Has the Bible Been Transmitted To Us Accurately? by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=5732

Has the Bible Been Transmitted To Us Accurately?

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

[Editor’s Note: This article is taken from Appendix 1 of the author’s book The Quran Unveiled.]

The science of textual criticism is a field of inquiry that has been invaluable in ascertaining the original reading of the New Testament text. Textual criticism involves “the ascertainment of the true form of a literary work, as originally composed and written down by its author.”¹ The fact that the original autographs do not exist,² and that only copies of copies of copies of the original documents have survived, has led some falsely to conclude that the original reading of the New Testament documents cannot be determined. For example, Mormons frequently attempt to establish the superiority of the Book of Mormon over the Bible by insisting that the Bible has been corrupted through the centuries in the process of translation (a contention shared by Islam in its attempt to explain the Bible’s frequent contradiction of the Quran). However, a venture into the fascinating world of textual criticism dispels this premature and uninformed conclusion.

The task of textual critics—those who study the extant manuscript evidence that attests to the text of the New Testament—is to examine textual variants (i.e., conflicting readings between manuscripts involving a word, verse, or verses) in an effort to reconstruct the original reading of the text. What has this field of inquiry concluded with regard to the integrity and genuineness of the Bible?

IS THE OLD TESTAMENT STILL RELIABLE?³

If there are scribal errors in today’s manuscript copies of the Old Testament, many wonder how we can be certain the text of the Bible was transmitted faithfully across the centuries. Is it not possible that it was corrupted so that its form in our present Bible is drastically different from the original source?

The accuracy of the Old Testament text was demonstrated forcefully by the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls. Prior to 1947, the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of significant length did not date earlier than the ninth century A.D. However, when the Dead Sea scrolls were found (containing portions of all Old Testament books except Esther), this discovery pushed the record of the Old Testament text back almost 1,000 years. These copies were produced sometime between 200 B.C. and A.D. 100. One scroll found in the Qumran caves was of particular importance. It was a scroll of the book of Isaiah, which had only a few words missing. What was amazing about this scroll is that when it was compared to the text of Isaiah produced 900 years after it, the two matched almost word for word, with only a few small variations. In commenting on this comparative reading of the two texts, A.W. Adams observed:

The close agreement of the second Isaiah Scroll from the Dead Sea with the manuscripts of the ninth and tenth centuries shows how carefully the text tradition which they represent has been preserved…. We may therefore be satisfied that the text of our Old Testament has been handed down in one line without serious change since the beginning of the Christian era and even before.⁴

Amazingly, a comparison of the standard Hebrew texts with that of the Dead Sea scrolls has revealed that the two are virtually identical. The variations (about 5%) occurred only in minor spelling differences and minute copyists’ mistakes. Thus, as Rene Paché noted: “Since it can be demonstrated that the text of the Old Testament was accurately transmitted for the last 2,000 years, one may reasonably suppose that it had been so transmitted from the beginning.”⁵

Even within the various passages of Scripture, numerous references to copies of the written Word of God can be found. A copy of the “book of the law” was discovered in the Temple during the days of King Josiah (c. 621 B.C.), thus demonstrating that Moses’ writings had been protected over a span of almost 1,000 years (2 Kings 22). Other Old Testament passages speak of the maintenance of the Holy Writings across the years (Jeremiah 36; Ezra 7:14; Nehemiah 8:1-18).

During Jesus’ personal ministry, He read from a scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth, and called it “Scripture” (Luke 4:16-21)—a technical term employed in the Bible for a divine writing. Jesus endorsed the truth that the Old Testament Scriptures had been preserved faithfully. Even though Jesus read from a copy of Isaiah, He still considered it the Word of God. Hence, Scripture had been preserved faithfully in written form. Furthermore, even though Jesus condemned the scribes of His day for their many sins, never did He even intimate they were unfaithful in their work as scribes. Indeed, Jesus gave approval not only to copies, but even to translations (e.g., the Septuagint) of the Old Testament by reading and quoting from them.

One of the great language scholars of the Old Testament text was Dr. Robert Dick Wilson. A master of over 35 languages, Wilson carefully compared the text of the Old Testament with inscriptions on ancient monuments. As a result of his research, he declared: “We are scientifically certain that we have substantially the same text that was in the possession of Christ and the apostles and, so far as anybody knows, the same as that written by the original composers of the Old Testament documents.”⁶

IS THE NEW TESTAMENT STILL RELIABLE?

What about the integrity of the New Testament? One may say unhesitatingly and confidently that the uncorrupted preservation of the New Testament has been thoroughly established. In evaluating the text of the New Testament, textual critics work with a large body of manuscript evidence, the amount of which is far greater than that available for any ancient classical author.⁷ As of 2018, the number of Greek manuscripts—whole and partial—that attest to the New Testament stands at an unprecedented 5,874.⁸ This figure does not include the other sources of evidence such as the superabundance of patristic citations and ancient versions. The best manuscripts of the New Testament are dated at roughly A.D. 350, with perhaps one of the most important of these being the Codex Vaticanus, “the chief treasure of the Vatican Library in Rome,” and the Codex Sinaiticus, which was purchased by the British from the Soviet Government in 1933.⁹ Additionally, the Chester Beatty papyri, made public in 1931, contain eleven codices (manuscript volumes), three of which contain most of the New Testament (including the Gospel accounts). Two of these codices boast a date in the first half of the third century, while the third is slightly later, being dated in the last half of the same century.¹⁰ The John Rylands Library vaunts even earlier evidence. A papyrus codex containing parts of John 18 dates to the time of Hadrian, who reigned from A.D. 117 to 138.¹¹

Other attestation to the accuracy of the New Testament documents can be found in the writings of the so-called “apostolic fathers”—men who lived from A.D. 100 to 550, and who often quoted from the New Testament documents.¹² Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Tatian, Clement of Rome, and Ignatius (writing before the close of the second century) all provided citations from one or more of the Gospel accounts.¹³ Other witnesses to the authenticity of the New Testament are the Ancient Versions, which consist of the text of the New Testament translated into different languages. The Old Latin and the Old Syriac are the most ancient, being dated from the middle of the second century.¹⁴

The fact is, the New Testament enjoys far more historical documentation than any other volume ever known. Compared to the 5,700⁺ Greek manuscripts authenticating the New Testament, there are only 643 copies of Homer’s Iliad, which is undeniably the most famous book of ancient Greece. No one doubts the text of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars, but we have only 10 copies of it, the earliest of which was made 1,000 years after it was written. We have only two manuscripts of Tacitus’ Histories and Annals, one from the ninth century and one from the eleventh. The History of Thucydides, another well-known ancient work, is dependent upon only eight manuscripts, the oldest of these being dated about A.D. 900 (along with a few papyrus scraps dated at the beginning of the Christian era). And The History of Herodotus finds itself in a similar situation. “Yet no classical scholar would listen to an argument that the authenticity of Herodotus or Thucydides is in doubt because the earliest MSS [manuscripts—DM] of their works which are of any use to us are over 1,300 years later than the originals.”¹⁵ Thus Bruce declared: “It is a curious fact that historians have often been much readier to trust the New Testament records than have many theologians.”¹⁶ Even as far back as 1968, Bruce Metzger, longtime professor of New Testament language and literature at Princeton, stated: “The amount of evidence for the text of the New Testament…is so much greater than that available for any ancient classical author that the necessity of resorting to emendation is reduced to the smallest dimensions.”¹⁷ Truly, to have such abundance of copies for the New Testament from within 70 years of their writing is nothing short of astounding.₁₈

In one sense, the work of the textual critic has been unnecessary, since the vast majority of textual variants involve minor matters that do not affect doctrine as it relates to one’s salvation. Even those variants that might be deemed doctrinally significant pertain to matters that are treated elsewhere in the Bible where the question of authenticity and originality is unobscured. No feature of Christian doctrine is at stake. As Ewert noted: “[V]ariant readings in our manuscripts do not affect any basic teaching of the NT.”¹⁹ Old Testament scholar Gleason Archer wrote in agreement:

In fact, it has long been recognized by the foremost specialists in textual criticism that if any decently attested variant were taken up from the apparatus at the bottom of the page and were substituted for the accepted reading of the standard text, there would in no case be a single, significant alteration in doctrine or message.²⁰

Nevertheless, textual critics have been successful in demonstrating that currently circulating New Testaments do not differ substantially from the original autographs. When all of the textual evidence is considered, the vast majority of discordant readings have been resolved.²¹ One is brought to the firm conviction that we have in our possession the New Testament as God intended.

The world’s foremost textual critics have confirmed this conclusion. Sir Frederic Kenyon, longtime director and principal librarian at the British Museum, whose scholarship and expertise to make pronouncements on textual criticism was second to none, stated: “Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.”²² The late F.F. Bruce, longtime Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism at the University of Manchester, England, remarked: “The variant readings about which any doubt remains among textual critics of the New Testament affect no material question of historic fact or of Christian faith and practice.”²³ J.W. McGarvey, declared by the London Times to be “the ripest Bible scholar on earth,”²⁴ conjoined: “All the authority and value possessed by these books when they were first written belong to them still.”²⁵ And the eminent textual critics Westcott and Hort put the entire matter into perspective when they said:

Since textual criticism has various readings for its subject, and the discrimination of genuine readings from corruptions for its aim, discussions on textual criticism almost inevitably obscure the simple fact that variations are but secondary incidents of a fundamentally single and identical text. In the New Testament in particular it is difficult to escape an exaggerated impression as to the proportion which the words subject to variation bear to the whole text, and also, in most cases, as to their intrinsic importance. It is not superfluous therefore to state explicitly that the great bulk of the words of the New Testament stand out above all discriminative processes of criticism, because they are free from variation, and need only to be transcribed.²⁶

Writing over one hundred years ago in the late 19^th century, and noting that the experience of two centuries of investigation and discussion had been achieved, these scholars concluded: “[T]he words in our opinion still subject to doubt can hardly amount to more than a thousandth part of the whole of the New Testament.”²⁷ This means that 999/1000^th of the text of the New Testament is the same today as when it came from the pens of the inspired writers. The miniscule portion that remains uncertain (1/1000^th) consists of trivial details that have no material effect on matters of faith or doctrine. J.I. Packer, Board of Governors Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, summarized the facts: “[F]aith in the adequacy of the text is confirmed, so far as it can be, by the unanimous verdict of textual scholars that the biblical text is excellently preserved, and no point of doctrine depends on any of the small number of cases in which the true reading remains doubtful.”²⁸ Indeed, again in the words of textual scholar F.F. Bruce: “By the ‘singular care and providence’ of God the Bible text has come down to us in such substantial purity that even the most uncritical edition of the Hebrew or Greek…cannot effectively obscure the real message of the Bible, or neutralize its saving power.”²⁹ Therefore, the charge alleged by Muslims (and Mormons), that the Bible has been corrupted in transmission, is completely false.

THE QURAN COMPARED

Anyone who has taken time to investigate the manuscript evidence that exists for ascertaining the original state of the Bible knows that we have the Bible in its near-original condition—a claim that has not been established for the Quran. The attention given to ascertaining the original state of the Quranic text pales in comparison to that given to the Bible in general, and the New Testament in particular. As John Gilchrist observed:

[T]here is no translation of the Qur’an to compare with translations of the Bible such as the Revised Standard Version or New American Standard Version. These were done by committees of scholars and the result has been a remarkably consistent and accurate rendering of the original. Every well-known translation of the Qur’an has been the work of an individual and, to one degree or another in every case, the value of the final product is tempered by the presence of the author’s own personal convictions and interpretations.³⁰

Of course, unsubstantiated claims are made for the transmission of the Quran: “[A]ll Muslims agree that the Quran is the verbatim revelation of God. They also agree about its text and content; that is, no variant texts are found among any of the schools.”³¹ The fact that Muslims claim unanimity of opinion regarding the purity of the Quranic text does not prove that the Quran has been exempt from the peculiar attribute of textual variation to which all documents from history are subject.

Ironically, the Quran itself offers both implicit and explicit endorsement of the integrity of the biblical text—at least in its condition at the time the Quran arose in the early seventh century:

And believe in that which I reveal, confirming that which ye possess already (of the Scripture), and be not first to disbelieve therein, and part not with My revelations for a trifling price, and keep your duty unto Me. Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth…. Enjoin ye righteousness upon mankind while ye yourselves forget (to practice it)? And ye are readers of the Scripture! Have ye then no sense?…. O Children of Israel! Remember My favour wherewith I favoured you and how I preferred you to (all) creatures (Surah 2:41-42,44,47).³²

Or do they say, “He has forged it”? Say: “Had I forged it, then can you obtain no single (blessing) for me from Allah. He knows best of that whereof you talk (so glibly)! Enough is He for a witness between me and you! And He is Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Say: “I am no bringer of new‑fangled doctrine among the Messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I follow but that which is revealed to me; I am but a Warner open and clear.” Say: “Do you see? If (this teaching) be from Allah, and you reject it, and a witness from among the Children of Israel testifies to its similarity (with earlier scripture), and has believed while you are arrogant, (how unjust you are!). Truly, Allah does not guide a people unjust.” The Unbelievers say of those who believe: “If (this Message) were a good thing, (such men) would not have gone to it first, before us!” And seeing that they do not guide themselves thereby, they will say, “This is an (old,) old falsehood!” And before this, was the Book of Moses as a guide and a mercy: and this Book confirms (it) in the Arabic tongue; to admonish the unjust, and as Glad Tidings to those who do right…. “O our people! We have heard a Book revealed after Moses, confirming what came before it” (Surah 46:8-12,30).³³

Say: “O People of the Book! do you disapprove of us for no other reason than that we believe in Allah, and the revelation that has come to us and that which came before (us), and (perhaps) that most of you are rebellious and disobedient?…. If only they had stood fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There is from among them a party on the right course: but many of them follow a course that is evil. O Messenger! proclaim the (Message) which has been sent to you from your Lord. If you did not, you would not have fulfilled and proclaimed His Mission. And Allah will defend you from men (who mean mischief). For Allah guides not those who reject Faith. Say: “O People of the Book! You have no ground to stand upon unless you stand fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord.” It is the revelation that comes to you from your Lord, that increases in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. But you do not grieve over (these) people without Faith. Those who believe (in the Qur’an), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians,—any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness,—on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve (Surah 5:59,66-69; cf. 2:62).³⁴

And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture (that was) before thee. Verily the Truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers (Surah 10:95).³⁵

These verses from the Quran provide confirmation of Muhammad’s belief in the accuracy of the Law and the Gospel (cf. Surah 87:18-19; 6:155-158). They even appeal to a Jew, contemporary to Muhammad, who verified that the Quran confirmed the Scripture that preceded it. Indeed, the Quran claims to be in unison and harmony with, and complementary to, previous Scripture (the Bible).

The underlying thought in all of these Quranic verses is that the Quran is to be accepted, reverenced, and obeyed every bit as much as the previous Scriptures (i.e., the Bible). These verses are worded in such a way that they assume the legitimacy and acceptability of the Bible. The Quranic criticism directed against Jews (and Christians) is not that they corrupted their Scriptures (cf. Surah 7:169-170). Rather, they are criticized for not concluding that Muhammad and the Quran were the confirmatory sequel to the previous revelations of Jews and Christians. In fact, when the Jews insisted to Muhammad that they had been given sufficient knowledge by means of the Torah—an admission made by the Quran itself [“Again, We gave the Scripture unto Moses, complete for him who would do good, an explanation of all things, a guidance and a mercy, that they might believe in the meeting with their Lord” (Surah 7:155)]—Muhammad responded with a new surah: “[I]f all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea, with seven more seas to help it, (were ink), the words of Allah could not be exhausted” (Surah 31:27).³⁶ If the Quran endorses the integrity of the Bible, and we have in existence manuscripts of the Bible that predate the Quran, then the accuracy and authenticity of the Bible stands vindicated—not only by the voluminous manuscript evidence—but even by the Quran itself.

To repeat: We can know that the Bible has been transmitted accurately through the centuries. The Bible is, in fact, the Word of God.

ENDNOTES

¹ Sir Frederic Kenyon (1951 reprint), Handbook to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), second edition, p. 1.

² Philip Comfort (1990), Early Manuscripts and Modern Translations of the New Testament (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House), p. 4.

³ Portions of this section are drawn from Wayne Jackson (1989), “Was the Old Testament Transmitted Faithfully?” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=105&article=1140.

⁴ Sir Frederic Kenyon (1939), Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode), pp. 69,88.

⁵ Rene Paché (1971), The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), p. 191.

⁶ Robert Dick Wilson (1929), A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament (New York: Harper Brothers), p. 8.

⁷ David Ewert (1983), From Ancient Tablets to Modern Translations (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan), p. 139; Kenyon, 1951, p. 5; B.A. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort (1964 reprint), The New Testament in the Original Greek (New York: MacMillan), p. 565.

⁸ Michael Welte (2019), personal e-mail, September 17, Institute for New Testament Textual Research (Munster, Germany), http://www.uni-muenster.de/NTTextforschung/.

⁹ F.F. Bruce (1960), The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), revised edition, p. 20.

¹⁰ Ibid., p. 21.

¹¹ Ibid., p. 21.

¹² Ibid., p. 22.

¹³ Donald Guthrie (1990), New Testament Introduction (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), p. 24.

¹⁴ Bruce, p. 23.

¹⁵ Bruce, pp. 20-21.

¹⁶ Ibid., p. 19.

¹⁷ Bruce Metzger (1968), The Text of the New Testament (New York, NY: Oxford University Press), p. 86.

¹⁸ Norman Geisler and Ronald Brooks (1990), When Skeptics Ask (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books), pp. 159-160.

¹⁹ p. 145.

²⁰ Gleason Archer (1982), An Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), p. 30, emp. added.

²¹ Metzger, p. 185.

²² Sir Frederic Kenyon (1940), The Bible and Archaeology (New York: Harper), p. 288.

²³ pp. 19-20.

²⁴ Dabney Phillips (1975), Restoration Principles and Personalities (University, AL: Youth In Action), p. 184; L.L. Brigance (1870), “J.W. McGarvey,” in J.W. McGarvey (1962 reprint), A Treatise on the Eldership (Murfreesboro, TN: DeHoff Publications), p. 4.

²⁵ J.W. McGarvey (1956 reprint), Evidences of Christianity (Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate), p. 17.

²⁶ p. 564, emp. added.

²⁷ Ibid., p. 565, emp. added.

²⁸ J.I. Packer (1958), “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 1976 reprint, p. 90, emp. added.

²⁹ As quoted in Packer, pp. 90-91.

³⁰ John Gilchrist (1986), Muhammad and the Religion of Islam, http://answering-islam.org.uk/Gilchrist/Vol1/index.html.

³¹ Seyyed Hossein Nasr (2003), Islam (New York: HarperCollins), p. 8, emp. added.

³² Translation by Mohammed Pickthall (n.d.), The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York: Mentor), emp. added.

³³ Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1934), The Qur’an (Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Quran), ninth edition, emp. added.

³⁴ Ibid., emp. added.

³⁵ Pickthall, emp. added.

³⁶ Cf. Martin Lings (1983), Muhammad (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International), p. 78.

ELECTION IS NOT PRESELECTION BY STEVE FINNELL

http://steve-finnell.blogspot.com/2017/05/election-is-not-preselection-by-steve.html

ELECTION IS NOT PRESELECTION   BY STEVE FINNELL

Calvinism teaches that a select few have been unconditionally elected for salvation, and that all others will spend eternity in hell.

The elect of God are those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. The elect have not been individually preselected, by God, for salvation. All men have a choice to accept Jesus or reject Him.

WHY INDIVIDUAL PRESELECTION IS NOT GOD'S PLAN!

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The gospel is the power for salvation to everyone. Preselection is not the gospel nor would preselection include salvation to everyone who believes. 

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

If you believe in preselection, then you have to believe that God wants the unselected to perish.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.

God's grace is not a preselection process. Grace is the opportunity for all men to be saved.

Hebrews 2:9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that the by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Jesus died for everyone. God did not limit nor preselect the number  for whom Jesus died.

Romans 10:9-17...13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."......17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Faith comes from hearing the gospel preached. Faith does not come because it is imputed to a few preselected individuals.

Acts 17:30-31 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."

Why would God call "all" men to repent, if men do not have free will?

Why will Jesus judge the world if only the preselected will be saved? Why would the preselected have to be concerned about judgment if they are unconditionally saved?

Acts 2:40 ...."Be saved from this perverse generation!"

Peter preached the gospel on the Day of Pentecost. Why would he tell them to be saved if they already had been individually preselected for salvation? They would have had no choice in the matter.

GOD DOES NOT UNCONDITIONALLY PRESELECT INDIVIDUAL MEN FOR SALVATION AND UNCONDITIONALLY SEND ALL OTHERS TO HELL.

God does not force preselected men to BELIEVE (John 3:16)

God does not force preselected men to REPENT (Acts 2:38)

God does not force preselected men to CONFESS (Rom. 10:9)

God does not force preselected men to be BAPTIZED (Acts 2:38)

ELECTION IS NOT PRESELECTION!  

God loves righteousness and justice by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/045-GodLovesRight.html

God loves righteousness and justice

“For the word of the LORD is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (Psalm 33:4, 5).
Righteousness is the trait of being upright and consistently doing what is good. Job, for example, “was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1).
Justice is the enforcement of moral and legal standards and the administration of appropriate discipline or retribution for violations. Discipline strives to improve behavior. Retribution satisfies the just requirement for a fair and adequate penalty.
“The LORD loves justice” (Psalm 37:28).

Love has attendant hate.
“Hate evil, love good” (Amos 5:15). “You who love the LORD, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10).
Of the Messiah it is said: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions” (Psalm 45:6, 7). [Compare with Hebrews 1:9.]

God hates all workers of iniquity.
“For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Psalm 5:4-6).

Evil must be punished.
“The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness” (Psalm 11:5-7).
Because God loves righteousness, His soul hates the wicked. Because He loves justice, He will rain fire on evildoers.
Of course the wicked think this punishment is excessive. In their wickedness, they think evil is not that bad. But evil causes immeasurable harm. Because of this harm, a loving God is obligated to punish evil.

Vengeance and recompense belong to God.
God says, “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense” (Deuteronomy 32:35).
Because God created man with the ability to choose evil or good, evil must be tolerated temporarily. But God will set all things right on judgment day, and there is partial punishment of evil now, both by direct intervention and by governmental justice.
At Christ's return, the wicked will be punished, “Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).
Governments administer God's wrath, “For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:4).
Christians leave vengeance to God: “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. Therefore 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head'” (Romans 12:19, 20).
Because Christians are citizens of a heavenly kingdom (John 18:36; Philippians 3:20) they do not fight or avenge themselves, but defer to the wrath of God. They are ministers, not of wrath, but of reconciliation, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

The wrath of God arises from His love.
God's wrath results from His love for righteousness, for justice and for His children.
Parents understand this. What would your reaction be to someone who molested your child? Absolute indignation, and rightly so.
God's wrath is always earned.

God has destroyed exceedingly wicked people.
Because of His love for righteousness, God limits evil on earth.
God has used catastrophes, such as the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, to administer justice.
First, however, we must discuss a question that applies to all catastrophes. What about the innocent children who died in the flood? God loved them and they will be with Him in heaven, just like the innocent children who died in the tsunami of 2004. Of little children Jesus said, “In heaven their angels always see the face of My Father” (Matthew 18:10) and “Of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). Also safe in the arms of God will be the millions of babies murdered by their mothers through abortion.
The history of the world shows that God is extremely patient with sinners, but the antediluvians were intolerably wicked! “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
There were exceptions. Enoch “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22) and warned of God's judgment: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (Jude 14, 15).
In Noah's time he and his family were the only ones on earth who served the Lord! God “did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5).
Those who perished were evildoers by choice. God also gave them a final chance to repent. By the Spirit, Christ preached to those who were disobedient “when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared” (1 Peter 3:18-20).
During the 100 years it took to build the ark, the wicked had a chance to repent. When a man spent 100 years building a huge boat on dry land people certainly heard about it and also about his reason for doing so. But they refused to repent.
When God warned the Ninevites that their city would be destroyed, they repented “and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).

God uses governments to keep evil in check.
“If you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:4).
Under the Old Testament, God's people had a government that was ordained and led by God (a theocracy). God was the King of Israel (Isaiah 44:6).
God's use of the armies of Israel to wipe out evil nations involved direct commands that were to be obeyed precisely. They were simply instruments of God's wrath. This provides no precedent, because no nations are now directly led by God.
Through the ages, God has used rulers and armies providentially to accomplish His purposes. He used Nebuchadnezzar to punish Israel calling him 'My servant' (Jeremiah 25:8, 9).
God is patient, wanting the wicked to repent: “'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live'” (Ezekiel 33:11). “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
God would not have destroyed Sodom if there were ten righteous people in the city (Genesis 18:32).
But evil can become so extreme that God's love for righteousness and justice mandates immediate intervention.
God promised Abraham that He would give the land of Canaan to his descendents but only after the wickedness of those who lived there was complete. “But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16).
Moses explained to the people, “It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you” (Deuteronomy 9:5).
Sins of these nations included adultery, homosexual practices, sexual intercourse with animals and the sacrifice of infants to Molech (Leviticus 18:20-30; 2 Kings 16:3).
Sacrifices to Molech varied from place to place and over time but descriptions by ancient historians [Cleitarchus (300 BC), Diodorus Siculus (90-30 BC) and Plutarch (100 AD)] can be summarized as follows: the hollow image had a human-like torso with a bull's head. A fire was built in a cavity at the belly. Outstretched arms which became red hot were flat and sloped back so a baby thrown into the arms would roll into the fiery stomach. Sometimes the baby was killed first, sometimes thrown alive into the arms of Molech. In that case drums were beaten and flutes played to cover the screams of the infant. Mothers were not allowed to show any sign of grief.
Such extremely evil practices have at times been punished by God with retribution on earth, but what about eternal retribution?

Justice will be done on judgment day.
God tolerates evil temporarily so man has an opportunity to repent, but because of His love for justice, judgment day will set all things right.
In the letter to the Romans, Paul says that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Romans 1:18). Since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) all stand condemned before God.
Through Christ, God provides an opportunity for salvation. “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9, 10). By dying on the cross Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
Thus, even though God's love for righteousness and justice mandates retribution, His love for humanity (Titus 3:4) moved Him to provide a way of escape that would not violate the just requirement for punishment. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3, 4).
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36).
“The LORD tests the righteous” (Psalm 11:5). How people react to Jesus shows their attitude to God. People who love God will love Jesus. “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed” (1 Corinthians 16:22). “The wrath of God abides on him” who does not believe the Son (John 3:36).
Many claim to be saved although they do not believe Jesus when He says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16) or “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The wrath of God remains on those who claim that baptism is not necessary for salvation because they do not believe Jesus and they do not obey Jesus.
To be saved we must obey the gospel (Romans 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17). The gospel designates faith, repentance, confession and baptism as prerequisites for salvation (Romans 10:10; Acts 2:38).

What have we learned?
God loves righteousness and justice. God hates all workers of iniquity. Because God loves justice, evil must be punished. Vengeance and retribution belong to God. He will rain fire on the wicked.
God is patient and gives people time to repent, but when they become too wicked, His love for righteousness and justice requires immediate intervention. God uses catastrophes and governments to visit wrath on evildoers. Innocent children who die, go to heaven.
The wicked will be punished when Christ returns. Because of sin, we are all under the wrath of God. Only by faith in Christ, who paid the penalty for our sins, can we be saved. God's wrath remains on anyone who does not believe Jesus and obey the gospel. Amen.

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

Confronted with... by Gary Rose

Barney Fife (Don Knox in real life) looks a little nervous, don’t you think? In a way, its a little hard to notice, because he plays such a goofy character on that old “Andy Griffith”show. But, this time he is attending church and its not hard to imagine that he has heard something that is causing concern. The proclaimed word will do that; namely, cause you to consider your ways – and that is often an uncomfortable situation. Here is an example…

Acts 26 ( World English Bible )

[1] Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense.

[2] ”I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you this day concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews, [3] especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

[4] ”Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem; [5] having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. [6] Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, [7] which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa! [8] Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead?

[9] ”I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. [10] This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. [11] Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

[12] ”Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, [13] at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me. [14] When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ [15] ”I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. [16] But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you; [17] delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, [18] to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

[19] ”Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, [20] but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. [21] For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple, and tried to kill me. [22] Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen, [23] how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”

[24] As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!” [25] But he said, “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness. [26] For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner. [27] King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” [28] Agrippa said to Paul, “With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Christian?” [29] Paul said, “I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these bonds.”

The apostle Paul had appealed to Caesar for judgment and while detained, he was brought before king Agrippa. When offered the opportunity to speak, he related to the king his story of conversion and eventually made an appeal to Agrippa himself. Needless, to say, this made Agrippa uncomfortable, because he obviously did not want to convert to Christianity.

Being uncomfortable can be a good thing, even if it does make you look a little nervous. God can change people’s lives; Paul is the best example of this I have ever read about! And that change can be wonderful, if you will just let God get past your “I want to live my own life, my own way” business.

Its time for a change – and I don’t mean changing Barney’s bow-tie, either.