Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Waymarks 47 November 2006



Waymarks 47

Report of Open Air Preaching

Sept 13th LUTON. Town Centre. Having preached for a while by the entrance to the Arndale I moved away only to be pounced on by a Russellite. She could not have been listening to my preaching or she would not have been so eager to grapple with me. It took only a few seconds to determine that she was a Russellite, and as some of her mouthings were quite blasphemous I had no desire to engage in debate with her. Every time she paused for breath I gave her another verse of Scripture. She admitted she knew nothing of God’s salvation, going so far as to say Jesus never said anything about being saved. But she did take a tract entitled “I am the Door”.
We must not shun these poor deceived folk. But debate is often a useless exercise. A good approach is a word of testimony and one or two gospel verses. They will usually accept a tract.
Oct 3rd DUNSTABLE. Ashton Square. I felt a greater liberty today while preaching. This was because a heckler stared up behind me. I think he was standing in the grounds of the Methodist church. When I finished he came round and sat next to me on the wall of the church. He thought he might embarrass me by continuing to mock me, such was his naivity. He didn’t believe anything apparently and was assured there is no God. I asked how is it possible for him then to blaspheme the name of a non existent God. He had no answer for this. This man was not going to be impressed by the gospel. I felt I didn’t need to impress it more upon him because he had just listened intently to 20 minutes gospel preaching. When he began to tell me that as an intelligent being he believed in evolution (this man who didn’t believe anything!) I thought it my turn to do a bit of mocking. A man who rejects God doesn’t choose  to believe in evolution; his darkened mind cannot do anything else. At this the man got up and walked away, ignoring my pleas to him to repent and believe the gospel. 
Nov 1st LUTON TC. Peter asked for counselling. He had listened to the John Humphreys programme and was disturbed that a God of love could allow such suffering. I reminded him that I had answered this previously. But we went over it again. Why do men blame God for the mess they have made? There is a day fast approaching when God will put this world right. Why does God not eradicate disease now ....so that men can be as filthy as they wish without fear of the consequences of their wickedness?
Then Peter asked for prayer for a sick neighbour, which I was glad to do.
Then fifteen minutes preaching and always a mixed multitude listening. A lad of about ten years stood listening. He asked me “who is Jesus?” I told him as simply as I could that Jesus was his Saviour. Then his mother arrived, not at all angry that I was speaking to her son.  
Nov 13th DUNSTABLE. Ashton Square. Three boys cycled past me. They stopped about 30 yards from me and looked back. They began to move back towards me and I prepared for trouble. One then asked me if it hurt my throat when I shouted. I wasn’t shouting. There is no need to in this small pedestrianised precinct. But I downgraded the threat to “mild” and answered his question.  There was no abuse; no mocking. “No it doesn’t hurt. I’m used to it.”
they stayed only a few minutes; long enough to be challenged with the gospel. I suppose in these barmy PC days I had committed an offence by speaking to them. 
Nov 15th LUTON T.C.  I preach and my words seem lost in the wind. Nobody takes any notice, not even glancing in my direction. This Luton T.C Campaign is well into its 32nd year. After a few minutes my vocal chords have warmed up and my voice is carrying farther. I see the other side of the road an old man sitting, listening intently. He is the man introduced to me by Peter two weeks ago as we sat here on a bench. Peter had insisted I give him a tract and he had accepted a booklet “The Way of Salvation”.
When I finished preaching he got up and moved away.

By the Way....

During the course of my conversation with the female Russellite on September 13th it became clear to me she did not know how to deal with quotes from the AV Bible. I sought to show her that the Bible taught the deity of Christ so I quoted the words God was manifest in the flesh. “Ah yes”, she replied. “That’s John 1: 18. I told her I was quoting 1 Timothy 3: 16. She looked perplexed. She was not familiar with these words. For all her training, and I took her to be a key worker, she was not trained to deal with a person quoting from the Authorized Bible. It would be a very rare thing no doubt, to meet a member of the public who not only quoted from the AV but had a copy with him. Russellites are at home with modern versions. These support the devilish doctrines of the various sects and “he who was manifested in the flesh” might be anybody. 
The Russellite bible which violently mutilates the word of God is nevertheless based on the Westcott and Hort Greek text which is now so popular among our conservative evangelical fundamentalist erudite apostate brethren.
We need to understand that when the Lord said He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him applies equally to those who refuse His written word by declaring that certain words, phrases, and whole passages ought not to be present in the Bible. The man who will not receive God was manifest in the flesh rejects Christ. The man who rejects 1 John 5: 7,8 blasphemes the Spirit of God Who supplied the words.


“wij moeten niet Gods Woord veranderen maar Gods Woord moet ons veranderen”  - Woord & Getuigenis  2006



This sounds good! “We must not change God’s Word, but God’s word must change us.” 
Then we turn a couple of pages in the Dutch magazine Woord & Getuigenis 4e kwartaal 2006, where we find this statement and we find this; “De god van deze wereld heeft de ongelovigen met blindheid geslagen, opdat zij het schinsel van het evangwlie vande heerlijkheid van christus niet ontwaren” (2 Cor. 4:4)

But this is not how the Staten-Generaal Bijbel reads. (This is the Dutch equivalent of the English Authorized Bible.) Here we read, In dewelke de god deze eeuw de zinnen verblind heeft, namelijk der ongelovigen, opdat hen niet bestrale de verlichting van het Evangelie der heerlijkheid van Christusw, Die het Beeld God is. (2 Kor. 4: 4)
So the editors do the very thing they acknowledge they must not do, and they don’t let on when quoting verses that they have changed them.  Thus changes are not to be regarded as changes. We can make up our bible as we go. It is our own concoction. “Verlichting” is replaced with “schinsel”  So the light of the glorious gospel is reduced to a mere glimmer.
In line with English perversions of Scripture, the gospel in no longer glorious, doxa being wrongly linked with Christ. Also in the quote in Woord & Getuigenis  there are two serious ommissions; “Who is the image of God”  and no indication is given as to the version quoted.
The article is addressed voor jonge mensen  but Dutch young people will not know that they are reading a parody of Scripture. The god of this world will have blinded their minds.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had occasion to visit a Christian Bookshop on the south coast a few days ago. (Christian? How did it get saved?) It was well stocked and had a section devoted to the integrity of the AV Bible. But there was a great deal of junk on the shelves also. Well, the proprietor has to make a living and everybody knows Christians don’t buy books; Not sound doctrinal books anyway).

There were several things that struck me about this shop, which are common to most Christian Bookshops.

The noise. CCM was blaring forth. I resolved not to spend too long in the place... and I had come to buy books.

Muslim pharmacists have convictions as to what they sell over the counter. But for Christian Booksellers, anything goes. A further example of this will be seen on the John Ritchie LTD website, where among the rubbish one finds
“The Message” advertised for sale. This is a blasphemous perversion of Scripture, and the directors of J Ritchie ought to know better than to stock it. We have only to look at 2 Cor. 4:4 to see this where we read of “Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.”

A woman was being helped to find Alpha Course material (how to damn your soul in easy lessons).
Several female customers who entered the shop were dressed like men.
A customer notice board by the door had pinned to it a card with a request “Christian young lady invites others to join her in forming a group for cinema / theatre going and dancing.” Mobile phone number supplied.

I heard it said that these days the church is dancing with the world. I regard this statement as false. The church is comprised solely of born again individuals, every one of them indwelt by the Holy Spirit. While there may be individual lapses and maybe some believers not walking as well as they might and should, nevertheless, the believer finds the world abhorrent and cannot find satisfaction in it for his soul.
It is Christendom, unconverted and apostate, that dallies with the world. The greater part of the church is already in heaven.


 

AV Verses Vindicated

Mark 10: 24
Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God.

The NIV reads: “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God”.
Worse than this, the CEV has “So Jesus told them again, ‘It’s terribly hard to get into God’s kingdom.”
Sinking lower, the Message [form hell?] has “Jesus kept on: ‘you can’t imagine how difficult.’
The implication is that possession of wealth is a sufficient  obstacle to entrance into the kingdom of heaven. But the Lord taught that trust in riches was the hindrance. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
These modern versions suggest that self effort and works are required in order to gain salvation. Thus repentance toward God and faith in the shed blood of Christ are denied.


Friendship with the world is enmity with God.
What is in the world? Religion for one thing. Beware of this world’s religions Some of our brethren are all pally with Rome. They go into its schools and “share” the gospel with them. So their mouths are shut as far as truth is concerned. They dare not tell the students of the once and for all sacrifice for sin by Christ on the cross. They dare not denounce any of the wicked blasphemous doctrines of popery. They tell us it is not their business to pass judgments, only to preach the gospel. What gospel is this that denies Christ? What they really want is the praise of men.

The modern gospel states “all you have to do to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”. The chief rulers, we read in John 12, believed on Him. But they were not saved as the passage reveals (v42,43). The praise of men was all\ important to them. The Lord warned that which is highly esteemed among men is abominatio0n in the sight of God (Luke 16: 15). Anything whatsoever it is, however apparently moral and legitimate, having the approval of this world, is loathsome to our God.
So the “gospel preacher” returns from his visit to the school and reports how well he was received by its staff and pupils. Note 1 Thess. 2: 6, Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you.

Luke 23 : 33
....the place, which is called Calvary, ....

Kranion, translated  Calvary in Luke is “skull” in Mtt. 27: 33 and Mark 15: 22. a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull. Golgotha is of `Hebrew origin. Note John 19: 17, the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. It is not a Chaldee word as lexicons will inform us. (Trust the Bible!)
Why did the AV translators use the word Calvary in Luke?  The answer is simple. They used the latin word calvaria which means skull. They did not wish to use the Hebrew Golgotha to translate a Greek word for English readers.
They anglicised calvaria to give us Calvary. It is not a Roman Catholic word as some mischievously suggest.
The English language is full of latin words (together with words drawn from a multitude of other languages). No fault can be found in reading Calvary at Luke 23: 33.

Revelation 5: 10
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Modern versions change “us” and “we” to “them” and “they”.
There is no sound authority for these changes. The Received Text is well substantiated. The context of Ch. 5 gives no indication of who “they” might be.  “Us and we refer to the 24 elders representing the church before the throne.” – J Moorman.
Some have thought the AV reading implies that the church will be dwelling upon the earth during the millennium. There is no evidence that the AV translators thought this when they wrote “on” for epi. The view that we shall live for ever on the earth is a Russellite error.
The sphere of the reign of the church is indeed on the earth but the preposition epi has a wide meaning and can also be translated “over”, “upon”,   “towards” etc. J Heading points out that the case of the following noun determines the meaning of the preposition (-From now to Eternity). Here, earth is genitive, so epi is “on” though sometimes “in the presence of” and hence “over”.

Every Word Preserved

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt. 4: 4.
The Lord was quoting  Deut. 8: 3. This is more than physical life. Bread may sustain the body but the soul is sustained by the word of God. If the least part of God’s word is lost then life is defective to that extent.
We accept by faith therefore that God has preserved  in its entirety that which proceeded out of His mouth. Breathed out─inspired, preserved in Scripture, for all Scripture is inspired of God.
When certain scholars tell us that certain words of Scripture have “fallen out” then by the very testimony of the Lord, and this to the writing of Moses, we know they are lying.

Beware Double Talk


“We believe this solemn truth [a literal hell fire] because we believe God’s  holy word”.  Harold Paisley (Ian’s brother); Words in Season; * 2002.

“It is our view that this is indeed the correct language of the text... “Death where is thy victory” 1 Cor.15: 55, RV.
Harold Paisley; Words in Season; May 2002.

Death in v.55 is translated from thanatos O death, where is thy sting? (AV).
But the Authorized Bible reads O grave, where is thy victory. Hades in every other place but here is translated hell. It is never translated death and doesn’t mean death though the dead are there. Thus H Paisley believes his “view” to be superior to the word given by the Holy Spirit. His “view” is that two or three Alexandrian Greek Manuscripts, rejected by believers from the beginning, are superior to the vast majority of manuscripts which comprise the Received Text on which our authorized Bible is based.

When H Paisley says “we believe God’s word”  he is guilty of double talk. He believes a bible of his own making. “Death where is thy victory” is NOT God’s holy word. It is not His word a all.
It is double talk when a man states publicly (in this case  J Hunter, internet audio) “we believe the Bible to be inspired” and then a few minutes later, announces only the original manuscripts were free from error. So we conclude he believed in a bible not free from error  yet inspired of God. This view impugns the righteousness of God, charging Him with inspiring error.
It is double talk when a man tells his audience “the Bible can be trusted” but believes it to be less than perfect, flawed in many places due to scribal mistakes etc. His audience doesn’t know which are the mistakes and what is genuine.  
It is double talk to suggest that God could keep men from error in writing the autographs (original manuscripts) but has been incompetent ever since; unable because of human fallibility, to preserve the Scriptures from error. If this should be true then God must be charged with dishonesty. The Bible contains numerous promises to the preservation of Scripture. Ps. 12: 6,7; Ps. 119: 89; Mtt. 24: 35; John 10: 35; 1 Peter 1: 22-25. etc.

The Scholar’s Nearly Accurate bible


It is only in regard to one word in a thousand that the textual critics, by laborious comparison of manuscripts, have to determine the exact reading of the original text.¾A McD. Redwood; The Faith¾A Symposium; p327;  P & I Ltd. 1952. (This book has now been reprinted.)

When will they ever learn? The same old lies are still being propagated. Inspect any modern version since 1952 and see how only one word in a thousand is changed. And how did they select that “one word” in a thousand? By turning to seriously depraved (acknowledged to be so by themselves) manuscripts that had been known and rejected by the early church. Of course, these men had never seen the original text and so felt free to invent their own.
Redwood then quotes Kenyon’s book The Story of the Bible¾

It may be disturbing to some to part with the conception of a Bible handed down through the ages without alteration and in unchallenged authority; but it is a higher ideal to face the facts, to apply the best powers with which God has endowed us to the solution of the problems which they present to us; and it is reassuring at the end to find that the general result of all these discoveries and all this study is to strengthen the proof of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and our conviction that we have in our hands, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God.

Kenyon, along with all scholars, thought that only ignoramuses believed in the preservation of Scripture. Kenyon thought it more noble to rely on his own intellect to decide what is Scripture and what is not. He was proud to announce that through all his endeavours he very nearly had a bible he could trust.
Redwood, perhaps realizing that Kenyon’s views seriously undermine faith, and writing in a book supposedly giving a symposium of the faith, lamely closed his chapter How we got our Bible with these words¾
Let it be stated categorically that all the authorities in the field of textual criticism assure us that no single doctrine of the Gospel is affected by any of the variations still unexplained.

Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they? But “the authorities... assure us”? Are we not able to read for ourselves? Are we so ignorant that we don’t know what the “doctrines of the Gospel” are? What about the variations that are explained? Do we ignore them? Which are these unexplained ones and why can they not be explained?
In any case we know that doctrines are affected. David Cloud in his book Myths about the Modern Bible Versions lists fifty doctrines removed, weakened, changed, or added in the UBS Greek Text and the Modern Versions. 
Because of these views put out by leading brethren in a past generation we have now a situation where anything goes. A few years ago brethren would read publicly from the AV Bible and then tell us why the JND New Translation or the Revised Version was superior. Now we find audacious men who mount the platform and read from the NIV or the NKJB. We have a situation of confusion and a decline in faith.

Progressive Dispensationalism


Progressive Dispensationalism is the name given to a new doctrine finding ground among us. It is a move away from traditional disapensationalism which maintains a clear distinction between the Church and Israel. It is a dispensationalism which begins to accommodate Covenant Theology. It is progressive in that the dispensations are not viewed as distinct but rather as successive stages in God’s revelation to men.
It is a developing teaching that started around the 1980’s

The main teachings of PD are that Jesus, exalted to the right hand of the Father, is already seated on the throne of David in heaven.
The covenants of Scripture, long believed by traditional dispensationalists to belong to Israel, now have a spiritual fulfilment here and now for the Church and will be fully implemented in the Millennium. A proponent of this teaching said “The blessings promised to Israel are the blessings promised to you and to me....we are heirs to the covenants of promise. There is only one kingdom, the Messianic kingdom, already inaugurated and in the process of being fulfilled. The fulfilment will be when the new Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride.”
─N Mellish, who also informed us , “we shall live on earth during the Millenium”. This of course brings us dangerously close to Russellite (J W) kingdom teaching.
We were informed that concerning the “covenant of the New Birth, Israel’s new birth is the same as ours” . This is a reference to Jeremiah 31: 31. This covenant, expressly described by Jeremiah as made with the house of Israel, is ours, stated Mellish., assuring us that there is only ONE New Covenant. This is rank heresy, because we have Christ, mediator of a new covenant made with blood which those born again in this dispensation enter into. Jeremiah’s new birth is that of the whole nation of Israel and occurs at the second coming of Christ.
Mellish  told us also that the outpouring of the Spirit is one and the same for Israel and the Church.
When questioned by myself Mellish thought that resurrected men and women, living again on the earth, would intermingle with non-resurrected people.  He appeared to believe that the millenial reign of the Church will merge into the eternal state.


 

The Truth about Westcott and Hort. a plea to our Bible teachers to get wise.

 (This article is taken by permission from the internet.)
Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892) were the men who devised the basis for the 20th- century attempt to replace the King James Bible with inferior translations.
The average believer who uses an English translation of the Bible, different than the King James, does not realize the beliefs of the men who provided the Greek Text for those modern Bibles.
In order to better understand the objectives of these two men who are said to have "laid the basis for modern Biblical knowledge"—we need to understand their personal beliefs.
We find much information in two books: The Life and Letters of Brooke Foss Westcott, Vols. 1-2, by his son Arthur Westcott (1903), and The Life and Letters of Fenton John Anthony Hort, Vols. 1-2, by his son Arthur Fenton Hort (1896).
It is significant that the name, "Jesus," was used only nine times in the 1,800 pages of these two books. Westcott and Hort had a secret love for Catholicism and even paganism, but they had little patience for Christianity.
At the age of 22, Westcott revealed his doubts on the Inspiration of Scripture. He wanted to have a part in changing the situation in England for something he thought was better. In a letter to his fiancée, dated Advent Sunday, 1847, he wrote:
"The battle for the inspiration of Scripture has yet to be fought, and how earnestly I pray that I might aid the truth in that."—Life of Westcott, Vol. 1, p. 95.
That same year, he wrote from France to his fiancée about his fascination for the Catholic doctrine of Mariolatry (Mary worship). In the letter, he said that he loved to kneel before an image of Mary.
"I could have knelt there for hours."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 81.
Later he wrote:
"I wish I could see to what forgotten truth Mariolatry bears witness."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 251.
Westcott and Hort worked well together, for they had so many interests in common. Hort was also a secret Mary worshiper.
"I have been persuaded for many years that Mary worship and ‘Jesus’ worship have very much in common in their causes and results."—Life of Hort, Vol. 2, p. 49.
Hort wished he could have been a Catholic priest. In a letter to Dr. Lightfoot, a member of the Revised Version Committee who believed the same as Hort, he wrote:
"But you know I am a staunch sacerdotalist."—Op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 86. ["Sacerdotalism" refers to the performing of the Catholic ceremonies.]
Frederick Maurice was a close friend of Hort’s, who Hort said "deeply influenced me" (ibid., p. 155). Maurice was a dedicated Unitarian minister who had been discharged from King’s College because of his atheistic teachings, yet was appointed to the Revised Version Committee through Hort’s influence.
Hort wrote to a friend in 1864:
"Christianity with a substantial church is vanity and disillusion. I remember shocking you and Lightfoot not so long ago by expressing a belief that ‘Protestantism’ is only parenthetical and temporary."—Op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 30.
Hort believed that many of the things in the Bible were myths.
"I am inclined to think that no such state as ‘Eden’ (I mean the popular notion) ever existed, and that Adam’s fall in no degree differed from the fall of each of his descendants."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 78.
Westcott fully agreed.
"No one now, I suppose, holds that the first three chapters of Genesis, for example, give a literal history."—Life of Westcott, Vol. 2, p. 69.
Although both men were salaried by the Anglican Church, Hort wrote this:
"With that world Anglicanism, though by no means without a sound standing, seems a poor and maimed thing besides the great Rome."—Life of Hort, Vol. 2, p. 30.
Here are a few additional quotations by, or about, Wescott:
"He took a strange interest . . not very long after that time, especially in Mormonism . . I recollect his procuring and studying the Book of Mormon about 1840."—Comment by Arthur Westcott, in Life and Letters of John Westcott, pp. 19-20.
"Oh, the weakness of my faith compared with that of others! So wild, so skeptical am I. I cannot yield."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 52 (August 31, 1847).
"I dare not communicate to you my own wild doubts at times . . which I should tempt no one to share."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 94 (November 11, 1847).
"I cannot help asking what I am? Can I claim the name of a believer?"—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 92 (November 7, 1847).
"What a wild storm of unbelief seems to have seized my whole system."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 111 (May 13, 1849).
Over a period of time, the present writer has discovered that a number of founders of new, devilish organizations were receiving communications with demons!
The founder of Jesuitism, Ignatius Loyola, regularly held séances with a spirit which would come to him in the woods, in the form of a being clothed in shining light and speak to him as he worked on his rule books for the Society of Jesus.
The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, also held regular communication with a demon presence who spoke to him.
The founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, C.T. Russell, was guided by spiritualist séances in the development of his teachings.
We know that Sigmund Freud held regular contact with spirits.
We know that Adolf Hitler was personally guided by demons.
It is very likely that Charles Darwin was also, but I found no definite information on that.
All of those men started major new organizations which had an important influence on the lives of many in our century.
You will recall that Buddha is supposed to have received enlightenment—guidance—as he sat under a tree one day. Buddhism was the result.
It is a known fact that Muhammad regularly consulted with a special demon who guided him in his writing of the Koran.
In the process of devising their Bible-shattering theory, both Westcott and Hort (both of whom were Cambridge professors) also dabbled in the occult!
I would not want anything to do with a theory which demons helped develop! Would you? Yet the theory which modern Bible translations are founded on was developed by those two men. Here is the story. The sons of the two men documented it well.
In the year 1851, Dr. Hort founded a society for the investigation and classification of ghosts and psychic phenomena. Westcott’s own son described such practices as "spiritualism" (op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 119).
Westcott and Hort called their club, which had a number of members, the Ghostly Guild. They continued its weekly meetings for decades and were receiving guidance throughout the 1871-1881 Revision Committee.
In one issue of their publication, the Ghostly Circular, Westcott wrote about the wonderful knowledge which could be gained by contact with spirits:
"The interest and importance of a serious and earnest inquiry into the nature of the phenomena which are vaguely called ‘supernatural’ will scarcely be questioned. Many persons believe that all such apparently mysterious occurrences are due either to purely natural causes, or to delusions of the mind or senses, or to willful deception. But there are many others who believe it possible that the beings of the unseen world may manifest themselves to us in extraordinary ways, and also are unable otherwise to explain many facts the evidence for which cannot [be] impeached . . [by such contacts]. Some progress would be made towards ascertaining the laws which regulate our being, and thus adding to our scanty knowledge of an obscure but important province of science."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 118.
Westcott wrote as one who had been successfully making frequent contacts with the spirit world. What were the demons teaching him? We will learn that Westcott and Hort were taught what was needed to be done to change 20th-century Bible translations! They had master instructors to guide them.
"The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has invaded churches and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—this mammoth deception is but a revival in a new disguise of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.
"Satan beguiles men now, as he beguiled Eve in Eden, by exciting a desire to obtain forbidden knowledge. ‘Ye shall be as gods,’ he declares, ‘knowing good and evil.’ Gen. 3:5. But the wisdom which spiritualism imparts is that described by the apostle James, which ‘descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.’ James 3:15.
"The prince of darkness has a masterly mind, and he skillfully adapts his temptations to men of every variety of condition and culture. He works ‘with all deceivableness of unrighteousness’ to gain control of the children of men, but he can accomplish his object only as they voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who place themselves in his power by indulging their evil traits of character, little realize where their course will end. The tempter accomplishes their ruin, and then employs them to ruin others."—Story of Redemption, pp. 395-396.
Hort "came under the spell of Coleridge," the poet and opium addict who worked to bring a wider knowledge of German higher criticism to England.
Hort also read avidly in the writings of John Keble, the Oxford professor who Newman later said was "the true and primary author of the Oxford Movement" (Lee and Stephen, National Biography, Vol. 10, p. 1180).
In addition, Westcott liked to study ancient pagan writers.
"I can never look back on my Cambridge life with sufficient thankfulness. Above all, those hours which were spent over Plato and Aristotle have wrought in me which I pray may never be done away."—Life and Letters of Westcott, Vol. 1, pp. 175-176.
Hort highly valued what he learned from ancient pagans. In one letter, he mentioned that it was his atheist friend, Maurice, who urged him in that direction.
"He urged me to give the grandest attention to Plato and Aristotle, and to make them the central points of my reading, and other books subsidiary."—Life and Letters of Hort, Vol. 2, p. 202.
In 1865, only five years before he began work as a member of the Revised Version committee, Westcott visited the Shrine of the Virgin Mary at LaSalette, France. LaSalette was one of the more famous shrines of France, where the Catholics claim that the Virgin Mary works miracles. Westcott wrote that a miracle took place while he was there.
"An age of faith was restored before our sight in its ancient guise . . In this lay the real significance and power of the place."—Life and Letters of Westcott, Vol. 1, p. 254.
When he wrote up a paper which he wanted to publish on the thrilling experience he had observed at the feet of Mary, Dr. Lightfoot persuaded him not to release it, because it would hinder Westcott’s efforts to ultimately use their critical Greek Text to change the Bible. Lightfoot was far more influential in the Anglican Church than either Westcott and Hort, and it was he who got them into the committee and helped get the others to vote in favor of their daily textual recommendations.
In July 1970, Pope Leo XIII declared himself infallible! This shocked many people throughout the world, but not Hort. He wrote his daughter, that he was so thankful that his mother had sent him a photograph of the pope to place on his wall and treasure (Life and Letters of Hort, Vol. 2, p. 227)!
Six weeks after Hort hung the picture on his wall, Leo XIII issued his encyclical, Inscrutabili, in which he declared:
"The Church . . is in very truth the glory of the Supreme Pontiffs that they steadfastly set themselves as a wall and bulwark to save human society from falling back into its former superstition and barbarism."—Leo XIII, quoted in Avro Manhatten, The Vatican-Moscow Alliance, p. 67.
Ten years later, Hort sent a letter from Rome and excitedly told his daughter that he had purchased a ticket to take part in a Pontifical Mass; he hoped to be able to kiss the pope’s foot (Life and Letters of Hort, Vol. 2, p. 393).
Hort wrote to Lightfoot in 1880, that he utterly rejected the infallibility of Scripture. He considered the Bible to be just another book, less interesting than Plato.
"The more I learn, the more I am convinced that fresh doubts come from my own ignorance, and that at present I find the presumption in favour of the absolute truth—I reject the word infallibility—of the Holy Scripture overwhelmingly."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 420.
Anything savoring of unbelief caught their attention.
"Have you read Darwin? I should like a talk with you about it! In spite of difficulties, I am inclined to think it unanswerable. In any case it is a treat to read such a book."—Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 414.
Hort did not believe in the existence of Satan or the atonement (op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 120). He believed that a person could repent of sin after he died (op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 275) and that there was a purgatory (op. cit., Vol. 2, 336).
Westcott believed he could efficaciously pray for the dead (Life and Letters of Westcott, Vol. 2, p. 349).
Neither one liked to preach from the pulpit, for they really had little interest in Christianity. A personal experience with Christ was something neither ever had.
Unbelief, spiritualism, Catholicism, higher criticism, and pagan lore were the deep loves of Westcott and Hort. And his satanic highness used them both as polished instruments to tear down confidence in the King James Bible and the manuscripts on which it was based.
It is important that we spend time on the above, discovering the beliefs of those two men—for much that followed in 20th-century Protestant Bible history has been based on a theory they devised.
Prior to Westcott and Hort, all translations of the Bible had been made from the Majority Text (the Received Text, or Textus Receptus, family of manuscripts). Because of their influence, all translations since then (from 1881 onward) have been based on the Sinaiticus / Vaticanus family.
Their theory is essentially this: The very small Sinaiticus / Vaticanus manuscript family should be preferred in all instances in which it conflicts with the very large Majority Text family. It is said that the Sinaiticus / Vaticanus family was written before the others; therefore it is more accurate.
But we will find that this is not true.
In this book, we are going to learn that the Sinaiticus / Vaticanus family is not earlier; and, because that family is smaller, its excessive, mutually exclusive variants are not as trustworthy.
In order to properly understand the Westcott-Hort theory, we need to go back to the first centuries after Christ’s time, when the early manuscripts were produced.
Hort himself grudgingly conceded, "A theoretical presumption indeed remains that a majority of extant documents is more likely to represent a majority of ancestral documents at each stage of transmission than vice versa."
—B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort,

THE DEVIL'S VISION


 Galatians Ch. 6 verses 7 and 8. 2 Thess. 2 Verses 8-12

THE devil once said to his demons below,
Our work is progressing entirely too slow,
 The holiness people stand in our way,
Since they don't believe in the show or the play,
They teach that the carnival, circus and dance,
 The tavern and honkey-tonk with game of chance,
 Drinking and smoking, these things are all wrong,
That Christians don't mix with the ungodly throng.
 They're quick to condemn everything that we do,
To cause unbelievers to be not a few.
They claim that these things are all of the devil,
That Christian folk live on a much higher level.
 Now fellows, their theology while perfectly true,
Is blocking the work we are trying to do.
 We'll have to get busy and figure a plan,
That will change their standards as fast as we can.
 Now I have a vision of what we can do,
Harken-I'll tell this deception to you.
Then find me a wise, but degenerate man,
Whom I can use to help work out this plan,
There's nothing so real as the thing you can see,
The eyes and the mind and the heart will agree.
So what can be better than an object to view,
 I say it will work and convince not a few.
The home is the place for the sinful device,
 The people deceived will think it quite nice.
The world will possess it, most Christians can't tell,
 That it's all of the devil and was plotted in Hell.
We'll sell them with pictures of the latest News,
And while they're still looking we'll advertise booze.
 At the soul-damning cigarette also they'll look,
 Until they forget what God says in His Book.
 At first it will shock them, they'll seem in a daze,
But soon they'll be hardened and continue to gaze.
We'll give them some Gospel that is not too strong
And a few sacred songs to string them along.
They'll take in the ads with the latest of fashions,
And soon watch the shows that stir evil passions.
 Murder and love-making scenes they'll behold,
Until in their souls they'll be bitterly cold.
The "old family altar" which once held such charm,
 Will soon lose its place without much alarm.
 Praying in secret will also be lost,
As they look at the screen without counting the cost,
The compromise preachers who don't take their stand,
Will embrace this new vision and think it is grand,
They'll help fool the people and cause them to sin,
By seeking this evil and taking it in.
 Influence is great and this you can see,
 Just look at my fall and you'll have to agree.
~. It won't take too long, my demons to tell,
That the vision of Satan will populate Hell.
 Divorce will increase, sex crimes will abound,
Much innocent blood will be spilled on the ground.
The home will be damned in short order, I say,
 When this vision of mine comes in to stay.
 Get busy, my cohorts, and put this thing out,
We'll see if the Church will continue to shout.
The holiness people who stand in our way
Will soon hush their crying against show and play,
 We'll cover the earth with this devil's vision,
Though we'll camouflage it with the name "Television."
 The people will think they're getting a treat,
-till the antichrist comes and takes over his seat,
 He'll then rule the world while the viewers behold
The face of the Beast to whom they were sold.
We'll win through deception, this cannot fail,
Though some holy preachers against it will rail.
 anon

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