Coming To A Pride Parade Near You

What is being shown to your children? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Parents. If you have children, please watch this video, but also make sure the children are not around. (Assuming they are underage.) Even if you don’t care for TimCast, this is a video of what is happening at a pride parade and at a school. All parents need to watch this.

I wish this was an isolated event, but I doubt it is. Remember Ron DeSantis said that there couldn’t be a parade in Florida if it would involve material not fit for children. They decided to just not have the parade. What is going on at these events that this needs to be shown?

Years ago when the Obergefell case came down, the case that decided to redefine marriage to include two people of the same sex, I remember all the memes going around. “All this means is that gays will get married. Nothing more.” Those of us like myself who are conservative Christians knew better.

We were right. The first step that came after the ruling was the normalization of transgenderism and now you have kids having their bodies mutilated and healthy body parts removed. These decisions are largely irreversible. These children will never be able to have children and many will never truly experience sexual pleasure.

Now also you have men dominating in women’s sports and in any other event meant for women. Men are getting access to prisons for women and to their locker rooms and everything else. You can be sued at times for “misgendering” someone.

Not only this, but in this video, take a look at what is happening in the schools. Children are being told Happy Pride Day and celebrating running under a rainbow. Do children even know what this is? Children at the age in the video?

Parents. You should want your children coming home and asking you questions about math, literature, science, history, etc. Do you really want them coming home and asking “Mom? Dad? What does Pride Day celebrate?”

Homeschool them now or get them in good private education where this is not being taught.

When you homeschool them also, make sure you teach them at age-appropriate levels about proper sexuality from a Christian worldview. You also need more than just “The Bible says so.” You need a whole worldview to explain why this is wrong. This is not to disparage the Bible, but you need to see how it applies to all of life.

After all, if you don’t educate your children, someone else will. Even if they’re homeschooled, they will have friends, they will have internet, they will have media of some kind. You can’t isolate them from the world nor should you. In a military situation, the troops are trained before they go out into the battlefield, but it is with the understanding they will see battle. Do the same for your children. They will see battle.

Keep in mind, this does not mean that individuals in the LGBT community are our enemies. It does mean the ideology is. I suspect there are some in that community who don’t want to see this done to children as well.

I also am concerned about so many Christians who seem to hide under the rubric of love. “Well, they love each other, so what’s the big deal?” Or “Why do you hate homosexuals?” Disagreeing with someone does not mean hate. As for love, these people believe more what the world says about love than what they do Jesus and the Scriptures say about love.

Love does not mean you affirm everything someone believes about themselves. It also means you call them out if they are doing something harmful. It is love when a family stages an intervention for someone who is messing up their lives. It is love to let someone have it if need be when they are doing the same.

They also don’t understand the concept of marriage. If you think there is no essential difference between two members of the opposite sex and two members of the same sex joining together, then you do not see marriage as being about building up the next generation and the continuing of the human species and the nuclear family. It is at that point simply a glorified friendship.

Churches. On you then, we have to start teaching people this kind of material. We have too many sermons that are really about how to make it through your life with your problems. There is very little about Jesus. It is all application and sermons that are just application will not make a difference.

If this means having extra classes, great. This would actually be a great way. Start having classes that are not just marriage enrichment, but about what marriage is. Start really having teaching about sex in the church that will even explore why couples should not live together or have sex before marriage that will go beyond “The Bible says so.” Our young people today especially need to understand not just what the Bible says but why it says what it says.

Parents. You are in a war, and yes, they are coming for your children. If these people are willing to kill their own children in abortion and sterilize them in transgender surgeries, then the children will have to come from somewhere. Oh, if you think the idea of coming for your children sounds extreme, well….

The people that put this up took it down. They claimed it was just satire. Color me skeptical.

Folks. We are in a war. We are fighting for the next generation. At the start, they are defenseless and we must protect them.

Do so.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(I Affirm the virgin birth)

Thoughts On Anthony Bass

How will we stand when persecution comes? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I was just watching a video from TimCast where the conversation was Anthony Bass. Bass is a baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays who posted something in support of the Target boycott. Hardly a day had passed and he was apologizing for it and said he was going to use Blue Jays resources to reeducate himself.

We all know what that entails.

Now when I use the word persecution, I am going to say that no, this is not like where it is in Muslim and Communist countries where you can be killed for being a Christian. However, this is a step in that direction. If the mind virus cannot be eliminated, before too long expect them to say the person must be eliminated.

Tim Pool who hosts the program is not a Christian. Seamus Coughlin who was on this episode is a devout Catholic Christian. This led to a back and forth going on and something I will say I respect is that this could have easily been a chance for non-Christians to rag on Christians. It didn’t happen. Instead, it was said that those people weren’t really walking the walk.

Tim is confident that Bass isn’t a Christian. Why would you sell out your faith so quickly? Does this really look like someone who knows they will be judged by God one day? I’m not going to be one to be so quick to say Bass isn’t a Christian or not. I’d also say all of us who are Christians can easily lose sight of the fact that we will be judged by God one day.

Do I disagree with what Bass did? 100%. If at the end he came out of this and was no longer a Christian and was waving around pride flags, I would not be surprised. I hope that doesn’t happen, but that’s what I think will.

Yet at the same time, I am hesitant in how I handle such scenarios because many of us can talk the talk when all we have to do is talk. Picture Peter who said to Jesus “Even if everyone betrays you, I never will! I’m ready to die for you!”

And yet for him, within 24 hours, what was he saying? “Jesus? Never heard of Him.” Peter himself caved. I’m not going to go and claim I would do better. I would hope that if push came to shove, I would, but I think boasting beforehand can only lead to more trouble.

But this is a reminder that we all need to live differently as Christians. Things are getting harder for us than they have before. If you do not bow the knee often to the Pride ideology going on now, then you are the ones who are ready to be thrown to the proverbial lions.

Bass is going to reeducate himself. The problem is many of our Christians aren’t going to be reeducated, but that they were never educated to begin with. I don’t mind a school education or college or university. I mean they have never been seriously educated in Christianity and what we believe.

This is especially so for children and if we don’t educate our children, well, somebody will.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Book Plunge: Obscure Mormon Doctrine

What do I think of Chris Jensen’s book? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I’m actually going to be recommending a Mormon book to you. It’s not a book about something unrelated that just happens to be by a Mormon. It is a book by a Mormon talking about Mormonism and not even speaking opposed to Mormonism.

I found Obscure Mormon Doctrine when browsing for material on Eternal Progression. I looked at the reviews and I saw one person saying “I’m afraid you’ve written something that will very easily be used against us.” That was good enough for me. It didn’t cost a lot so I picked it up immediately.

Indeed, I think that was correct. Jensen goes through forty different subjects and not only does he explain them, he gives references to them. These are often times obscure doctrines. It was quite helpful when I had Mormons visiting me when I gave them from their own sources thinks to Jensen’s book exactly where Mormons say that the virgin birth (Which I do affirm) of Jesus was not a miracle as it is for us, but rather God the Father naturally having sex with Mary.

Also extremely helpful will be the chapter on Mormonism and race. The Mormon Church had a big problem that still hangs over their heads in the past with the way they treated the black community. The curse of Cain and the curse of the Lamanites was black skin for each. For a long time, black people were not allowed to hold the priesthood in Mormon circles.

Now that has changed, but it was not immediately after the Civil Rights Act. That change didn’t happen until 1978. Fortunately, Jensen gives the information on where this was said. It’s all very easy to find.

Naturally, there’s something on polygamy as well. Again, it seems convenient that what was supposed to be an eternal principle was changed the moment the government started to come in. By the way, pro tip for anyone. If you’re following someone who claims to be a prophet and the prophet gets information directly from God about his sex life that is directly beneficial to said prophet, you might want to reconsider your allegiance.

Another surprising chapter for me to find was the chapter on the temples. Not only does he talk about the temples, he actually goes into great detail describing the rituals that can take place in the temple. As if that wasn’t astounding enough, there is open admission that these come from the Masonic rituals to which Joseph Smith just thought that they had remnants still of the true religion to some extent in them. All of this is impressive to read in a Mormon book.

So if you’re interested in doing evangelism to Mormons, I really encourage you to pick up this book immediately. All the chapters are short and you can go right to the one that you need and every claim that you want to check on is referenced. I highly anticipate this becoming a new sourcebook for Christians dealing with Mormons.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Book Plunge: The Big Bang Theory

What do I think of Jessica Radloff’s book? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I read a number of books just for the fun of it and this is one of those. If you’re here to learn about the scientific theory, you’re going to be disappointed. This is about the making of the TV show and its 12-season run.

I had some friends introduce me to this show and I immediately enjoyed it. If I enjoy something, I want to learn more about it. I have read books about a number of shows, especially Smallville, and I saw this one on sale and decided to check it out.

Let’s say something at the start. If someone thought this was a show to make fun of nerds, you’re wrong. That was definitely not the intent. One can say it’s poking fun at our community, or rather communities, but we’re also a strange group. What do you expect?

Yet something amazing did happen because of this. At the first Comic-Con where the cast and crew showed up at, they had fans staying out overnight to interact with them. The fans felt represented. Finally, someone was paying attention to them.

Let’s definitely not forget about Sheldon in all of this, the main character and while it was never stated on the show, Peter Roth who was behind the scenes in the book says that Sheldon is definitely on the spectrum. I wasn’t surprised to read this. As one on there myself, I can understand a lot of things he does, even if some of them drive me crazy as well.

However, on a deeper point we Christians need to learn, the show also spoke to a deeper issue. Loneliness. A lot of us struggle with it. Sure, I can come home and have a lot of fun things to do here and a lot of research, but there is a lot of loneliness. How many of us really know our neighbors at all? Most people get off work, come home, and stay in their homes. Nerds tend to be more introverted and we can do that, but we also need fellowship.

There was also in the book the discussion that some jokes were made then that you couldn’t make today because of the political climate. I consider this a shame as I think one should be able to make jokes about anything. Does that include my Christianity? Yes. I support your freedom to do that. I don’t have to like it. I can even think some jokes are wrong, but I want you to state what you honestly think.

One of the great ways to learn about who is in control in a society is to learn who you can laugh at and who you can’t. If you are not allowed to make jokes about a certain group, they are the group in power that does not allow criticism. You can also count on them to be a dangerous group the more power they get. I do plan on writing a later blog on humor so expect this soon.

As a big Bob Newhart fan, I liked reading about his appearance on the show. Much of the audience watching would likely be younger people, so would they know him? As soon as he showed up, the audience went wild. Everything was put on hold for two minutes because they were so excited.

I also enjoyed a story about Johnny Galecki where he was riding a mountain bike he’d been given in an area called the Lagoon at the Warner Brothers parking lot. The staff constantly told him to wear a helmet or he would get hurt. They went to Chuck Lorre, the producer and he said “He’s a thirty-something man! I can’t tell him what to do!” When they left, he picked up his phone and called WB and told them to fill the lagoon. The next day when Galecki showed up, the lagoon was filled and he said “This guy knows how to play.”

However, you also get some realities we Christians need to be aware of. Actors are often comparing themselves to other actors just as much as we compare ourselves to others. Impostor syndrome is very real. Hollywood glamourizes the rich and famous as it were, but they bleed just like anyone else. If anything, perhaps in some ways more so since they don’t get as much privacy and it can be harder to share since your life can be under a microscope.

Consider this statement from Kunal Nayyar who plays Raj, which is the last main statement in the book:

Because as much as someone thinks fame is some really glamorous, fulfilling thing… fame is a very, very lonely experience. It just is. And social media makes it seem otherwise. But ultimately, it’s just an acceptance and a true surrender to realize ultimately you are just alone. Like, when it comes down to it, there’s only two or three people.

I understand wanting to get likes on social media and things like that. We all appreciate that, but that’s also not the real world. Fame is lonely. We have a number of people who are giving everything they can just to get likes on Social Media. (Dylan Mulvaney anyone?) In the end, you will still be alone. Those people aren’t really invested in you.

And friends, people in Hollywood need Jesus just like you and I do. They have the exact same needs. They want to be loved for who they are and not just as a character on a show or an actor. Yes, I know we condemn Hollywood a lot, but we should also pray for them. If God sent Jonah to Nineveh for His love for them, can we imagine He has any less love for the people of Hollywood?

Well, if you like this series, you’ll get some fun material out of this one. I appreciated the story, but I also appreciated about learning what goes on in the making of a TV show and all the discussion that takes place. I also appreciated the inside look at the lives of these people who really, as it must be emphasized, are more like us than unlike us.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

 

 

 

Book Plunge: Play More Games

What do I think of Matt Larson and Mark Krupa’s book? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

For those following me on YouTube, there have been some difficulties, but I have not given up Gaming Theologian at all. I’m still doing a lot of the research, which includes this book. I saw it during Amazon browsing and kept waiting for the Kindle price to drop some, but no. I went on and got it. It’s not wildly expensive, but I was still going through another book at the time so there was no rush.

But I did get it and I found myself enjoying the book. Most of the chapters are really short and can be read one at a time. The author is an avid gamer himself who has three boys who are also gamers. The whole family is Christian.

I don’t understand the title as there’s really no reason given to play more games. It’s more like understanding game playing. Why do people play games? How should parents handle matters? How should grandparents? What do kids want their parents to know?

Yes. That last one comes up. There are chapters where the sons are interviewed and give their answers to questions about gaming. These are definitely chapters parents need to read.

There was even a chapter interviewing the grandmother about her grandson’s interest. Nothing was left unturned. This shows not only an outsider perspective, but it also demonstrates the importance of family in all of this.

One of my favorite looks was finding couples who game together. Ah. The dream. Whenever I hear about couples like this, it gives me a little bit of hope again. It would be great to find a devout Christian girl who loves to play her games as well.

One of the most important parts though is a look at life in the Czech Republic. Here, one of the authors comes as a missionary and works with the people there and gaming has been an inroads to help with the church. For those who don’t know, gaming is a very close-knit community. I don’t know much about GamerGate, but from what I have heard, the gamers all came and worked together to accomplish goals regardless of political or religious views.

As the missionary sought to set up a community and used gaming events to do so, non-Christians would come and help out and explain the best ways to bring about such an event. If you’re wondering, yes, there were non-Christians who came to Christ through the love of a Christian gaming community. Right now, I am trying to do what I can here on my own campus to help us reach gamers in the area.

This book is a very enjoyable read and like I said, it’s short. You will also laugh at several times, particularly a chapter that I loved the opening where Larson talks about the things his children say when they are watching him gaming, and he’s not doing well at all. If you want to understand the world of gaming and how it works with Christianity, try this one out.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Scripture as Food?

What do I think of Micah Chung’s approach to Scripture? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

“He did his dissertation on a theology of food.”

So said my boss at the seminary post office to me about Micah Chung and his dissertation. At first, I wasn’t really interested. Being on the spectrum, often for me food can be a necessary evil. I hate going to social gatherings that involve food. So far I’ve gone to three crawfish events here in the area and I’ve been miserable at all of them.

Then one day, Micah came to the post office and after some chatting, I found myself intrigued and I asked him to send me his dissertation if he was fine with that. He was. Now a dissertation is normally around 200 pages long, but I still managed to finish it in a week’s time or so, a little bit less actually. I normally try to read a chapter a day of these works. This had only four chapters, but I had to split the third one into two days.

As it starts, for awhile, you wonder if you’re really reading something about food. Instead, you’re talking about models of Scripture. What this means is you come to the Scripture and you treat it a certain way that is metaphorical. This does not mean the content is metaphorical.

One major way of understanding Scripture is as light. This is easy to understand why. Scripture is light in the Psalms when it says that His word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. We see Scripture as a light removing the darkness from our eyes so we can see Christ clearly.

Yet as Chung goes through his dissertation, he gets to the idea of treating Scripture as food. He says this is more powerful than light in the sense that even a blind person can read Scripture and yet not understand light. However, blind people do have to eat. Everyone does. Without food, all of us will die.

Food also includes intimacy in it. You take something in and it becomes a part of you. There’s also trust. We buy our food at the grocery store and don’t even think about it. Maybe someone poisoned it. As I write this, I think about an episode of Monk that did involve someone wanting to kill his wife by poisoning a favorite treat of hers and made sure to poison other treats of the same kind so no one would think she was targeted. Is that likely to happen to you? No, but the thing is we don’t even think about the hypothetical. (Keep in mind, this is how Muhammad died.)

We also have to consume food regularly and in the same way, Christians need to consume Scripture regularly. Scripture needs to be digested and ruminated and thought about in order to live a strong Christian life. Then someone needs to not just take in sustenance, but put it to use, such as living a Christian life.

Of course, there are parts where the parallel breaks down as no model will ever be perfect. If you take in Scripture and don’t do anything with it, I don’t think you will suffer anything like obesity. This is one point where I think the model needs some tweaking. After all, have we ever heard of someone taking in too much Scripture? On the other hand, we all know about people who take in too much food.

I also found myself wondering about what we call junk food. If Scripture is our food, is there anything that does constitute junk food? On the other hand, if something is normally considered junk food, such as say atheist writings attacking Christianity or material from cults, could there be cases where it has a benefit? As an apologist, I think it beneficial that I do read such material. Do note please that Chung nowhere says these are junk food, but I am speculating about if they are.

I also wonder where other books fit in. It has been said that the man of the book will be a man of many books. Where do other writings fit in, including Chung’s own dissertation? Are these supplements? Would these be garnishes that add flavor to the text?

Overall, I think the theory is highly convincing, but I do still have some questions, which is good. It would be a problem to read a dissertation and not have questions as every dissertation needs further research still. I look forward to hearing what others have to say about Chung’s work.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Some People Don’t Come Home

What should we remember on Memorial Day? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

Maybe it’s to my advantage here that I just don’t care for barbeques. It could be without that, I don’t get caught up in seeing Memorial Day as a day off. It is for me as I work at the campus post office and my boss told me to come in another day this week since the mail would be practically non-existent today.

However, even knowing that, I didn’t make any particular plans today. I don’t know what is open on campus and what isn’t right now. I have yet to go outside of the apartment today, but I will be soon. I make it a point to get out at least a little bit every day.

I do know that a lot of you will be having barbeques today, but please remember about celebrations. Celebrations are to celebrate something. It does seem odd to think of a day like this as a celebration day even as I write this. We have people who have died today. Why are we celebrating?

But don’t we do the same thing at funerals? I have only officiated at one funeral in my life and it was my grandmother’s. I remember that at the end, I became the M.C. of the night as we all stood one by one and told stories about my grandmother. Were we all sad in one sense? Of course! But yet we laughed as well and smiled as we remembered her life. These ceremonies are even referred to as a celebration of life.

That should be what today is. Today, we remember that some people did make the ultimate sacrifice. Some husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers never came home. Some wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters never came home. We remember them today. Their loved ones remember them every day.

It would be a shame for people to celebrate today and yet never once think about those people. Here’s an idea for you. If you know someone who has lost a loved one, invite them to your event today if you have one. Let it be a celebration of that loved one and an appreciation for their sacrifice. If the guest is fine with it, perhaps they should give a talk about their loved one and what they meant to them and how faithfully they served.

At the same time, make sure you are kind to those who have lost loved ones. The fact some people mourn does not mean no one should celebrate. I mourn still that I am divorced, but that does not mean I do not want people to enjoy marriage. If anything, I want them to enjoy it all the more. Of course, it would be quite unkind to seriously come up to me with the intention of telling me how great marriage is not to say that it is, but to remind me that I don’t have marriage anymore.

To those who lost loved ones today, we appreciate the sacrifice they made for our country. May we never lose sight that that freedom they fought for must always be defended lest it be lost again. By upholding true freedom today, we can still honor the sacrifice that these people made.

Happy Memorial Day!

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

 

Are Boycotts Finally Working?

Are we finally seeing boycotts start to work? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I don’t drink alcohol, but I remember seeing about the Dylan Mulvaney can of Bud Light and how some people thought it was a joke because it was April 1st.

Nope. It was real.

However, I was extremely surprised with what happened after and I have been watching the news. The stock keeps dropping more and more and the company wants to do everything but apologize. However, because they didn’t just jump up and defend Mulvaney immediately, now the LGBTQ+GBJAHVHAKJOTVAH group has gone against them as well.

That was interesting enough.

Yet now another company has joined the fray, that one being Target. Now because they had pride material upfront in their stores and some it for children, a lot of parents have decided that that’s too far. We are waiting to see if Adidas and The North Face will go the same way.

What’s going on that caused these to be different?

Bud Light I think is because frankly, Mulvaney is annoying to a lot of people. They want nothing to do with him and the last thing your average male beer drinker wants is to be seen as a woman or as gay. This has led to Bud Light being seen as a joke and now, people are learning that if you make fun of Bud Light in a meme or a video, you get noticed on the internet.

In this, conservatives start to see the impact they can have when they speak out. Around this time also, we see a push by women against the transgenderism movement, especially with someone like Riley Gaines. Women are tired of men entering their events and dominating them and getting all the rewards for it.

Then Target comes along and not only do they have Pride material, but it seems to go toward children. There are a lot of parents that don’t want that pushed on their children. Now that Bud Light has done their thing, conservatives are starting to realize that they do have power now. Thus far, Target at the time of my writing this has lost $9 billion in sales.

Add in to all of this that the Super Mario Brothers movie is a smash hit. Meanwhile, Disney movies that are going woke are indeed, going broke. Mario’s great advantage was avoiding anything political.

All of this has honestly brought me a lot of hope. I want to see the tide turn in our country. Too many times now, we’ve just bent over and let the LGBTQGUAGHIAGUV group have their way with us. We have been following the idea of live and let live, but our opponents didn’t want that. Every step forward was then a stepping stone to the next one and the last grounds that parents would not tolerate was their children.

For those of us who are Christians, I really hope we keep this coming. This is prime ground for sharing the gospel. Christianity has a view on everything, including on sex and marriage, and now is a time for us to learn how to make it definitely.

In the meantime, I wasn’t shopping at Target anyway, but now I’m definitely not going to. For those of us who want to reclaim our country, we could be on the verge of starting to do that. If we want to save our country, repentance is needed. It’s not just the world. We Christians need to repent as well for not stepping up and maintaining our Christian focus.

May the gospel shine in this time.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Spiritual Deception in the Highest 21.2

What about a unitarian? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

So before I wrote this one, I wanted to speak to someone who knew more about this than I do since my searches hadn’t found anything. I spoke to Dr. Warren on campus here who runs our center for New Testament manuscripts. His thoughts were mine. The new translation committee did have a Unitarian, but God uses flawed instruments. I was also told the KJV scholars weren’t all the salt of the Earth either. So as always, the source material can be found here.

“When the company of New Testament revisers (for the Revised Version) were ready to begin their work, a communion service was held in Westminster Abbey. A Unitarian member of the committee partook along with the others. There was serious criticism of this … The upper house of the Convocation of Canterbury passed a resolution that NO person who denied the deity of Christ should take part in the work” [S2P156].

“Westcott expressed his loyalty to apostasy when he threatened to quit if the Convocation were successful in ejecting Smith [the Unitarian] from the Committee. ‘I never felt more clear as to my duty. If the Company accepts the dictation of the Convocation, my work must end. I see no escape from the conclusion'” [S1P165].

Westcott and Hort found an ally for their plan to abolish the Traditional Majority Text, when Dr. Vance Smith, a Christ denying, Unitarian preacher, was seated on the committee.

The language of the last paragraph is problematic as one gets the impression of Westcott and Hort as wicked schemers making a devilish plan to destroy the KJV. Hardly. There is no sense here that Westcott endorsed the beliefs of Smith, but he could have endorsed the credentials and ability.

As to the Unitarian, Dr. Hort said: “It is, I think, difficult to measure the weight of the acceptance won before the hand for the Revision by the single fact of our welcoming a Unitarian” [S1P165].

What were some of Dr. Smith’s beliefs? Dr. Smith called the belief in Christ’s 2nd coming ‘erroneous’. He said:

“This idea of the Second Coming ought now to be passed by as a merely TEMPORARY incident of early Christian belief. Like many another ERROR, it has answered its TRANSITORY PURPOSE in the providential plan, and may well, at length, be left to rest in peace” [S1P165].

Which is all really poisoning the well. It’s interesting that Johnson didn’t spend any time telling us anything about the members of the KJV team. What problems did they have?

Dr. Vance Smith was NOT the only problem within the translation committee. The following quote summarizes the members in general:

“The reputations of the committee members were so tainted that Queen Elizabeth and her chaplain … refused to give it official sanction … Half the Church of England declined involvement, as did the American branch …” [S3P435]. Also: “Others … left after seeing the SINISTER character of the ‘New’ Greek text” [S3P435].

There are so many ellipses and I question a primary source using the idea of sinister and putting it in caps. I remain skeptical of the context of the quote until Johnson can go to primary sources and give it.

When comparing the scholars of his day to those of the King James committee: Bishop Ellicott, the CHAIRMAN of the Revised Version Committee, said:

“We have certainly NOT YET ACQUIRED sufficient critical judgment for any Body of Revisors to undertake such a work as this” [S3P435].

(Please note: “Advocates of modern versions assume that they are the product of scholarship far superior to that of the translators of the King James Version of 1611, but this assumption is not supported by the facts” [S2P13]).

Which is shown by looking at just one translation and not considering all we have learned about text since then and the Greek and Hebrew language.

It was said that Bishop Ellicott was the committee chairman. Actually, the FIRST chairman was Bishop Wilberforce. One meeting, was enough for him. He wrote to a friend: “What can be done in this most miserable business?” [S2P291] “Unable to bear the situation, he absented himself and never took part in the proceedings … One factor had disturbed him considerably – the presence of Dr. G. Vance Smith, the Unitarian …” [S2P291].

I understand some people having concerns, but I don’t. God used Judas to fulfill His plan. Ultimately, aside from Jesus, God has to use flawed instruments in this way. That’s all that there is.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)

Book Plunge: Rembrandt is in the Wind

What do I think of Russ Ramsey’s book? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

I’m not much of an art guy. I just don’t see it in a lot of art. There have been exceptions. I use to go see a pastoral counselor at a Baptist church and I would sometimes get there early since I came from somewhere else and would go to a room to pray and there was a beautiful stained-glass picture of Jesus gently knocking on a door, no doubt based on Revelation 3. I really loved looking at this one and would love to find it again.

Ramsey is getting me to consider giving more paintings a second chance. He does this by introducing us to the artists and telling us about their positions. No. Not all of them are Christians. Still, all of them did produce art and that art is remembered today. Some I had heard of. Some I had not.

However, this book is about art and artists secondarily. It is primarily about beauty. As the author tells us, that means it is about brokenness as well.

Recently, I went to a beach with some friends and as I looked at the ocean, I thought about beauty. The ocean is a place of beauty, but it is also a place of destruction as well. How many lives have been claimed by the ocean? How many lives have been claimed by creatures in the ocean?

Beauty draws us in, but beauty is also extremely destructive. I am highly considering that everything in the world that has beauty also destroys as well. Some of you might think “Seriously? What about a newborn baby?! What does a baby destroy!”

Oh, nothing much but the couple’s regular lives together as they normally spend at least the next eighteen years caring for the child and perhaps more. Note this is not always a bad destruction, but it is a destruction. What I know about people who have babies is the constant message that life is never the same after.

And of course, God is the most beautiful of all, and if you do not think God is destructive, you have not met God. When God comes into your life, He does destroy it. He does break you, but only to put you back together better than you were before.

In all these artists, there is going to be some brokenness. Some of these artists lead tragic lives. Consider Vincent Van Gogh who is said to have shot himself in the abdomen. Ramsey does say some scholarship considers that he might have been shot by hooligans, but Van Gogh was in many ways a broken man.

The first artist considered is Michaelangelo. In him, you see a figure who took a slab of stone that everyone considered useless, and from that, produced the David. It is one of the natures of art to take what has no semblance and put it together to give it beauty. The first person in Scripture said to have the Holy Spirit was an artist.

If Michaelangelo lived a devout life, the same cannot be said of Caravaggio who was on the run from the law constantly and was wanted for murder and other crimes. Still, he had to paint biblical scenes because the church was in charge. The key to being a great artist is to go through the church, yet even in paintings of the profane, which would refer to the common, beauty shines through.

I found the chapter on Rembrandt disappointing. It’s not because of Rembrandt, but because so much of it was devoted to the stealing of paintings by Rembrandt. I found this a shame since Rembrandt was known as the master even in his time and was thoroughly devout, and yet I don’t remember learning a lot about his life.

Vermeer was the next artist and here you see how Vermeer had to work with the people of his day. No artist painted in an island. It’s quite likely Vermeer had a friend who developed lenses who he worked with.

The fascinating thing about Bazille was about how there was a group likely dismissed by the rest of the artists of the time working together called impressionists. Monet and Manet and others all worked together. It’s interesting that I suspect we know few of the names that rejected them, but we sure know their names today.

While Tanner was interesting, the disappointment was that Ramsey said he wanted more than just white men. I really don’t want to have an artist picked as say a token black artist. Give an artist a spot because the artist is good. The race of the artist doesn’t matter.

Van Gogh is one of the most well-known today and is indeed a tragic figure. It could be that he was painting perhaps three canvases a week somehow. He longed for recognition in his life. It could be tempting to look down on that, but do not many of us want the same? Don’t we want to be known and loved for who we are?

Edward Hopper was someone I hadn’t heard of either, but it was interesting how he painted his wife in so many pictures, and yet their marriage seemed to be chaos. I saw nothing that said he cheated on her, but he was willing to cast her to the side for his own career and she was often willing to be cast aside. However, it looks like as he got further and further long in life, he came to realize how much he needed her.

Lilias Trotter at the end was a strange choice. I wondered if Ramsey was wanting to get a woman in and yet if that was the case, why not someone like Mary Cassatt? Trotter apparently had a lot of artistic skill and was a prodigy of sorts, but chose to focus on ministry and go to Algeria and serve. I am not knocking that, but it seems odd to have a book about artists and yet end with a lady who set aside the dream of being a great artist.

At any rate, the author’s goal was to get us to learn to appreciate beauty more, and he succeeded with me at least. I think I will try to take a deeper look the next time I see some paintings. Also worthwhile is Ramsey gives tips on how to go to an art museum and appreciate the art more.

Check it out and see if you do the same.

In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)