Review and Herald, Vol. 79, No. 12. (3/25/1902)

Review and Herald

Mar 25, 1902

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 25, 1902

Opinion and Practice to Be Conformed to God's Word

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

Those who desire to know the truth have nothing to fear from the investigation of the word of God. But upon the threshold of investigation of the word of God, inquirers after truth should lay aside all prejudice, and hold in abeyance all preconceived opinion, and open the ear to hear the voice of God from His messenger. Cherished opinions, long-practiced customs and habits, are to be brought to the test of the Scriptures; and if the word of God opposes your views, then, for your soul’s sake, do not wrest the Scriptures, as many do to their soul’s destruction in order to make them seem to bear a testimony in favor of their errors. Let your inquiry be, What is truth? not, What have I hitherto believed to be truth? Do not interpret the Scriptures in the light of your former belief, and assert that some doctrine of finite man is truth. Let your inquiry be, What saith the Scriptures? Let God speak to you from His living oracles, and open your heart to receive the word of God.

Many are following the traditions of men; but as the traditions of men are erroneous, and no error has sanctifying power, their souls are not sanctified to God. Yet they hold on to the doctrines of men with firm tenacity, and will not be moved by the testimony of Scripture. They have been educated to believe falsehood, and they use every ingenious method to make it appear that the Bible supports them in their position of error, making falsehood appear to be truth. But the first work to be done by those who would know the truth, is to open the Bible with a determined purpose to conform to the requirements of the word of God, establishing their faith upon “It is written.” Make up your mind that your former theories must change if they are not in harmony with the doctrines of the Bible. You are called upon to put forth diligent effort to discover what is truth. This should not be thought a hard requirement; for men are called upon to toil for their temporal and earthly blessings, and it is not to be expected that we shall find the heavenly treasure unless we are willing to dig in the mines of truth, and exercise all our powers of mind and heart to understand.

We thank God for the Bible; for it is the treasure-house of knowledge, and it is the duty and privilege of every son and daughter of Adam to search the pages of both the Old and the New Testament with diligence, in order that all may know what are the terms of salvation. We are to explore the sacred word as a miner searches the earth, and examines the rocks for hidden treasures, for the gold and the silver concealed in the veins of the mountains. Those who come to the searching of the sacred mine of truth with a humble and teachable spirit, will soon discover jewels of truth that will reward the earnest seeker. The Bible contains the science of salvation, and directs the way to Christ. Do you want to know more of the character of God? then bear in mind that the Bible gives the revelation of Him in the character of Jesus Christ. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

How to Read God's Word

Beware lest you read the word of God in the light of erroneous teaching. It was on this very ground that the Jews made their fatal mistake. They declared that there must be no different interpretation placed upon the Scriptures than that which had been given by the rabbis in former years; and as they had multiplied their traditions and maxims, and had clothed them with sacredness, the word of God was made of no effect through their traditions; and if Jesus Christ, the Word of God, had not come into the world, men would have lost all knowledge of the true God. Christ was the light of the world. All the communications of the Old Testament were from Jesus Christ; but the rabbis, the scribes, and the Pharisees had perverted the meaning of the Scriptures, and while pretending to be worshipers of God, they held to their own tradition. Christ said of them, “In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” “Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass

over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and men that walk over them are not aware of them. . . . Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.”

He told them that they made the commandments of God of no effect through their tradition. The requirements of men were placed where the requirements of God should have been, and Jesus charged them with being ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God. It is Satan’s studied plan to pervert the Scriptures, and to lead men to put a false construction on the words of God. He has led the Roman Church to take a position that the Bible is to be read in the light of the interpretation of the Fathers and of the Church, and therefore the Lord cannot penetrate the minds of the members of this Church until they read the Bible as the word of the infinite God. All articles of faith, all doctrines and creeds, however sacred they have been regarded, are to be rejected if they contradict the plain statements of the word of God. If the Bible supports the doctrine we have held in the past, we are justified in retaining it; for the word of God gives us a foundation for our faith.

The holy oracles should be studied with humble hearts and earnest prayer, in order that we may bring the truth which we see plainly stated into our practical, every-day life. Thus we shall make it evident that we conform our life to the teachings of God’s word. Jesus presents to us two classes who have been blessed with an understanding of divine truth. One class not only hear His sayings, but they also do them, and another class hear, but do them not. He says, “Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Those who see evidences of truth, and yet refuse to walk in its light, because they see that in so doing they would be obliged to make some sacrifice of opinions, of business, or of some other temporal advantage, who put aside their convictions, and reject the plain “Thus saith the Lord,” and turn from the truth unto fables, misapplying and misinterpreting the Scriptures in such a way as to make them appear to sustain their errors,—these persons come under the woe pronounced upon Chorazin and Bethsaida. In the days of Christ it was this class who were reproved by His words when He said, “Woe unto

thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.”

Experience to be Tested by the Word

There are many who claim that they have been sanctified to God, and yet when the great standard of righteousness is presented to them, they become greatly excited, and manifest a spirit which proves that they know nothing of what it means to be sanctified. They have not the mind of Christ; for those who are truly sanctified will reverence and obey the word of God as fast as it is opened to them, and they will express a strong desire to know what is truth on every point of doctrine. An exultant feeling is no evidence of sanctification. The assertion, “I am saved, I am saved,” does not prove that the soul is saved or sanctified. Many who are greatly excited are told that they are sanctified, when they have no intelligent idea of what the term means; for they know not the Scriptures nor the power of God. They flatter themselves that they are in conformity to the will of God, because they feel happy; but when they are tested, when the word of God is brought to bear upon their experience, they stop their ears from hearing the truth, saying, “I am sanctified,” and that puts an end to the controversy. They will have nothing to do with searching the Scriptures to know what is truth, and prove that they are fearfully self-deceived. Sanctification means very much more than a flight of feeling. Excitement is not sanctification. Entire conformity to the will of our Father which is in heaven is alone sanctification, and the will of God is expressed in His holy law. The keeping of all the commandments of God is sanctification. Proving yourselves obedient children to God’s word is sanctification. The word of God is to be our guide, not the opinions or ideas of men. Let those who would be truly sanctified search the word of God with patience, with prayer, and with humble contrition of soul. Let them remember that Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

Christianity is simply living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We are to believe in, and live in, Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. We have faith in God when we believe His word; we trust and obey God when we keep His commandments; and we love God when we love His law. Believing a lie will not put any one of us in the way of being sanctified. Should all the ministers in the world tell us that we were safe in disobeying a single precept of the holy standard of righteousness, it would not lessen our obligations, nor make our guilt less, if we reject a plain “Thou shalt” or “Thou shalt not.” We need not think that because our fathers did a certain way, and died happy, we may follow in their footsteps, and be accepted in rendering the same service, and doing the same works, that they did. We have had more light than they had in their day; and if we would be accepted of God, we must as faithful in obeying the light and walking in it as they were in receiving and obeying the light that God sent to them. We must accept and improve the light that shines upon our pathway, as faithfully as they accepted and improved the light that fell upon their pathway in their generation. We shall be judged according to the light that shines into the soul-temple in our day; and if we follow the light, we shall be free men and women in Christ Jesus.

A PYRAMID OF TRUTH
The largest Bible is 5 x 11 x 12½ inches; the smallest is ½ x 1¼ x 1⅞ inches — A PYRAMID OF TRUTH The largest Bible is 5 x 11 x 12½ inches; the smallest is ½ x 1¼ x 1⅞ inches

The Colporteur

In the land of frost and snow, Where the rivers cease to flow, And all nature seems to keep In an ice-bound deathly sleep; Where the somber bluish-gray Of the changeless wintry day Tints all objects, chill and deep— There, with his precious load, Travels the man of God, His charge to keep.

In the land where tropic heat Makes the pulse with fever beat; Where within their forest home, When darkness falls, wild creatures roam; Far from the haunts of kindly men,— Faces he ne’er may see again; Into the deeper moral night,— Patiently, brave and sure, The faithful colporteur Holds forth the light.

— Bible Society Reporter.

PSALM 119: 89-104.

By William Kay

Forever, O Lord, Thy word is establisht in heaven.

To all generations is thy faithfulness; Thou fixedst the earth, and it stood.

To this day they stand awaiting thy judgments; For all of them are thy servants.

Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in my affliction.

Never will I forget thy precepts, For by them hast thou revived me.

I am thine; oh save me; For I have studied thy precepts.

The wicked have looked on me for to destroy me; I will think on thy testimonies.

To all perfection I have seen a limit; Thy commandment is exceeding broad.

How have I loved thy law! All the day long it is my meditation.

Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies; Because that (treasure) is mine forever.

I have more prudence than all my teachers, Because thy testimonies are my meditation.

I have more understanding than the aged, Because I have kept thy precepts.

I have refrained my feet from every track of evil, That I might observe thy word.

I departed not from thy judgments, For thou directedst me.

How sweet to my palate are thy promises, More than honey to my mouth.

By thy precepts I get understanding. Therefore hate I every track of falsehood.

—Translated by William Kay, D. D.

The Development of the English Bible

By L. A. Smith

A Brief Historical Summary

L. A. SMITH

Bible study had its beginning in the reading of the “book of the law of Moses.” The importance of the study of God’s word was recognized in the earliest instructions given to His chosen people. It was required of the king who might be set over Israel in the land of their inheritance, that he make a copy of the precepts God had given His people, and give diligent heed to their requirements. “And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them . . . to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.” Deut. 17:18–20.

It is generally believed that the earliest compilation of the sacred writings, comprising the first five books of the Old Testament, was made by Ezra the scribe. A later compilation, enlarging the first by the addition of the “books of the prophets,” is believed to have been made by Nehemiah. Other portions of the Old Testament were compiled at a later date. In the Old Testament writings, however, no importance is attached to the question of authorship. All Hebrew history is anonymous; but in all of it there is revealed the signature of its real Author, the God of Israel.

The word of God was given to His people through the prophets as a word to be preserved and held in constant remembrance. Upon the occasion of important assemblies it was to be brought forth, and read in the hearing of all the people. Moses gave direction to the sons of Levi, that every seven years, at the feast of tabernacles, when all Israel were “come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose,” the priest should “read this law before all Israel in their hearing.” Deut. 31:10–12. Under the leadership of Joshua, the word of the Lord was rehearsed to all the people upon Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, as they were about to enter the land of Canaan. Joshua 8:33, 34. When the people gave heed to these instructions, they prospered; but when God’s word was neglected, they became involved in difficulties and disaster. At such times a reformation was inaugurated by bringing out the divine word from its place of obscurity, and rehearsing it in the ears of the rulers and throughout the land. Thus, for example, we read that in the reign of King Josiah, after Israel had apostatized from God through the wickedness of preceding sovereigns, the book of the law was found by Hilkiah the high priest, in the house of the Lord, where it had long remained forgotten, and was delivered to Shaphan the scribe, who brought it in and read it before the king. “And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes, and the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying, Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.” Then, after an answer had been returned from the Lord, “the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.” So the king and the people made a covenant to perform all the words that were written in the book, and a great reformation was wrought in Israel.

The material upon which these early writings were inscribed is believed to have been the prepared skins of certain animals, such as sheep or

goats. These skins, when written upon, were formed into rolls, which were rolled upon one or two sticks, and fastened with a thread, the ends of which were sealed. The rolls were generally written on one side only, and the writing was divided into columns. The lettering was done with a reed, dipped in ink made of lampblack dissolved in gall juice. Besides these rolls of skins, which were used when the durability of the writing was essential, tablets of wood covered with wax were employed on more common occasions, a pointed style being used to form the characters. Another material which came into use was papyrus paper, made from the papyrus reed, which grew in Egypt and in some parts of Palestine. The original manuscripts of the New Testament were written on papyrus. This material was quite fragile, and manuscripts of this kind did not long endure the wear of ordinary usage. For this reason all the original New Testament manuscripts perished at an early date, and only copies of the original were accessible to those who began the compilation of the books into their modern form.

The Bible of the early Christian Church was the volume of “the law and the prophets.” These writings were known to the early disciples as “the Holy Scriptures,” which were able to make one “wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 3:15. At that time the Old Testament writings had been translated into Greek, and compiled into a volume now called the Septuagint. When the Jews had been brought under the dominance of Greece, they gradually lost command of their ancient Hebrew tongue, and a translation of their sacred books into the Greek was necessary to make them intelligible to both Jews and Gentiles of later times. The Septuagint translation was begun in the third century B. C., at Alexandria, Egypt, which had become a center of Jewish population. The work was done by various learned men, by some supposed to have been seventy in number, whence came the name, Septuagint. It is quite clear, however, that the work was not accomplished by one set of men, or at one time, the date of its completion being about the middle of the second century B. C. The Septuagint was long held in much esteem as of very high authority, and exercised a great influence upon both Jewish and Christian thought.

AN EXTRACT FROM WYCLIF'S BIBLE
(Mark 15: 33–41) Late Fourteenth Century — AN EXTRACT FROM WYCLIF'S BIBLE (Mark 15: 33–41) Late Fourteenth Century

No authoritative collection of the New Testament books was undertaken before the latter half of the second century A. D. A great mass of spurious and apocryphal literature was at that time in circulation, but the men upon whom devolved the task of separating the genuine, or canonical, books, appear to have accomplished it without any serious dispute. No existing New Testament manuscript, however, can be traced further back than the fourth century. The oldest of such manuscripts is thought to be that in the Vatican at Rome, known as the Codex Vaticanus. The earliest division of the New Testament into verses is believed to have been made by Euthalius, deacon of Alexandria, in A. D. 462. He arranged into lines those words that were related to one another by the sense; and subsequently, to save space, these divisions were marked by a colon or point. Out of this grew a complete system of punctuation. The division of the Bible into chapters was not made until the thirteenth century.

Translations of the New Testament

The earliest complete translation of the New Testament was made in 1170, under the direction of Peter Waldo, a distinguished citizen of Lyons, France, and founder of the Waldenses. This translation was in a Provençal dialect, for which reason it never became popular. Still it was an important work, which did much to stimulate a desire for Biblical knowledge, and also to expose the errors of the Church of Rome. Many felt constrained to order their lives by their new-found knowledge of God’s word rather than by the directions of the priests, and to preach the word to those who had it not. It was thus that the missionary tours of the Waldenses had their beginning. This translation was followed in the thirteenth century by several others, the most important being that made under Louis the Pious, in 1227, the Spanish version under Alfonso V, the Bohemian version made by John Huss, and the English version prepared by Wyclif. The invention of the art of printing, in the fifteenth century, gave a great impetus to the circulation of the Scriptures, which were soon published in Bohemian (1448), Italian (1471), French (1477), Dutch (1477), Spanish (1478), and in German, no less than seventeen German translations being published between 1477 and 1518.

Luther’s translation of the New Testament, prepared at the famous Wartburg, appeared in 1522, and twelve years later his translation of the Old Testament was completed. Luther’s translation at once became popular with the common people, and was circulated with wonderful rapidity throughout Germany. We are informed that in the course of forty years a single bookseller of Wittenberg sold one hundred thousand copies, a surprising number considering the price of books in the sixteenth century. Numerous Dutch and Swedish translations were based upon the work of Luther.

England was behind Germany in the work of giving the Bible to the common people. Wyclif’s translation, which was taken from the Vulgate, or Latin Bible, appeared in the latter part of the fourteenth century, but it was not until the sixteenth century that any further translations were undertaken. In 1505 appeared a translation of the “seven penitential psalms.” But about this time the providence of God raised up William Tyndale, who vowed that “if God would spare his life, ere many years he would cause the boy who drive th the plow to know more of the Scriptures than did all the priests.” His translation of the New Testament appeared about the year 1526. It had been prepared and printed on the continent of Europe; and when the volumes appeared in England, they were bought up and burned. This, however, only stimulated the reformer to new exertions. A translation of the Old Testament out of the original Hebrew was undertaken by him soon afterward. In our present King James version a large portion of the New Testament is taken verbatim from the translation made by Tyndale.

The First English Bibles

The first complete English Bible was published by a friend of Tyndale, Miles Coverdale. It is dated 1535, and dedicated to Henry VIII. The next English Bible was a revision of Tyndale’s version by his friend, John Rogers. This was finished in 1537, and soon superseded Coverdale’s. Two years later appeared a large volume for use in churches, to which Archbishop Cranmer had written a preface.

In 1557 the “Geneva Bible” was prepared at Geneva by English reformers who had fled from the persecution of “Bloody Mary.” This was the first Bible printed in Roman letters and divided into verses. In 1582 several English Catholic exiles prepared a version of the New Testament at Rheims, in France, and some years later a translation of the Old Testament at Douay. From this we have the

name “Douay Bible,” which is the standard version of English Roman Catholics. It is taken from the Latin Vulgate.

The present English authorized, or King James, version took its origin from a suggestion made by an eminent Puritan at the Hampton court conference in 1604. He felt that a new translation was a great national want, and his suggestion that one be prepared was favorably received by King James, who appointed fifty-four scholars to undertake the work. Of this number forty-seven met and entered upon the translation. They were divided into six companies, some assembling at Westminster, some at Cambridge, and some at Oxford. Portions of the Bible were assigned to each company, and when one portion was finished, it was sent to the other companies for examination and criticism. The whole work was revised in London by two delegates from each of the six companies. The work of translation and revision occupied from 1607 to 1610. This version quickly gained the foremost place as being superior to all other English versions, and in forty years’ time from its publication all others had disappeared from common use. This version has remained ever since, and is to-day the common English Bible, notwithstanding the revised English version completed in 1885.

THE ROLLS OF THE LAW AS READ IN THE SYNAGOGUE WORSHIP

The almost universal diffusion of the Scriptures into the languages and dialects of the earth at the present time, represents the work of special Protestant organizations called Bible societies. In this great work England has led. The first English Bible society was formed in 1780, having for its purpose the distribution of Bibles among soldiers and sailors. It is still in existence, and is known as the Naval and Military Bible Society. In 1792 an association was formed in London to promote Bible distribution among the French. In 1802 the first steps were taken in the formation of the British and Foreign Bible Society, which is the parent of a multitude of like organizations now in the field. To-day between five thousand and six thousand branch and auxiliary societies are at work in Great Britain and her colonies. About one hundred and ninety translations of the whole or portions of the Bible, prepared mostly by missionaries, have been printed at the expense of this society. Its annual issue of Bibles is about three million. Next to the British and Foreign Bible Society in the magnitude of its operations is the American Bible Society, founded in New York in 1816. This association has about seven thousand auxiliary societies, in all parts of the United States. It issues annually one million or more Bibles, New Testaments, and other portions of the Scriptures. Numerous Bible societies also exist in Germany, and there are some Protestant societies in Russia; but the Greek Church, like the Roman Catholic, does not favor the circulation of the Bible among the people.

Thus has the providence of God prepared the way for the knowledge of His will and the revelation of His coming and kingdom to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people on the earth, in these last days.

AN EXTRACT FROM THE GENEV A BIBLE
(Gal. 1:1–5) A. D. 1560 — AN EXTRACT FROM THE GENEV A BIBLE (Gal. 1:1–5) A. D. 1560

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