"AS I SEE
IT"
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Volume 4, Number 6, June 2001
["As I See It" is a monthly electronic
magazine compiled and edited by Doug Kutilek. Its purpose is to address
important issues of the day and to draw attention to worthwhile Christian and
other literature in order to aid believers in Jesus Christ, especially pastors,
missionaries and Bible college and seminary students to more effectively study
and teach the Word of God. The editor's perspective is that of an independent
Baptist of fundamentalist theological persuasion.
AISI is sent free to all who request it by writing to the editor at:
DKUTILEK@juno.com. You can be removed from the mailing list at the same address.
All articles are by the editor (unless otherwise noted) and are copyrighted but
may be reproduced for distribution, provided the following conditions are met:
1. articles must be reproduced in unedited, unabridged form; 2. the writer must
be properly credited; and, 3. such reproduction must be for free distribution
only. Permission to distribute in any other form must be secured in writing
beforehand. Permission for reproduction in Christian print periodicals will
generally be given.]
CHARLES WESLEY'S REMARKABLE CONVERSION
Charles Wesley (1707-1788) is the
least well-known of the founding triumvirate of Methodism that included his
older brother John and a fellow Oxford alumnus, George Whitefield. Whitefield
was the evangelist par excellence of the group and the first of the Methodist
field preachers (and he alone labored extensively in both Great Britain and the
American colonies), though both John and Charles were also notable preachers who
each drew crowds in the thousands and sometimes tens of thousands. John was the
administrator and organizer of Methodism, and its chief prose writer (his
collected works fill 8 substantial volumes in one edition). He also preached the
most sermons of the three, no doubt because of his great longevity (Whitefield
died at 56, Charles at 80, while John survived to 88). All three were prolific
journal-keepers, especially in the earlier years of their preaching, and these
personal journals are valuable testimonies to the power of God in the conversion
of sinners.
Before conversion, all three of these great men were part of the Oxford
"Methodists," a group of Oxford students and graduates, originally
organized by Charles, who sought to gain peace with God and earn eternal life by
strict, methodical adherence to rules of conduct, asceticism, and good deeds. Of
course, they found no peace in their strenuous efforts, though their intentions
were utterly sincere.
Though the youngest by several years, Whitefield was converted first, in 1735.
Not long afterward, John and Charles, both ordained by the Church of England,
went to the colony of Georgia, John to be a missionary to the heathen Indians,
and Charles to be private secretary to the governor of the colony, General
Oglethorpe. Their stay in the New World was not long. Charles was felled by a
serious illness and departed Georgia less than a year after arriving. John
stayed only a few months longer, being in despair when he came to realize that
though he had come to convert the heathen, there was no one to convert him!
Back in England, the Wesleys encountered Moravians, a religious sect centered in
Germany. The Wesleys had met some of this persuasion in the American colonies
and were singularly struck by their peace with God in times of great trial and
calm assurance of salvation though they were "ignorant and unlearned
men." The particular individual that was God's instrument to point them
both to salvation by grace was Peter Boehler.
In February, 1738, Charles was laid low by illness and despaired of life. Peter
Boehler visited him on his sick bed on the 24th. Let us read Charles' account:
"At six in the evening, an hour after I had taken my electuary, the
tooth-ache returned more violently than ever. I smoked tobacco [to ease the
pain]; which set me a vomiting, and took away my senses and pain together. At
eleven I waked in extreme pain, which I thought would quickly separate soul and
body. Soon after, Peter Boehler came to my bedside. I asked him to pray for me.
He seemed unwilling at first, but, beginning faintly, he raised his voice by
degrees, and prayed for my recovery with strange confidence. Then he took me by
the hand, and calmly said, 'You will not die now.' I thought within myself, 'I
cannot hold out in this pain till morning. If it abates before, I may recover.'
He asked me, 'Do you hope to be saved?'
'Yes.'
'For what reason do you hope it?'
'Because I have used my best endeavors to serve God.'
He shook his head, and said no more. I thought him very uncharitable, saying in
my heart, 'What, are not my best endeavors sufficient ground of hope? Would you
rob me of my endeavors? I have nothing else to trust to.'"
Charles remained in England due to recurring illnesses, though he had planned to
return to Georgia. In April, 1738, on the 28th, he recorded in his journal:
"In the morning Dr. Cockburn came to see me; and a better physician, Peter
Boehler, whom God had detained in England for my good. He stood by my bedside,
and prayed over me, that now at least I might see the divine intention, in this
and my late illness. I immediately thought it might be that I should again
consider Boehler's doctrine of faith; examine myself whether I was in the faith;
and if I was not, never cease seeking and longing after it, till I attained
it."
The physical ills and spiritual struggle continued into May, during which
Charles came into possession of Martin Luther's commentary on Paul's letter to
the Galatians, a volume which emphasizes repeatedly that salvation is by faith
alone, without human works or our "best endeavors."
On the 21st of May, a Sunday, the drawing, illuminating and convicting work of
the Holy Spirit was complete. Through the spoken words of a friend, Charles was
brought finally to repentance and faith--"Still I felt a violent opposition
and reluctance to believe; yet still the Spirit of God strove with my own and
the evil spirit, till by degrees he chased away the darkness of my unbelief. I
found myself convinced, I knew not how, nor when; and immediately fell to
intercession. . . . I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope
of loving Christ. My temper for the rest of the day was, mistrust of my own
great, but before unknown, weakness. I saw that by faith I stood; by the
continual support of faith, which kept me from falling, though of myself I am
ever sinking into sin. I went to bed still sensible of my own weakness (I humbly
hope to be more and more so), yet confident of Christ's protection."
Brother John, also influenced by Peter Boehler, and by reading Luther (in his
case, the commentary on Romans), came to a full knowledge of the true way of
salvation by faith alone, three days later, May 24, 1738.
What a transformation occurred in Charles! In the next month, thirty people came
to Christ in his presence and in part through his instrumentality. Thereafter,
his preaching met with increasing success (the crowds often numbered in the many
hundreds and multiplied thousands), and the opposition from the state church and
from unbelievers grew apace. The power of God rested upon him, as it had upon
Whitefield previously. Indeed, as deeply impressed as I was a number of years
ago by the accounts in Whitefield's journals of Whitefield's preaching and the
many who were turned to righteousness by it, I discovered that equally
remarkable incidents abounded in the post-conversion ministry of Charles Wesley.
It is so extraordinary as to almost seem to be fiction, yet it is remarkably and
literally true. That it amazes us is no doubt due to the fact that there is so
little manifestation of the power of God in the ministry of most preachers
today.
Charles reports that he began a hymn the day of his conversion, interrupted his
work lest he fall into pride, but resumed and finished it a couple of days later
at the urging of a Mr. Bray. I have found two undocumented claims that the hymn
in question was "And Can It Be?" which is to my mind the greatest hymn
Charles Wesley (or anyone at anytime) ever wrote. What a marvel, written in the
rapture of newly experienced grace, mercy, peace and forgiveness--
"And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour's blood?
Died He for me who caused His pain?
For me who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou my God shouldst die for me?
'Tis mystery all! Th'Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn Seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine;
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore:
Let angel minds inquire no more.
He left his Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace!
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race;
"Tis mercy all! Immense and free,
For, O my God, it found out me!
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light:
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
No condemnation now I dread,
Jesus, with all in Him, is mine,
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in Righteousness Divine
Bold I approach th'eternal throne,
And claim the crown through Christ my own."
[All quotations from Charles Wesley's journals are from The Journal of the Rev.
Charles Wesley, M. A., ed. by Thomas Jackson, volume I. Grand Rapids: Baker,
1980 reprint of 1849 John Mason, London, edition; for a readable and readily
accessible biography of Charles Wesley, see A Heart Set Free: the Life of
Charles Wesley by Arnold A. Dallimore. Westchester, Illinois: Crossway Books,
1988]
---Doug Kutilek
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THE GUIDING HAND OF GOD'S PROVIDENCE
"Be sure that it is no business of yours to perfect that which concerns you
in providence; God has promised to do it, and only presumption will dare to
interfere. 'Stand still and see the salvation of God' is often the wisest policy
as well as the truest heroism. Take care that you put not forth an unbelieving
hand to snatch the unripe fruit from the tree."
Charles H. Spurgeon,
Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit,
vol. 25, 1879, p. 666.
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EVEN IN DEATH, SPURGEON WON SOULS
An unnamed government employee (in Paris?) testified, "that he had been
brought up as a Roman Catholic; and that, a few years ago, there came into the
office of his department a copy of The Illustrated London News. As he was
learning English at the time, he was naturally interested in reading it. The
number contained an account of the funeral of the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon,
the illustrations of which attracted his attention. The letterpress made some
reference to Mr. Spurgeon's sermons and the world-wide fame which they had
obtained. This led him to procure some copies of the sermons, and these, by
God's grace and blessing, were used for his conversion."
(Quoted from the preface to How to Enjoy the Bible by E. W. Bullinger, in E.W.
Bullinger: a Biography by Juanita S. Carey, pp. 156-7)
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A FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP RESOLUTION CONCERNING
BIBLE TRANSLATIONS
The Fundamental Baptist Fellowship is, as the name suggests, a group of
fundamental Baptist pastors, professors, missionaries and others who have
associated themselves together to fight the good fight of faith and propagate
the Gospel message. They have long been led by Pastor Rod Bell of Virginia, and
have as their publication Frontline, a bi-monthly magazine of good quality in
both content and format. There is a strong, but not exclusive, element of Bob
Jones University graduates in the FBF.
I was recently made aware of a resolution passed by the FBF at its 75th annual
meeting in 1995 at Faith Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina. This
resolution regarding Bible inspiration and translations is at once the most
sound and sensible thing I have read in so brief a compass on this controversy,
and I think it worthwhile to publish it here.
"In light of the considerable discussion among fundamentalists about the
issue of manuscripts and textual theories, no particular belief about the best
textual theory should be elevated to the place of becoming a core fundamental
belief. Fundamentalists may hold the doctrine of inspiration with equal strength
without embracing the same belief about textual criticism.
Additionally, proper evaluation of the doctrinal integrity of any particular
English translation can only be done by examining its faithfulness to the
original languages, not by comparing it with another English translation. While
the process of comparing it with other translations may be profitable for
matters of clarity and readability, this process cannot pass as the test of
doctrinal accuracy since it is illegitimate to check one copy by another; one
must compare the copy to the original.
In a day when translations abound, fundamentalists must exercise careful
discernment in both the selection and rejection of translations. Some professing
fundamentalists have wrongfully declared one translation to be the only inspired
copy of God's Word in the English language and have sought to make this a test
of fundamentalism.
Since no translation can genuinely claim what may only be said of the original,
inspired writings, any attempt to make a particular English translation the only
acceptable translation of fundamentalism must be rejected." (Copied from
www.f-b-f.org).
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CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
Our attentive and intelligent readers have once again spotted a few errors in
the latest issue of "As I See It" and have supplemented our
information on several points. A long-time friend, a "missionary kid"
raised in Brazil and now a missionary to France, pointed out that the Portuguese
phrase in Daniel 3:25, "ao filho dos deuses" should be translated
"the son of the gods," rather than "a son of the gods," as
we affirmed. I readily acknowledge that I was so focused on how the Aramaic
elahin was translated, whether "God" or "gods"--this being
the crucial point at issue in the discussion--that I gave insufficient attention
to whether the article preceding filho/son was definite or indefinite.
Another friend in northern Wisconsin, a very well-read pastor and himself the
editor of a monthly publication, noted that our date for the Bishops' Bible was
incorrectly given as 1562, rather than the correct 1568. He had additional
valuable information and observations to make regarding the article on "God
forbid," though we cannot agree with quite all of his conclusions.
A friend in Turkey reported that the International Bible Society has prepared a
new version in Turkish based on the Hebrew and Greek texts, but with a strong
influence from the NIV, following a pattern we discovered in recent Spanish and
Romanian versions.
Another reader, a missionary to Haitians, informed us that a KJV-based Creole NT
has been prepared (called, we suppose, "Le Roi Jacques" version?) and
an OT is underway. Happily, the NT has apparently been done with much greater
conscientiousness than the Spanish NT we spotlighted last issue.
Finally, a missionary in Belize confirmed what we had heard but could not
independently confirm regarding the identity of the translator of the "Rey
Jaime" Spanish version. A missionary named McVey (no relation to the
Oklahoma City bomber, to our knowledge) is the culpable party in producing the
Rey Jaime.
---Doug Kutilek
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BOOK REVIEWS
CORNBREAD AND CAVIAR: REMINISCENCES AND REFLECTIONS by Bob Jones, Jr.
Greenville, S. C.: Unusual Publications, 1985. 220 pp., hardback.
On our recent trip to South Carolina for our younger son's graduation from the
Citadel, we stopped in at Bob Jones University to make a whirlwind tour of the
campus. We were favorably impressed with what we saw of the well-manicured
campus. I was especially impressed with the bookstore, inasmuch as there were
several choice volumes for sale at reduced prices. Among them was this personal
account by the late Bob Jones, Jr. I remember when it came out, and I wished to
obtain it then, but was unable to do so, and had not seen it for sale since.
As far as I can recall, I only heard Bob Jones, Jr. in person once (at the
funeral of my Bible college professor Dr. Noel Smith), though I had seen him in
at least one--likely more--of the BJU films. Indeed, so convincing was he as the
persecuting cardinal or bishop or whatever it was in "A Flame in the
Wind" that I despised him for years! Jones, Jr. may be characterized as
"the cultured fundamentalist," with his extensive training and
experience in Shakespearean and other drama, and his detailed interest and
knowledge of fine art (unfortunately the BJU art gallery was closed the day we
visited).
Because he was the son of evangelist Bob Jones, Sr., and the president for many
decades of Bob Jones College (later University), he came into contact with a
very broad spectrum of religious leaders in the U.S. and abroad. In these
personal reminiscences, Jones in his usual plain-spoken manner tells of his
interaction with such figures, names names (only occasionally hesitating to do
so), and gives his forthright opinions of them and their actions (there is,
occasionally, a hint of Pecksniffianism). There are personal reminiscences of
Billy and "Ma" Sunday, Homer Rodeheaver, H.A. Ironside, John R. Rice,
Billy Graham (decidedly critical), Jerry Falwell (often critical) and others.
I learned a great deal from his accounts, particularly the personal side of many
names and places prominent in 20th century American Christianity. I discovered,
for example, how and why the Winona Lake Bible Conference waxed and waned over
the decades, to completely disappear, with the Grace Brethren acquiring all the
assets by accepting the conference's debts (I never learned any of this while a
student in Winona Lake for 2.5 years in the mid-1970s).
Jones knew how to write and how to relate an anecdote. There is much here of
interest. The book should be obtained and read.
---Doug Kutilek
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THE DELUGE STORY IN STONE by Byron C. Nelson. Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship,
1968. 190 pp., paperback.
The author is not Byron Nelson the golfer, but a creationist and defender of the
literal interpretation of the Genesis account of the Great Flood (Genesis 6-9).
He was, apparently, a Lutheran theologian (the book was originally issued by
Augsburg Publishing, a Lutheran denominational press). Though originally
published in 1931, when creationist literature was a rare as Queen Anne's
farthings, the information assembled and presented is still of considerable
merit today, some of it not to be met with elsewhere.
Nelson traces the ebbs and flows of Flood geology among geologists. Before the
19th century, the great majority of geologists were catastrophists, that is,
they believed the dominant features of earth's physical and geological features
are a consequence of a great catastrophe, the Biblical Flood, and not the end
product of slow and almost imperceptible changes over vast ages of time. This
latter view, now called uniformitarianism, arose, not because of the compelling
evidence in its support, but due to a rising spirit of unbelief and rejection of
the supernatural element in Scripture.
Nelson shows that the most obvious and simple explanation of a broad variety of
geological features is a world-wide flood. These phenomena include the masses of
live-buried animals and plants in the fossil strata; the level bedding planes of
most sedimentary rock strata, even those supposedly separated in their origins
by multiplied millions of years; the jumbled masses of fossil bones from a
diverse animals; the "out of order" position of many sedimentary rock
layers (supposedly "younger" rocks lying beneath supposedly
"older" rocks above); polystrate fossils (such as trees that extend as
much as 80 feet through numerous sedimentary layers--compelling proof that all
the layers were deposited at one time). Virtually none of Nelson's arguments or
proofs need revision, even after the passage of 70 years.
Whether this volume is available in reprint, I do not know; if it is found new
or used, it should be bought promptly.
--Doug Kutilek
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E. W. BULLINGER: A BIOGRAPHY by Juanita S. Carey. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2000.
181 pp., paperback. $15.95
This is the first and only published biography of prolific British clergyman and
author Ethelbert W. Bullinger (1837-1913). I could in fact find no account of
his life in four different reference works that usually yield some notice of
prominent Christian figures.
Born into a Methodist home in Canterbury, England where his family had lived for
300 years, Bullinger was trained in youth as a musician, but became an ordained
priest of the Church of England, and occupied various Anglican pulpits for about
25 years before retiring from active ministry to focus on writing. It is for his
writings that he is remembered today. As Bullinger studied and wrote, he
departed more and more from mainstream Anglicanism though he never left the
Church of England. He became what today would be called a fundamentalist,
insisting on the necessity of the great fundamental doctrines of the faith: the
inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, Christ's Deity, sinlessness,
substitutionary death, physical resurrection, and Second coming, the latter of
which Bullinger understood to be pre-millennial. He was a pre-tribulationist and
a dispensationalist.
Among his best known works (many still in print--reprinted of late by Kregel)
are The Companion Bible, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and
Greek New Testament, Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, Numbers in Scripture,
and The Witness of the Stars.
Besides the numerous books and pamplets which he published, he also founded and
edited for almost 20 years a monthly magazine "Things to Come," which
(no surprise) had a strong emphasis on Bible prophecy.
Bullinger had a number of doctrine "peculiarities," shall we say. He
is generally acknowledged to be a hyper- or ultra-dispensationalist, indeed the
father of the movement--making The Book of Acts up to 28:28 a separate
dispensation, with the church age only beginning then. This led him to divide up
Paul's epistles into two groups: the pre-Acts 28:28 ones, and those written
after that date with the latter alone being for the church age. He rejected
baptism and the Lord's Supper as not for the church age (since they are not
specifically mentioned in Paul's post-Acts 28:28 epistles; this view has some
kinship to Quaker views). He seems to have also gone to seed to some degree on
Bible numerics and even astrology.
Charles Ryrie, in his book Dispensationalism Today (Moody Press, 1965) p. 194,
mentions some of Bullinger's other oddities: "He held the heretical
doctrine of the extinction of the soul between death and resurrection. He was
silent on the final state of the lost, and many of his followers were and are
annihilationists." These are quite serious matters, but are not mentioned
in Carey's biography.
In 1867, Bullinger became head of the nearly extinct Trinitarian Bible Society,
and lead it to its highest level of prosperity, influence and activity up to
that time. It is not noted in the book but merits mention that during
Bullinger's tenure, the TBS published numerous works that were based on the
so-called critical text, rather than the textus receptus (I mention this only
because the present day TBS is rather rigid in its adherence to the textus
receptus and the KJV; see Andrew J. Brown, The Word of God Among All Nations: A
Brief History of the Trinitarian Bible Society 1831-1981. London: Trinitarian
Bible Society, 1981)
Bullinger's family life seems to have often been less than ideal. When in his
late 20s, he married a women 7 years his senior. Their two sons died in relative
youth, one of malaria in Africa, the other of perhaps a heart attack or stroke
at age 44. Much of the Bullingers' married life was spent apart, at least some
but not all of the time because of Mrs. Bullinger's health concerns. The author
of the book was unable to determine her whereabouts or residence for long
periods. E. W.'s household was looked after by a niece for virtually the whole
of the last 20 years or more of his life.
The author spent 3 years in England engaged in the research for this book, and
was assisted with materials, documents and photographs by Bullinger's only
granddaughter. The present volume is a revised edition of a volume first
published in England in 1988. The research was thorough and the writing
competent. A fuller treatment of Bullinger's theology and a better overview of
his critics' objections would have been helpful. Likewise, more could have been
said showing Bullinger's strong embrace of the critical Greek text as closer to
the original than the textus receptus (a couple of comments in the book could
even be taken--erroneously--as support by Bullinger of the KJVO/TRO point of
view).
As one who has no direct personal acquaintance with the writings of Bullinger, I
nevertheless on the strength of cautions from numerous authors I respect will
suggest that Bullinger's writings, especially on dispensations, numerics and
astrology are probably not the best thing to place in the hands of new or
immature believers, since it is just on such subjects that neophytes are apt to
go to extremes.
---Doug Kutilek
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A GUIDE TO THE PURITANS by Robert P. Martin. Glasgow: The Banner of Truth Trust,
1996. 532 pp., paperback. $25.99
While the short title of this volume might suggest that it is restricted in its
scope to the Puritans per se (ca. 1559-1660), the subtitle and the preface make
clear that it covers a much broader spectrum. The subtitle reads "A topical
and textual index to writings of the Puritans and some of their successors
recently in print." In truth, the book could just as easily have been
called "A Guide to the Puritans and Other Reformed Theologians and Writers
from 1560 to the Present Day." Besides the usual suspects--Manton, Owen,
Sibbes, Flavel, Brooks, Bunyan, and others of the Puritan era--we find included
the writings of Edwards, the Princeton Hodges (and other Princetonians), Dabney,
Thornwell, and other Southern Presbyterians, 19th century British preachers,
Spurgeon, Ryle and more, plus numerous 20th century figures including Pink,
Lloyd-Jones, and leading figures at Westminster Seminary. The author laments
that the work is necessarily incomplete (e.g., I noticed that none of John
Gill's tracts or sermons are indexed, though his book The Cause of God and Truth
is included; brief reflection would no doubt reveal other gaps).
Puritan and Reformed authors included here are those whose works have been
recently or are currently available in print (what would be the immediate value
of indexing Puritan works that are long out-of-print and completely
inaccessible?).
Martin classifies the works indexed under multiple headings: topical index,
scriptural index, biographies, reviews and introductions; sermons subdivided
under funeral, Lord's Supper, ordination, special occasions, and farewell
sermons. Letters and miscellaneous items, with a comprehensive list of works
indexed round out this work.
Commentaries are not indexed (with a few minor exceptions), since any given
Biblical text can be easily located in the expositions of Calvin or Henry or
Poole or Ryle et al., nor are they even listed, reviewed or annotated since most
pre-1876 commentaries of note are reviewed, some in great detail, in Spurgeon's
Commenting and Commentaries (no point in re-inventing the wheel). Likewise, the
sermons by Spurgeon in the 62-volume New Park Street Pulpit/ Metropolitan
Tabernacle Pulpit are not indexed, since a complete textual and topical index
already exists (available from Pilgrim Publications of Pasadena, Texas).
While I would never claim the designation Reformed--indeed would find much to
disagree with in Reformed literature--nor would I lay claim to being a Calvinist
(though I find myself in more agreement with Calvin himself than with many of
his self-styled "Calvinist" followers), nevertheless, I am happy for
this guide, and am sure that I will be consulting it frequently. The author has
laid us greatly in his debt.
---Doug Kutilek