Walther Conference Seeks Papers on Walther and Sponsor Ads
Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 34, September 5, 2011
reclaimnews@earthlink.net
The Eighth National Free Conference on C. F. W. Walther will be held at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis MO, Werner Chapel, on Friday, Nov. 11-12. The theme for this year’s conference is, “Walther and the Bible: His 200th Birthday.”
The Walther Conference plans to publish a commemorative booklet in recognition of the 200th birthday of C. F. W. Walther. The theme of the papers should focus on Walther’s importance for the layman today.
Rev. Joel Baseley is serving as the editor of this publication. Clergy and other interested parties are being asked to submit papers and/or articles to be published by the Walther Conference in this commemorative booklet by email to Rev. Joel Baseley at j_baseley@hotmail.com All papers and articles must be submitted by September 30, 2011.
To help finance this memorial publication congregations and/or individuals are asked to purchase commemorative sponsorships. Each sponsorship will receive a complimentary copy of this booklet.
Sponsor is one line of text with the name of individual or organization begins at $10.00.
Business Card sized ads/dedication are 1/5 of one column using a 2 column format.
Name on sponsor list $10:00
Business card $25.00
1/4 page (3.25” x 5”) $100.00
1/2 page (7” x 5”) $200.00
Full page (7” x 10”) $300.00
Please send funds for ads to
Rev. Neil R. Schmidt
1709 Summergate Circle
St. Peter’s MO 63303
or e-mail fnp@hope—lutheran.org
Phone 636-447-5211 or Cell 636-627-9331
Checks should be made payable to Walther Conference with Commemorative Booklet in the memo line.
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Preliminary Schedule
Eighth National Free Conference on C. F. W. Walther
To attend the Eighth National Free Conference on C. F. W. Walther, send a registration fee of $30.00 and an additional $00.00 for the banquet to:
Rev. Neil R. Schmidt
1709 Summergate Circle
St. Peter’s MO 63303
or e-mail fnp@hope—lutheran.org
Phone 636-447-5211 or Cell 636-627-9331
Werner Auditorium [Old Chapel] - Concordia Seminary – 801 DeMun Ave. - St. Louis, MO 63105
FRIDAY –
NOVEMBER 11th, 2011
11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. - Registration at entrance of Werner Auditorium [Old Chapel]
11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. - Opening Devotions – Rev……………….
12:15 - 12:20 – Welcome - Prof.**************
12:20 - 12:25 p.m. – Announcements by Moderator Rev. Neil Schmidt
12:25 - 12:40 p.m. – Coffee Break
12:40 - 1:40 p.m. - Session #1 - Rev. Rolf Preus
“The Inspiration of Scripture, by Robert D. Preus: Is This Book Relevant to the Church Over Half a Century Later?”
1:40 - 3:00 p.m. – Session #2 - Eyal Rav-Noy
Who Really Wrote the Bible?
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. – Session #3 - Rev. Joel Baseley
How the Doctrine of Inspiration Answers the Objections and Inventions of Reason in the Writings and Publications of C.F.W. Walther.
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. – Session #4 – Attorney Paul Nelson
LCMS Polity As Presented to American Courts
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. - Session #5 - Dr. David Kaufmann
Macroevolution: Science Falsely Called
6:00 - 7:30 p.m. – Banquet – provided by Concordia Seminary – cost (to be announced)
Texas Barbecue
7:30 - 8:45 p.m. - Banquet Speaker: Rev. Herman Otten
Walther: 200 Years after His Birth – WWWD What Would Walther Say and do Today?
SATURDAY – NOVEMBER 12th, 2011
9:00 - 9:15 a.m. – Opening Devotion – To Be Named
9:15 - 10:15 a.m. – Session #6 - Rev. Jack Cascione
“Patterns in the Text from Revelation to Genesis: Ignored by Uninspired Higher Critics and Exegetes”
10:15 - 11:45 a.m. – Session #7 - Panel Discussion
The Bible, a Tool for Evangelism with or without an Inspired Text?
11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. – Announcements & Closing Devotions
PRESENTATION FORMAT SESSIONS 1-6
35-45 minutes for the speaker
10-20 minutes for questions from the floor
5-10 minutes intermission/coffee break
The Walther Conference is sponsored by Hope Lutheran Church, 10701 St. Cosmas Lane, St. Ann, MO 63074, and is directed by the Walther Conference Committee. Rev. Neil Schmidt will serve as the Conference Moderator.
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Rev. Joel Baseley, has served as a pastor in the LCMS for over twenty years and has pursued a regular discipline of translating and self-publishing German theological works, especially from the 19th century. Some of his projects include collection of daily devotional readings Luther, “Taegliche Andachten (1884),” published in 1996 under the title “Luther’s Family Devotions”. He translated and published “Luther’s Festival Sermons” (2005) which complements Klug’s “House Postils” and the Lenker’s “Sunday Sermons” of Luther. Since 2005 he has translated four C.F.W. Walther anthologies in their entirety; “Lutherische Brosamen (1876)”, “Casual -Predigten und -Reden (1889)”, “Festklaenge (1892)”, and “Ansprachen und Gebete (1888)”, and has published them also. Most recently (2010) he published his translation of the first year of C.F.W. Walther’s “Der Lutheraner (1844-45)” as well as his own work, “Holy Communion: Vanishing Mark of the Church”, diagnosing the fatal cancer of Evangelicalism that currently afflicts the LCMS, mainly by citations from the pages of Walther’s “Der Lutheraner” and the Lutheran Confessions. The current issue of his free, semi-weekly e-newsletter, which includes his newest translations from the second year of Der Lutheran, as well as all of the works mentioned above and more, are available on his website, www.mark vpublications.com. At this Walther Conference Pr. Baseley will share Walther’s thoughts on the topic “How the Doctrine of Inspiration Answers the Objections and Inventions of Reason in the Writings and Publications of C.F.W. Walther.” Basely has studied, translated, and published Walther’s works for the past 20 years. Baseley has gathered together Walther’s published writings on the doctrine of Inspiration.
Rev. Jack Cascione, author of “In Search of the Biblical Order” published in 1987, will speak about the inspiration of Scripture in relation to patterns in the Biblical text from Revelation to Genesis. For the past 150 years higher critics have either rejected or ignored the possibility of patterns in the Biblical text. Do they exist? What is the proof for their existence? How did they get there? The implications of patterns in the Biblical text mean: (1) we possess the original text, (2) the patterns are linguistic tools to identify correct manuscript readings, (3) the entire Bible is unified by Mosaic style, (4) the JEPD theory is a hoax, and (5) the Bible is not a collection of oral traditions. Patterns in the Biblical text show that no other human literature or so-called holy books on earth are written like the Bible. Cascione has an MFA and M Div., is a former Assistant Professor of Art at Southern Indiana State University, has served as a Lutheran pastor for 30 years, and is currently the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
David A. Kaufmann, holds a Ph.D. in Human Ana-tomy from the University of Iowa. He is one of the few creation scientists to earn tenure and full professorship at a large, secular research university. He has done biomechanical research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland and exercise physiology research at the Wingate Institute, Netanya. Israel. In 1999, he taught “Philosophy of Science: Creation vs Evolution,” at Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Siberia and debated the top members of the Eastern Russian Academy of Sciences for eight weeks. He is a Professor of Applied Physiology (Retired) at the University of Florida in Gainesville and was Secretary of the Creation Research Society for 21 years. He will show how Macroevolution is not scientific and really is atheistic metaphysics, show how to refute evolutionary arguments and hopefully inspire some in the audience to be become Lutheran creation scientists. He will also demonstrate that theistic evolution is theo illogical, and creation is theo logical.
Attorney Paul D. Nelson, is an experienced trial litigator and appellate lawyer with emphasis on complex civil cases, including major class actions, insurance coverage, business disputes, mass tort, product liability, and catastrophic injury matters. Nelson graduated from Clark College with a B.A., cum laude 1971 and from the University of Oregon, School of Law with a J.D. 1974. Nelson is the Defense attorney in Lee vs. Bowles financed by the California-Nevada-Hawaii District Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod and filed by Attorney Sherri Strand, Legal Counsel to the LCMS Board of Directors. Nelson has deposed LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick, LCMS Secretary Dr. Raymond Hartwig, LCMS Executive Administrator of the Board of Directors Ronald Schultz, LCMS Designate from the Commission on Constitutional Matters Dr. Wilber Sohns, CNHD-LCMS District President Dr. Robert Newton and others. Nelson has gained valuable insight into LCMS Church Polity as it is presented to American Courts. Nelson’s grandfather served as a Norwegian Lutheran Pastor in Minnesota.
Herman Otten, has been the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, New Haven, Missouri, since 1958 and the editor of Christian News since 1961. He is the editor of William Beck’s An American Translation of the Bible and the author and editor of more than a dozen books. Otten has spoken widely throughout the U.S. and in other countries. He has debated liberals and church officials who now generally refuse to face him. James Adams, religion editor of the St. Louis Post Dispatch wrote in his “Preus of Missouri” that “when historians assess power and influence in Missouri in the ‘60s, no man right or left will be more important than journalist Herman Otten.” James Burkee, chairman of the faculty of Concordia University, Wisconsin, wrote in his “Power, Politics, and the Missouri Synod” published by ELCA’s Fortress Press in 2011: “Otten was the most significant figure in modern LCMS history.” The St. Louis Globe Democrat said: “Feared firebrand of The Lutheran Church.” “Tough in print, Otten is warm and friendly in person.” Christianity Today said in an article on Otten: “Tough in print, but likable enough in person.” Editor Bill Miller, a former president of the Missouri Press Association who has toured many nations on press tours, wrote in an editorial on Pastor Otten titled “A Man of courage, discipline,” that “Pastor Otten is the most disciplined person this writer has ever met.”
Rev. Rolf Preus, son and student of Dr. Robert D. Preus, has studied and taught on the Doctrine of Inspiration for more than 30 years in the ministry. Preus is a serious student of his father’s work, and is highly qualified to speak on his father’s historic book, that had a profound influence on Lutheran and Protestant churches in North America. Rev. Rolf D. Preus is a 1979 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne and received his STM from the same institution in 1987. He has spoken at numerous conferences on a variety of theological topics and has taught classes in theology for Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne; Concordia University, Wisconsin; Ukrainian Lutheran Theological Seminary of St. Sophia in Ternopil’, Ukraine; and for the Luther Academy in Indonesia. Rev. Preus is pastor of First American Lutheran Church in Mayville, North Dakota; First Evanger Lutheran Church in Fertile, Minnesota; and Grace Lutheran Church in Crookston, Minnesota.
Eyal Rav-Noy, an Israeli born scholar, now living in Los Angeles, is the author of “Who Really Wrote the Bible.” Rav-Noy, who has been interviewed on national broadcasts, including the Michael Medved show, is the first Jewish author to show that patterns in the text of the Pentateuch must have been written by the same author. Rav-Noy’s book proves that the JEPD theory, which denies Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, is a fraud, and is therefore a response to Dr Richard Elliott Friedman’s book, “Who Wrote the Bible.” Rav-Noy is an ardent spokesman for the single authorship of the Five Books of Moses.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Fall and Rise of Human Violence
The Fall and Rise of Human Violence
Why crime plunged in the 17th century but is rising again in the 21st
by Berit Kjos - Updated August 14, 2011
“If we will not be governed by God, then we will be ruled by tyrants.” William Penn, 1-3-1701
The world is changing fast. A massive shift from the guidance of a Bible-based conscience to a mindless pursuit of corrupt “thrills” has been fanning the flames of this transformation for years. The following news items let us glimpse the dark consequences:
“In Philadelphia, a group of 20-40 youths went on a rampage...resulting in 59 people being beaten and briefly hospitalized. ...a mob ran through the Wisconsin State Fair at closing time, beating up people at random. In London, citizens have been besieged by three straight nights of hellish rioting [that] spread to other parts of the nation.” (Weapons of Mob Destruction)
“‘We have been too unwilling for too long to talk about what is right and what is wrong,’ [Prime Minister] Cameron said....’Children without fathers. Schools without discipline. Reward without effort. Crime without punishment. Rights without responsibilities.
Communities without control. Some of the worst aspects of human nature tolerated, indulged - some- times even incentivized...’ Young people who watched Cameron speak appeared unimpressed.” (Riot-hit UK must reverse `moral collapse‘)
In her recent article titled, “How the liberals ruined Britain,“ Melanie Phillips adds these insights:
“The violent anarchy that has taken hold of British cities is the all-too-predictable outcome of a three-decade liberal experiment which tore up virtually every basic social value. The married two-parent family, educational meritocracy, punishment of criminals... and many more fundamental conventions were all smashed by a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society.
“The violent anarchy that has taken hold of British cities is the all-too-predictable outcome of a three-decade liberal experiment which tore up virtually every basic social value. The married two-parent family, educational meritocracy, punishment of criminals... and many more fundamental conventions were all smashed by a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society.
“Now we can see what they have brought about in the unprecedented and horrific scenes of mob violence, with homes and businesses going up in flames, and epidemic looting. ...These youths feel absolutely entitled to go ‘on the rob’ and steal whatever they want. ....
“What has been fuelling all this is not poverty...but moral collapse. What we have been experiencing is a complete breakdown of civilised behaviour ..and at the very heart of these problems lies the breakdown of the family. ... [T]here are whole areas of Britain...where committed fathers are a wholly unknown phenomenon.... It’s a world without any boundaries or rules. A world of emotional and physical chaos.”
A spreading addiction to depraved entertainment has magnified this moral revolution. The rest of this article explains why this is happening and how we can prepare for the challenges ahead.
History’s lessons
As centuries come and go, history occasionally reveals sudden, momentous changes that transform cultures in ways that defy human logic. One of these astounding leaps began about 400 years ago. It brought light into the darkness of the Middle Ages and safety to people bound by fear, superstition and tyranny.
As centuries come and go, history occasionally reveals sudden, momentous changes that transform cultures in ways that defy human logic. One of these astounding leaps began about 400 years ago. It brought light into the darkness of the Middle Ages and safety to people bound by fear, superstition and tyranny.
Historian Randall Roth summarizes what happened. His research showed little variation in the rate of human violence between the 14th and the 16th centuries. “Then in the 17th century, there is a very big, dramatic drop,” he says. “It’s so sudden and rapid that it seems too hard to explain....”[1]
Mr. Roth ought to know. From his base at Ohio State University, he had uncovered detailed documentation of 16th and 17th century murder rates which suggested “that countries don’t become more or less civilized that quickly.”
Journalist Alexander Stille explores this remarkable shift in his New York Times article, “Did Knives and Forks Cut Murders?” Basing his observations on studies done by historians during the last 60 years, he summarizes their findings:
“Although there were no national statistics centuries ago, some historians discovered that the archives of some English counties were intact back to the 13th century. So in the 1970’s they began diligently counting indictments and comparing them with estimated population levels to get a rough idea of medieval and early modern crime rates.
“Historians in Continental Europe... came up with findings that yielded the same surprising results: that murder was much more common in the Middle Ages than it is now and that it dropped precipitately in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.” [1]
Why this drop? How did people suddenly become less violent?
These are important questions, for an accurate answer would also help nations deal with today’s rising rate of violence.
So in his informative article, Mr. Stille cites some proposed answers to these crucial questions. One such explanation points to the social changes caused by industrialization and urbanization. But this theory was countered by James A Sharpe, a historian at the University of York in England. He showed that the “big statistical dip in violence preceded industrialization and urbanization by more than a century.” [2]
Other explanations for the plummeting crime rates proved flawed as well. Some scholars have suggested that the nature of crime merely “shifted from bodily assault to crimes of property.” But, wrote Mr. Sharpe, “The great decline in homicide in the 17th century was not accompanied by a rise in property offense prosecutions but rather by their diminution.
In other words, theft as well as murder plummeted in the 17th century. People had actually changed their values. They had become more honest as well as peaceable. But why?
Mr. Sharpe doesn’t answer that question. Instead, he wrote that “this drop... remains inexplicable.[3]
Mr. Sharpe doesn’t answer that question. Instead, he wrote that “this drop... remains inexplicable.[3]
Tom Cohen, a history teachers at York University in Toronto, comes closer to solving the puzzle:
“Both the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation put a lot of emphasis on individual conscience... The conscience becomes the internal gyroscope. There is the growth of introspection... personal self-control....” [1]
But while Mr. Cohen hints at the cause, he cloaks it in the humanist terms of today’s progressive educator. Therefore, he can’t explain how the “ conscience becomes the internal gyroscope.”
Instead, Mr. Cohen’s answer begs two more questions: How did the people suddenly develop their “individual conscience” and “personal self-control”? And how did their numbers grow to the point where cultures and nations actually reflected this personal transformation?
Here is the answer
The seeds of change were actually sown in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries by a few courageous reformers who dared to resist the corrupt religious establishment of their times. Willing to face persecution and death, men like...
John Wycliffe: (England) - died in 1384, two years after translating the Bible into English),
Jan Hus (Bohemia) - burned on the stake in 1415 in a fire lit with pages from Wycliffe’s banned Bible.
Jan Hus (Bohemia) - burned on the stake in 1415 in a fire lit with pages from Wycliffe’s banned Bible.
John Foxe ( England) - 1587, who compiled the amazing stories in Foxe’s Book on Martyrs) chose to follow their conscience and teach the life-changing truths that would — by the 17th century — transform northern Europe,
Martin Luther led the way. As a Catholic priest, he had access to the Scriptures, and his Bible-based conscience could no longer tolerate the twisted doctrines of self-serving bishops nor their cruel exploitation of the poor. He knew that souls were saved by faith in Jesus Christ, not through forced “indulgences” and submission to oppressive human edicts. His rational challenge to the papacy (in 1518) birthed the Reformation and became a beacon of hope to those who longed to know the truth and live in freedom.
The surrounding culture didn’t change overnight. The first sprouts from the seeds of the Reformation were still too few to accomplish a change in public consciousness. Many of the early Protestant churches were too closely tied to established traditions and state alliances to freely demonstrate the Christian life. They needed time to study God’s Word, clarify the doctrines and define the unfamiliar terms. And their followers had to learn a lifestyle of faith that would resist and endure what the Encyclopedia Britannica called “savage persecution” involving the torture and death of “thousands of humble victims.”[4]
Their courage and commitment bore fruit. Persecution has always built faith rather than failure in God’s flock. As Tertullian said back in the 1st century AD, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
Ruled by the Spanish King Phillip II, whose deadly campaigns aimed to crush every rebel against his religious empire, Dutch believers faced the brunt of these deadly assaults. But in 1609 the Dutch Republic won independence from Spain. “Protestantism was now firmly established in the northern provinces,” [4] and throughout most of northern Europe.
By God’s grace, people in northern Europe were suddenly free to print and read the Bible, live by faith and follow their conscience. A century later, the evangelistic zeal that spread God’s truth and love throughout Europe began to cross seas and continents to reach the earth’s most distant lands and oppressed people.
In the wake of this mission movement which grew quickly in the 19th century, nations were transformed. You might argue that financial exploiters and many colonial leaders served human greed and ambition. That’s true. But faithful Christian missionaries did the opposite. They gave all they had — comforts, security, health... in order to share God’s love. Facing all kinds of dangers, they built hospitals, schools and churches in distant lands. And as they spread God’s truths, moral standards and respect for human life, the world changed. The global slave trade ended, human violence ebbed, kindness and civility grew and travelers no longer feared for their lives.
Christianity had taught men to protect, not abuse, women. So in 1912, when the passengers of the sinking Titanic climbed into a limited number of lifeboats, “women and children came first.” You may recall more recent ship and ferry accidents in which men trampled the women in their path in order to save their own lives. But when the Titanic hit the iceberg, most of the men demonstrated self-sacrificing kindness and old-fashioned chivalry:
“Lifeboats were quickly made ready and women and children were ordered to get into them first. There were 12 honeymooning couples on board the ship. Though all of the brides were saved, only one of the grooms survived.” “ While ‘Unsinkable’ Titanic Sank, John Harper Preached
Today, we still reap the benefits of a violent world pacified by the spread of Christianity. But it may not last long, for we also see a reversal of that tide that first flooded Europe with truth. Many powerful leaders — religious as well as political — are determined to snuff out the light of God’s Word.
The new global education and human resource development systems are designed to replace the personal freedom we have in Christ with a collective society based on religious pluralism and global idealism. Aware of the rising wave of violence in schools and communities, they ban the only viable solution to rage and violence.( Psalm 127:1 and Isaiah 30:15)
“...when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them... your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God.... you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
“...if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods... you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.” (Deut 8:10-20)
That warning is illustrated by this cycle of Old Testament history< here: pictured>:
As history repeats itself, the civilized world is regressing. Paganism, promiscuity, deception and violent crime are on the rise,[6] while the growing hatred for Biblical Christianity is fanned by a global media and entertainment industry that wants nothing more than the death of Biblical Truth and morality.
At such a time, we need to remember that our God still reigns — even in the midst of the rising evil. As we trust Him and follow His way, He will be our strength and refuge no matter how fierce the battles. Thanks be to God who leads us in His triumph! (2 Cor 2:14)
“...in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come... shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39
These Scriptures will help prepare your heart and mind: Encouragement from A to Z
See also Preparing for Persecution A New Way of Thinking
Purging the Memory of Our Christian Roots
Ban Truth - Reap Tyranny Hope, Hate & Human Nature
1. Alexander Stille, “Did Knives and Forks Cut Murders?” The New York Times, May 3, 2003.
2. While the source of this quote by James A. Sharpe is Alexander Stille’s article (listed above), much more information can be found in the first chapter (written by Mr. Sharpe) in the book, The Civilization of Crime: Violence in Town and Country Since the Middle Ages. Written “by scholars from North America and Europe,” it “demonstrates that both rural and urban communities in Sweden, Holland, England and other countries were far more violent during the late Middle Ages than any cities are today.” (University of Illinois, 1996, back cover).
3. Eric A. Johnson (Editor), The Civilization of Crime: Violence in Town and Country Since the Middle Ages (University of Illinois, 1996) In chapter 1, Mr. Sharpe writes, “We have a number of samples of homicide statistics from the Middle Ages. These show massive variations in homicide rates...[but] a cluster of samples, however, suggest a typical thirteenth-century rate of around 18 to 23 per 100,000. We then have more samples to suggest that the rate dropped a little, perhaps to 15 per 100,000 in 1600, and then fell dramatically over the middle of the seventeenth century. This drop... remains inexplicable.” (page 22)
4. Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 19 (Chicago: William Benton, 1968), page 48.
2. While the source of this quote by James A. Sharpe is Alexander Stille’s article (listed above), much more information can be found in the first chapter (written by Mr. Sharpe) in the book, The Civilization of Crime: Violence in Town and Country Since the Middle Ages. Written “by scholars from North America and Europe,” it “demonstrates that both rural and urban communities in Sweden, Holland, England and other countries were far more violent during the late Middle Ages than any cities are today.” (University of Illinois, 1996, back cover).
3. Eric A. Johnson (Editor), The Civilization of Crime: Violence in Town and Country Since the Middle Ages (University of Illinois, 1996) In chapter 1, Mr. Sharpe writes, “We have a number of samples of homicide statistics from the Middle Ages. These show massive variations in homicide rates...[but] a cluster of samples, however, suggest a typical thirteenth-century rate of around 18 to 23 per 100,000. We then have more samples to suggest that the rate dropped a little, perhaps to 15 per 100,000 in 1600, and then fell dramatically over the middle of the seventeenth century. This drop... remains inexplicable.” (page 22)
4. Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume 19 (Chicago: William Benton, 1968), page 48.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
CN HAS TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT ROME AND THE POPES
CN Has Told the Truth About Rome and the Popes
Christian News, August 22, 2011, Vol. 49, No. 32
“The Truth About What Really Happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II” by Brother Michael Dimond and Brother Peter Dimond again shows that Christian News has told the truth about what has been happening in the Roman Catholic Church during the last 50 years. CN told the truth about the theology of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
Much of what Christian News has published about the Roman Catholic Church
and its popes, since CN began in 1962, is in The Christian News Encyclopedia. CN has reviewed scores of books by Roman Catholic theologians. Among them are the 15 volume, 15 million word New Catholic Encyclopedia, The Jerome Biblical Commentary, the Jerusalem Bible, and The New Catholic Catechism. CN has shown that Pope Benedict XVI in some of his many books promotes the views of liberal higher critics of the Bible, universalism and evolution. These critics contend the Bible contains myths and fiction and that Christianity gradually evolved through the centuries rather than being directly revealed by God, the Holy Ghost, to such men as Moses, Isaiah, David, Paul, etc. CN has published articles showing that Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Ratzinger, denied what the Bible teaches about the Resurrection.
The back cover of the 658 page “The Truth About What Happened to the Catholic Church After Vatican II” says:
Based upon the infallible teaching of the Catholic popes (the Magisterium), Sacred Scripture and Catholic Tradition, this book is a defense of the Catholic Faith and the Catholic Church. With irrefutable evidence and undeniable documentation (including more than 1,700 references), this book demonstrates what has really happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II. This book contains the most complete exposé of the post-Vatican II apostasy from the Catholic Faith that has ever been produced.
> You will learn that in Catholic history there have been 260 popes and over 40 antipopes (i.e., false popes who claimed to be true popes but were not, and some of them even reigned from Rome for a time).
You will learn that an apostasy in Rome is predicted to occur in the last days.
> You will learn what the Catholic Church teaches about heretics: heretics lose any offices they hold or claim to hold in the Catholic Church (including the office of pope), without any declaration, when they defect from the Catholic Faith.
> You will learn what the Catholic Church teaches about non-Catholic religions, and what has been taught since Vatican II about non-Catholic religions.
> You will learn that the coming of a Counter Church in the final days – a counterfeit sect which is meant to deceive and lead Catholics astray in the time of the Great Apostasy – was predicted by Jesus Christ, the Mother of God during her 1846 appearance at La Salette (France), and other Catholic prophecies, including by Pope Leo XIII.
> You will learn that the “Church” which has arisen since Vatican II is without any doubt a Counter Church – with new teachings, new practices, manifestly heretical antipopes and a New Mass which all oppose the teachings of the Catholic Church.
> The heretical and false teachings of this Counter Church and its antipopes are exposed and refuted in this book in tremendous factual detail. This book contains:
• The most devastating exposé of the heresies in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) that has been produced…
• The most devastating exposé of the heresies of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI that has been done, including the shocking actions of interreligious “ecumenism”…
• A detailed examination of the Liturgical Revolution (the changes to the Mass and sacraments after Vatican II), and why many of the new sacraments (including the New Mass) are invalid according to Catholic sacramental teaching…
• An answer to every major objection posed by those who say that the conclusions presented in this book are not conformable to Catholic teaching on the Papacy or the indefectibility of the Catholic Church…
• A vigorous exposé of the rotten fruits that have flowed from Vatican II, which are so revealing about the truth of what has occurred since Vatican II, including the abominable priestly sex scandal (and why it occurred), the pro-abortion-politicians-Communion-scandal, the abominable state of post-Vatican II seminaries and religious orders, the annulment fiasco, the post-Vatican II Church’s union with pagan culture, the apostasy of the post-Vatican II hierarchy, and much more…
• This book covers in detail many of the issues raised by different traditional Catholic groups which have correctly concluded that Vatican II started an apostasy, but differ on what to conclude about it.
This book is based on years of the most intense research, including: a study of every papal encyclical since 1740 (the year when the modern form of encyclical was introduced), a study of the decrees of all the ecumenical councils in Church history and other papal bulls, research of every published issue of the Vatican’s weekly newspaper from April 4, 1968 to the present, an intense study of Catholic history, and much more. No Catholic can afford not to read this monumental work. . . . .
(Most Holy Family Monastery • 4425 Schneider Road • Fillmore, NY 14735 • 585-567-4433 • 800-275-1126, www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com).
For Entire article see Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 32, August 22, 2011
Christian News, August 22, 2011, Vol. 49, No. 32
“The Truth About What Really Happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II” by Brother Michael Dimond and Brother Peter Dimond again shows that Christian News has told the truth about what has been happening in the Roman Catholic Church during the last 50 years. CN told the truth about the theology of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
Much of what Christian News has published about the Roman Catholic Church
and its popes, since CN began in 1962, is in The Christian News Encyclopedia. CN has reviewed scores of books by Roman Catholic theologians. Among them are the 15 volume, 15 million word New Catholic Encyclopedia, The Jerome Biblical Commentary, the Jerusalem Bible, and The New Catholic Catechism. CN has shown that Pope Benedict XVI in some of his many books promotes the views of liberal higher critics of the Bible, universalism and evolution. These critics contend the Bible contains myths and fiction and that Christianity gradually evolved through the centuries rather than being directly revealed by God, the Holy Ghost, to such men as Moses, Isaiah, David, Paul, etc. CN has published articles showing that Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Ratzinger, denied what the Bible teaches about the Resurrection.
The back cover of the 658 page “The Truth About What Happened to the Catholic Church After Vatican II” says:
Based upon the infallible teaching of the Catholic popes (the Magisterium), Sacred Scripture and Catholic Tradition, this book is a defense of the Catholic Faith and the Catholic Church. With irrefutable evidence and undeniable documentation (including more than 1,700 references), this book demonstrates what has really happened to the Catholic Church after Vatican II. This book contains the most complete exposé of the post-Vatican II apostasy from the Catholic Faith that has ever been produced.
> You will learn that in Catholic history there have been 260 popes and over 40 antipopes (i.e., false popes who claimed to be true popes but were not, and some of them even reigned from Rome for a time).
You will learn that an apostasy in Rome is predicted to occur in the last days.
> You will learn what the Catholic Church teaches about heretics: heretics lose any offices they hold or claim to hold in the Catholic Church (including the office of pope), without any declaration, when they defect from the Catholic Faith.
> You will learn what the Catholic Church teaches about non-Catholic religions, and what has been taught since Vatican II about non-Catholic religions.
> You will learn that the coming of a Counter Church in the final days – a counterfeit sect which is meant to deceive and lead Catholics astray in the time of the Great Apostasy – was predicted by Jesus Christ, the Mother of God during her 1846 appearance at La Salette (France), and other Catholic prophecies, including by Pope Leo XIII.
> You will learn that the “Church” which has arisen since Vatican II is without any doubt a Counter Church – with new teachings, new practices, manifestly heretical antipopes and a New Mass which all oppose the teachings of the Catholic Church.
> The heretical and false teachings of this Counter Church and its antipopes are exposed and refuted in this book in tremendous factual detail. This book contains:
• The most devastating exposé of the heresies in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) that has been produced…
• The most devastating exposé of the heresies of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI that has been done, including the shocking actions of interreligious “ecumenism”…
• A detailed examination of the Liturgical Revolution (the changes to the Mass and sacraments after Vatican II), and why many of the new sacraments (including the New Mass) are invalid according to Catholic sacramental teaching…
• An answer to every major objection posed by those who say that the conclusions presented in this book are not conformable to Catholic teaching on the Papacy or the indefectibility of the Catholic Church…
• A vigorous exposé of the rotten fruits that have flowed from Vatican II, which are so revealing about the truth of what has occurred since Vatican II, including the abominable priestly sex scandal (and why it occurred), the pro-abortion-politicians-Communion-scandal, the abominable state of post-Vatican II seminaries and religious orders, the annulment fiasco, the post-Vatican II Church’s union with pagan culture, the apostasy of the post-Vatican II hierarchy, and much more…
• This book covers in detail many of the issues raised by different traditional Catholic groups which have correctly concluded that Vatican II started an apostasy, but differ on what to conclude about it.
This book is based on years of the most intense research, including: a study of every papal encyclical since 1740 (the year when the modern form of encyclical was introduced), a study of the decrees of all the ecumenical councils in Church history and other papal bulls, research of every published issue of the Vatican’s weekly newspaper from April 4, 1968 to the present, an intense study of Catholic history, and much more. No Catholic can afford not to read this monumental work. . . . .
(Most Holy Family Monastery • 4425 Schneider Road • Fillmore, NY 14735 • 585-567-4433 • 800-275-1126, www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com).
For Entire article see Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 32, August 22, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Who Really Wrote the Bible? Review by Rev. Rolf Preus
Who Really Wrote the Bible?
Review by Rev. Rolf David Preus
Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 31, August 15, 2011
Who Really Wrote the Bible? And Why It Should Be Taken
Seriously Again, by Eyal Rav-Noy and Gil Weinreich, Richard Vigilante Books, 2010. (Available from Christian News for $10.00 plus $4.00 s/h.)
One hears of the demise of the JEDP source hypothesis as other forms of criticism (genre, literary, etc.) come into vogue. Not that it is debunked to the satisfaction of establishment scholars. It just doesn’t matter anymore as the scholarly community has gone on to more interesting pursuits. After all, the slicing and dicing of the Pentateuch into various oral traditions identified with J (the personal name for God), E (the title God), D (more or less the book of Deuteronomy) and P (the priestly tradition) might have been exciting when first introduced, but over the years became a rather tedious exercise as the theory, teetering like a T.V. on the edge of the airwaves, required constant fine-tuning to reconcile its many internal inconsistencies. No wonder interest waned.
Rav-Noy’s and Weinreich’s book might just resurrect a bit of interest in JEDP. They have thoroughly discredited it. By identifying thematic structures, chiasms, the use of the number seven, and other literary devices the authors convincingly demonstrate the single authorship of the Pentateuch, debunking the JEDP source hypothesis in the process.
They show the unity of the biblical text. With clarity and humor they display to the reader the intellectual laziness of the critics who arbitrarily assign the use of one word to this tradition and the use of another word to that tradition.
While relying on the original Hebrew throughout, this book is an easy read. The authors set forth their arguments clearly and demonstrate them convincingly. While it is not an apologetic for biblical inspiration, it does effectively rebut one of the chief tenets of those who reject biblical inspiration, the notion that the Books of Moses are a compilation of various oral traditions that were later redacted into one work.
In a refreshing and entertaining fashion, this book shatters the orthodoxy of the liberal scholarly establishment. The authors’ purpose is to discredit what has kept people from taking the Bible seriously. They succeed in doing so. Clearly, the authors take the Bible seriously, but do not find the gospel of the free forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake through faith alone as the essence of or even as a feature of Moses’ teaching. Thus, while a text worthy of serious consideration for our instruction in the mysteries of God is necessary, something needs to happen to the reader. The veil needs to be lifted. But the God who lifts it does so through his own words recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures.
For this reason we can rejoice in a work that shoots down the arguments of the Bible critics and forces the honest reader to take the Bible seriously again.
Review by Rev. Rolf David Preus
Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 31, August 15, 2011
Who Really Wrote the Bible? And Why It Should Be Taken
Seriously Again, by Eyal Rav-Noy and Gil Weinreich, Richard Vigilante Books, 2010. (Available from Christian News for $10.00 plus $4.00 s/h.)
One hears of the demise of the JEDP source hypothesis as other forms of criticism (genre, literary, etc.) come into vogue. Not that it is debunked to the satisfaction of establishment scholars. It just doesn’t matter anymore as the scholarly community has gone on to more interesting pursuits. After all, the slicing and dicing of the Pentateuch into various oral traditions identified with J (the personal name for God), E (the title God), D (more or less the book of Deuteronomy) and P (the priestly tradition) might have been exciting when first introduced, but over the years became a rather tedious exercise as the theory, teetering like a T.V. on the edge of the airwaves, required constant fine-tuning to reconcile its many internal inconsistencies. No wonder interest waned.
Rav-Noy’s and Weinreich’s book might just resurrect a bit of interest in JEDP. They have thoroughly discredited it. By identifying thematic structures, chiasms, the use of the number seven, and other literary devices the authors convincingly demonstrate the single authorship of the Pentateuch, debunking the JEDP source hypothesis in the process.
They show the unity of the biblical text. With clarity and humor they display to the reader the intellectual laziness of the critics who arbitrarily assign the use of one word to this tradition and the use of another word to that tradition.
While relying on the original Hebrew throughout, this book is an easy read. The authors set forth their arguments clearly and demonstrate them convincingly. While it is not an apologetic for biblical inspiration, it does effectively rebut one of the chief tenets of those who reject biblical inspiration, the notion that the Books of Moses are a compilation of various oral traditions that were later redacted into one work.
In a refreshing and entertaining fashion, this book shatters the orthodoxy of the liberal scholarly establishment. The authors’ purpose is to discredit what has kept people from taking the Bible seriously. They succeed in doing so. Clearly, the authors take the Bible seriously, but do not find the gospel of the free forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake through faith alone as the essence of or even as a feature of Moses’ teaching. Thus, while a text worthy of serious consideration for our instruction in the mysteries of God is necessary, something needs to happen to the reader. The veil needs to be lifted. But the God who lifts it does so through his own words recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures.
For this reason we can rejoice in a work that shoots down the arguments of the Bible critics and forces the honest reader to take the Bible seriously again.
Rav-Noy to Speak at Walther Conference 11/11/11
Rav-Noy to Speak at Walther Conference 11/11/11
Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 31
August 15, 2011
Eyal Rav-Noy, an Israeli born scholar, now living in Los Angeles, is the author of “Who Really Wrote the Bible.” Rav-Noy, who has been interviewed on national broadcasts, including the Michael Medved show, is the first Jewish author to show that patterns in the text of the Pentateuch must have been written by the same author. Rav-Noy’s book proves that the JEPD theory, which denies Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, is a fraud, and is therefore a response to Dr Richard Elliott Friedman’s book, “Who Wrote the Bible.” Rav-Noy is an ardent spokesman for the single authorship of the Five Books of Moses.
Rav-Noy will speak on “Who Really Wrote the Bible.”
The Eighth National Free Conference on C. F. W. Walther will be held at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis MO, Werner Chapel, on Friday, Nov. 11-12. The theme for this year’s conference is, “Walther and the Bible: His 200th Birthday.”
To attend the Eighth National Free Conference on C. F. W. Walther, send a registration fee of $30.00 to:
Rev. Neil R. Schmidt
1709 Summergate Circle
St. Peter’s MO 63303
Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 31
August 15, 2011
Eyal Rav-Noy, an Israeli born scholar, now living in Los Angeles, is the author of “Who Really Wrote the Bible.” Rav-Noy, who has been interviewed on national broadcasts, including the Michael Medved show, is the first Jewish author to show that patterns in the text of the Pentateuch must have been written by the same author. Rav-Noy’s book proves that the JEPD theory, which denies Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, is a fraud, and is therefore a response to Dr Richard Elliott Friedman’s book, “Who Wrote the Bible.” Rav-Noy is an ardent spokesman for the single authorship of the Five Books of Moses.
Rav-Noy will speak on “Who Really Wrote the Bible.”
The Eighth National Free Conference on C. F. W. Walther will be held at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis MO, Werner Chapel, on Friday, Nov. 11-12. The theme for this year’s conference is, “Walther and the Bible: His 200th Birthday.”
To attend the Eighth National Free Conference on C. F. W. Walther, send a registration fee of $30.00 to:
Rev. Neil R. Schmidt
1709 Summergate Circle
St. Peter’s MO 63303
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
LCMS HAS ADOPTED A BIBLE TRANSLATION CONTRARY TO LUTHER
LCMS Has Adopted a Bible Translation Contrary to Luther
Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 30, August 8, 2011
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has adopted a Bible translation “that is contrary to the translation principles of Martin Luther” says Professor Thomas P. Nass in “Some thoughts on the ESV and Bible Translations”, a 34 page essay he presented at pastors’ conferences of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Christian News has been saying much the same for more than 10 years about the English Standard Version. CN has repeatedly shown that no modern English translation is closer to Luther’s translation than William Beck’s An American Translation of the Bible. Beck said that he and Luther were almost always in agreement, not because he followed Luther, but because they both followed the Hebrew and Greek text. Professor Nass writes: “I’m sure he [Beck] would be distressed to see acceptance of the ESV as the CPH translation of choice today.” Beck was an editor at CPH.
When CPH and the LCMS took surveys, they did not include the AAT. CPH’s Paul McCain insists the editor of CN is a liar. He is at least in part responsible for the fact the CN editor has not been certified for the pastoral ministry. (p. 14) McCain has the support of the LCMS bureaucracy and Schwan Foundation.
When a pastoral conference asked that the LCMS’s Worship Committee and CPH to listen to the case the CN editor makes for the AAT, neither the Worship Committee nor CPH were interested in listening to CN or any debate between the CN editor and McCain. McCain refuses to debate the CN editor on Bible translations. CN on July 14, 2011 sent the essay by Professor Nass to McCain, LCMS President Matthew Harrison, these editors of the LCMS’s ESV Study Bible (Paul E. Deterding, Scott R. Murray, Daniel E. Paavola, Jerald C. Joersz, Victor H. Prange, Mark W. Love, Robert A. Sorensen, Steven P. Mueller, Michael P. Walther), and both LCMS seminary faculties.
CN invited them to show where Nass was in error. None of the editors or officials responded or answered the survey CN sent to them.
Nass says in his essay:
Some Thoughts on the ESV and Bible Translation
Thomas P. Nass
“CPH also has leaders like Rev. Paul McCain who definitely favor the ESV” (1).
“The ESV–A revision of the RSV
“The ESV, to put it simply, is a revision by conservative Christians of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). Depending on whose statistics you use, between 91-95% of the text of the ESV is identical to the 1971 edition of the RSV” (1).
“ESV critics have pointed out how rapidly the ESV was prepared, wondering how thorough the revisers were in examining the RSV text over against the originals. At any rate, one should be aware that the foundation of the ESV is very definitely the RSV” (1).
Liberal Theology of RSV Translators
“It is important to know that the Revised Standard Version, the base text of the ESV, received a mixed review when it was first published in 1952. The RSV was carefully done by the leading scholars of the day and was in general quite highly regarded as a translation. In the following decades it was the best-selling translation apart from the KJV. The RSV, however, was strongly criticized and avoided by many conservative Christians. The committee that prepared the RSV had liberal translators who followed the higher-critical method, and their liberal theology showed up occasionally in the translation, especially in Old Testament messianic prophecies and New Testament passages about the deity of Christ’ ” (2).
Did the ESV correct the doctrinal weaknesses of the RSV?
“Herman Otten in Christian News has encouraged Lutheran Christians to avoid the ESV because in his opinion the ESV has not corrected the doctrinal problems of the RSV. He writes, ‘Many of the errors in the RSV remained in the ESV.’ If this is true, the ESV should be avoided. The first criteria for Bible translations in our circles has always been: ‘Is the translation doctrinally acceptable?’” (2)
Calvinism
“The ESV is also weak in some passages that have been used by Calvinists to teach double predestination. The wording of the ESV is more Calvinistic than the NIV in these passages. Of course, the NIV has long been criticized by some Lutherans for supposedly showing Reformed influence. The fact is that the ESV, like the NIV, was done by a committee of translators who did not hold to Lutheran theology” (3).
ESV Adds Words
“It is certainly true that the ESV is more literal than the NIV and numerous other English translations. However, it is an overstatement to say that the ESV gives direct transparency into the original text. Often the ESV reworks the form of the original and often the ESV adds words that are not in the original. Rodney Decker in his review of the ESV correctly states, “There are far more idiomatic, functional equivalents in the ESV than most people would ever suspect based on the popular perception of this essentially literal translation” (7).“Good translation does not have anything to do with counting up the total number of words. But it is interesting to see what the total word count is in the ESV and other translations, especially since promoters of the ESV are quick to say that the ESV does not add words where they are not in the original.“Version: Total number of words:Hebrew and Greek 545,202HCSB26 718,943NIV (1984) 726,109ESV 757,439.27” (7)
“Next, if one works at all with the ESV and the original languages, one can easily find many examples where the ESV does not translate literally, and no footnote is added.”
ESV Inconstistent
“Seeing the number of shifts like this in the ESV leaves me stunned when I read Leland Ryken‘s comment that the ESV only rarely shifts away from the literal wording of the original, and generally supplies a footnote when it does. The only person who could honestly say this, it seems to me, would be a person who has not actually worked with the original texts and the ESV open on his desk. I wonder: was there no Crossway editor knowledgeable with the original languages who could correct this overstatement in Ryken‘s book?“In actuality, the handling of idioms in the ESV seems inconsistent. Sometimes idioms are brought over literally, and sometimes the same idioms or similar idioms are reworked without any footnote” (9).
“So in short, if you want to use the ESV, I say ‘fine.’ But don‘t do it because you think that the ESV will give you direct transparency into the original text without any interpretation. It has much interpretation, just like every other translation” (14).
(For entire article see Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 30, August 8, 2011)
Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 30, August 8, 2011
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has adopted a Bible translation “that is contrary to the translation principles of Martin Luther” says Professor Thomas P. Nass in “Some thoughts on the ESV and Bible Translations”, a 34 page essay he presented at pastors’ conferences of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Christian News has been saying much the same for more than 10 years about the English Standard Version. CN has repeatedly shown that no modern English translation is closer to Luther’s translation than William Beck’s An American Translation of the Bible. Beck said that he and Luther were almost always in agreement, not because he followed Luther, but because they both followed the Hebrew and Greek text. Professor Nass writes: “I’m sure he [Beck] would be distressed to see acceptance of the ESV as the CPH translation of choice today.” Beck was an editor at CPH.
When CPH and the LCMS took surveys, they did not include the AAT. CPH’s Paul McCain insists the editor of CN is a liar. He is at least in part responsible for the fact the CN editor has not been certified for the pastoral ministry. (p. 14) McCain has the support of the LCMS bureaucracy and Schwan Foundation.
When a pastoral conference asked that the LCMS’s Worship Committee and CPH to listen to the case the CN editor makes for the AAT, neither the Worship Committee nor CPH were interested in listening to CN or any debate between the CN editor and McCain. McCain refuses to debate the CN editor on Bible translations. CN on July 14, 2011 sent the essay by Professor Nass to McCain, LCMS President Matthew Harrison, these editors of the LCMS’s ESV Study Bible (Paul E. Deterding, Scott R. Murray, Daniel E. Paavola, Jerald C. Joersz, Victor H. Prange, Mark W. Love, Robert A. Sorensen, Steven P. Mueller, Michael P. Walther), and both LCMS seminary faculties.
CN invited them to show where Nass was in error. None of the editors or officials responded or answered the survey CN sent to them.
Nass says in his essay:
Some Thoughts on the ESV and Bible Translation
Thomas P. Nass
“CPH also has leaders like Rev. Paul McCain who definitely favor the ESV” (1).
“The ESV–A revision of the RSV
“The ESV, to put it simply, is a revision by conservative Christians of the Revised Standard Version (RSV). Depending on whose statistics you use, between 91-95% of the text of the ESV is identical to the 1971 edition of the RSV” (1).
“ESV critics have pointed out how rapidly the ESV was prepared, wondering how thorough the revisers were in examining the RSV text over against the originals. At any rate, one should be aware that the foundation of the ESV is very definitely the RSV” (1).
Liberal Theology of RSV Translators
“It is important to know that the Revised Standard Version, the base text of the ESV, received a mixed review when it was first published in 1952. The RSV was carefully done by the leading scholars of the day and was in general quite highly regarded as a translation. In the following decades it was the best-selling translation apart from the KJV. The RSV, however, was strongly criticized and avoided by many conservative Christians. The committee that prepared the RSV had liberal translators who followed the higher-critical method, and their liberal theology showed up occasionally in the translation, especially in Old Testament messianic prophecies and New Testament passages about the deity of Christ’ ” (2).
Did the ESV correct the doctrinal weaknesses of the RSV?
“Herman Otten in Christian News has encouraged Lutheran Christians to avoid the ESV because in his opinion the ESV has not corrected the doctrinal problems of the RSV. He writes, ‘Many of the errors in the RSV remained in the ESV.’ If this is true, the ESV should be avoided. The first criteria for Bible translations in our circles has always been: ‘Is the translation doctrinally acceptable?’” (2)
Calvinism
“The ESV is also weak in some passages that have been used by Calvinists to teach double predestination. The wording of the ESV is more Calvinistic than the NIV in these passages. Of course, the NIV has long been criticized by some Lutherans for supposedly showing Reformed influence. The fact is that the ESV, like the NIV, was done by a committee of translators who did not hold to Lutheran theology” (3).
ESV Adds Words
“It is certainly true that the ESV is more literal than the NIV and numerous other English translations. However, it is an overstatement to say that the ESV gives direct transparency into the original text. Often the ESV reworks the form of the original and often the ESV adds words that are not in the original. Rodney Decker in his review of the ESV correctly states, “There are far more idiomatic, functional equivalents in the ESV than most people would ever suspect based on the popular perception of this essentially literal translation” (7).“Good translation does not have anything to do with counting up the total number of words. But it is interesting to see what the total word count is in the ESV and other translations, especially since promoters of the ESV are quick to say that the ESV does not add words where they are not in the original.“Version: Total number of words:Hebrew and Greek 545,202HCSB26 718,943NIV (1984) 726,109ESV 757,439.27” (7)
“Next, if one works at all with the ESV and the original languages, one can easily find many examples where the ESV does not translate literally, and no footnote is added.”
ESV Inconstistent
“Seeing the number of shifts like this in the ESV leaves me stunned when I read Leland Ryken‘s comment that the ESV only rarely shifts away from the literal wording of the original, and generally supplies a footnote when it does. The only person who could honestly say this, it seems to me, would be a person who has not actually worked with the original texts and the ESV open on his desk. I wonder: was there no Crossway editor knowledgeable with the original languages who could correct this overstatement in Ryken‘s book?“In actuality, the handling of idioms in the ESV seems inconsistent. Sometimes idioms are brought over literally, and sometimes the same idioms or similar idioms are reworked without any footnote” (9).
“So in short, if you want to use the ESV, I say ‘fine.’ But don‘t do it because you think that the ESV will give you direct transparency into the original text without any interpretation. It has much interpretation, just like every other translation” (14).
(For entire article see Christian News, Vol. 49, No. 30, August 8, 2011)
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