The New Testament in the Original Greek According to the Byzantine/Majority-Textform
The New Testament in the Original Greek According to the Byzantine/Majority-Textform. Ed. by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont; Exec. Ed. William David McBrayer. Atlanta: The Original Word Publishers, 1991. lvii + 510 pp. Paper, $24.95. Having themselves edited a Greek NT (The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text) the present reviewers […]
Jesus and Emily: The Biblical Roots of Emily Dickinson’s Poetry
I never saw a Moor— I never saw the Sea— Yet know I how the Heather looks And what a Wave must be.1 I never spoke with God Nor visited in Heaven— Yet certain am I of the spot As if the Chart2 were given— I. Introduction The above poem, #1052, from the 1,775 poems […]
The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. 1
The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. 1. Translated by Kirsopp Lake. Vol. 24 in The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1912. 409 pp. Cloth, $15.50. When the Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society was started in mid-1988, the book and periodical reviewers were faced with the question of how far back in time one […]
First Corinthians
First Corinthians. Alfred Martin. Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1989. 149 pp. plus Appendix, Select Bibliography, and Scripture Index. Cloth, $16.95. Dr. Martin served with distinction at Moody Bible Institute for thirty-two years where he taught in the Bible Department and became Vice President and Dean of Education. In his “retirement” he has kept busy writing […]
The Good Old Gospel Train
We used to sing a chorus in Sunday school that went like this: Oh, I’m traveling on the “hallelujah Line” On the good old Gospel Train, I am on the right track, And never will go back To the station of sin again! The refrain went on to spell out what the Gospel is […]
The Words of the Gospel: Believe/Faith
Near the beginning of Sir Walter Scott’s classic novel Ivanhoe, the fool Wamba discusses the difference between good old Anglo-Saxon words (like swine and sheep) and the (then) new-fangled French words (like pork and mutton) that had been making headway in England since the Norman conquest of 1066. Many centuries later we still use Wamba’s […]
The Words of the Gospel: “BORN AGAIN”
Have you ever heard or had a conversation something like the following? “Are you a Christian?” “Well of course I’m a Christian! Do you think I’m a heathen? I’m an American!” “Well, I mean do you believe–” “I believe in God.” “But I mean have you ever put your faith in Christ; are you saved?” […]
We Believe In: The Lord’s Supper
I. Introduction Several years ago I was invited to a Saturday dinner that ended in a doctrinal debate. I have never liked religious arguments or debates, and I feared that the dramatis personae of this dinner—four members of our church and two active ultra-dispensationalist gentlemen1—could only lead to our locking horns. The hostess was the […]
Grace in the Arts: Shakespeare, the Bible, and Grace
I. Introduction In college I had a dear, elderly literature teacher who tried to “save” as many of her favorite writers of English and American literature as she could. Since they had nearly all “gone on before,” it was only a salvation in her own mind (and in as many students’ minds as she convinced). […]
The NIV Reconsidered: A Fresh Look at a Popular Translation
The NIV Reconsidered: A Fresh Look at a Popular Translation. Earl Radmacher and Zane C. Hodges. Dallas: Redención Viva, 1990. 155 pp. Paper, $8.95. This is an important book on a major topic for English-speaking Christians. It is also long overdue. First of all this is neither a “chain saw” review nor a nit-picking one. […]