Which Bible 1 & 2?
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
What Happened to Which Bible 1 & 2?
They were removed because of major errors. I did not mean to cause any more confusion than I already have. I should have left an explanation in their
place: here is that explanation, although somewhat belated.
Since 1971 I have been mentored and taught by Zane Clark
Hodges and Arthur Leonard Farstad. Mr.
Hodges taught my first course in Greek.
Dr. Farstad, whom I met later, was an elder at Christ Congregation, a
small Brethren church meeting in Dallas, Texas, which my wife and I also
attended. We lost our second child,
Saul, during that period and Christ Congregation supported us through the
loss. I also graduated from seminary in
1976, and it was members of Christ
Congregation that attended my graduation, gave me my only graduation present,
sustained me through struggles with Calvinism, loved me, and sent me on my way
with God’s rich blessing.
Art, Zane, and others were then working on The Majority Text
edition of the Greek New Testament for Thomas Nelson publishers, and I would
frequently have time to drive Art to the new Dallas/Fort Worth International
Airport which had recently replaced Love Field.
Art was off to Nashville to work with the edition team. The New King James translation was also in
the works, and I had the privilege of knowing Winifred G. T. Gillespie, direct
descendant of W. H. Griffith Thomas, and Don Von Dohlen who were both on The
New King James translation team for Thomas Nelson.
These friendships in the love of Christ, were in no small
part reinforced by my growing commitment to, and conviction that The Majority
Text was the text of the Greek New Testament.
We all shared this view with many of you. This view has been seriously undermined by
the convincing arguments of Dr. Daniel Baird Wallace found in the Journal
of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS), “The Majority-Text
Theory: History, Methods, and Critique.”[1]
It is no small matter that I now turn away from my former
conviction that The Majority Text is the text of the Greek New Testament. How does one change a conviction without
feeling that he has turned away from his friends in an act of betrayal and treachery? Moreover, almost all of these friends have
now fallen asleep in the Lord. So it is with deep regret that I abandon The Majority
Text viewpoint. Yet, I wish to do this
in honor of these precious friends.
In my apology, I need to examine each issue, brick-by-brick
if necessary. This is the subject matter
of “Which Bible 3” and following. It
simply will not do to move away from one, so foundational an issue, only to embrace
some heretical, liberal, modernist fad.
We are on dangerous ground now, and each step must be chosen
carefully. Even so, we are confident
that God the Holy Spirit will lead us in the right path, according to the
promise of Scripture, and we shall discover that, because of the Holy Spirit’s
faithful guidance we are not as far off that path as we first thought: we are
simply experiencing a little patch of fog along our journey. If we stumble we shall discover that God has
purpose, even in our stumbling.
God bless you all, and thank you for your patience.
What follows immediately is our original statement of
purpose. It is still our valid and worthy
objective.
The Source of the Question
More
than one denomination has struggled with choosing an “approved” Bible
translation: for pulpit reading, for a study Bible, for whatever reason.
This
quest may be presented in some sort of position or study paper, all very
necessary and well-intended. Such papers
are frequently written for the novice so as not to exclude young people or
others from the decision process with complicated theological language, equally
necessary and well-intended. A paper
might even be apropos for beginning seminary students, who may be approaching
serious theological studies for the first time.
However,
many Christians and theologians will find this kind of presentation
tedious. They will know that we are just
scratching the surface. A well informed
decision requires much more information: more profound and more in quantity.
Yours in Christ,
Augie-Herb
Augie-Herb
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