Word Magazine # 43: Definitions and the Confessional Text

I posted Word Magazine # 43 Definitions and the Confessional Text today to sermonaudio.com.  In this episode I give some feedback related to this video from RB Pastor Robert Truelove and his challenge to James White [modern critical text proponent] to debate Dr. Maurice Robinson [Byzantine text proponent].

I provide some of the background for this discussion relating to RB apologist James White’s tendency to confuse KJV-Onlyism with Reformed confessional critiques of the modern-critical text.  Here is the excerpt from Theodore Letis’ combined review of James White and Gail Riplinger in Letis’ Ecclesiastical Text (1997) which I referenced:

JW and GR are both cut from the same bolt of cloth.  Hence, the old saying holds true:  “it takes one to know one.”  They are, in fact, “kissing cousins.” In terms of religious genus.  The very fact that White felt Riplinger’s book, New Age Versions (which will be addressed below), merited an entire book length reply indicates that he must have felt that her propositions were compelling enough to deserve such treatment [footnote:  He does, of course, treat other authors as well as the movement itself, though he provides no historical analysis or even sociological analysis of the roots of this movement and its advocates.  I believe this is because it is all rather close to his own religious point of reference].  In other words, her superficial treatment of the subject was, nevertheless, disturbing, enough for him to treat it seriously.  This speaks as much about his grasp of the subject—or lack of—as it does about Riplinger’s effort (p. 222).

I also note that in his video Truelove claims that the titles of “traditional text” and “ecclesiastical text” should be reserved for those who hold to the Majority Text/Byzantine Text position. This got me thinking about definitions. I also make reference in this episode to the Confessional Bibliology FB group where this question has also been raised (see the related website here).

In an attempt to clarify matters, I suggested there are three camps or positions regarding what the proper text of the Greek NT (none of which include KJV-Onlyists) should be:

(1)  Modern-critical text.

(2) Majority/Byzantine text.

(3) Textus Receptus.

Though I think Truelove’s claiming “traditional text” and “ecclesiastical text” exclusively for the Majority/Byzantine position is more than a little dubious, I suggested that the Textus Receptus position might be called the Reformed Confessional Text position or simply the Confessional Text position.

JTR

The Vision (12.5.15): Rest for the People of God

Image:  Fall scene in North Garden, Virginia

Notes adapted from last Sunday morning’s sermon at CRBC on Hebrews 4:1-11:

Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

“There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (v. 9).  The word rendered “rest” here is not the same as that which has been previously used throughout the passage [the noun katapausis, as in Hebrews 3:11 and ff., or the verb katapauo as in 4:8].  The noun here is sabbatismos, and it means a Sabbath day or a Sabbath day’s rest.

I think it has a dual meaning here.

For one, I think it affirms that for Christians the fourth commandment has not been abrogated.  God has sovereignly decreed that the Sabbath day for believers be moved from the seventh day, the day he rested from the work of creation, to the first day, the day of Christ’s resurrection.  Yet, the sabbath remains.

Most importantly, however, I think what he is saying here is that for believers Christ himself is our spiritual rest.  He is our Sabbath Day.  He is our Promised Land.

In v. 10 the inspired author describes entering into this kind of rest in Christ as resting from “works righteousness.”  It is understanding justification by grace through faith and not by works lest any man should boast.  He who enters into God’s rest rests from his own works, just as God rested on the seventh day.  When something perfect is complete no more work needs to be done.

There follows then in v. 11 a statement that seems to be in great tension with what has come before.  This is one of the great tensions in the book of Hebrews and it is one of the great tensions of the Christian life.

On one hand, God’s word tells us that salvation is, start to finish, a work of God’s grace.  We do nothing but rest in what God has done for us in Christ.

On the other hand, we have v. 11:  “Let us labour [spoudazo:  do one’s best, spare no effort, work hard] to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example.”

This is the tension:  There is nothing you can do to accomplish salvation.  But those who are saved demonstrate that they are among the elect by virtue of the fact that they spare no effort to live completely and totally for Christ.

There remains a rest for God’s people.  There are at least four types of rest we might enjoy as Christians:

1.  We have an accomplished rest.  This comes to us in salvation by grace as a free gift.  It was planned from before the foundation of the world and accomplished at Calvary. 

2.  We have a daily rest (and sometimes even a moment by moment rest) as we commune (have fellowship) with Christ.

3.  We have a weekly rest each Lord’s Day, as we engage in the private and public exercises of the worship of God.

4.  We have an eternal rest which we will begin to enjoy at the end of this life’s earthly pilgrimage but which will only be fully realized at the final resurrection.

There remains a rest for the people of God.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

The Vision (11.27.15): Thomas Watson: Christians as Soldiers, Pilgrims, and Beggars

Image:  Fall scene in North Garden, Virginia.

In 1654 the Puritan pastor Thomas Watson published a devotional work titled The Art of Divine Contentment, an extended meditation on Philippians 4:11:  “I have learned in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.”

In one section of this work, Watson urges his readers to ponder three postures or conditions they hold while in the world:

We are in a military condition; we are soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3).  Now, a soldier is content with anything.  Though he does not have his stately house, his rich furniture, his soft bed, or his full table, yet he does not complain.  He can lie in straw as well as in down.  He does not mind his lodging, but his thoughts run upon dividing the spoil and the garland of honor that shall be upon his head…..

We are in a sojourning condition; we are pilgrims and travelers.  A man who is in a strange country is content with any diet or custom; he is glad for anything.  Though he does not have that respect or attention that he looks for at home, and though he is not capable of the privileges and immunities of that place, yet he is content.  He knows that when he comes into his own country he has lands to inherit and shall live there having honor and respect…..

We are in a mendicant position; we are beggars.  We beg at heaven’s gate.  “Give us this day our daily bread.”  We live upon God’s alms; therefore we must be content with anything.  A beggar must not pick or choose; he is content with the refuse.  Oh, why do you murmur, you who are a beggar and are fed out of the alms-basket of God’s providence! [Soli Deo Gloria edition, 2001:  pp. 119-120].

As we enjoy the holiday season, may the Lord give us a spirit of contentedness whatever our external circumstances, as we consider that in this life we are soldiers, pilgrims, and beggars.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Hebrews and the Pauline Letter Collections

Image:  The subscription of Hebrews in Codex Alexandrinus:  To the Hebrews, written from Rome [pros hebraious egraphe apo romes] 

I am preaching through Hebrews on Sunday mornings at CRBC, and I am continuing to contemplate the question of its connection to Paul and the Pauline corpus.  There is an intersection here with my interests in the questions of text, canon, and preservation.

In this regard I have recently been helped by reading David Trobisch’s Paul’s Letter Collection (Augsburg Fortress, 1994; Quiet Waters, 2001) and by starting to work my way through Harry Y. Gamble’s Books and Readers in the Early Church (Yale University Press, 1995).  Both works discuss how Paul’s letters were collected as a distinct group by Christians at a very early stage. I am not in agreement with the final conclusions of either of these works on Paul’s letters, but I am thankful for the information and insights both books provide.

Trobisch  notes how early Christians collected and circulated the NT books in four major groups or collections:  the four Gospels, Acts and the Catholic Epistles, Paul’s Epistles, and Revelation.  Of 779 early Greek manuscripts he surveyed only 59 had a complete NT [no doubt more manuscripts are available today than when Trobisch wrote this work, but new finds would likely only follow and confirm this pattern].  271 had Paul’s letters added to Acts and the general epistles.  213 had only Paul’s letters.  Most of the earliest copies of Paul’s letters were not found in complete NT manuscripts but in collections like these.  Here is a modification of a table Trobisch provides on p. 12:

TABLE ONE:  PAUL’S LETTERS IN GREEK MANUSCRIPTS

Contents	Number of Greek Manuscripts
ap	271
p	213
eap	149
apr	76
eapr	59
pr	6
ep	5
Total:	779

Key for TABLE ONE:

e = Gospels

a = Acts + general epistles

p = Paul’s letters

r = Revelation

Here also is another table adapted from Trobish (see p. 20) and Gamble (see pp. 59-60, especially for Marcion, column 5) on the order of Paul’s letters in some of the earliest manuscripts (or reconstructed manuscripts in the case of Marcion, column 5) with some notes following on the columns:

TABLE TWO:  THE ORDER OF PAUL’S LETTERS IN GREEK MANUSCRIPTS

(1) Majority Early Order for Paul’s letters in NT [cf. Sinaiticus, A, B, C]	(2) G,F	(3) D	(4) P46	(5) Marcion	(6) Majority Later Order for Paul’s letters in NT
Romans	Romans	Romans	Romans (from 5:17)	Galatians	Romans
1 Corinthians	1 Corinthians	1 Corinthians	Hebrews	1 Corinthians	1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians	2 Corinthians	2 Corinthians	1 Corinthians	2 Corinthians	2 Corinthians
Galatians	Galatians	Galatians	2 Corinthians	Romans	Galatians
Ephesians	Ephesians	Ephesians	Ephesians	1 Thessalonians	Ephesians
Philippians	Philippians	Colossians	Galatians	2 Thessalonians	Philippians
Colossians	Colossians	Philippians	Philippians	Laodiceans (Ephesians?)	Colossians
1 Thessalonians	1 Thessalonians	1 Thessalonians	Colossians	Colossians	1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians	2 Thessalonians	2 Thessalonians	1 Thessalonians (to 5:28)	Philippians	2 Thessalonians
Hebrews				Philemon
1 Timothy	1 Timothy	1 Timothy			1 Timothy
2 Timothy	2 Timothy	2 Timothy			2 Timothy
Titus	Titus	Titus			Titus
Philemon	Philemon	Philemon			Philemon
		[Catalogus Claromantanus] Hebrews			Hebrews

Notes on columns in TABLE TWO:

(1)  In the “Majority Early Order” of manuscripts which originally contained the entire NT, including the oldest uncial manuscripts of the NT (Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, Vaticanus, Ephraemi Rescriptus), Hebrews is included among the Pauline letters and placed after 1-2 Thessalonians and before the “personal” letters (1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon).  This is also the order followed in the Robinson/Pierpont Byzantine Greek NT (2005).

(2)  Codices Boernarianus (G) and Augiensis (F) are collections of Paul’s letters only.  They are noteworthy for the fact that that they do not include Hebrews.

(3)  Codex Claromontanus (D) contains Paul’s letters only.  It is noteworthy for the fact that Colossians comes before Philippians.  It apparently originally ended at Philemon and was followed by three blank pages.  Later, a Latin list of the canonical books was copied there (called the Catalogus Claromontanus).   After this Hebrews appears.  See Trobisch's discussion, p. 13.

(4)  Papyrus 46 is the oldest known collection of Paul’s letters (dated to c. A. D. 200).  The beginning and ending are missing (begins at Romans 5:17 and ends at 1 Thessalonians 5:28).  Hebrews appears after Romans and before 1-2 Corinthians.  It also has Ephesians before Galatians.

(5)  Gamble reconstructs Marcion’s ten letter Pauline corpus based on descriptions in Tertullian (adv. Marc., 5) and Epiphanius (Pan.9.4, 11.8, 12) and argues that this order reflects an ancient Pauline corpus with letters to seven churches ordered by length (Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians-Philemon) (see pp. 59-60, 272, n. 73).  Hebrews and the Pastoral Epistles are not included in Marcion.  Gamble’s “seven church hypothesis” is pure speculation, given the evidence.  It is not supported by any existing manuscript of Paul’s letters, and it fails to consider Hebrews as a Pauline epistle, something Marcion apparently rejected, but which seemed to be assumed by most early collectors of Paul’s writings.

(6) What Trobisch calls “the Authorized Byzantine Version” (pp. 4-5) reflected in the Greek manuscripts copied from the eleventh century forward (and comprising 85 percent of all extant Greek manuscripts) uses what became the standard canonical order for Paul’s letters in the NT.  This was the order followed by the Textus Receptus and reflected in the vernacular translations made from it in the Reformation and post-Reformation period.

Conclusions:

Paul’s letters began to circulate as a distinct collection at a very early stage in early Christianity (cf. especially 2 Peter 3:15-16 which indicates Paul’s letters were both circulating and acknowledged as “Scripture [graphe]” even before the completion of the NT canon).

The book of Hebrews was included at a very early stage in the collection of Paul’s letters.  This inclusion was controversial and not supported by all.  The strength of this early tradition, however, gives credence to the proposal of Pauline authorship of Hebrews that cannot be overlooked.

JTR

The Vision (11.20.15): A New Master

Image:  Leaf raking at CRBC last Saturday (11.14.15)

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God (Romans 1:1).

 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men (1 Corinthians 7:23).

One of the frequent titles that the inspired NT authors use to describe themselves is “servant” (so Paul in Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Titus 1:10; James in James 1:1; Peter in 1 Peter 2:1; and Jude in Jude 1:1).  The Greek word rendered “servant” in these passages is doulos.  It is perhaps better rendered as “slave.”  A Christian is a slave of Christ.  Related to this term designating believers is the title of Lord (kurios) or “master” to refer to Christ.

Slavery in the ancient world was a different institution than that which existed in the American South.  In the ancient world, slaves could not only serve in menial tasks but also in positions of authority as managers, physicians, and teachers.  Many came into slavery as the result of war.  A person could also sell himself into slavery to settle debts.   Some could actually improve their circumstances in life by becoming slaves, provided they had a master who would be kind and generous.  In the right circumstances, some slaves could also save enough money to purchase their freedom.

In a book on the life and teaching of the apostle Paul, Anthony C. Thiselton provides this helpful discussion:

What did being a slave imply in the world of Paul’s day?  At one extreme, a slave was regarded as a ‘thing’ (Latin, res), or as a property.  Many slave owners or ‘lords’ were harsh and treated their slaves ruthlessly as their personal property, to do with as they wished.  At the other extreme, however, many Stoics, ‘God-fearers,’ and other ‘good’ pagans could be humane, and employ literate or numerate slaves to manage their estates or their businesses while they indulged in city-politics, personal pleasures, or other interests.  If a slave had a ‘good’ master, slavery could be attractive.  It was possible to rise high, and to earn enough pocket money to begin life again as an honoured freedman or freedwoman, perhaps in one’s thirties.  For this reason some who fell on hard times sold themselves into slavery, alongside prisoners captured in war, or people who had committed crimes.  Everything depended on who the lord or master would be.  If they were fortunate, the master’s name and reputation would guarantee them a better status or  higher security against thieves and kidnappers than ever they could have had as poor freemen, left to rely on their own resources.

Paul sees Christ as the most generous, loving, and kind of all masters or lords at whose disposal it was possible to be.  With Christ as his Lord, a Christian no longer worried about himself.  Even if he were to die, his wife and children would remain the responsibility of his Lord….  Coming to faith means being freed from unwanted bondage to evil powers beyond one’s control, to enter into ‘belonging’ to Jesus Christ…. (The Living Paul, pp. 38-39).

May we understand that we now belong to Christ.  He is our good and faithful master who is able to provide for us beyond all that we can ask or imagine.

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle

Notes on the Pauline Subscriptions

Image:  The ending of 2 Corinthians in Erasmus' NT (1516) with subscription in Greek and Latin.

I’ve been looking recently at the subscriptions to the Pauline epistles which are appended at the close of each letter (including Hebrews).  These subscriptions provide various bits of information like where the letters were written, the recipients, and the messengers who carried them.  Here is a listing of the subscriptions as they appear in the KJV, with some references to internal evidence in the text:

Pauline letter	Traditional subscriptions (as in KJV)	Internal evidence
Romans	Written to the Romans from Corinthus, and sent by Phebe servant of the church at Cenchrea.	Romans 16:1-2
1 Corinthians	The first epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi by Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus and Timotheus.	1 Corinthians 1:16; 16:8 (from Ephesus?), 15, 17
2 Corinthians	The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi. a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.	2 Corinthians 1:16; 2:13; 7:5-7, 13-14; 8:1, 6, 16, 18, 23; 9:2, 4; 11:9; 12:18
Galatians	Unto the Galatians written from Rome.
Ephesians	To the Ephesians written from Rome, by Tychicus.	Ephesians 6:21
Philippians	To the Philippians written from Rome, by Epaphroditus	Philippians 1:7, 13-14, 16; 2:25; 4:18, 22
Colossians	Written from Rome to the Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.	Colossians 4:3, 7, 18; cf. Philemon
1 Thessalonians	The first epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens.	Cf. Acts 17
2 Thessalonians	The second epistle to the Thessalonians was written from Athens	Cf. Acts 17
1 Timothy	The first to Timothy was written from Laodicea, which is the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana.	Colossians 2:1; 4:13, 15, 16; Revelation 1:11
2 Timothy	The second epistle unto Timotheus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians, was written from Rome, when Paul was brought before Nero the second time	2 Timothy 4:6-8, 9-18
Titus	It was written to Titus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Cretians, from Nicopolis of Macedonia.	Titus 1:5, 12; 3:12
Philemon	Written from Rome to Philemon, by Onesimus a servant.	Philemon 1:10-12, 23
Hebrews	Written to the Hebrews from Italy, by Timothy.	Hebrews 10:34; 13:23-24

Here are some notes from my study:

1.  These subscriptions are included for each of the Pauline epistles (Hebrews included), but no such appendices accompany the General Epistles (James, 1-2 Peter, 1-2-3 John, Jude).  According to the textual apparatus of the modern critical text, the General Epistles were often preceded with brief inscriptions.  The inclusion of a subscription for Hebrews (and its lack of an inscription) in the traditional text indicates that it was considered part of the Pauline corpus.

2.  These subscriptions were included in Erasmus’ Textus Receptus (1516) and then appeared in various Reformation translations, including the Geneva Bible (1560, 1599) and the King James Version (1611).

3.  Subscriptions appeared in ancient Greek manuscripts in various and often abbreviated forms.  Example:  The subscription “To the Galatians [pros Galatas]” appears after Galatians 6:18 in the codices Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and the original hand of Vaticanus, among others.  The subscription as in the traditional text “To the Galatians, written from Rome [pros Galatas egraphe apo Romes]” appears in the first corrector of Vaticanus, 0278, 1739, 1881, and the Majority of extant manuscripts.  The subscriptions appearing in Erasmus’ TR reflect the Majority Text tradition.

4.  The subscriptions to the Pauline epistles have generally come to be omitted from modern editions of the Greek New Testament.  The textual evidence for the subscriptions is omitted from the apparatus in the 28^th edition of the N-A Greek NT (though it appears in the 27^th edition).  The subscriptions are, however, discussed in Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on The Greek New Testament (1971, 1994).  The subscriptions are not included in the Hodges/Farstad The Greek NT According to the Majority Text, Second Ed. (1985) nor in the Robinson/Pierpont The New Testament in the Original Greek:  Byzantine Textform (2005).  They are also not included in the Trinitarian Bible Society’s print edition of the TR (based on Scrivener’s Greek NT, 1894, 1902).

 

5.  The subscriptions to the Pauline epistles are omitted in many modern reprintings of the King James Version, including the texts of the The King James Study Bible (Thomas Nelson, 1988), the Holman KJV Study Bible (2012), and The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible (2014). See Malcolm Watt’s article “Subscriptions to the Epistles,”  Quarterly Record, No. 587 (April-June 2009):  pp. 13-14.  Watts concludes that the subscriptions are not part of the inspired text and the information they contain is not reliable.

6.  Questions:  Can an argument be made for the propriety of the inclusion of the subscriptions as part of the traditional text of the NT?  Can the historical information in the subscriptions be defended?  What impact do the subscriptions [whether one accepts them as an inspired part of the traditional text or merely as an ancient testimony to church tradition] have on our understanding of the various interpretive issues relating to the NT (e.g., regarding the authorship of Hebrews)?

JTR