Correction

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

General comments on verses 16 and 17:

The fact and purpose of inspiration is to profit the man of God in giving him all he needs to know, believe, and do. The Bible tells us what to believe and how to live. Doctrine (belief), Reproof (direct blame or censure), Correction (making accurate the inaccurate), Instruction (informing the understanding, conveying knowledge) – what is right and wrong to believe (doctrine, reproof), what is right and wrong to do (correction, instruction in righteousness), all four to know. Cf. Matthew 7:15-16 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits... Both their forecast and fruit is false.

The Bible is inspired, preserved, and sufficient. If the Bible were the only book you had, you are able to find every truth you need for salvation and for living the Christian life.

Correction indicates there is a standard, and that a standard is needed.

We see a standard in the shorter word “correct.” As a noun, it means free from error; accurate; an acknowledged or accepted standard.

Let God be true, but every man a liar, Romans 3:4.

Every word of God is pure, Proverbs 30:5.

We live in an age when men generally – and even professed Christians – are more concerned about correcting the Bible than about the Bible correcting them. A serious problem with the status of Bible reading in the United States – after the lack of Bible reading – is that we live in a time and with a state of mind such that if you don’t like what you read in the Bible today, you can buy a new version tomorrow. Additionally “everyday” Christians have been flooded with the kind of research that was once mostly limited to higher and lower critics in the dusty musty halls of academia. Notes and brackets cast doubt on the text. Those who don’t know the difference between majuscules and magistrates, minuscules and miniscules, or uncials and uncles, think they have become the arbiters of the text of the Bible. On the alleged authority of the scholarship somewhere behind the notes in their Bibles, these readers often choose what they like and reject what they don’t like.

Correction begins with wrong and brings it to right.

As a verb, “correct” means to point out or mark the errors in, to remove the errors or faults from. The noun “correction” refers to the act of pointing out and removing errors from, substituting the right for what is wrong. Webster says “the act of bringing back from error or deviation to a just standard.” It is used in Proverbs in connection with the training of children (Proverbs 22:15; 23:13; 29:17) and more broadly of wrongdoers.

Proverbs 15:10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die. Cf. Proverbs 7:22.

Often, we tend to think of correction as only the pointing out of what is wrong. We may think of a teacher “correcting” her students’ answers by marking them wrong. It must begin there, but should not end there.

Ephesians 4 excellently illustrates this principle – put off and put on. Don’t do this, but rather do that. 4:14-15 (not tossed about, but grow in truth and love); 22-24 (put off old man, put on new man); 25 (put away lying, speak the truth); 28 (steal no more, but labour); 29 (no corrupt communication, communication that is good); 31-32 (put away this, and do this instead).

Proverbs 3:12 for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

If all have sinned, we need correction.

If the Bible is true, we need correction.

If there is a God, we need correction.

In pretence or in truth

Introduction.

Paul writes to the Philippians “in bonds.” 

• in my bonds, v. 7
• my bonds, v. 13
• by my bonds, v. 14
• to my bonds, v. 16

The Philippians are partakers with him, by grace, through his labours, v. 7

All things worked for good, “falling out” unto the furtherance of the gospel, v. 12

• The effect of his bonds, immediately, v. 13
• The effect of his bonds, by extension, v. 14

“Since our troubles may tend to the good of many, we ought to rejoice.” Matthew Henry

The primary text under consideration.

Philippians 1:15-18 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Verse 15, Some preach Christ 

• of envy and strife
• of good will

Verse 16, Some preach Christ

• of contention, supposing to add affliction to my bonds

Verse 17, Some preach Christ

• of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

Verse 18, Christ is preached

• in pretence
• in truth 

“…Paul, in the words ‘in pretence’ and ‘in truth,’ is speaking of the motives of the preachers, not of the substance of their preaching.” Alfred Barry, in A Bible Commentary for English Readers (Charles John Ellicott, editor, Vol. VIII, p. 69).

Explanation and application.

Verses 15 and 16 and 18 give us the clues – “preach Christ,” “not sincerely,” “in pretence” – to understand Paul speaking of the motivation of the preaching, not the content. Had there been doctrinal error preached regarding Christ, Paul could not and would not have rejoiced. We can compare and contrast what Paul said elsewhere, and know he did not condone false preaching.

2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Galatians 1:6-8 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Philippians 3:2-3 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Application and Conclusion.

Since “Christ is preached” Paul can and does rejoice in it. He will continue to rejoice. He is not rejoicing in the envy, contention, and pretence, but that, in spite of that, the message of Jesus Christ was going forth.

Immediate application.

When Christ-preaching preachers strive with us, annoy us, and work in self-serving ways, we can still rejoice in their “preaching Christ.”

This does not mean, however, that we must be indifferent as to the motivation in which, and the spirit by which the gospel is preached. Nevertheless, we can rejoice that “preaching Christ” was done. Good results from God might attend their bad intention.

Other possibilities?

When preachers of other denominations and affiliations “preach Christ” (to the extent they actually preach Christ), we can rejoice in that element of their preaching, even if we cannot rejoice in other doctrines they are teaching.

Note: I would in honesty add that I sometimes struggle with the spirit of the conclusion and its application.

Related, see also The Order of Philippians 1:16-17.

The true canonical Holy Scriptures

“The canonical Holy Scriptures in the original text are the infallible truth and are free from every error; in other words, in the canonical Sacred Scriptures there is found no lie, no falsity, no error, not even the least, whether in subject matter or expressions, but in all things and all the details that are handed down in them, they are most certainly true, whether they pertain to doctrines or morals, to history or chronology, to topography or nomenclature. No ignorance, no thoughtlessness, no forgetfulness, no lapse of memory can dare be ascribed to the amanuenses of the Holy Ghost in their penning of the Sacred Writings.”

Johann Andreas Quenstedt (1617-1688), from Theologia didactico-polemica, sive Systema theologicum, in duas sectiones, didacticam et polemicam (Didactic-polemical theology, or the theological system, into two sections, didactic and polemical).

Mutual Encouragement

Baptist preacher Joseph Swain wrote “Mutual Encouragement.” It first appeared in his Walworth Hymns (London: J. Matthews, 1792), Hymn XLVII, beginning on page 56. It consists of three stanzas in 7s. meter (8 lines). The last two lines of each stanza encourages the believer to look beyond the sins, snares, fears, and foes, to hear the joyful news, “Child, your Father calls—Come home!” The hymn has passed down relativity intact, appearing in such American Baptist hymnals as The Psalmist (Supplement, 62), and The Primitive Hymns (397).[i]  Walworth Hymns suggests it be sung with Bath Abbey Tune.[ii] Bath Abbey was composed by Benjamin Milgrove (1731-1808) and published in 1781 as “Hymn X” in Twelve Hymns and a Favourite Lyric-Poem written by Dr. Watts. Milgrove served as precentor and organist at Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel in Bath, England. The tune was perhaps first called Bath Abbey in John Rippon’s A Selection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (147). Apparently the suggested tunes in Swain’s hymn book were those used in the Walworth Chapel.

1. Brethren, while we sojourn here,
Fight we must, but should not fear;
Foes we have, but we’ve a Friend,
One that loves us to the end;
Forward, then, with courage go;
Long we shall not dwell below;
Soon the joyful news will come,
“Child, your Father calls—Come home!”

2. In the way a thousand snares
Lie, to take us unawares;
Satan, with malicious art,
Watches each unguarded part:
But, from Satan’s malice free,
Saints shall soon victorious be;
Soon the joyful news will come,
“Child, your Father calls—Come home!”

3. But of all the foes we meet,
None so oft mislead our feet,
None betray us into sin,
Like the foes that dwell within.
Yet let nothing spoil our peace,
Christ will also conquer these;
Then the joyful news will come,
“Child, your Father calls—Come home!”

Joseph Swain was born at Birmingham, England in 1761. His parents died while he was very young, and here he was apprenticed to an engraver. He later removed to London to work with his brother. He was convicted of sin and converted in 1782. John Rippon baptized Swain on May 11, 1783. A newly-formed Baptist congregation at Walworth called Swain to pastor in December 1791, and he was ordained to the ministry February 8, 1792. His pastorate here was barely over four years, ended by his death April 14, 1796. He was survived by his widow and four children. It was while pastor here at Walworth that Swain compiled and published Walworth Hymns. He also published these works:

• A Collection of Poems on Several Occasions, London, 1781
• Redemption, a Poem in Five Books, London, 1789
• Experimental Essays on Divine Subjects, London, 1791
• Walworth Hymns, with a supplement, London, 1794
• A Pocket Companion and Directory, London, 1794
• Redemption, a Poem in Eight Books, London, 1797 (published posthumously)[iii]

Joseph Swain is buried at the Bunhill Fields Burying Ground. His gravestone, dislodged by a bomb during World War II, now resides between markers for Daniel Defoe and William Blake.

Other hymns by Joseph Swain include: “How sweet, how heavenly is the sight” (XXV, Walworth), “Love is the sweetest bud that blows” (VI, Walworth), “O thou in whose presence my soul takes delight” (Redemption, in Five Books), “On earth the song begins” (XXXVII, Walworth), and “Pilgrims we are, to Canaan bound” (LII, Walworth).

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[i] Primitive Hymns maintains Swain’s title (Mutual Encouragement), and had one typographical error (“conrage” for “courage”). The Psalmist changes the title to” The Christian Soldier Encouraged.”
[ii] Bath Abbey was recommended in the Baptist collections of Swain, Benjamin Beddome, and John Rippon, and probably others. Matthew Spring wrote about Milgrove in “Benjamin Milgrove, the musical ‘Toy man’, and the ‘guittar’ in Bath 1757–1790,” Early Music, Volume 41, Issue 2, May 2013, pp. 317–329. This tune is presented in shaped notes in A Compilation of Genuine Church Music (208). [Thanks to Ethan Hardy and Wade Kotter for information about this tune.]
[iii] This book contains a memoir of Joseph Swain’s life.

T. Cassidy and Dean Burgon Society

Saving these links here.

• Textual Criticism: Fact and Fiction (1/4)
• Textual Criticism: Fact and Fiction (2/4)
• Textual Criticism: Fact and Fiction (3/4)
• Textual Criticism: Fact and Fiction (4/4)
• Dr. Waite Reply to Thomas Cassidy (Cached: The Reply of Pastor D. A. Waite)

John 1:1 in Sinaiticus

The following is the text copied from the Codex Sinaiticus website (with a picture below), regarding John 1:1.

[I am unable to type exactly in the style of the uncial, especially the macron or line above the nomina sacra. The last two letters in the last line are the first two letters of the word in verse 2.]

ΕΝΑΡΧΗΗΝΟΛΟΓΟC 
ΚΑΙΟΛΟΓΟCΗΝ 
ΠΡΟCΤΟΝΘΝΚΑΙ 
ΘCΗΝΟΛΟΓΟCΟΥ

Which we read in modern printed texts as:

εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος

I have read and heard some claims that that the differences in John 1:1 (e.g., a god instead of God) are because of Codex Sinaiticus. I am no fan of Sinaiticus; I think it is a bad manuscript that should not be followed. However, as far as John 1:1 is concerned, Sinaiticus appears to have the same text in that verse as the Stephanus, Scrivener, Westcott-Hort, NU, SBLGNT, etc.

If someone is translating this verse differently, it is a translation issue rather than textual.

Acts 5:30, slew and hanged

Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Q. Was Christ killed and (then) hanged on a tree as the King James Bible says, or was Christ killed by hanging him on a tree? Does not the KJV suggest that Jesus was hung on a tree following his being killed? Do modern English versions more accurately translate this verse?

A. First, the KJB does not say “slew and then hanged.” That is a misreading. Consider the answer, and some further commentary on the phrase “whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.” It is unnecessary to claim that either the KJV or modern English versions “more accurately” translate this verse. Both are accurate and correct in the sense that they convey the meaning of the text. The King James & earlier English translations, as well as some modern translations, in their own ways accurately reflect what Peter and the apostles said. The words joined by “and” in the KJV are διεχειρίσασθε (slew, having laid hands on) and κρεμάσαντες (hanged, having hanged). Both are aorist participles. There are multiple ways to translate Greek participial phrases into English. One must realize that English and Greek do not necessarily use participles in the same way.

• KJV: “whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.”
• ESV: “whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.”
• LSB: “whom you put to death by hanging Him on a tree.”
• NASB: “whom you put to death by hanging Him on a cross.”
• NET: “whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree.”
• NIV: “whom you killed by hanging him on a cross.”
• NKJV: “whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.”
• WEB: “whom you killed, hanging him on a tree.”

Now, all that said, I agree with Mark Brown, who pointed out that such controversy over Acts 5:30 is a solution looking for a problem. A problem we did not have. Christian readers were not floundering around trying to figure out what this verse meant until some modern version swooped in to save the day. (Looking at the 60 some-odd versions at Bible Gateway, it looks like the Revised Standard Version of 1946 may have been the first major translation to include “by hanging.”) The KJV reading that we have is heir to the English translation tradition going back to Tyndale. For example, the readings in Tyndale, Coverdale, Matthew, Taverner, the Great Bible, Geneva, Bishops, and KJV are as follows.

• TYN: “whom ye slewe ād hanged on tre”
• CVD: “whō ye slewe ād hanged on tre”
• MTW: “whom ye slewe and hanged on tre”
• TVR: “whom ye slewe and hanged on tree”
• GRT: “whom ye slewe, and hanged on tre”
• GNV: “whome ye slew, & hanged on a tre”
• BSP: “whom ye slewe, & hanged on tree”
• KJV: “whom yee slew and hanged on tree”

I have not checked any of the non-descript translations between 1526 and 1885, but it seems that common English Bible readers were able to understand this verse quite well until 1881/1885, when the English Revision committee changed the phrase to “whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree” (which could also be misunderstood). The Bible commentary edited by Charles John Ellicott, who would become one of the English Bible revisers, never batted an eye over “slew and hanged” in its comments: “Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.—This synonym for crucifying comes from the LXX version of Deuteronomy 21:23, where it is used in a wider sense, including analogous forms of punishment, such as hanging or impaling.”

We do not interpret this verse (or Acts 10:39, q.v.) outside of its context in Acts or the New Testament. If so, we might raise other problems looking for a solution. Does “hang” mean he was hung by the neck until dead? Does tree mean a tree out in the woods? Does “killed” or “murdered” mean an act of man apart of God? And so on. We do not know these answers to these questions by one verse seated on a throne. We know the answers in their immediate contexts and wider biblical context. Same with “slew and hanged” (two parts of one and the same act), “slew, hanging him” (a clause of relation), or “put to death by hanging” (the manner of execution).

Some Greek versions.

All have ο θεος των πατερων ημων ηγειρεν ιησουν ον υμεις διεχειρισασθε κρεμασαντες επι ξυλου. This is not a case of textual variation. The differences are translational choices.

• TR1550: ο θεος των πατερων ημων ηγειρεν ιησουν ον υμεις διεχειρισασθε κρεμασαντες επι ξυλου
• WHNU: ο θεος των πατερων ημων ηγειρεν ιησουν ον υμεις διεχειρισασθε κρεμασαντες επι ξυλου
• TR1894: ο θεος των πατερων ημων ηγειρεν ιησουν ον υμεις διεχειρισασθε κρεμασαντες επι ξυλου
• SBLGNT: ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν ἤγειρεν Ἰησοῦν, ὃν ὑμεῖς διεχειρίσασθε κρεμάσαντες ἐπὶ ξύλου·
• THGNT: ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν ἤγειρεν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς διεχειρίσασθε κρεμάσαντες ἐπὶ ξύλου·
• NA/UBS:  ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν ἤγειρεν Ἰησοῦν, ὃν ὑμεῖς διεχειρίσασθε κρεμάσαντες ἐπὶ ξύλου

Final comments.

There are probably a few sincere readers who have misunderstood this statement. We should be glad to help. However, within the Bible version debates this truly is a solution looking for a problem. All the debaters know what the verse means.

The point of slew and hanged on a tree is about Jesus being made a curse (Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Galatians 3:13). Not only did the Jews have the Romans kill Jesus, but he was also hanged on a tree, by this signifying he was cursed. (Also the English word “slew” could be more broadly used in 1611, as was the Greek word διεχειρίσασθε from which it was translated.)

We should refuse to adopt and then debate someone else’s misunderstanding of this passage, and then debate said passage based on your misunderstanding. It is true they slew their Messiah, the Christ. It is  true that he was hanged on a tree. There is no issue with the King James translation, only the misunderstanding of  reading it as if it says that they slew him, then hanged him on the tree instead of what is written.

A Church’s Music

It seems to a large degree I have lost or failed to keep up with a part of the original focus of this blog – “Music.” Below is an interesting exposition of the church music at Refuge Reformed Church of Ogden, Utah. Pastor Brian Sauvé explains the church’s Sunday music program. I do not know this church or its pastors. (Therefore, this is not intended as a personal recommendation. It is a topic of interest.)

[Q.] “How do you do music at your church on Sundays?”

[A.] Here’s the breakdown:

We sing almost exclusively from the Cantus Christi 2020 hymnal, accompanied by a piano. Most of the settings are in four-part harmony.

We don’t amplify anything. I conduct the congregation from the front, but don’t sing into a microphone. Sometimes I sing the melody, but often I sing the Tenor part.

We sing 10 songs per service. Three of them stay the same each week (David Erb’s setting of Psalm 134, The Lord’s Prayer, and the Doxology).

The other seven usually consist of about five Psalms and two hymns. These are scattered at different points of the service, including two that we sing seated during the distribution of the bread and wine for Communion.

Why we sing in four parts:

1. It allows men to sing like men, women to sing like women, children to sing like children.

2. It takes effort. We don’t want to offer to the Lord that which costs nothing.

3. It is objectively beautiful, far more so than the best contemporary worship band I’ve ever heard—and we’re not even particularly gifted or anything.

4. Much of the great musical inheritance of the Church is in parts. Lose this skill and you lose access to the richness of that blessing.

How we learn to sing songs in parts:

Every Tuesday evening, barring the last Tuesday of the month, we have a potluck followed by a Psalm-singing workshop. I use the “Sing Your Part” app to teach each group their parts, then we practice. The actual practice is only 45 minutes, so the whole thing only takes 90 minutes each week.

We typically have about 50% of our Sunday attendance at Psalm sing on Tuesdays. This lets us learn, on average, one new song per month.

I couldn’t even read music when we started learning this stuff. Any church [can] do this if they decide to.

[Originally written in an X post on July 24, 2023, by Brian Sauvé.]