Book Note: Archaic or Accurate? The translation of scripture and how we address God in praise and prayer--Thou or You?

From X post:

In confessional Reformed circles we often bemoan the decline of reverence and sobriety in corporate worship. In response we rightly appeal to and advocate for a return to the Protestant teaching and practice of the Regulative Principle of worship.

In addition, among English speakers, one wonders what has been the impact of declining use of reverential pronouns in addressing God? How was this decline been another result of the downgrade of many modern translations? This shift has, in fact, only been relatively recent.

Is it possible that we English speakers might make reverential pronouns “great again” in our prayers and sung praise?

I’ve been reading this little book Archaic or Accurate? The translation of the scriptures, and how we address God in praise and prayer—Thou or You? and have found it helpful. It is a collection of short articles on this theme from the Bible League Quarterly, edited by John Thackway. I commend it.

Here are a few samples from "Archaic or Accurate?": the opening paragraph to the book’s Foreword and the opening paragraph plus from one of its best short articles on “The Use of Thee and Thou in Prayer.”

Subscription to the Bible League Quarterly is a bargain. You can get the online version for just 5 pounds (less that 7 dollars) per year. Great devotional resource for all Christians and helpful sermon resource for pastors.

https://bibleleaguetrust.org/the-quarterly/

JTR

BLQ Article; "The Preservation of Scripture: The Indestructible Word of God (Jeremiah 36)"

I was blessed to contribute an article for the 500th issue of the Bible League Quarterly (January-March, 2025).

This article is featured on the BLQ website and can be read online here:

"The Preservation of Scripture: The Indestructible Word of God (Jeremiah 36)"

JTR

Article: "Does the King James Version Wrongly Translate Acts 5:30?"

 

 

Jeffrey T. Riddle, "Does the King James Version Wrongly Translate Acts 5:30?" Bible League Quarterly, No. 499 (October-December, 2024): 22-28 [PDF Draft].

You can read it here on my academia.edu page.

JTR

Notes:

Draft PDF: Some spacing and tab adjustments needed. Corrections: P. 23 change "kremantes" to "kremasantes" in two places P. 25 add bold to RSV and NIV citations P. 26 remove duplicate of word "that" P. 27 change "constitutes" to "constitute" P. 28 change "causes" to "cause"

Book Review: Valiant for the Truth, The Collected Writings of Bishop D. A. Thompson

I've posted to my academia.edu page my written review of Valiant for the Truth: The Collected Writings of Bishop D. A. Thompson, former editor of the BLQ, which just came out in Puritan Reformed Journal (July 2024): 182-185. You can read it here.

A couple months ago I also did this video version of the review:

JTR

Book Review: John P. Thackway, Ed., Valiant for the Truth: The collected writings of Bishop D. A. Thompson

 

JTR

Article: "Five Questions About the Majority Text Posed to its Contemporary Evangelical and Reformed Advocates"

 

I have posted to academia.edu my article, "Five Questions About the Majority Text Posed to its Contemporary Evangelical and Reformed Advocates," which appeared in Bible League Quarterly, No. 494 (July-September 2023): 19-23.

You can read the article here.

JTR

Article: "In Defence of the Traditional Text of Philippians 4:13"

I just posted a pdf of my article "In Defence of the Traditional Text of Philippians 4:13" to my academia.ed page. You can read it here.

The article appeared in the Bible League Quarterly, Issue No. 489 (July-September, 2022): 23-29.

JTR

BLQ Article: "In Defense of the Traditional Text of Philippians 4:13"

Note: My article "In Defense of the Traditional Text of Philippians 4:13" is in the July-September 2022 issue of the Bible League Quarterly and is also posted to the Bible League Trust website. Here's the beginning to the article below and a link to the whole at the end:

If I knew of the textual variant at Philippians 4:13, I had apparently forgotten about it. My memory was jogged, however, by some students in an online New Testament course I was teaching. One of the course’s early discussion board assignments asked students to choose a New Testament passage and compare it in various translations to discover any significant differences between the versions. Two students wrote on Philippians 4:13, pointing out a slight but significant variation found in some translations of this verse. Their discovery led me to write this article.

What is the issue with the text of Philippians 4:13?

Philippians 4:13 is a classic Christian text, one that is often memorized by believers as children or youth who grow up in Christian homes and in faithful churches. I remember a time when my daughter was of elementary school age and was facing a particular difficulty in her schooling. Our family was driving in the car when my wife and I heard her in the back seat repeating over and again, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. I can do all things through Christ….”  We were sorry that she was facing this momentary difficulty but very pleased to hear that she was recalling this verse from memory and using it as a resource for comfort and encouragement. This verse is also one that I cite or paraphrase nearly every Sunday in my church at the conclusion of our afternoon service. I typically say in prayer, something like, “Lord, if we face any unexpected trials this week, help us to remember what the apostle Paul taught us, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” I have also very often used this verse in pastoral care, personally sharing or texting it to friends and fellow church members going through various hardships.

What, then, is the issue that my students found in this verse? One can easily discover the variant by comparing the classic English translation, the King James Version (KJV), based on the traditional Greek text, with a modern translation, like the popular English Standard Version (ESV), based on the modern critical text. Here is the verse in both translations (emphasis added): 

Philippians 4:13 KJV: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Philippians 4:13 ESV: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

You can find the entire article here.

JTR

Resource Recommendation: Bible League Quarterly

Image: Cover for current issue of the BLQ.

Here's a quick follow up to my post on my recent Authorized book review in the Bible League Quarterly (BLQ) and a recommendation for this publication.

Some might not know the BLQ. It is a publication of The Bible League Trust, a ministry in the UK, which, according to its website, "was instituted on May 3rd 1892, to promote the reverent study of the Holy Scriptures and to resist the varied attacks upon their inspiration, infallibility and sole sufficiency as the Word of God." Pastor Pooyan Mehrshahi is currently on the council that directs the ministry.

The BLQ appears in a quarterly print version. It is ably edited by Pastor John Thackway and consistently presents encouraging devotional articles, book reviews, and notices. A number of articles are available to view and explore online at the BLQ web page.

Those of us in the US (and in other places in the world) who have become part of the "Confessional Bibliology" movement will find the BLQ to be a hidden gem. If you are a pastor or teacher, it will also provide a great resource for information, anecdotes, and illustrations.

You can get an annual subscription to the print edition for just 8 pounds in the UK (c. $13 to mail to USA), or it is just 5 pounds to get an annual online subscription which not only allows you to read the current edition but also to access the complete archive of past editions. Scroll down on the right side of the BLQ webpage for subscription info.

JTR

Book Review posted: Mark Ward, Authorized: The Use & Misuse of the King James Bible

My book review of Mark Ward's Authorized: The Use & Misuse of the King James Bible appeared in the Bible League Quarterly, No. 479 (October-December, 2019): 28-31.

You can read a pdf of the review here on my academia.edu page.

You can listen to an audio version of the review here on sermonaudio.com:

Or a video version on the Word Magazine channel on youtube.com, where I have now set up a "Book Reviews" playlist to which I hope to begin adding past and future book reviews:

JTR

Bible League Quarterly: "This flower is too pretty to be planted in such dirt!"

Someone recently gave me an anonymous gift subscription to Bible League Quarterly, the magazine of the Bible League Trust, and I got the first two issues of 2016 in the mail from the UK this week.  I had subscribed a few years ago but had let it lapse.  The BLQ is a gem, and I am thankful to my benefactor for the opportunity to read it again.

The opening article in the January-March 2016 issue from editor John Thackway is a reflection on 1 Samuel 27:1 titled “David’s Fainting Fit.”  The title reminded me of the recent post here from Bunyan.  Thackway makes skilful application of David’s spiritual state to that of his readers:

Gospel ministers can suffer this “fainting fit,” and sink into deep dejection.  Some can hardly continue, and some even leave the pastorate.  Many Christians have sunk terribly low or turned aside from the right way.  It may be, dear reader, that you find yourself on the brink of this.  Or maybe you have already come to where David was and are now ensnared in the consequences.

David’s “fainting fit” is on record here for our admonition and comfort.  Let us follow the account of what happened and seek to apply it to ourselves (p. 324).

I was also struck by this vivid illustration on how the Lord sovereignly uses our circumstances, even troubled ones, to grow us in godliness:

The story is told of a little girl walking in a garden who noticed a particularly beautiful flower.  She admired its fragrance.  “It is so pretty!” she exclaimed.  Then her eyes followed the stem down to the soil in which it grew.  “This flower is too pretty to be planted in such dirt!” she cried.  So she pulled it up by its roots and ran to the tap to wash away the soil.  It wasn’t long until the flower wilted and died.  When the gardener saw what the little girl had done, he exclaimed, “You have destroyed my finest plant!”  “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I didn’t like it in that dirt.”  The gardener replied, “I chose that spot and mixed the soil because I knew that only there could it grow to be a beautiful flower.”  And so it is in our God-appointed circumstances that, by God’s grace, we produce the beauty of Christian character and the fragrance of Christ (pp. 322-323).

JTR