R. L. Dabney on those who delight in criticizing and amending "the received English version"

 

From X post:

R. L. Dabney warns against those who delight in criticizing and amending “the received English version” “this precious work of our ancestors”:

"The most reprehensible pedantry of all is that which delights in criticizing and amending the received English version. Instead of seeking for opportunities to point out errors in this precious work of our ancestors, its credit should be carefully sustained before the people, whenever this can be done without an actual sacrifice of our integrity and of the truth of the text. The general excellence of the translation merits this treatment. Such were the learning and labour of its authors, that he who is most deeply acquainted with sacred criticism will be found most modest in assailing their accuracy in any point. But it is far more important to remark, that this version is practically the Bible of the common people—the only one to which they can have familiar access. If their confidence in its fidelity is overthrown, they are virtually robbed of the written word of God…. Thus let the confidence of your hearers in their English Bibles be preserved and fortified."

-Evangelical Eloquence, 162-163.

WM 327: Scrivener Series.Part 1 of 3: Life of F. H. A. Scrivener (1813-1891)

 

JTR

Old English Riddle: Holy Book

 From Burton Raffel, Poems from the Old English (University of Nebraska Press, 1964), a riddle on a Biblical or sacred writing manuscript:

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

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

WM 299: Article Review: Bruce A. Stahl, The Case for the Majority Text & the OPC

 

You can also find here my article, Five Questions About The Majority Text.

JTR

Book Review: Lanier & Ross, The Septuagint: What It Is and What It Matters

 

Read my written review on academia.edu.

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

WM 279: Does the KJV wrongly translate Acts 5:30? Follow up to White/Ross Debate

 

JTR

Letis book reprint: Today's Christian & The Church's Bible: A Time to Return to the Authorized Version

 

The Greater Christian Heritage announced today the upcoming release of this booklet by Theodore P. Letis. It will be available in July 2023. You can find pre-order info here.

This work originally appeared in 1978 under the title A New Hearing for the Authorized Version inn 1978.

I was also happy to offer an endorsement blurb for the book:

The influence of Theodore Letis’ winsome and scholarly defense of the traditional Greek text of the New Testament continues to be felt decades now after his untimely death. In this essay, Letis offers a corresponding defense of the Authorized Version, the classic Protestant translation of the Bible in English based upon the Received Text. Its republication in this attractive new edition will serve as a welcomed resource for those who continue to seek out the “old paths.”

-Jeffrey T. Riddle, Pastor Christ Reformed Baptist Church, Louisa, Virginia

JTR

Launch Video for TBS French NT based on the Traditional Text

 

JTR

The Vision (2.24.23): The Ordinary Means of Grace

 

Image: With Pastor Paul Wang, one of the lead translators for the new Trinitarian Bible Society Chinese NT at a Thanksgiving Service in Herndon, Virginia (2.23.23).

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday afternoon’s sermon, “Revivals or the Ordinary Means of Grace?” Look here for the full manuscript for the message.

The Reformed (Biblical) theological tradition, teaches that God has provided for his people “ordinary means” of grace.

This is taught in our Confession in 14:1. The ordinary means the Lord has provided for the saving of sinners and then increasing and strengthening them in the faith, as noted in Confession 4:1 are:

First: The ministry of the Word. That means the reading of the Word, privately and publicly, and it especially means the preaching and teaching of the Word (see Romans 10:14, 17; 1 Corinthians 1:21-24; 2 Timothy 4:2).

Second: Alongside the ministry of the Word we also have the ordinances or sacraments of baptism (the public confession of one’s faith before men, and the symbolic identification with his life, death, and resurrection by immersing the whole body in water—in obedience to his command) and the Lord’s Supper (taking bread and cup in that spiritual meal instituted by Christ and commanded for perpetual obedience till he comes again) (see Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

Third: To these the confession adds prayer. Paul urged believers to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). In Acts we have description of the church often meeting to pray, as when the apostle Peter was imprisoned and they gathered in the house of Mary the mother of John (Acts 12).

Fourth: And it mentions “other means appointed by God.” This might include fasting, meditation on the Word, the assemblies of the saints, but these must have scriptural warrant (see, e.g., Matthew 6:16-18; Acts 2:42).

May the Lord continue to use these means to draw men to himself and to increase and strengthen them in “the most holy faith” (Jude 20-21).

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

My Dad's Preaching Outline for Habakkuk 3

From my twitter @Riddle1689:

My Dad was a Minister. He passed away over 20 years ago with cancer, still able to preach within a couple weeks of his death. I have a small Bible of his I often use for pastoral visits. He rarely wrote in his Bibles, but Habakkuk has some underlinings and notes.

I was preaching last Sunday afternoon in Habakkuk 3 (great text for the first Lord's Day of the New Year) and thought Dad left a pretty good (alliterative) outline for it in his Bible:

Habakkuk I. Prays; II. Ponders;

III. Praises.

JTR

Szent Biblia: Varadon Facsimile

From my twitter @Riddle1689:

Brethren in Budapest gave me this beautiful and massive facsimile of the 1661 revision of the Karoli Gaspar Bible published in the Protestant stronghold of Varad in Transylvania. Blessed to have this treasure. Hope to write an article on the history of the Bible in Hungary.

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

Book Review: ESV Study Bible (2008)

 

You can read the written review on academia.edu here.

JTR

WM 196: My Visit to the Museum of the Bible

 

JTR

WM 195: Interview: "How the Holy Bible Came To Be."

 

 Read "How the Holy Bible Came To Be" here.

JTR

New TBS Booklet: How the Holy Bible Came To Be

 

My friend Christian McShaffrey, Pastor of Five Solas (OPC) in Reedsburg, WI has written a new article/booklet that has been produced by the Trinitarian Bible Society, titled How the Holy Bible Came To Be. You can read a pdf of it here for free.

This will be an excellent resource for anyone to be introduced to "Believing Bibliology", especially children and youth.

I hope to have Christian soon as a guest on the WM podcast to discuss this resource.

JTR

Book Review: Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont, The New Testament in the Original Greek, Byzantine Textform 2005

 

I have posted audio versions (above) of my review of Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont, The New Testament in the Original Greek, Byzantine Textform 2005, from Evangelical Forum Newsletter, Vol. 5., No. 2 (2008): 38-39.

I have also posted the written review to my academia.edu page (read it here).

Note: Evangelical Forum Newsletter was a periodical of the Evangelical Forum, which I served as Editor from 2003-2009. I am hoping to re-post some of my book reviews that appeared in the EFN in coming months. 

Another Note: Since this review appeared, there have been two new editions of Robinson and Pierpont's The New Testament in the Original Greek. Byzantine Textform: The 2005/2010 Edition and the 2018 Edition.

JTR