiar with the English Bible than was the case in earlier generations. So our seminary has introduced a series of entrance exams that determine whether a student needs to take specific remedial courses. We invest a great deal of time in the careful teaching of Greek and Hebrew because they are so foundational to everything else we do. We are excited by the emergence of a college like Reformation Bible College, which we hope will send us much better prepared students.

TT: How important is it for Christians to study church history? Why?

     RG: You will not be surprised to hear me say that the study of church history is vitally and foundationally important. Church history helps us to see where we are and how we got here. It enables us to see ourselves and our churches from a di—erent angle. Most of us look at the church either from our experience or from the teaching of the Bible. But church history helps us to see how our churches have changed over the centuries, shaped by their developing cultures as well as by theology. I do not want to shock you, but not everyone is motivated solely by theology.

TT: What is the most common misconception that modern protestants have about the Reformation?

     RG: Probably the most common misconception of modern Protestants about the Reformation is that our modern churches are very similar to sixteenth-century churches. Especially evangelical Protestants would be very surprised at how comprehensive and detailed Reformation theology was in comparison to the theology of many churches today. They would be shocked to see the way Reformation worship was driven by theology, not by entertainment and evangelism. They would perhaps be uncomfortable with the fact that ministers were selected more for their learning than for their personality. In the Reformation, the institutional church and its public worship was the center and heart of Christian experience, and most decisions about the life of the church were made by the ministers, not the laity. Many contemporary Protestants would be very uncomfortable in Reformation churches.

TT: As a church historian, what would you say to Protestants who are starting to find other traditions such as Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodox attractive?

     RG: I would want to respond pastorally and sensitively, but my basic message would be: Stop! Don’t! Rome and Orthodoxy are not just alternative “traditions” or “spiritualities.” They are fundamentally different understandings of Christianity, based not on the Bible as the complete, final, and comprehensible revelation of God, but on the Bible plus their own traditions. One can be discouraged by much in contemporary Protestantism, and we need to see a real reformation in doctrine, worship, and church life in our time. But the solution is not to be found in Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. The traditions that they add to the Bible are not genuinely ancient and often stand in contradiction not only to the Bible, but also to the ancient church fathers. Their traditions add to, subtract from, and/or contradict the Bible. For example, the Bible says that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, but Rome declares that Mary also is a mediator. Elevating Mary in this way simply diminishes the centrality of Christ and almost certainly reflects a misunderstanding of His love and care for sinners. Our answers are in the Bible — as the ancient church fathers taught — not in some supposed holy tradition.

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     Dr. W. Robert Godfrey is president emeritus of Westminster Seminary California, a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow, and author of many books.

     W. Robert Godfrey Books |  Go to Books Page

The Vox Dei

By R.C. Sproul Jr. 3/01/2015

     There’s something odd about the West’s shift from modernism to postmodernism. On the one hand, we would be wise to remember that the two are kin to each other. We can debate over whether they are father and son, older brother and younger, but no one can deny the family resemblance. Both worldviews share a fundamental common conviction: the Bible is not true. On the other hand, whatever the family relationship, this is not a happy and peaceful family. While both systems affirm that the Bible is not true, they diverge as to their reasons why. Modernism tells us the Bible is not true because science is true, and the Bible is not science. Postmodernism tells us that the Bible is not true because there is no truth, because nothing is true.

     Because of the similarities, it is all too easy to confuse the two perspectives. Because of the di’fferences, it is vitally important not to do so. A modernist assault on the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible is radically di’fferent from a postmodern assault. The former is a direct attack, a blitzkrieg to the very heart of our defenses. God says He made man out of the dust of the ground; the modernist tells us this is false — man evolved from lower life forms. When dealing with the modernist, we can expose his false assumptions, challenge his affirmations, provide evidence for the truthfulness of God’s Word. We can marshal archeological studies, march through propositions, all while raining cannon fire on the foundations of his strongholds.

     The postmodernist, however, is far more subtle, crafty, slick. By flying the false flag of truce, o’ffering a gentlemen’s agreement that we can all agree that none of us is right and none of us wrong, he requires that we lower our banner of truth. He turns straightforward affirmations and truth claims into weaselly, slippery internal matters of the heart. He judges a given statement not on the basis of its accuracy but its emotional potency — “How does that statement make you feel?”

     Forty years ago, at least in the church, we were still facing the fading dinosaurs. Angry men denounced the accounts of miracles as primitive ignorance. Through the faithful work of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, however, the inerrancy of Scripture was maintained and championed. From a sheer numbers perspective, the “Battle for the Bible” was a rout and evangelicalism stood firm, and mainline churches and institutions bled members and lost influence.

     The serpent, however, is both crafty and persistent. His current assault on the inerrancy of the Bible is more postmodern and therefore more indirect. Now we have people who try to affirm their belief in inerrancy while teaching that the Bible accommodated its message to its audience, that the Bible affirms things that we now know are not true. We have people who try to arm their belief in inerrancy while teaching that what we thought were historical narratives are actually myths. We have people who affirm inerrancy but go on to affirm that we should correct the sexism Paul imbibed from his surrounding culture.

     In short, we have people who affirm both that the Bible is inerrant and that it, or at least some of it, is not to be believed.  The serpent’s goal from the beginning has been to get us to doubt God’s Word.  That he changes the weapons he uses doesn’t mean he’s changed his aim.

     This highlights the real issue. Yes, inerrancy as a doctrine is vital. Certainly, inerrancy as an apologetic defense is critical. But ultimately, winning or losing the Battle for the Bible rests here: Do we believe God? That, above all, is what we need — to believe God. Our calling is to believe everything He has said, to believe it in our minds, in our hearts, and out through our fingertips. We are called to ever and always give our humble but exuberant amen to His every word. We are not merely to affirm the truthfulness of His Word in general but are called to submit to His Word at every particular. We are, in short, to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

     We seek His kingdom best as we hear His voice most. That is just what the Bible is — the vox Dei, the “voice of God.” We are not to worry about our respectability or our reputations, but rather are to be focused on the one needful thing — His direction in His Word. We seek His righteousness as we submit to His law. When it is unfashionable, we submit to His law. When it is difficult, we submit to His law. When it swims against the cultural stream, we submit to His law.

     In the end, inerrancy is less about our conclusion about the Bible and more about our submission to the Bible. We do not stand above it in judgment, even when we give it a perfect grade. Instead, it stands above us in judgment. And, to His everlasting glory, it gives those in Christ a perfect grade, despite our pride, our folly, our disobedience. For we are in Him, who is the Word of God incarnate, without error, and without blemish. His Word can no more err than He, the Word, can err. We are in ourselves liars. He is in Himself true.

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     R.C. Sproul Jr. has served previously as a pastor, professor, and teacher. He is author of numerous books. Some are listed below.

     R.C. Sproul Jr. Books |  Go to Books Page

Read The Psalms In "1" Year

Psalm 109

Help Me, O LORD My God
109 To The Choirmaster. A Psalm Of David.

109:8 May his days be few;
may another take his office!
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15 Let them be before the LORD continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

ESV Study Bible

Chapter 2 | The Ten Primitive Persecutions

The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian, A.D. 274

     

The principal sufferers were: Felix, bishop of Rome. This prelate was advanced to the Roman see in 274. He was the first martyr to Aurelian's petulancy, being beheaded on the twenty-second of December, in the same year.

     Agapetus, a young gentleman, who sold his estate, and gave the money to the poor, was seized as a Christian, tortured, and then beheaded at Praeneste, a city within a day's journey of Rome.

     These are the only martyrs left upon record during this reign, as it was soon put to a stop by the emperor's being murdered by his own domestics, at Byzantium.

     Aurelian was succeeded by Tacitus, who was followed by Probus, as the latter was by Carus: this emperor being killed by a thunder storm, his sons, Carnious and Numerian, succeeded him, and during all these reigns the Church had peace.

     Diocletian mounted the imperial throne, A.D. 284; at first he showed great favor to the Christians. In the year 286, he associated Maximian with him in the empire; and some Christians were put to death before any general persecution broke out. Among these were Felician and Primus, two brothers.

     Marcus and Marcellianus were twins, natives of Rome, and of noble descent. Their parents were heathens, but the tutors, to whom the education of the children was intrusted, brought them up as Christians. Their constancy at length subdued those who wished them to become pagans, and their parents and whole family became converts to a faith they had before reprobated. They were martyred by being tied to posts, and having their feet pierced with nails. After remaining in this situation for a day and a night, their sufferings were put an end to by thrusting lances through their bodies.

     Zoe, the wife of the jailer, who had the care of the before-mentioned martyrs, was also converted by them, and hung upon a tree, with a fire of straw lighted under her. When her body was taken down, it was thrown into a river, with a large stone tied to it, in order to sink it.

     In the year of Christ 286, a most remarkable affair occurred; a legion of soldiers, consisting of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men, (666) contained none but Christians. This legion was called the Theban Legion, because the men had been raised in Thebias: they were quartered in the east until the emperor Maximian ordered them to march to Gaul, to assist him against the rebels of Burgundy. They passed the Alps into Gaul, under the command of Mauritius, Candidus, and Exupernis, their worthy commanders, and at length joined the emperor. Maximian, about this time, ordered a general sacrifice, at which the whole army was to assist; and likewise he commanded that they should take the oath of allegiance and swear, at the saame time, to assist in the extirpation of Christianity in Gaul. Alarmed at these orders, each individual of the Theban Legion absolutely refused either to sacrifice or take the oaths prescribed. This so greatly enraged Maximian, that he ordered the legion to be decimated, that is, every tenth man to be selected from the rest, and put to the sword. This bloody order having been put in execution, those who remained alive were still inflexible, when a second decimation took place, and every tenth man of those living was put to death. This second severity made no more impression than the first had done; the soldiers preserved their fortitude and their principles, but by the advice of their officers they drew up a loyal remonstrance to the emperor. This, it might have been presumed, would have softened the emperor, but it had a contrary effect: for, enraged at their perseverance and unanimity, he commanded that the whole legion should be put to death, which was accordingly executed by the other troops, who cut them to pieces with their swords, September 22, 286.

     Alban, from whom St. Alban's, in Hertfordshire, received its name, was the first British martyr. Great Britain had received the Gospel of Christ from Lucius, the first Christian king, but did not suffer from the rage of persecution for many years after. He was originally a pagan, but converted by a Christian ecclesiastic, named Amphibalus, whom he sheltered on account of his religion. The enemies of Amphibalus, having intelligence of the place where he was secreted, came to the house of Alban; in order to facilitate his escape, when the soldiers came, he offered himself up as the person they were seeking for. The deceit being detected, the governor ordered him to be scourged, and then he was sentenced to be beheaded, June 22, A.D. 287.

     The venerable Bede assures us, that, upon this occasion, the executioner suddenly became a convert to Christianity, and entreated permission to die for Alban, or with him. Obtaining the latter request, they were beheaded by a soldier, who voluntarily undertook the task of executioner. This happened on the twenty-second of June, A.D. 287, at Verulam, now St. Alban's, in Hertfordshire, where a magnificent church was erected to his memory about the time of Constantine the Great. The edifice, being destroyed in the Saxon wars, was rebuilt by Offa, king of Mercia, and a monastery erected adjoining to it, some remains of which are still visible, and the church is a noble Gothic structure.

     Faith, a Christian female, of Acquitain, in France, was ordered to be broiled upon a gridiron, and then beheaded; A.D. 287.

     Quintin was a Christian, and a native of Rome, but determined to attempt the propagation of the Gospel in Gaul, with one Lucian, they preached together in Amiens; after which Lucian went to Beaumaris, where he was martyred. Quintin remained in Picardy, and was very zealous in his ministry. Being seized upon as a Christian, he was stretched with pullies until his joints were dislocated; his body was then torn with wire scourges, and boiling oil and pitch poured on his naked flesh; lighted torches were applied to his sides and armpits; and after he had been thus tortured, he was remanded back to prison, and died of the barbarities he had suffered, October 31, A.D. 287. His body was sunk in the Somme.

Foxe's Book of Martyrs

The Continual Burnt Offering (2 Corinthians 7:1)

By H.A. Ironside - 1941

October 9

2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.    ESV

     Careless habits and unholy ways are inconsistent with the truth of the new creation. God has given us exceeding great and precious promises, and because of His goodness we owe it to Him to judge in ourselves every tendency to unholiness, whether in body or mind. Once we walked according to the lust of the flesh and of the mind. Now we are called to walk in the Spirit that we may not fulfill these unclean desires. “Perfecting holiness” suggests growth, which should be continuous. As we are daily occupied with Christ and walk in the Spirit, reckoning ourselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ, we will detect even the smallest sins. If these are judged and confessed immediately, we will be kept from sin’s power, and as we go on in faith we will enjoy unclouded fellowship with God.

There is a faith unmixed with doubt,
A love all free from fear;
A walk with Jesus, where is felt
His presence always near.
There is a rest that God bestows,
Transcending pardon’s peace,
A lowly, sweet simplicity,
Where inward conflicts cease.

The Continual Burnt Offering: Daily Meditations on the Word of God