A Reply by Robert L. Vaughn to "The Authority of the Septuagint"

I subtitle this “A Reply to” rather than “A Review of” The Authority of the Septuagint. It contains some review, but I also make severe criticisms and strong complaints about the work, and focus on certain authors, traits, and chapters far above the others.

Note: Robert L. Vaughn is pastor of Old Prospect Baptist Church near Mt. Enterprise, Texas.

The Authority of the Septuagint: Biblical, Historical, and Theological Approaches was released by IVP Academic October 30, 2025. [i] Edited by Gregory R. Lanier and William A. Ross, they add contributions from ten other scholars: Levi Berntson, J. V. Fesko, Edmon L. Gallagher, Karen Jobes, Thomas Keene, Joshua McQuaid, James B. Prothro, Myrto Theocharous, Daniel Treier, and Mark Ward. (When I look at the list, the last name seems to be the “odd man out,” in several ways.) [ii] The contributors combine to create nine chapters (one an introduction by Lanier and Ross and one a summary by Theocharous), two excursuses, and an afterword. The bulk of the work is followed by an extensive bibliography, brief information about the contributors, a meager general index, as well as scripture and ancient text indices.

In the introduction, Lanier and Ross introduce their purpose, provide overviews for the coming chapters, and set up three interesting categories of test cases. The purpose of the book is to address the question of whether the Septuagint has any authority for churches today (and, if so, what is the nature of that authority). Up front they make it clear that voices at the far poles will be excluded – the Greek Orthodox because they hold the LXX as their definitive text, and any variety of Protestants who believe the LXX has no authority. Here, on page 2, they boldly conflate as one two different views that are not the same – exclusive use of the King James Bible and Confessional Bibliology. In this they will go from bad to worse. While the Greek Orthodox position will simply be ignored, the Confessional Bibliology position will not. The Greek Orthodox gets no place at the table, while the Confessional Bibliologist gets no place at the table and get an entire “chapter” (excursus) attacking their position. In her summary, Myrto Theocharous mildly rebukes the exclusion of the insights of “the Christian traditions of the East” (pp. 205-206, 232), but seems to generally accept as “gospel” the hatchet job on Confessional Bibliology.

The three categories of test cases (pp. 6-17) are (1) New Testament citations that align with the LXX against the Hebrew; (2) New Testament citations that align with the Hebrew against the LXX; and (3) New Testament citations that do not align with one another. These cases have interesting potential, but are not engaged by every contributor. I have not analyzed all the test cases, but one caught my eye – NT quotations of Genesis 2:24 (pp. 15-16). This example is presented as textual diversity or non-alignment of citations. One difference cited is the difference “of the verb for ‘cling’.” Matthew, in NA-28, has κολληθήσεται while Mark and Paul have προσκολληθήσεται. However, there is a variant here, a case where some MSS of Matthew have προσκολληθήσεται (compare NA-28 with TR and RP in Matthew 19:5). [iii] It does not exude confidence, whether the editors simply did not know this or chose not to mention this to their readers.

Chapter Six – but especially the two excursuses – appear designed to challenge and refute the Confessional Bibliology view of the Septuagint. Confessional Bibliology almost seems to be a burr under the saddles of the editors. On the one hand, they wish to sideline it as a view unworthy of notice, while on the other hand giving it prominent notice in their design to refute it! Berntson has a good historical overview of the Reformed view of the LXX, but, in my opinion, seems to overemphasize the minority views (pp. 113-137). In her summary, Theocharous, without drawing attention to Berntson, corrects this with his conclusion (Table 9.1, p. 232) by stating the consensus view of the Reformers and Early Scholastics was that the Hebrew text was authoritative and the LXX was not.

In his excursus “‘Kept Pure in All Ages’?” (pp. 138-146), J. V. Fesko fires a warning shot across the bow of Confessional Bibliology by addressing the Westminster Confession of Faith 1.8, which states (among other things) that “The Old Testament in Hebrew” is “Authenticall.” [iv] Without specifically mentioning it, Fesko reviews a primary point of Confessional Bibliology. When all is said and done, however, the shot misses its mark. The Westminster Confession still places authority in “The Old Testament in Hebrew” – the Old Testament in Hebrew, not the Old Testament in Greek!

The excursus by Mark Ward is titled “The Septuagint and Confessional Bibliology.” [v] Rather than have a proponent discuss their view and its relation to the Septuagint, the editors hired a hit man to write a hit piece. Ward is not a random scholar chosen to write about this subject, but an opponent who has prayed imprecatory prayers against Confessional Bibliology! [vi] The excursus begins its excursion poorly and ends it badly.  In violation of his promise to stop identifying Confessional Bibliology with IFB King James Bible “Onlyism,” he calls the two views “fraternal twins” (p. 169). [vii] For his schtick, Ward “reviews” the Reformation Bible Society Conference of 2024 (p. 170). He undertakes to summarize and reply to “the main confessional bibliology arguments levied against the use of the Septuagint.” He further misunderstands, since the conference focused on the Old Testament and the LXX, that Confessional Bibliology has found some new direction. [viii] Something is not new simply because it just dawned on him!

Ward falsely indicates that he is interacting with “the four key presenters at the Reformation Bible Society conference” (p. 170, fn 6). [ix] He includes three of the plenary lectures given at the Reformation Bible Society conference, but avoids the fourth. He knows he is misrepresenting the facts – and so does editor William Ross, who attended the conference. The four plenary lectures were: “What Exactly is the Septuagint?” by Russell Fuller; “How Did the Early Church Use the LXX?” by Jeffrey Riddle; “What was the Reformation Perspective on the LXX?” by David Kranendonk; and “Why Does the Septuagint Matter Today?” by Christian McShaffrey. [x] He avoids the fourth and replaces it by mentioning – and then dismissing – a short paper that was not particularly relevant to his cause (because it was a paper given in a breakout session). [xi] When Ward excludes one of the primary speakers at the conference he is reviewing, how can we have any confidence when he says things like, “none of the speakers reckon in any detail with…” (p. 173). How can the reader know this, when Ward refuses to present all the facts?

On page 173 Ward muddies the waters by implying that Confessional Bibliologists are tilting at windmills, then gives examples that show they are not, including citing the ESV preface concerning using the LXX (and other ancient versions) “to support a divergence from the Masoretic text” (p. 174). He further stirs the mud by saying that Confessional Bibliologists oppose use of the LXX (p. 176), as if the conference presenters do not know the difference between using the LXX to help understand Hebrew words and using it to emend the base text to reflect the reading of the LXX rather than the MT. Their opposition is not to use of the LXX or other early versions to help understand words and such like, but to the use of the LXX to change the Hebrew Masoretic text. Ward even points to examples where modern versions do just that, such as the NIV at Genesis 4:8. [xii] Who’s tilting at whom?

Perhaps Ward raises some questions that Confessional Bibliologists will need and want to answer, but the overall excursus runs off in the wrong direction, smattered with misrepresentations and falsehoods.

While excluding the Confessional Bibliologists from giving their viewpoint, the editors chose to have a Roman Catholic scholar give a Catholic viewpoint. James B. Prothro’s chapter “A Roman Catholic Approach” injects further questions about the authoritative canon (pp. 190-191), gives due deference to the deuterocanonicals (pp. 184, 187, 204), and even in an indirect way questions sola scriptura (pp. 193). [xiii] However, “A Roman Catholic Approach” fits the mold for which the editors were looking – a view between the poles that gives some authority to the LXX, rather than all or none (p. 2). [xiv] The book ends with Myrto Theocharous summarizing things, and Septuagint scholar Karen Jobes reflecting on the overall topic. [xv]

Straight talk, no excursus.

The Authority of the Septuagint contains a lot of information that I found interesting, educational, and even helpful, even though I disagree with the book’s aim and its conclusions. Nevertheless, to a greater degree, I found that The Authority of the Septuagint, like sheep and commentaries, went far astray. This is especially true in the choice to have Mark Ward – of all people – write the excursus on Confessional Bibliology. In his so-called review of the Confessional Bibliology book Why I Preach from the Received Text, Mark Ward ended with an imprecatory prayer against Confessional Bibliology, “I pray that its days will be few.” On his blogpost “Breaking My Two-Year Silence on Confessional Bibliology,” Ward professed to disliking leading proponents of Confessional Bibliology. [xvi] Yet Lanier and Ross chose this man to run off and on about Confessional Bibliology. They obviously knew that Ward was an opponent of the position. Ross, in fact, was a guest on the podcast when Ward “broke his silence.” [xvii] Ross also attended the very Reformation Bible Society conference that Ward misrepresented in his excursus! He knew better. The editors could not have not known that Ward misrepresented parts of the conference, dislikes leading proponents of the position, and desires that the Confessional Bibliology position should be destroyed! I find their choice of Mark Ward to write about Confessional Bibliology in their book to be misguided, reprehensible, and unsuitable for a book foisted on the public as “academic.”

In their “Preface,” Lanier and Ross say that a project like this could easily “go off the rails” (p. vii). [xviii] I believe it did. This book will stand as a perpetual stain on the reputation, honesty, and decency of its editors, as well as a question mark on the quality of oversight and care put into the materials published by InterVarsity Press/IVP Academic.

Endnotes

[i] https://www.ivpress.com/the-authority-of-the-septuagint

[ii] The information about contributors says that Mark Ward “serves as editor for Crossway Publishers.” Ward was not an editor with Crossway when the book was published in 2025. He was only there from May to November in 2024. However, he probably was in that position at the time he contributed the excursus. https://byfaithweunderstand.com/c-v/ | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wewxfs5gE9Q

[iii] For example, κολληθήσεται appears in B D W Θ 078; προσκολληθήσεται appears in א C L Z f¹ 33.

[iv] Authentical = original, genuine, trustworthy, reliable.

[v] He also includes this “chapter” on his YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w2hkulghmI

[vi]  https://byfaithweunderstand.com/2022/07/24/review-why-i-preach-from-the-received-text/ “I am dismayed that the tiny Confessional Bibliology movement has gathered enough strength to publish it. I pray that its days will be few.”

[vii] http://www.jeffriddle.net/2022/07/wm-243-responding-to-another-comment-by.html I was one of several individuals – including Dane Jöhannson, Dwayne Green, and Tim Berg – who advised and asked Mark to stop calling Confessional Bibliology “KJV-Onlyism” – to which he agreed, writing, “I have prayerfully considered their appeals and yours, and I have decided to stop using that label” for Confessional Bibliology. However, he did not stop.

[viii] This is another instance showing that Ward misunderstands Confessional Bibliology and is not qualified to lecture or write about it. First, it implies that Ward is not familiar with the OT views of the Reformers and the Protestant Scholastics. Westminster 1.8 (as well as the Savoy and 1689 London Confessions) is a touchstone of the Confessional Bibliology movement, and clearly includes the Old Testament in Hebrew as one of the two confessional texts. Additionally, this is addressed in Why I Preach from the Received Text (e.g., pp. 15-17), which Mark Ward reviewed as soon as it was available in July 2022. To address Confessional Bibliology’s position on the Old Testament as if it were some new thing suggests either pretense or incompetence.

[ix] Ward again misrepresents that he is discussing the “four main presenters” on page 178.

[x] https://www.textandtranslation.org/videos-2024-reformation-bible-society-conference/

[xi] Not that there was anything wrong with this short paper, just that it is misrepresented by Ward as if it were one of the plenary lectures. Short papers in breakout sessions are usually situated somewhat more peripherally to the main topic than the plenary lectures. Ward knows how conferences work in this regard.

[xii] The ESV adds from the LXX to the text of Psalm 145:13, and this book notes other places where the LXX “corrects” the Hebrew.

[xiii] Prothro provides a “fraternal twin” to Daniel Wallace’s “gift that keeps on giving.” Prothro writes: “At the same time, it is not as though we do not have God’s Word unless we have a perfect Bible. Given the textual evidence, it would be difficult in most cases to know that we had such a Bible even if we did” (p. 190).

[xiv] …there must be some option between these two poles…” Another interesting thing about the inclusion of a Roman Catholic view: Many modern Protestants and evangelicals sound closer to the Roman Catholics who were debating the Protestant Scholastics and further from the view of men like John Owen and Francis Turretin.

[xv] It was my impression that Myrto Theocharous is not all that familiar with Confessional Bibliology and assumed that Ward was shooting straight.

[xvi] https://byfaithweunderstand.com/2024/09/26/breaking-my-two-year-silence-on-confessional-bibliology/

[xvii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wozfw14b4n8

[xviii] There is an interesting “fraternal twinship” between “go off the rails” and “excursus.” The latter comes from Latin excurrere, “to run out of.”

WM 366: KEACH on the DIVINE AUTHORITY of the Holy Scriptures: Part 16 of 17: RAGE of the DEVIL

 

JTR

WM 365: GERHARD on the HEBREW TEXT: NOT CORRUPTED by the "CARELESSNESS OF SCRIBES"

JTR

The Vision (1.23.26): When things "fall out" for the furtherance of the gospel

 

Image: Winter sunset. North Garden, Virginia. January 2026.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 1:12-18.

“But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel” (Philippians 1:12).

Paul writes his epistle to the saints at Philippi while in bonds, literally in chains. As now, such circumstances did not typically win friends and influence people in that day. Paul had been slandered, attacked, beaten, and imprisoned throughout his ministry as an apostle.

He had survived death by stoning at Lystra (Acts 14:19-20). He fled Thessalonica “by night” after being threatened (Acts 17:10). He was nearly torn limb from limb in the temple in Jerusalem as the mob cried out, “This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place” (Acts 21:28). Forty Jews took a vow not to eat or drink till he was assassinated (Acts 23:12-13). Transferred to Caesarea, a Jewish orator named Tertullus accused him before the Roman governor Felix of being “a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 25:5). Appealing his case to Caesar, Paul was sent to Rome under the guard of a Roman centurion named Julius (Acts 27:1). The ship was wrecked in a storm, and Paul made it to shore clinging to the wreckage (27:44). As the survivors built a fire, a poisonous snake came out from the wood pile and bit the apostle on the hand. He shook the snake off into the fire and miraculously persevered. Eventually he came to Rome and was kept a prisoner for two years. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-28 Paul provides a list of many of the things he had endured as an apostle.

When Paul said in Galatians 6:17, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus,” he was not speaking metaphorically.

Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:12 comes in the context of his “lived experience.” He begins, “But I would ye should understand, brethren….” He wants them to understand his circumstances with Christian discernment. He calls them his brethren. They are together part of the family of God.

He declares that the things which have “fallen out” (taken place in his life in the providence of God; the verb means to loosen or unravel) for him have transpired for the furtherance [advance] of the gospel [here: the proclamation of the good news of what God has done for us in Christ].

As I read this passage it took me back to Genesis 50:20: “ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.”

It also recalls Paul’s great declaration in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Just as God had allowed Joseph’s suffering to save many from physical famine in Egypt, God had allowed Paul’s suffering so that he might preach the gospel to many in Rome and save them from spiritual famine. This included some in the Roman palace (1:13) and even in “Caesar’s household” (4:22).

This is the way believers look at their circumstances whether filled with “smiling” or “frowning” providences. God is making things “fall out” for his own glory and the good of his people, for the furtherance of the gospel.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (1.16.26): He which hath begun a good work in you

 

Image: Winter morning. North Garden, Virginia. January, 2026.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 1:3-11.

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

In Philippians 1:3-4 Paul offers thanks to God for the saints at Philippi: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mine making request with joy.” For what cause does Paul offer these constant prayers of thanks and intercession? He says in v. 5 that it is “for your fellowship (koinonia) in the gospel from the first day until now (the present).”

Koinonia is a great Christian word. Fellowship in the gospel means a common commitment to the truth of and proclamation of the good news of what God has done for us in Christ. This is the unseen glue that binds believers together. If I love the gospel and I meet someone else who loves the gospel, we have an almost instant koinonia.

Paul says he had this fellowship with these “saints” at Philippi from the beginning. It has been consistent, from the first day to the present. It is unbroken. He could not say that to some churches, like those of Galatia who had left the true gospel for “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6).

Paul then expresses a confidence in the Philippian believers in v. 6. Namely, that He (that is, God Himself) “which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

I have often used this verse in pastoral meetings to speak to individuals who have wondered about their standing in the faith. Have they come to the faith for the first time, or have they taken a great leap forward in the faith? Is God doing something new or is he growing and advancing what was already there in seed form?

I think this verse can rightly be used to that end. But notice the context. Paul is addressing a church. He is affirming that God will perform what He has started in this church (and indeed in all true churches).

Those who are disappointed in what the church looks like at present need to remember that she is not now what she one day will be by God’s grace. One day the church will be like a bride adorned for her husband in fine linen (“the righteousness of saints”) (Revelation 19:8).

Until what time will the Lord be nurturing that which He has begun in His people? “Until the day of Jesus Christ” (v. 6). That is, until the day of our Lord’s glorious second coming when all things are made new. The apostle John thus rightly says, “it doth not yet appear what we shall be” (1 John 3:2).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 364: KEACH on the DIVINE AUTHORITY of the Holy Scriptures: Parts 14-15 of 17: REVELATION & REASON

 

JTR

The Vision (1.9.26): A Gospel Church Ordered by Scriptural Rule

Image: Winter scene. Pond in North Garden, Virginia. January 2026.

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 1:1-2.

“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:1-2).

Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi begins with three key points:

First, he identifies the senders of the letter (v. 1a). It is chiefly written by the apostle Paul, but also by his co-worker in the ministry Timothy. Timothy was a disciple with a good reputation among the brethren whose mother was a Jewish believer but his father a pagan unbeliever (Acts 16:1-2). He is listed as co-author with Paul of Philippians and five other NT letters (cf. 2 Cor 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1; and Philemon 1:1). The fact that two men are listed here is a reminder of the fact that we never minister alone but are always working alongside fellow laborers in the gospel.

They describe themselves as “servants [Greek: douloi, slaves] of Jesus Christ.” There is no room for arrogance in the Christian life and especially in ministry and service.

Second, he describes the recipients of the letter (v. 1b). It is addressed “to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi.” The word “saints” here means “holy ones,” those set apart for salvation through faith in Christ and sanctification as they abide in Christ. So, it is addressed to believers.

These saints were at Philippi in Macedonia (for the beginning of this church see Acts 16). Notice that the believers who lived in a particular area were meant to come together as the visible church in the place where they lived.

We have two key points here:

First: The church is regenerate. It is composed of believers.

Second: The church is local. We believe in the universal church, the mystical body of Christ. But the church is also local. If you are part of the universal, invisible church, you will also want to be part of the local, visible church.

Paul next adds, “with the bishops and deacons.” Are there three groups that are being addressed here: saints, bishops, and deacons? No. Only one group is addressed: the saints (believers) in the church. Within that church, however, there are men called to serve the body in two offices (cf. 1 Timothy 3:1-13). There are bishops (also known as elders or pastors), whose task is to teach and rule [administer], and there are deacons, whose task is to serve the church’s materials needs.

Third, Paul offers an apostolic blessing (v. 2). Notice he speaks of God’s grace, the means of their salvation, and peace, the end (outcome) of their salvation. By God’s grace, through faith in Christ, they have found peace with God (cf. Romans 5:1).

The church at Philippi was a faithful body of believers ordered by Scriptural rule. We too seek to be the same in our church.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

WM 363: KEACH on the DIVINE AUTHORITY of the Holy Scriptures: Part 13 of 17: TESTIMONY of ENEMIES

 

JTR

The Vision (1.2.26): Encouragements and Exhortations at the Head of a New Year

Image: Moon over the dunes. Topsail Island, North Carolina. December 2025.

The New Year often brings with it resolutions for behaviors we intend to practice or goals we hope to achieve.

As we begin a new year, let me share five brief exhortations (along with a Scripture proof) that might serve as resolutions for members and friends of CRBC:

1.    Let us be committed to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18).

2.    Let us be committed to sustaining this local church in its worship and ordinances.

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

3.    Let us be committed to receiving and profiting from the “ordinary means” of grace, including prayer, reading the Word of God (privately in our personal lives and corporately in the church), hearing the preaching and teaching of the Holy Scriptures, submitting to baptism (if not baptized), and regularly taking the Lord’s Supper when it is served.

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).

4.    Let us be committed to meaningful fellowship and sincere expressions of love for the brotherhood of believers.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).

5.    Let us be committed to personal ministry (beginning within our own household), to evangelism, and to missions (spreading the gospel around the world).

“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Personal Reflections: A Dozen Interesting Reads (Listens) in 2025

“Bring… the books” (2 Timothy 4:13). I think this was the first year the number of books I listened to outstripped the number I read. Here are a dozen or so highlights of 2025 (in no particular order):

First: D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching & Preachers (Hodder and Stoughton, 1971).

I re-read this classic on evangelical preaching in 2025 and x-posted many of the aphoristic quotations.

Second: David N. Samuel, Pope or Gospel? The Crisis of Faith in the Protestant Churches (Marshalls, 1982).

This year I discovered the writings of the founding presiding bishop of the Church of England (Continuing). Excellent defense of traditional Protestant Christianity and critique of compromise in the contemporary Church of England (and Protestant liberalism in general). I also read his book The Church in Crisis and have started a couple of others.

Third: Paul Kingsnorth, Against the Machine: On the Unmasking of Humanity (Thesis, 2025).

Compelling critique of dehumanizing tendencies in the digital age, written by a formerly disillusioned British humanist who searched for meaning in Wicca and Buddhism, before turning to Christianity (EOC). This book will make you want to throw away your cell phone (or put it in a box and only take it out sparingly).

Fourth: Brent Nongbri, God’s Library: Archaeology of the Earliest Christian Manuscripts (Yale, 2018).

A bona fide expert in evaluating manuscripts of antiquity surveys the earliest extant writings of Christianity and points out the scholarly challenges (and even fraudulent misrepresentations) of these documents in various areas, including the reliable dating of them. Lots of quotes from this will likely appear in my writing/speaking in 2026.

Fifth: Inger N. I. Kuin, Diogenes: The Rebellious Life and Revolutionary Philosophy of the Original Cynic (Basic Books, 2025).

An unexpected find. Stimulating survey, reconstruction, and reflection on the life and teaching of the Cynic philosopher Diogenes, the man who lived in a jar and told Alexander the Great not to block his sun-bathing, by a UVA classics professor.

Sixth: Joel R. Beeke, Revelation (Reformation Heritage Books, 2016).

I did a one sermon per chapter bird’s eye view Lord’s Day afternoon preaching series through Revelation in the last half of 2025 and found Beeke’s commentary, based on his own expositional preaching through the book, a help.

Seventh: Gary Taubes, The Case Against Sugar (Anchor, 2017).

As I’m getting older and wanting to stay healthy and strong as long as I can, I’ve been reading a bit more on health and aging. This book will make you rethink any use of sugar in your diet.

Eighth: Caleb Morell, A Light on the Hill: The Surprising Story of How a Local Church in the Nation’s Capital Influenced Evangelicalism (Crossway, 2025).

This is a “biography” of Capital Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. I have my own critique of the “Nine Marks” church movement, but I enjoyed learning about the life and history of this congregation.

Ninth: Kingsley Amis, The Alteration (Carroll & Graf, 1976).

What would the British Isles, North America, and the rest of the world be like if the Protestant Reformation had never take place? This sci-fi alternative-history fiction offers one fascinating vision. This led me to another vision of this scenario in Keith Roberts’ collection of intertwined short stories Pavane (1968) and to Philip K. Dick’s alternative-history vision of post WW2 in The Man in the High Castle (1962).

Tenth: Philip H. Eveson, Baptised with Heavenly Power: The Holy Spirit in the Teaching and Experience of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Mentor, 2025).

I got the book having read some excerpts online from the appendix sharing a portion of Lloyd-Jones’ personal journal on his own spiritual struggles. I did not skip to the end, however, when I got the book, and profited from reading it all the way through. Great insights into “the Doctor’s” theology of the Holy Spirit, Spirit baptism, revivals, and preaching.

Eleventh: (The Venerable) Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Latin original c. 731; A. M. Sellar English translation, 1907; listened on Libri Vox).

Classic account of the arrival and spread of Christianity in England from the Romans to the Anglo-Saxon periods.

Twelfth: Howard Markel, The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek (Vintage, 2018).

Listened to this history about the rivalry between John Harvey and W. K. Kellog after visiting Battle Creek, Michigan last August and touring the Seventh Day Baptist Church, the Seventh Day Adventist Tabernacle, the remains of the Battle Creek Sanitorium (now the local federal building), and Oak Hill Cemetery. Spellbinding historical account of everything from Adventist fervor in the nineteenth century, frontier expansion in America, developing views of modern health and medicine, and the genesis of the cutthroat “cereal” industry.

Reads (Listens) from 2024.

-Tolle Lege (et Audi)

Personal Reflections: A Dozen Memorable Events of 2025

Image: Preaching at Westminster Baptist Church, London, November 2025.

“Man is like a thing of nought: his time passeth away like a shadow” (Psalm 144:4, 1662 BCP). As another year passes and a new begins, it’s a good time for reflection. Here are a dozen or so highlights (in general chronological order) from 2025:

First: I became a grandfather, twice over, in 2025. My precious granddaughter was born to my youngest daughter and her husband in January. Then my adorable grandson was born to my oldest daughter and her husband in April. I’ve experienced firsthand now what others told me about: The satisfaction and joy of seeing your children’s children. To top off the year my oldest son was engaged to his fiancé in December. DV, they will be married in 2026.

Second: I had the privilege of teaching a group of believers in Kenya on issues related to the text and translation of Scripture for the Trinitarian Bible Society in a series of sessions over zoom in January and February.

Third: I conducted several funerals. CRBC is generally a young body. We have had very few funerals over the last decade. This year, however, we had four deaths, and I took part in four funeral services: a beloved and faithful charter member at CRBC Carol Bradley; esteemed former missionary and my fellow elder for over a decade at CRBC Jeff Clark; a solid and encouraging layman, Rick Jones; the infant son, Adoniram Cook, of a beloved church family.

Fourth: I organized an Ordination Council in February and oversaw the ordination and installation of Ben Cook on Sunday April 13 as my fellow elder at CRBC.

Fifth: CRBC hosted the Spring Presbyterion (Pastors’ Fraternal) in Louisa on Friday April 11, and I gave one of the talks offering a review of the book The Case for Christian Nationalism.

Sixth: I gave a plenary lecture at the IRBS Faculty Conference on Church Planting on the topic “Setting in order the things that are wanting” (Titus 1:1-5) on Friday May 16 and attended the IRBS graduation ceremony on Saturday May 17 in Mansfield, Texas.

Seventh: I organized and oversaw our CRBC Youth Conference on Ex Nihilo Creation (with guest speaker Andrew McCaskill) at Machen Conference Center in Highland County on June 13-14 and then taught on the OT Wisdom Literature in our CRBC Vacation Bible School to the children of CRBC June 16-19.

Eighth: I enjoyed a week of family vacation at Topsail Island, NC, June 23-28.

Ninth: I served as chairman of the Reformation Bible Society and with the other executive committee members organized our second annual conference on August 2 at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I gave a plenary lecture on “Erasmus and the Ending of Revelation.” I then enjoyed a preaching ministry at South Litchfield Baptist Church with host pastor Jay Chambers in southern Michigan the week following the RBS conference, August 3-6.

Tenth: I served as a messenger to the inaugural General Assembly of the Reformed Baptist Association of Virginia at Grace Baptist Chapel in Hampton on Friday, September 26 and was elected to serve as Moderator of the new association. I also attended the Keach Conference the next day on Saturday, September 27 in Yorktown.

Eleventh: I had a ministry trip to England, November 7-13. I preached alongside Pooyan Mehrshahi and host pastor Jonathan Arnold at a conference on Confessing the Faith & the Nicene Creed at Westminster Baptist Church in London. I also attended some TBS meetings in London, visited friends in the Gloucester area, and the midweek meeting of Providence Baptist Chapel in Cheltenham.

Twelfth: I was able to continue my writing, blogging, and podcasting ministry. I posted Word Magazine podcast episodes 317-362.  I contributed two chapters to the book It is Written and edited the Reformation Bible Society Journal, Vol. 1 on the theme The Reformation Text & the Septuagint, including contributing a chapter on “How Did the Earliest Church Use the Septuagint?” I also contributed articles and book reviews to various journals including “To the Saints which are at Ephesus” to Bible League Quarterly, “The Preservation of Scripture” to the BLQ and the Trinity Review, and “Father, Forgive Them: The Case for the Authenticity of Luke 23:34a” to the Puritan Reformed Journal.

SDG!

Read Personal Reflections from 2024 here.