Text: "And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord..." (Zeph. 1:17)

"My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God" (Hos. 4:12)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only stabilizing influence in the world. While "there is not a JUST man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Eccles, 7:20), yet even if a man was able to live the rest of his life, and never again to sin, he has already sinned. What can wash away his past sins? How can a man’s past be cleared and cleansed, and freed from guilt and shame? Among the nearly 800 religions in the world, only Christianity addresses the problem of sin, and provides a solution. This is the reason why no other religion can satisfy the soul of man.

Jesus, the Christ, said, "I am the light of the "world" (Jn 8:12). The gospel of Jesus Christ radiates with the light of Truth,

Knowledge and Understanding. Therefore, people who will not come to the light of the gospel "lest their deeds should be reproved" (Jn 3:20), either suppress their darkness by putting out of their minds their sinfulness before God, or they resort to good works which often take the form of an altar, a priesthood, and attendant rituals. But these can never bring peace to the soul. Only a right standing before God can do that. This doctrine that teaches how a man is justified with God is responsible for God’s blessing men and nations. God has blessed every nation that has received the gospel, while every nation that has rejected the gospel has continued to be oppressed by Ignorance, Crime, Tyranny, and Poverty.

After centuries of ecclesiastical tyranny, Europe became the site of a great, God-sent revival. It became known in history as "The Reformation," and its affects upon mankind, still felt today, resulted when men turned to the Bible as the Word of God.

One of the blessings of this revival was in the area of Education. As a result, in Scotland, John Knox became known as the "Father of Education," Martin Luther was recognized as the "Father of Education" in Germany; and John Calvin was known as the "Father of Education" in France.

It was the desire of the Reformers to give people the Bible. To do this, the Scriptures had to be translated into the language of the people. This required meticulous care, and great knowledge of languages. The result was a reformation in Languages in the states of Europe. Luther’s translation of the Bible into the German language earned for him the title of "Father of the Modern German Language." In England, William Tyndale translated the Word of God into the English language. It was Tyndale who coined such words as "mercyseat", and "propitiation." He became known as the "Father or Modern English."

In those countries where the gospel was welcomed, Government was reformed. Men learned from the Bible that civil rulers are entrusted with their office, and that God will hold them accountable to the people. As stewards, they are the "ministers of God...for good" (Rom 13:4), and that they have the duty to behave in a proper manner because "rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil" (vs. 3). Representative government resulted when men turned to the Bible. When men cast off ecclesiastical tyranny, they cast off civil tyranny as well.

It was the gospel of Jesus Christ that turned the countries of Europe from the landed economy of feudalism to capitalism. When men turned to the Bible, they learned godly principles. This resulted in a reformation of Economics as men learned the Parable of the Talents, and read the gospel where our Lord declared, "The laborer is worthy of his hire" (Lk. 10:7)

In those countries where the gospel of Jesus Christ was welcomed, Society was reformed. The work ethic became the backbone of industry.

American workers are still the envy of the world. Honesty forged a bond between men. It still can be found here and there. The Bible taught men Purity and Virtue. As there was less crime, there were fewer Laws, and therefore, less Government. The Apostle Paul wrote, " Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and the sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that in contrary to sound doctrine..." (I Tim. 1:9-10).

Since there was less Sin, there was less Disease. Society enjoyed Peace and Joy; and in families, God turned the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Civil liberty with its array of personal freedom was enjoyed by nations, --but only to the degree that they acknowledged Religious Liberty.

Of old, God warned Israel saying, "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments that thou mayest live and multiply; and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish.... I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live..." (Deut 30:15-19).

What happened to Israel, and then to Judah, has happened to every nation that has turned from the gospel of God. What the Lord said to Israel and then to Judah is said to all nations; "And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD..." (Zeph. 1:17). He said of Judah, "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err" (Hos. 4:12).

Consider what has happened in America since she has turned her back upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. Education is no longer about scholarship. Teachers have become "Change Agents" to teach a new morality contrary to "the laws of Nature, and of Nature’s God." The "dumbing down" of education is not nearly as serious as the intentional damning of our children.

In government, there has been a rejection of law and order.

Freedoms once held sacred are now being suppressed. Instead of peace and tranquility, society is filled with Crime -- the worst kind: that which has no regard for human life. Nationalism has been rejected for Globalism and "’The New World Order." The "North American Free Trade Agreement" (NAFTA) will in effect, scuttle national boundaries.

In American society Honesty, Purity and Virtue have been trashed, along with the Work Ethic. The increase of Crime has necessitated a preponderance of Laws. This has required mere Government to enforce them. The rise of Sin in epidemic proportions has generated a rise in Disease of epidemic proportion --AIDS, Tuberculosis, etc. The blessings of Life brought by God in tunes of Obedience become Curses that bring Death when people reject the gospel.

The rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ has resulted in a rejection of Capitalism for Socialism. Socialism is the economics of humanism. God said, "All they that hate me love death" (Prov. 8:36). Socialism is based upon a Death Mentality. It was not until after the advent of Social Security that Aborticide (i.e. The deliberate murder of children yet in the womb) became a way of life in America. Euthanasia has now become a household word. America is now flirting with Socialized Medicine, even though socialized medicine has not worked for good in any other country. Now America Taxes couples who marry according to God’s holy estate of matrimony, but gives tax breaks to couples who "shack up. "

God has warned that people who reject Him "shall walk like blind men," and that "the spirit of whoredoms" will cause men to err. Has God already begun judging America when --

* Natural Resources are no longer looked upon as the blessings of God, but their harvesting is considered to be a curse to the environment? ...

* When society reacts against Hunting? With the swelling of the deer population in New Jersey, it has been proposed that instead of opening a season for hunting that men might partake of the blessings of God, the deer should first be captured, and then given a vasectomy...

* When Americans rarely plant natural seeds, but plant that cannot reproduce --hybrid fruits, hybrid vegetables, even hybrid fish? Such species are perversions of God’s created order...

* When Genetic Engineering now corrupts the food chain? In an attempt to cut down on fat in pork, the French have genetically altered hogs with a human gene. Beef has long been corrupted by growth hormones given to dairy and to beef cattle, thus defiling both milk and meat production. Milk is now possibly corrupted by introducing a hormone to enhance milk production. Tomatoes have been genetically altered to make them more resistant to drought and to frost.

While the genetically altered hogs are blind, the genetically altered tomatoes, the work of the Campbell Soup Company, lack taste. Fearing possible ill affects from them, CBS News announced that 1000 chefs have refused to use them.

The rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ has resulted in a return to paganism and its attendant barbarities. A boutique on West Hollywood’s Melrose Avenue sells human fingers on a leather cord for $28. Adult human skulls and tiny fetal ones are also for sale. One can buy a complete human hand or a complete human skeleton.

Oh, that America would repent of her sins and return to the Lord.

It is not certain, however, that she can repent. God has to give repentance. Why should we expect God to heal a land that has willfully turned against Him, and has spit upon His blessings? A Time To Ponder...

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"The father who carefully protects and guards his virgin daughter’s ears from every polluting word takes her to the theatre himself, exposing her to all its vile language and attitudes... How can it be right to look at the things that are wrong to do? How can those things which defile a man when they go out of his mouth not defile him when going in through his eyes and ears?" (Matt. 15:1720). (Tertullian [140-230 A.D.], "The Shows," chs. 21, 17)

"I am inclined to think that the corrupting influence of the stage is even worse [than the influence of the arena]. The subjects of comedies are the deflowering of virgins or the loves of prostitutes... Similarly, the tragedies parade before the eyes [of the audience] the murder of parents and acts of incest committed by wicked kings.... Is the art of the mimes any better? They teach adultery by acting it out. How do we expect our young people to respond when they see that these things are practiced without shame and that everyone eagerly watches." (Laetantius [260-330 A.D.], Institutes, Bk. 6, Ch. 20, paraphrased)

-- taken from News of Interest, Vol. 3, Issue # 38

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"It ought to be considered, particularly with regard to the younger of both sexes, that, in the theatre, their minds must insensibly acquire an inclination to romance and extravagance, and be unfitted for the sober and serious affairs of common life. Common or little things give no entertainment upon the stage, except when they are ridiculed. There must always he something grand, surprising and striking. In comedies, when all obstacles are removed, and the marriage is agreed on, the play is done."

"Can men learn piety from the profane, mortification from the sensual, or modesty from harlots? And will any deny that hired stage-players have always, and that deservedly, borne these characters? Nay, though it could be supposed, that the spectators receive no hurt themselves, how is it possible that the performances of such persons be attended, or their trade encouraged without sin?" -- John Witherspoon

[John Witherspoon was a delegate to the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the NJ state legislature, President of Princeton College, and educated one U.S. President, one Vice-President, two signers of the Declaration of Independence, ten cabinet members, twenty-five delegates to the Continental Congress, eleven members of the Constitutional Convention, thirty senators, fifty members of the house of Representatives, seventeen state governors, four justices, one Chief Justice of the Sup. Court, and 114 ministers.]

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"As for questionable amusements----time was when a Nonconformist minister who was known to attend the play-house would soon have found himself without a church. And justly so; for no man can long possess the confidence, even of the most worldly, who is known to be a haunter of theatres. Yet at the present time it is matter of notoriety that preachers of no mean repute defend the play-house, and do so because they have been seen there. Is it any wonder that church members forget their vows of consecration, and run with the unholy in the ways of frivolity, when they hear that persons are tolerated in the pastorate who do the same? We doubt not that, for writing these lines we shall incur the charge of prudery and bigotry, and this will but prove how low are the tone and spirit of the churches in many places. The fact is, that many would like to unite church and stage, cards and prayer, dancing and sacraments."

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Text: II Peter 1:16-21

When Peter says, "we have not," he distinguishes himself and the other apostles from all the false-professing apostles who had followed cunningly devised fables. Christ said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. " {John 10:27). Not only can the Shepherd point out his sheep, but the sheep can point out their shepherd.

What is a cunningly devised fables? It is a lie, a myth that is carefully and deliberately molded and crafted to appear to be true, right and legitimate. Such a fable, however, can dupe only those who are already ignorant of the truth; for Christ said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). Peter and the others knew Christ, so they knew the truth.

When Peter says, "we have not...but were eyewitnesses"—he distinguishes the legitimate, true apostles from the false apostles who wanted to give their "two cents" about Christ, but had not actually been with him, observed him or known him. Peter and the true apostles were writing, not based on secondhand information or on private feelings or inclinations, but on actual experience; they had seen led experienced the true power and experience of the promised Anointed One! The testimony of an eyewitness holds more weight and more authority than the testimony of myriads of absent opinion givers, regardless of their

education and status. Hence, Peter the fisherman, establishes the authority and basis for what he will continue to say.

Notice the voice. It was the very voice of God spoken audibly to men.

It was the actual transmission from God to man – before the "original autographs" were written which record it! (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35; II Peter 1:17) You can’t get back any further than that!

They actually heard the voice of God the Father from heaven! They were there! You and I "merely" have a translation two thousand years later, but they were there when God was actually breathing! They heard first, and then they wrote it down afterwards. How many Fundamentalists today would throw down what copy they presently have, if they could have been there too! "Oh, what special status those originals have!" – they moan in present discontent. But the authoritative apostle Peter, who knew the truth, spoke differently--

What did he say? "We have"? Present tense? What did he have? "Scripture," according to verse 20. Was Peter alluding to the original autographs? No, it’s only cunning Fundamentalists that constantly bring them into the picture. Was Peter counting the Old Testament books, with the New, as more certain and reliable than the actual words of God he heard spoken from heaven? Didn’t silly Peter know that if he had copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies of copies that were copied by fallible and sometimes foolish scribes who might have even done some translating – Didn’t Peter know what so many Fundamentalists know today? How dare Peter consider copies of copies to be more certain and reliable than the actual transmission of the voice of God that he heard from heaven?

Perhaps we don’t like Peter’s opinion? But he says about what "we have" that "ye do well that ye take heed." Can we do well, while taking heed to mistakes, contradictions and discrepancies? C’mon Peter, we want to get back as close as we can to the actual transmission of the Scripture, so we can have what you had and you are bragging about copies? Who do you think you are, Peter? You sound more like a preacher than a scholar!

Neither Peter, nor Paul, nor John, nor Jesus ever spake about any need in getting back to the original autographs of any OT book. They spake authoritatively about present copies of copies of copies of copies. So why do "Johnny-come-lately" Fundamentalists expect the sheep to chew on their cunningly devised fables? We know the truth. We can say, "we have also a more sure word" right now; it’s unbelievers who can’t. The difference is due, not to available manuscripts, but to faith, which some people have and others lack.

"Knowing this first"? Why first? Because the written Word of God, the Scripture, is our foundation by which we judge all things -- even the voice of God from heaven. After all, many people hear voices, and some claim they hear God; How do we know whether they are correct? by the Bible -- "for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name" (Psalm 138:2b).

Peter says, "no prophecy of the scripture is"-- that is distinct from saying, "no prophecy of the scripture was." Peter is not only talking about the initial writing of the Scripture by fallible men (the original autographs), but the copies copied by fallible men, and the application by fallible men.

Peter is saying that scripture writers are not writing based on their own feelings, beliefs or inclinations, but that God supernaturally guided them to write perfectly. He is also saying that we cannot presently, or ourselves interpret it (Neither can a body of private men like the Roman Catholic Church); for it is the Holy Ghost who teaches us. That teaches the priesthood of the believer.

Peter is also saying, by that important present tense is, that the Scripture is still kept from private interpretation –which must include copies and translations. The problem arises when Fundamentalists make the blanket, supposedly authoritative statement; "No translation is perfect!" By what authority do they make such a daring statement? By such a statement, they are therefore clearly saying that all translations have been influenced by private interpretation and are on equal footing with one another! That is band news indeed, not good news! Alas, now we need a priesthood to interpret what we hope are the original languages for us!

If no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, then all other kinds of prophecy are. Peter is saying that one thing is correct, and everything else is sinking sand. There is one rock, one Christ, one Bible, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. God said it one way, and every other way is of private interpretation and is therefore wrong. And that is why we can say if the KJV Is the Word of God, then everything else that interprets differently is a private interpretation, and therefore wrong. Can’t God preserve His word perfectly in one language, one version and one area of the world? Who art thou who repliest against God? God is not obligated to give any people a single copy of His Word. Even today, there are many tribes, villages, dialects and languages which do not have even a shanty copy of God’s Word. Is God unjust? People tend to forget in all, the main language of the world.

Yes, it is true that most all version of the Bible and languages of the Bible are influenced by private interpretations –as can be seen in the German Bible which deletes I John 5:7. Too bad, Germans, you are missing part of God’s Word, and your country shows it, being the seed- bed of Rationalism and Higher Criticism. One way is correct, and every other way is wrong! Either the KJV is of private interpretation in adding I John 5:7, or else the German Bible is of private interpretation in taking it away. Both cannot be correct. Either God said it, or He didn’t! Choose you this day, which to believe, but remember the words of Christ, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Look at Germany!

The King James translators were as fallible as all other men throughout history, including Peter, James and John. The question is whether God chose to use them. He did not have to re-inspire them. He simply caused them to translate correctly what was already inspired, and still is inspired and still is authoritative and profitable.

"The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man" when each book was being written. The writers such as Moses and David did not write after their own will, but supernaturally by the will of God. They did not produce their work – it was not their work by God’s. They were simply the scribes, as it were, copying someone else’s work—the Word of God, which abideth forever. God used their language to communicate His Word.

Those men were "Holy men of God." That is a significant classification and characteristic. Notice: it does not say that they were intelligent men, scholars, experts, or linguists. What it does say about them is that they were holy. Jude says that the faith was once delivered unto "the saints" – not the textual critics or doctors or scientists. Again, it’s "Fundamentalists" who constantly bring them into the picture, while playing down the importance of holiness.

It is also important to note the literal wording of the verse – they "spake as they were moved..." It does not say that they "wrote as they were moved..." According to Romans 16:22, Tertius wrote down the original manuscript of Romans, not Paul. Paul spoke it to him, and he wrote it down. God not only guided what Paul said, but what Tertius wrote. Was Tertius inspired? Not any more than Paul. It was the words that were inspired, and they still are, or else they are not profitable.

The glory of the finished product is not the holy men, the kind of material they wrote on, or the language they spoke. The glory of the finished product belongs to the Holy Ghost, who could use finite and fallible men from all kinds of backgrounds, in several different languages during the space of thousands of years and still produce an infallible, completely authoritative and perfect Bible! God gets the glory, not Moses, Peter, James, John, Hebrew, Greek, Palestine, or the King James Translators! This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes! (Psalm 118:23; Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:11).

There is a deadly virus going around today, as a result of some cunningly devised fables, that afflicts people into thinking that the original autographs of the scripture have a special status above all other copies of scripture. The Bible knows of no such strange fable.

This virus is evident in people who place a higher value on the Greek and Hebrew languages, than they do on the English language. These languages, Greek and Hebrew, are claimed to be the languages in which the scriptures were originally written –the "original languages." (There is supposed to be a little Chaldee in some of the Minor Prophets, but only a little.)

This virus further evidences itself by a side effect of nausea and unrest at any thought that the Bible in English says the same thing to Mr. Englishman as the Bible in Greek says to Mr. Greek man. This virus has only ever been caught by those who have assumed that what we have in English is the product of private interpretation, and therefore fallible. What is so intriguing, if not so enlightening, is that all those who have caught this deadly disease, no matter how highly they are attracted to the "original languages, "end up translating themselves from the "original languages" into English! –which basically shows the simplicity of their illness is not so much from repulsion to English as an inferior language, as it is a repulsion to the historically-preserved translation that they have in English. BY translating from the "original languages" in to English, they completely destroy their initial purpose of studying that which is "in a more pure form than English can handle." What these clever sick people are really saying is "We can do a better job translating this thing than the way it was translated and blessed by God for the past 390 years." And that also reveals another symptom to the illness—pride, arrogance and conceit.

The problem only get worse for those who can’t kick this dreaded disease, for the simple fact that there is not one single original autograph of any book of the bible available today. This downward slide persists because the entire crux of the illness rests on the supposition that the Old Testament individual books were for the most part originally written in Hebrew, an the New Testament individual books were written in Greek. What if they weren’t?

Supposing Moses wrote the original autograph of Genesis in Egyptian (Who’s to say he didn’t?) That would mean that studying Genesis in the Hebrew language is not studying Genesis out of the original language at all, but –alas—a translation! To compound the problem, it is using a more difficult-to-understand translation (being in Hebrew) as a basis for understanding our easy-to-understand translation (English)! Now, usually when the illness degenerates to this point, the symptoms increase to anger, frustration, seclusion and withdrawal. The victim may even throw things across the room.

In Acts 2, there are at least 17 different languages from people that were present on the day of Pentecost, when every man heard what was spoken in his own tongue. In Acts 22, it clearly records that Paul spoke to the people in the Hebrew tongue. Aramaic was also a spoken language in that day. Now, for any intelligent scholar to maintain that every New Testament book had to have been originally penned in Greek is patently absurd. They don’t know: they must assume, and then take their entire arguments upon that assumption. And that is a cunningly devised fable. If any New Testament book was originally penned in any other language than Greek, the Greek New Testament available today is not the original language for that book, but a translation! Alas, the hypocrisy of this virus is overwhelming!

Come now, you sick people. DO you really think translations are all that bad, or do you just hate the authority of the King James Version of the Bible—the very Word of God?

Any preacher who discredits his own preaching of the English Bible because he doesn’t know the Greek or Hebrew has caught this dreadful virus. How do we know? He assumes that what we have preserved in English is the product of private interpretation and is therefore fallible, but if he can "get back to the originals," then he will be preaching more of the Word of God in a more pristine way. The problem is that by preaching in English, he must therefore translate into English whatever pristine Greek or Hebrew he finds. Oh, Peter, we want to be with you up on that mountain! But Peter says, You’ve got better than what I heard!

Any preacher who tells his people, "Well I’m no scholar, and I don’t know Greek or Hebrew, but..." is giving symptoms of doubt and unbelief on the English text which God has preserved, and not scholars! The very writers of the books of the Bible were not scholars either! They were fisherman, shepherds, farmers, and a couple smart people too.

Any preacher who thinks himself inferior in understanding the English scripture than a man who knows Greek and Hebrew, has set the Greek and Hebrew scholars up to be his priests in interpreting what the Bible says, and that’s the essence of Roman Catholicism. Forget about holy men: we need scholars! Forget Tyndale’s promise of the common plow- boy’s knowing more of the scriptures than the religious scholars of the day! Many "Fundamentalists" now side with Rome against Tyndale!

"Greek, Hebrew and Latin all have their proper place. But it is not at the head of the cross, where Pilate put them, but at the foot of the cross, in humble service to Christ" (a Scottish proverb).

So let me ask you, oh textual critic, can you say, "We have also a more sure word"? If you can, then what in the world are you looking for?

Let me ask you, oh, preacher, can you say, "We have also a more sure word"? If you cannot, then you had better quit before the virus gets too bad, and go work for McDonald’s. But if you can, then let all the cunning devisers of fables alone to their endless genealogies, confusion and doubt, and preach, man! Preach the Word!

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THE controversy which has arisen out of our previous articles is very wide in its range. Different minds will have their own opinion as to the manner in which the combatants have behaved themselves; for our own part we are content to let a thousand personal matters pass by unheeded. What does it matter what personal matters pass by unheeded. What does it matter what sarcasms and pleasantries may have been uttered at our expense? The dust of battle will blow away in due time; for the present the chief concern is to keep the standard in its place, and bear up against the rush of the foe.

Our warning was intended to call attention to an evil which we thought was apparent to all: we never dreamed that...¹ a company of esteemed friends would rush in between the combatants and declare that there was no cause for war, but that our motto might continue to be "Peace, peace!" Yet such ahs been the case, and in many quarters the question has been, not "How can we remove the evil?" but, "Is there any evil to remove?" No end of letters have been written with this as their theme – "Are the charges made by Mr. Fellows² at all true?" Setting aside the question of our own veracity, we could have no objection to the most searching discussion of the matter. By all means let the truth be known.

Some³, in the most friendly spirit, have...⁴ invited correspondence upon the point in hand. The result has been that varied opinions have been expressed; but among the letters there has been a considerable number which may be roughly summarized as declaring that it would be best to let well alone, and the writers see little or nothing of departure from the faith at Bob Jones University.⁵ This is reassuring as far as it goes, but how far does it go? It goes no farther than this – it proves that these worthy men view matters from a standpoint which makes them regard as mere changes of expression novelties which we judge to be fatal errors from the truth; or lese they move in a peculiarly favored circle; or else they are so supremely amiable that they see all things through spectacles of tinted glass. We cannot help it, but in reading these carefully-prepared epistles, there has passed before our mind the vision of the heroic Nelson, with the telescope at his blind eye, and we have heard him say again and again, "I cannot see it." With a brave blindness he refused to see that which might have silenced his guns. Brethren who have been leaders of a movement⁶ have a paternal partiality about them which is so natural, and so sacred, that we have not the heart to censure it. Above all things, these prudent brethren feel bound to preserve the prestige of "the institution"⁷ and the peace of the constituents.⁸ Our Organizations⁹, Boards, and Associations are so justly dear to the fathers, that quite unconsciously and innocently, they grow oblivious of evils which, to the unofficial mind, are as manifest as the sun in the heavens. This could not induce our honored brethren to be untruthful; but it does influence them in their judgment, and still more in their expression of that judgment. With one or two exceptions in the letters now before us, there are evidences of a careful balancing of sentences, and guardedness of statement, which enable us to reads a good deal between the lines. If we were not extremely anxious to avoid personalities, we could point to other utterances of some of these esteemed writers which, if they did not contradict what they have now written, would be such a supplement to it that their entire mind would be better known. To break the seal of confidential correspondence, or to reveal private conversations, would not occur to us; but we feel compelled to say that, in one or two cases, the writers have not put in print what we have personally gathered from them on other occasions. Their evident desire to allay the apprehensions of others may have helped them to forget their own fears. We say no more.

Had there been no other letters but those of this class, we should have hoped that perhaps the men of contrary opinion¹⁰ were few and feeble. Let it be noted that we have never made an estimate of their number or strength: we have said "many," and after reading the consoling letters of our optimistic brethren we try to hope that possibly they may not be so many as we feared. We should be rejoiced to believe that there were none at all, but our wish cannot create a fact. There is little in the letters which can affect our declarations, even if we read them in their most unqualified sense, and accept them as true. If twenty persons did not see a certain fact, their not seeing cannot alter the conviction of a man in his senses who has seen it, has been it for years, and is seeing it now. The witness rubs his eyes to see whether he is awake; and then, bewildered as he may be for a moment that so many good people are contradicting him, he still believes the evidence of his own senses in the teeth of them all. I believe in the conscientiousness of the faculty staff and alumni¹¹ who tell us that all is well, and I cannot but congratulate them upon their ability to be so serenely thankful for small mercies.

But over against the bearers of cheering news we have to set the far more numerous testimonies of those to whom things wear no such roseate hue. What we have said already is true, but it is a meagre and feeble statement of the actual case, if we judge by the reports of our correspondents. We have been likened by one of our opponents to the boy in the fable who cried, "Wolf!" The parallel only fails in the all-important point that he cried "Wolf!" when there was none, and we are crying "Wolf!" when packs of them are howling so loudly that it would be superfluous for us to shout at all if a wretched indifferentism had not brought a deep slumber upon those who ought to guard the flocks.

The evidence is to our mind so overwhelming that we thought that our statements only gave voice to a matter of common notoriety. Either we are dreaming, or those who speak to the contrary¹² are: let the godly judge who it is that is asleep. We consider that what we have written in former papers is quite sufficient to justify our earnest endeavor to arouse the churches; but a more proof is demanded we will give it.

--Written in October of 1887 by Charles H. Spurgeon in The Sword and the Trowel, very slightly revised by Timothy D. Fellows, Jr., B.A., M.A., BJU. All changes are noted in bold.

From the Sword & Trowel, September 1887--

"A chasm is opening between the men who believe their Bibles and the men who are prepared for an advance upon Scripture. Inspiration and speculation cannot long abide in peace. Compromise there can be none. We cannot hold the inspiration of the Word, and yet reject it; we cannot believe in the atonement and deny it; we cannot hold the doctrine f the fall and yet talk of the evolution of spiritual life from human nature; we cannot recognize the punishment of the impenitent and yet indulge the ‘larger hope.’ One way or the other we must go. Decision is the virtue of the hour.

Neither when we have chosen our way can we keep company with those who go the other way. There must come with decision for truth a corresponding protest against error. Let those who will keep the narrow way keep it, and suffer for their choice; but to hope to follow the broad road at the same time is an absurdity. What communion hath Christ with Belial?" --Spurgeon

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Dr. J. Frank Norris as he spoke at the 6^th World’s Fundamental Convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in June, 1924.

"The one issue between the Fundamentalist and the modernists is the integrity of the Scriptures. It is not the deity of Christ, it is not the atonement of Christ, it is not the resurrection, it is not the Second coming, but the inspiration of the Scriptures. Have we an infallible, supernaturally inspired and inerrant Bible? On the answer to this question hangs the whole body of truth. If we have no infallible Bible, then we have no infallible Christ."

The following cartoon by Mr. Rick McKee is from the Augusta Chronicle, Sunday, August 8, 1999. Used by Permission.

---This poem is dedicated to my alma mater, Bob Jones

University, which inspired its writing, line upon line and

Precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. --

Somewhere out there, the Word of God exists;

Somewhere in those manuscripts all the words consist.

Somewhere out there in parchments worn and rare,

Lies a text that could be the next

That would prove beyond compare!

Somewhere out there, the Word of God is true;

Somewhere in those pyramids it waits for me and you.

Somewhere out there beneath the sands of time,

There’s a scroll that could yet unroll

And reveal God’s Word sublime!

Somewhere out there, the Word of God is sure;

Somewhere in old languages it rests so very pure.

Somewhere out there in variants so vast,

There’s a reading that we’re still a needing,

So we have God’ Word at last!

Refrain:

Oh just imagine what a wonder it would surely be

If we could have the Word of God completely error free!

If we believe our dreams can really come right shining through

Then we shall ever have our wish – the Word of God come true!

Somewhere out there the Word of God is found;

Somewhere in those autographs all the words are sound.

Somewhere out there if only where we knew,

We could cope with a ray of hope

Out there – where dreams come true!

--Timothy D. Fellows, Jr.

To those who may not understand the poem initially, we do not recommend it to be sung during a church worship service. The poem is not meant for praise and worship, but meant to be a satire for all those who think God’s Word is not preserved in their historic English Bible. We would recommend you memorized it and sing it whenever you hear someone cast doubt or uncertainty on the authority and preservation of God’s Word. It does get the point cross quite well and should make them ashamed of themselves.

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"You have heard a great many Arminian sermons, I dare say; but you never heard an Arminian prayer – for the saints in prayer appear as one in the word, and deed and mind. An Arminian on his knees would pray desperately like a Calvinist. He cannot pray about free will: there is no room for it. Fancy him praying,

‘Lord, I thank thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists. Lord, I was born with a glorious free will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know thou dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. Thou givest grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as mush of the Holy Ghost given them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am. It was not thy grace that made us to differ: I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and other did not – that is the difference between me and them.’"

--from, "Free Will—A Slave" by C.H. Spurgeon

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"When praise calms down into a solid resolution, it is well with the soul. Zeal which spends itself in singing and leaves no practical residuum of holy living, is little worth.""-- Spurgeon

"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind."

"Civil liberty cannot be long preserved without virtue. [A Republic, therefore] must either preserve its virtue or lose its liberty."

"God has ordained government, but he has also limited the authority and function of government. Government which exceeds [its] authority and becomes tyrannical must be resisted."

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"Every man who will speak the truth as it is in Jesus is sure to be fiercely opposed by the father of lies." – from Hold-Fast! By John E. Hazelton

"But I say this for certain, though thou have preachers and choirs to sing for thee, though thou, each day, hear many prayers, and found churches and colleges, and go on mission trips all thy life, and give all thy goods to offering plates, this will not bring thy soul to heaven. May God of His endless mercy destroy the pride, covetousness, hypocrisy, and heresy of this feigned religion, and make men busy to keep His commandments, and to set fully their trust in Jesus Christ."

-- revised by Tim Fellows, Jr. All marked words originally said priests, friars, masses, pilgrimages, pardoners and pardoning.

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On October 14,1999, while Pastor Fellows was walking to the store from his home, in downtown Augusta, Georgia, two young black boys, about 18 years of age, began throwing stones at him. Upon returning from the store, he came up behind them and caught them by surprise. He greeted them with a smile and began to witness to them telling them that there is only one way to heaven, through the Lord Jesus, and that they needed to be saved.

While we are happy that Pastor Fellows is fine, and was not injured, we see the day coming when open "race-wars" are going to break out in our streets. Many of the young people have been brainwashed by the media and the government educational system to hat true religion and to hate people of a different color than themselves. They are cold and hard-hearted. They have not been taught respect, law, righteousness, truth, standards, separation, purity, obedience or kindness. They have not been taught the Ten Commandments, but they have been told that they came from monkeys, are here by chance, can be rewarded if they don’t work, protected if they commit crime and promoted if they like perversion. Their music is abominable, coming out of the pits of hell, and their dress – Oh, I forgot, after the church follows suit, it will simply be a custom of our culture.