issue 17.2

Glad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad TidingsGlad Tidings

Volume 17, Issue 2 March/Apri l 2013

Consider the lillies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Luke 12:27

2

Glad Tidings Glad Tidings Glad Tidings Glad Tidings is published

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Glad Tidings is mailed free to anyone who requests it. Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.

Something To Consider ............... p.3

by Vince Finnegan

Seek Yahweh:

May Yahweh Be With You ............ p.4

by John Cortright

Honor God, Give Thanks,

and Prosper................................... p.7

by Mary Ann Yaconis

Jesus’ Description to the

Seven Churches ......................... p.8

by Vince Finnegan

Congo Connection ..................... p.10

by Armel Ngo

Is Matthew 28:19 Authentic or a Forgery? ............. p.14

by Sean Finnegan

Mark these important dates on your calendar!!Mark these important dates on your calendar!!Mark these important dates on your calendar!!Mark these important dates on your calendar!!Mark these important dates on your calendar!!Mark these important dates on your calendar!!Mark these important dates on your calendar!!Mark these important dates on your calendar!!

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March/April 2013

3

God bless you. The winter will soon be a distance memory as we move into the spring of the year.

Warm, fresh air, longer, light-filled days, new life spring forth. Indeed, it is a great time to glorify

Yahweh, the Almighty God of heaven and earth.

Jesus conducted his life in such a godly way that people saw the manifestations of the invisible God in

him and thusly glorified God. The response of the crowd after Jesus healed the paralytic man illustrates

the point well. According to Matthew 9:8 – “When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and

glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” His words and actions drew attention to God and

inspired others to glorify Yahweh.

We are encouraged to conduct our business in the same manner.

Matthew 5:14-16

You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may

see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

1 Peter 2:12

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander

you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God

in the day of visitation.

The aim of the entire Christian church is summed up in one simple verse - “Unto Him be glory in the

church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Ephesians 3:21

An obvious essential to glorifying God is to know who He is, and yet, most people do not even know His

name. The research that John Cortright presents in this and subsequent issues of Glad Tidings about

the name of God are ground breaking for our time. Available on our website, the three-part teaching

called Light of the World - SASA (2/17/13), Light of the World - Speak Good Words (2/10/13), and Light

of the World - Glorify Yahweh (3/3/13) provide valuable insight regarding glorifying Yahweh.

Praise, honor, and glory be to the one true God, Yahweh our Father!

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:

Glorify Yahweh

4

T he Septuagint was

the first Greek

translation of the

Hebrew Old Testament.

According to most sources, it

was produced by seventy-two

Jewish translators in

Alexandria, Egypt during the

reign of Ptolemy II

Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.). In

the versions we have today,

the name of God, YHWH,

cannot be found. Rather, the

name is replaced with the

Greek surrogate, kurios,

translated into English as

“Lord.” Was this part of the

original Greek translation, or is

this a much later alteration?

The history of the original

translation is “embellished

with various fables.”1 In his

introduction to the translation

of the Greek Septuagint, Sir

Lancelot Brenton states, “We

need not wonder that but little

is known with accuracy on this

subject; for, with regard to the

ancient versions of scriptures

in general, we possess no

information whatever as to the

time or place of the execution,

or by whom they were made.”2

Most historians rely on the

letter of Aristeas as to the

story behind the Septuagint.

Scholars have debated the

veracity of this letter, as

versions of Aristeas include

seemingly miraculous events.

Some have suggested these

embellishments were added to

give the Septuagint credibility.

Although the letter of Aristeas

may contain exaggerations,

there is enough evidence to

verify that a Greek translation

of the Hebrew Bible was

produced in Alexandria, Egypt

during the reign of Ptolemy.

Both the first century Jewish

philosopher, Philo (On Moses

2.25-44), and historian,

Josephus (Antiquity of the

Jews 12.12-118) tell a story

similar to Aristeas in describing

this event.

A Greek version of the Hebrew

Bible would have been

important to Jews of the

dispersion. For hundreds of

years, they had been displaced

throughout the known world.

On Pentecost, Jews living in

Jerusalem had come from

“every nation under heaven”

(Acts 2:5). They heard tongues

from these nations “to which

(they) were born” (Acts 2:8).

Due to the conquest of

Alexander the Great and his

campaign to Hellenize the

known world, the Greek

language had become the

lingua franca of the Roman

Empire. In his book, An

Introduction to the Greek Old

Testament, Henry Barclay

Swete writes, “At Alexandra

and in Egypt the Alexandrian

version [the Septuagint] was

regarded, as Philo plainly says,

with a reverence scarcely less

than that which belonged to

the original…The feeling was

shared by the rest of the

Hellenistic world. In Palestine

indeed the version seems to

have been received with less

enthusiasm, and whether it

was used in the synagogues is

still uncertain. But elsewhere

its acceptance by Greek-

s p e a k i n g J e w s w a s

universal….”3 Hebrew was

used in the land of Israel as

witnessed from New

Testament records (Jo 19:19-

20; Ac 19:40; 20:1-2). It is

likely that the Hebrew Bible

was used by the Jews in Israel.

However, for Jews of the

Diaspora, Greek would have

been a welcomed translation.

(Aramaic Targums were

probably important texts for

Jews living in Syria, Babylon,

and Persia.)

The fact that a Greek Old

Testament was used in the first

century is not in question.

What is uncertain is whether

the Name was present in this

translation. Did the Jews at

Alexandria replace God’s name

with a Greek surrogate kurios?

From the few extant Greek

manuscripts dated earlier than

100 AD, there is not one

instance where the word

kurios is used to replace the

Name. Rather, in the majority

of these early Greek

fragments, the name of God is

written in Paleo Hebrew Script,

while the rest of the text is in

Greek. (See article in

(Continued on page 5)

Seek Yahweh: By John Cortright

What About the Septuagint?

5

July/August 2012 issue of Glad

T i d i n g s t i t l e d “ T h e

Tetragrammaton in the First

Century,” pg 4-5.)

The modern translations of the

Septuagint (abbreviated LXX)

are not from 200 BC, 100 BC,

or even 100 AD. Rather, what

scholars refer to as the

“Septuagint,” come from 4th

century texts. A history of its

transmission reveals many

centuries of changes and

recensions.

Towards the end of the first

century, Judaism and

Christianity were becoming

increasingly separated. Even

during Paul’s lifetime, this

relationship was strained. The

circumcision were continually

persecuting Paul’s ministry.

When Paul traveled to

Jerusalem on his final journey

(around 58-64AD), thousands

of Jews believed, but they

were zealous for the law (Acts

21:20). By the end of Paul’s

lifetime, all Asia Minor had

turned away from him (2 Tim

1:15). After the death of the

original apostles, the

separation between Jews and

Christians continued. The

Greek Old Testament, known

as the Septuagint, became the

Old Testament for the

Christian church. However,

Jews soon despised and

rejected this translation. Many

Greek versions by Christians

began to emerge over the next

century. Noted scholar Bruce

Metzger makes the following

observation:

“By the end of the

first century of the

Christian era, more

and more Jews

ceased using the

Septuagint because

the early Christians

had adopted it as

their own translation.

At an early stage, the

belief developed that

this translation had

b e e n d i v i n e l y

inspired, and hence

the way was open for

s e v e r a l c h u r c h

fathers to claim that

t h e S e p t u a g i n t

presented the words

of God more

accurately than the

Hebrew Bible. The

fact that after the

first century very,

very few Christians

had any knowledge of

the Hebrew language

meant that the

Septuagint was not

only the church’s

main source of the

Old Testament but

was, in fact, its only

source.”4

For the next century, various

copies of the Septuagint made

by hand “would soon come to

differ among themselves.”5

These handwritten, second

century copies were being

made by Christians, not Jews.

By the late second century,

three popular versions of these

Greek Old Testaments were in

circulation. These three

versions were produced by

Aquila, Symmachus, and

Theodotion. In the third

century, Origen produced his

famous Hexapla in an attempt

to purify the Septuagint. This

handwritten manuscript of the

Old Testament was like a

modern day parallel Bible and

consisted of six narrow

columns – (1) Hebrew text; (2)

Hebrew text transliterated in

Greek; (3) Aquila’s version; (4)

Symmachus’ version; (5)

Septuagint version with

Origen’s notations; (6)

Theodotion’s version. This

massive undertaking was

completed sometime between

235-245AD. There are no

extant copies of the Hexapla,

but descriptions by various

church fathers confirm its

existence. “Near the beginning

of the fourth century, the idea

occurred to Pamphilus and his

friend Eusebius to publish

copies of the fifth column, for

they believed that Origen had

succeeded in restoring the Old

Greek version to its primitive

purity.”6 This became the

standard text known as the

Greek Septuagint. Since the

fourth century, there have

been no major recensions to

this version.7

In most Greek manuscripts

from the second century and

later, the name of God is not

present. Rather, a “nomina

sacra” form of the Greek word

kurios is used in its place. (See

article in September/October

2012 issue of Glad Tidings

titled “Nomina Sacra – The

Replacement of God’s Name,”

pg 4-5). However, Aquila’s

version was different. It is

(Continued from page 4)


6

believed that Aquila was a

Gentile who converted to

Christianity and later became a

Jewish proselyte. His Greek

version (about 126 AD) was a

direct translation from Hebrew

and “is said to have been

executed for the express purpose

of opposing the authority of the

Septuagint.”8 This was the

version used in Origen’s Hexapla.

Although no texts of the Hexapla

exist, a sixth century uncial

version of Aquila’s work has been

discovered. These Fragments,

found in a Cairo synagogue in

1897, reveal Aquila did not use

the surrogate kurios when

translating the Hebrew name of

God. Rather, Aquila used a

Paleo Hebrew style script to

designate the four letter name.

(See accompanying chart.) This

early second century translation

follows the same pattern

witnessed in first century Greek

manuscripts. Thus, evidence

supports the idea that the

original Greek translation of the

Septuagint may have contained

the name of God rather than the

surrogate kurios. This practice

does not show up until Christian

codices of the late second

century. �


2 Ibid., Page i

1 Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, The

Septuagint with Apocrypha:

Greek and English (Samuel, Bag-

ster & Sons, London, 1851) Page i

3 Henry Barclay Swete, An Intro-

duction to the Old Testament in

Greek (Cambridge University

Press, London, 1900), Page 29

5 Ibid., Page 18

6 Ibid., Page 20

8 Ibid., Page v

7 Opt cit., Brenton, Page vi

4 Bruce M. Metzger, The Bible in

Translation: Ancient and English

Versions (Baker Publishing Group,

Grand Rapids, MI, Copyright ©

2005) Page 18 This rendering of Aquila’s translation comes from Henry Barclay

Swede’s 1902 book, An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek,

page 38. This shows the LXX on the left (note this is from Manu-

script B which is the symbol for the 4th century Codex Vaticanus) and

Aquila’s translation on the right. In Aquila’s translation, distinct uses

of God’s name can be seen. These letters are none other than the Tet-

ragrammaton – probably in Paleo Hebrew script – the same usage seen

in other Greek manuscripts of the first century.

Seek Yahweh: What About the Septuagint? Continued...

7

Jesus’ Description To The Seven Churches By Vince Finnegan T he diversity of char-

acteristics, attrib-

utes, responsibilities, and ac-

complishments of our Lord

Jesus the Christ is truly aston-

ishing. The Scriptures provide a

vast amount of information to

help us understand his great-

ness. The book of Revelation is

no exception. While address-

ing each of the seven Asian

churches, Jesus presents him-

self in unique and graphic ways

that elevate our appreciation

and awe of him.

To the church of Ephesus, he

writes, “The one who holds the The one who holds the The one who holds the The one who holds the

seven stars in his right hand, seven stars in his right hand, seven stars in his right hand, seven stars in his right hand,

the one who walks among the the one who walks among the the one who walks among the the one who walks among the

seven golden lampstands.…”seven golden lampstands.…”seven golden lampstands.…”seven golden lampstands.…”

The stars represent the mes-

senger or elder of each church,

and golden lampstands repre-

sent the churches according to

Revelation 1. Jesus is the head

of the church (Ephesians 1:22

and 23; 4:15 and 16; Colossians

1:19; 1Corinthians 12:14-31),

and his communication to the

seven churches reveals in es-

sence how he works with the

church. Jesus holds the mes-

senger in his right hand, the

hand of blessing. He supports,

cares for, blesses, and commu-

nicates with the church lead-

ers. Referring to them as mes-

sengers implies that they are

qualified in that they are hum-

ble and meek to hear. He has

specific information for each

church that he tells the mes-

senger, who then has the re-

sponsibility to tell the church.

He ends his exhortation to

each church by saying, “He

who has an ear, let him hear

what the spirit says to the

churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6,

13, and 22). Jesus speaks to

the churches through the spirit

as he said he would in John

13:26 and 16:12-15. Jesus

leads his church by communi-

cating by means of the spirit to

the messengers. Hence, the

most important priority of

each pastor must be fellowship

with his Lord in order to re-

ceive instruction. We gain

great comfort and encourage-

ment knowing our Lord walks

among the churches as the

head of the body. He knows

what is going on and is willing

to direct our ways.

To the church in Smyrna, Jesus

refers to himself as “the first the first the first the first

and the last, who was dead, and the last, who was dead, and the last, who was dead, and the last, who was dead,

and has come to life.”and has come to life.”and has come to life.”and has come to life.”

Jesus informs the believers of

Smyrna that some of them will

die by persecution; therefore,

the information about resur-

rection provided them encour-

agement in order to endure.

He was the first to be dead, to

be raised again, and to remain

alive for eternity. He is the last

because no one will ever do

what he now does and will do

in the future.

The city of Pergamum was an

extremely religious center

similar to current day Mecca,

Vatican City, or Jerusalem.

They had three temples de-

voted to the worship of the

Roman emperors among nu-

merous other temples. Immor-

ality and idolatry were ram-

pant in this city. Jesus referred

to it as the place of Satan’s

throne, where Satan dwells. To

this church, he refers to him-

self as - “The one who has the The one who has the The one who has the The one who has the

sharp twosharp twosharp twosharp two----edged sword.edged sword.edged sword.edged sword.” In

chapter 1, we learn the sword

comes out of his mouth. Simi-

lar language is found in Ephe-

sians 6:17: “the sword of the

spirit, which is the word of

God” and Hebrews 4:12: “For

the word of God is living and

active and sharper than any

two-edged sword….” With the

Word of God, Jesus cuts

through all the false religion

and supports the truth seek-

ers. The two-edged sword for

the overcomer is a blessing,

but for the unbeliever, it repre-

sents judgment and wrath.

To Thyatira, Jesus is “The Son The Son The Son The Son

of God who has eyes like a of God who has eyes like a of God who has eyes like a of God who has eyes like a

flame of fire, and his feet are flame of fire, and his feet are flame of fire, and his feet are flame of fire, and his feet are


8

like burnished bronze.”like burnished bronze.”like burnished bronze.”like burnished bronze.” He has

eyes that see what is really

going on, eyes of discernment,

judgment, unimpaired sight.

“Burnished” implies refined

and still red-hot. “Feet like bur-

nished bronze” is used meta-

phorically for where he goes

and represents great

strength, stability,

and power to crush

underfoot (1:15). He

will certainly and

swiftly pursue all

that is evil and tread

it down. The image

provides encourage-

ment and comfort

for the believer, yet

judgment, terror,

and wrath for the

unbeliever (Ephesians 6:15;

Isaiah 53:7; and Psalm 2:7-ff).

Our modern Christian world-

view is that of open acceptance

for all, tolerance for rebellious

and sinful behavior, no judg-

ment, equality for all, passivism

(receiving or enduring without

resistance; submissiveness),

live and let live. Our Lord Jesus

was not and is not tolerant of

all; he has limited acceptance;

he judges righteously; he does

not believe in or promote

equality and passivism. He is

the enforcer against those who

promote wrong doctrine - Mat-

thew 15:1-14; 23:13-36; Gala-

tians 1:7-10; 2 Corinthians

11:12-15; (1 Timothy 4:1-3;

Jude; 1 John 4:1-6).

To Sardis – “He who has the He who has the He who has the He who has the

seven spirits of God and the seven spirits of God and the seven spirits of God and the seven spirits of God and the

seven stars.”seven stars.”seven stars.”seven stars.” The seven spirits

(according to 4:5) are the

seven lamps of fire burning

before the throne of God, and

(according to 5:6) the slain

Lamb has “seven horns and

seven eyes, which are the

seven spirits of God, sent out

into all the earth.” Jesus has

authority over the seven spirits

and the seven stars that

according to 1:20 are the

seven messengers of the

church. Jesus has extensive

authority over those in heaven

and on earth (Ephesians 1:20-

23; 1 Peter 3:22).

To Philadelphia – “He who is He who is He who is He who is

holy, who is true, who has the holy, who is true, who has the holy, who is true, who has the holy, who is true, who has the

key of David, who opens and no key of David, who opens and no key of David, who opens and no key of David, who opens and no

one will shut, and who shuts one will shut, and who shuts one will shut, and who shuts one will shut, and who shuts

and no one opensand no one opensand no one opensand no one opens.” The key of

David (Isaiah 22:15, 20-25) is

managed by the one with the

responsibility to open or close

the city of Jerusalem. Christ,

the heir of the throne of David,

has the job to open or shut the

doors of the New Jerusalem

and to decide who is and who

is not admitted.

To Laodicea – “The Amen, the The Amen, the The Amen, the The Amen, the

faithful and true witness, the faithful and true witness, the faithful and true witness, the faithful and true witness, the

beginning of the creation of beginning of the creation of beginning of the creation of beginning of the creation of

GodGodGodGod.” Jesus is the “Amen” be-

cause his words are true, con-

firmed, and established. He is

the “faithful witness” because

he always said and did what

God wanted said and done

(John 8:28; 12:49-50;

14:10, 24; 15:15; 17:8,

16). He is the

“beginning of the crea-

tion of God,” not of

that one recorded in

Genesis but the age to

come, the Kingdom,

the new creation (Col.

1:15-18).

• The one who holds The one who holds The one who holds The one who holds

the seven stars in his the seven stars in his the seven stars in his the seven stars in his

right hand, the one who right hand, the one who right hand, the one who right hand, the one who

walks among the seven walks among the seven walks among the seven walks among the seven

golden lampstandsgolden lampstandsgolden lampstandsgolden lampstands

• The first and the last, who The first and the last, who The first and the last, who The first and the last, who

was dead, and has come was dead, and has come was dead, and has come was dead, and has come

to lifeto lifeto lifeto life

• The one who has the sharp The one who has the sharp The one who has the sharp The one who has the sharp

twotwotwotwo----edged swordedged swordedged swordedged sword

• The Son of God who has The Son of God who has The Son of God who has The Son of God who has

eyes like a flame of fire, eyes like a flame of fire, eyes like a flame of fire, eyes like a flame of fire,

and his feet are like bur-and his feet are like bur-and his feet are like bur-and his feet are like bur-

nished bronzenished bronzenished bronzenished bronze

• He who has the seven He who has the seven He who has the seven He who has the seven

spirits of God and the spirits of God and the spirits of God and the spirits of God and the

seven starsseven starsseven starsseven stars

• He who is holy, who is true, He who is holy, who is true, He who is holy, who is true, He who is holy, who is true,

who has the key of David, who has the key of David, who has the key of David, who has the key of David,

who opens and no one will who opens and no one will who opens and no one will who opens and no one will

shut, and who shuts and no shut, and who shuts and no shut, and who shuts and no shut, and who shuts and no

one opensone opensone opensone opens

• The Amen, the faithful and The Amen, the faithful and The Amen, the faithful and The Amen, the faithful and

true witness, the beginning true witness, the beginning true witness, the beginning true witness, the beginning

of the creation of Godof the creation of Godof the creation of Godof the creation of God �


9

Honor God, Give Thanks, and Prosper By Mary Ann Yaconis I

f we want to have a long

life of faithfulness to

Yahweh, we need to

cultivate a lifestyle of continu-

ous thankfulness to Him.

Romans 1:21 and 22 For since the creation of the world His invisible attrib-utes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being under-stood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Very clearly, Scripture warns

that the sure road to a foolish

heart is paved with forgetful-

ness of the blessings of Yah-

weh. As examples, Adam and

Eve forgot about all they had

as blessings which resulted in

envying what the tree in the

garden represented. King

David, who wrote many songs

of praise and thankfulness,

forgot about the many provi-

sions that Yahweh had given

him. In both of these situa-

tions, their ingratitude started

a series of great, sinful deeds

which began consequences

that were very grave.

Jeremiah 5 :24 They [senseless people] do not say in their heart, “Let us

now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

Jeremiah stated Yahweh our

God is our only provider.

When we lose our senses, we

become unthankful and dark-

ened in our minds and hearts.

The soil of the heart needs to

be cultivated with thankful-

ness to Yahweh. Praise and

thankfulness to Yahweh go

hand in hand.

Psalm 111:1 Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the assembly. [See also Ps. 7:17; 18:49; 30:4; 35:18; 69:30; 92:1; 100:4; 106:1; 108:3; 138:1; 147:7.]

We are to be thankful with all

of our heart. Some people

seem to be “naturally” thank-

ful. Others have to work at it a

lot. The heart described in the

parable of the sower and the

seed is the good ground, the

heart that is able to receive

the Word, maintain it, and

produce fruit day after day.

Yahweh’s unconditional love

blesses us with all that we can

ever need. Recognizing and

appreciating this concept

make one humble and able to

experience godly indebted-

ness. Because the heart is sof-

tened, blessings do not go un-

noticed, and the love behind

the blessings is acknowledged

and felt. The results are thank-

fulness to Yahweh and a de-

sire to bless others.

The one bestowing the gift,

the benefactor, actually thinks

about the person, sees that

there is a need, and if he or

she has the ability to help out,

it is done. It is especially ap-

preciated by the beneficiary

when the one giving the gift

paid special attention to or

appeared to go the “second

mile” because of loving con-

cern. Yahweh knows our every

need and provides all physical

and spiritual blessings. What

keeps our hearts like the good

soil is becoming aware of, ac-

knowledging, and responding

with a “Thank you, Yahweh.”

Thankfulness is a key to main-

taining a heart of love for Yah-

weh, ourselves, and our

neighbors.


10

Research reports that those who

are more thankful are healthier,

exercise more, have lower blood

pressure, sleep longer, and feel

more refreshed in the morning.

They are also more helpful, gener-

ous, and compassionate than

those who are less thankful.

Thankful people are more outgo-

ing and less lonely and isolated.

Psychologically they have higher

levels of positive emotions and are

more alert, joyful, and optimistic.

They are also more helpful to oth-

ers and have better coping skills

against trauma and pain. Thankful-

ness strengthens social relation-

ships because people experience

affirmation and support of others.

Yahweh opens up our minds by

being thankful so that we recog-

nize many different sources of

blessings. It gives us a godly hum-

ble dependence on Yahweh and

others.

God’s Word says that we are to be

thankful in all things. Some really

have to work at seeing Yahweh

and others as loving and giving

good gifts. Some people view life

as self-focused and independent,

and they refuse to look at what

benefits Yahweh and others give.

How do we cultivate a thankful

way of thinking all the time? One

proven way is to write down five

things that you are grateful to

Yahweh for every day for one

month. Writing the thankful

thoughts down is helpful because

we are actually thinking, writing,

and seeing what is being written.

Later, when tending to forget that

anything good has happened,

looking back over the list squashes

those thoughts in a hurry. Another

skill to build gratitude is to be

mindful of how others contribute

to your welfare, such as friend-

ships, family care, work, and, of

course, Yahweh. Taking the time

to be still and look up at the stars,

the mountains, the trees, and

creation also helps us to be mind-

ful of Yahweh’s blessings.

As good as gratitude is, its oppo-

site, ingratitude, is really very dis-

tasteful. People who show ingrati-

tude towards others are very un-

pleasant to be around. Yahweh

wants us to be thankful people. We

are not merely to be grateful in an

episode here or there, but instead

we are to maintain a lifestyle of

thankfulness to Him for His mag-

nificent blessings. Pervasive thank-

fulness is the beat of a heart that

will receive the seed of the Word

and remain faithful to the Word.

The first few chapters of Romans

record the depravity of man with-

out God. It is understandable not

to know God and therefore not be

thankful to Him. However, Ro-

mans 1:22 reminds us that those

who KNEW God did not honor Him

as God and did not give Him

thanks. In order to live a faithful

life with God and His Son Jesus

Christ, it is important that mo-

ment by moment, thought by

thought, we be thankful to Yah-

weh for His abundant blessings. �


Stop

Ask for help

Speak the word

Action

11

Congo Connection “Enter the Ark” Brings Deliverance to Many

By Rev. Armel Ngo * Note: The following article was submitted by Rev. Armel Ngo of Living Hope International Ministries of the Congo. The French

to English translation was fine-tuned by Ive Carlo, and it was edited for clarity by Richard and Cheryl Elton.

THE EXAMPLE OF THE EXAMPLE OF THE EXAMPLE OF THE EXAMPLE OF

NOAHNOAHNOAHNOAH

“Enter the ark!”

These were God’s

words to Noah

when he finished

building the ark.

With this command,

God would preserve

Noah, his family,

and the animals

from the impending

flood. (Gen 6:5-18)

At that time, Scrip-

ture tells us that

man’s wickedness

was great upon the

Earth, and his

thoughts were con-

tinually evil. This

grieved God to the

point that He de-

cided to eradicate

man, beast, and

birds from the face

of the Earth.

Noah alone found

favor in God’s sight

because he was a

righteous man, who

was blameless and

walked with God.

Noah had faith in

God concerning

things not seen, and

seized with Godly

fear, he built the ark

to save his family.

2 Peter 2:5 describes

Noah as a preacher

of righteousness. He

lived a righteous and

pure life and warned

the people of his

time to repent of

their wickedness.

They refused to lis-

ten despite warnings

from God and

reaped disastrous

consequences.

““““And God did not

spare the ancient

world—except for

Noah and the

seven others in his

f a m i l y . N o a h

warned the world

of God’s righteous

judgment. So God

protected Noah

when he destroyed

the world of un-

godly people with

a vast flood.”

The reasons for their

behavior are (1) un-

belief – refusing to

believe there was a

coming judgment;

(2) refusal to change

their lifestyle; (3)

fear of what others

might think if they

repented.

The record of Noah

is really exciting.

During the storm,

there was life, peace,

and joy within the

ark for those who

had obeyed God’s

command. Outside

the ark were suffer-

ing, death, and de-

struction for those

who had disobeyed.

Noah’s example can

inspire us today to

seek to enter the

Kingdom of God and

be delivered from

the wrath to come.

The record of Noah

is a figure of our

Lord Jesus Christ.

Through his sacrifice


For 20 years, Sister Lydia was a

victim of demonic attacks. She was

married to a man who was a witch

doctor. He performed occult prac-

tices on her body, which led her to

a state of partial paralysis.

Lydia was also a businesswoman,

yet she eventually became ruined

spiritually, physically, and finan-

cially. She lost everything she

owned.

Lydia visited several soothsayers

and doctors in search of a cure,

but with no success.

In her deep despair, she asked to

meet with Rev. Ngo for prayer ses-

sions. After hearing the gospel of

the Kingdom of God, she repented

and committed her life to Christ.

She was delivered of the partial

paralysis and of all sorts of de-

monic possessions. Her husband,

unable to bear the light of the

Word of God, abandoned her and

the children.

Lydia is now a fervent believer in

the church. Last year she partici-

pated in the Enter the Ark program

where she spoke the Word of God

for seven months, testifying to all

that Yahweh has done in her life.

Sister Lydia’s TestimonySister Lydia’s TestimonySister Lydia’s TestimonySister Lydia’s Testimony

12

on a cross of wood,

Christ saves those

who have faith in him

so they do not perish

but have life in the

age to come. Noah’s

ark was physical. To-

day, we have a spiri-

tual ark, the church,

the body of Christ,

whereby through

preaching the gospel,

we invite people to

come aboard.

As Noah was faithful

in his day, so too

must we be, preach-

ing and warning all

men to repent,

because the world

will be judged by

Jesus Christ.

““““In those days be-

fore the flood, the

people were en-

joying banquets

and parties and

weddings right up

to the time Noah

entered his boat.

People didn’t real-

ize what was going

to happen until

the flood came

and swept them

all away. That is

the way it will be

when the Son of

Man comes.”

Matthew 24:38 & 39

The challenges en-

dured by Noah are

the same as we face

today. Noah suf-

fered mental pres-

sure, ridicule, rejec-

tion, and mistreat-

ment. He was

viewed as a fool by

his neighbors for

building an ark on

dry ground. They

rejected his preach-

ing as if it were a

wild dream. Never-

theless, God encour-

aged him, and Noah

persevered until the

flood came.

As we face similar

pressures and diffi-

cult times, we (like

Noah) must deter-

mine to stand faithful

until the end.

““““Then he used the

water to destroy

the ancient world

with a mighty flood.

And by the same

word, the present

heavens and earth

have been stored

up for fire. They

are being kept for

the day of judg-

ment, when un-

godly people will

be destroyed.”

2 Peter 3:6 and 7

““““And God will pro-

vide rest for you

who are being per-

secuted and also

for us when the

Lord Jesus appears

from heaven. He

will come with his

mighty angels,

in flaming fire,

bringing judgment

on those who

don’t know God

and on those who

refuse to obey the

Good News of our

Lord Jesus.

They will be pun-

ished with eternal

destruction, for-

ever separated

from the Lord and

from his glorious

power.

When he comes on

that day, he will

receive glory from

his holy people—

praise from all

who believe. And

this includes you,

for you believed

what we told you

about him.” 2 Thes-

salonians 1:7-10

““““ENTER THE ARK” ENTER THE ARK” ENTER THE ARK” ENTER THE ARK”

TODAYTODAYTODAYTODAY



Sister Farnel, 25, suffered mental

disorders under demonic posses-

sion caused by her father. She

rarely slept at night, talked inces-

santly, and was uncontrollable.

She had to be watched at all times

or locked up. In her madness, she

would undress and escape the

locked room, even when tied up.

Rev. Ngo recalls once that she

escaped half naked in his presence

while he was visiting her parent’s

home.

One Sunday during fellowship, we

saw the power of God in manifes-

tation right in our midst. During

the closing prayers that day, sister

Farnel fell down as a result of the

power of God. Demons came out

of her shouting, and she was com-

pletely delivered of her madness.

This happened in the presence of

all the believers. Yahweh was

highly praised among the saints for

this deliverance.

Today, Farnel is part of Enter the Ark.

She has decided to follow and serve

the Lord Jesus Christ until the end.

Sister Farnel’s TestimonySister Farnel’s TestimonySister Farnel’s TestimonySister Farnel’s Testimony

“Enter the Ark” Brings Deliverance to Many Continued...

13

A. House Church in the Moukondo district of

Brazzaville

B. Armel with a family of soulwinners getting ready

to preach the gospel

C. Prayer session with some soulwinners

A.

B.

C.

In 2011, our ministry launched

an outreach program called

“Enter the Ark.” Its goal is to

help people grow in their per-

sonal relationship with Yahweh

and His Son, Jesus Christ, and

to win others through preach-

ing. We proclaim repentance

to all people, turning back to

God, and practicing a lifestyle

worthy of full entrance into our

Father’s Kingdom.

Like Christ did, we send out

“soul winners” by twos to an-

nounce the good news of the

gospel. During seven months,

their goal is to establish new

house churches in their cities

and to grow in the faith and in

numbers.

This year, 35 soul winners

have gone into three cities –

Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, and

Ollombo. In August 2013, by

God’s grace we plan to send a

new group of ambassadors for

a full year.

We encourage brothers and

sisters everywhere to join in

this exciting program. Our mo-

tivation is from Acts 3:19-21:

““““Now repent of your sins

and turn to God, so that

your sins may be wiped

away.

Then times of refreshment

will come from the pres-

ence of the Lord, and he

will again send you Jesus,

your appointed Messiah.

For he must remain in

heaven until the time for

the final restoration of all

things, as God promised

long ago through his holy

prophets.”

Your prayers are vital for the

success of Enter the Ark. We

appreciate them.

May the Lord God deliver us

from every evil work, and save

us into his heavenly Kingdom.

To Him be glory forever and

ever. AMEN �


14

Is Matthew 28:19 Authentic or a Forgery? By Sean Finnegan Introduction

T ucked away at the

end of the Gospel

of Matthew is the

great commission. It reads,

“Therefore, go, teach all na-

tions, baptizing them in the

name of the Father and of the

Son and of the holy spirit”

(Matthew 28:19). Oftentimes

modalists and unitarians ques-

tion the validity of this verse

because of its Trinitarian fla-

vor. Typically, those who ques-

tion its authenticity argue that

we do not have manuscripts of

Matthew 28:19 before a.d. 325

when the church ratified the

Trinitarian creed at Nicea and

that they were all corrupted at

that time. Furthermore, they

refer to Eusebius, the famous

church historian, because he

quoted an alternative version

of Matthew 28:19 in his writ-

ings (i.e. “Go and make disci-

ples of all the nations in my

name”). Although it may be

convenient for us not to have

to deal with this verse, we

have to be careful not to allow

our theology to determine

what Scripture says. In what

follows, I want to lay out the

reasons why every handwrit-

ten and printed Greek text

contains the full version of

Matthew 28:19 and why I think

it is sound as we have it in our

Bibles today.

Manuscript EvidenceManuscript EvidenceManuscript EvidenceManuscript Evidence

Even though there is abso-

lutely no textual variation

whatsoever for Matthew 28:19

in the manuscripts, some al-

lege these manuscripts are all

wrong and a corruption en-

tered into the picture during or

after the Council of Nicea in

a.d. 325 when the Trinity be-

came accepted. Two points

must be kept in mind here:

firstly, the Trinity was not codi-

fied until a.d. 381 (the Council

of Nicea in a.d. 325 merely de-

cided that Jesus was God while

leaving the holy spirit out of

the equation); secondly, there

are a number of Greek papyri

dating from the third century.

Sadly, these earlier manu-

scripts, like most manuscripts,

are only viewable to those

with special access to the mu-

seums where they are stored. I

wish Center for the Study of

New Testament Manuscripts

published these on their web-

site, but they currently do not.

However, if an early manu-

script had even a slight varia-

tion, Bruce Metzger’s Greek

Text or his Textual Commen-

tary on the Greek New

Testament would note it. Even

though, I’m not sure it is the

case, let’s assume there really

are no manuscripts extant

from before a.d. 325 that con-

tain Matthew 28. Where

would that leave us? We still

have thousands of manu-

scripts, some of which date

back to the fourth century (like

Codex Sinaiticus and Codex

Vaticanus). These manuscripts

contain the standard reading

of Matthew 28:19. This is sig-

nificant because these differ

from one another in many

places, so it is not like Constan-

tine, or whoever, forcibly stan-

dardized all the New Testa-

ment manuscripts in a.d. 325.

Furthermore, it is important to

keep in mind that later manu-

scripts were copied from ear-

lier ones. Thus, a later (even

medieval) manuscript could

preserve a very early reading.

Again, we have no evidence of

alternative versions of Mat-

thew 28:19 in any of these

manuscripts.

For the shorter reading hy-

pothesis to be correct, some-

one would have had to destroy

all of the manuscripts contain-

ing the “original” version of

Matthew 28:19 and replace

them with new ones with the

longer reading that we have

today. This is quite a conspir-

acy theory that requires a level

of control that did not exist at

that time. Fourth century

Christianity was a mess organi-

zationally, which is why the


15

century was chock full of con-

troversies and councils. If there

were a strong pope figure in

the fourth century, this theory

might be possible, but he

would still lack the power and

thoroughness to ensure that

every last scrap of the original

Matthew 28:19 was destroyed.

We know this because some-

thing similar was once at-

tempted by a Roman em-

peror—a man named Dio-

cletian. In the early fourth cen-

tury, he fiercely persecuted

Christianity and tried to collect

and destroy all of the New Tes-

tament manuscripts, which is

why we do not have many

from before the fourth cen-

tury. But even the great Dio-

cletian with the full power of

the Roman government behind

him could not accomplish this

task. Thus, the hypothesis that

some sect within Christianity

succeeded in tweaking all the

manuscripts is implausible.

Early Quotes by Christian Early Quotes by Christian Early Quotes by Christian Early Quotes by Christian

AuthorsAuthorsAuthorsAuthors

Even if we cannot find or ac-

cess early manuscripts before

the fourth century to see if

they contain Matthew 28:19,

we can still consult the many

Christian authors who lived in

the second and third centuries

to see how they cited it. Below

is a list of a few quotations

from these authors. They ex-

press a range of thinking about

this subject that may not be

completely accurate, but my

interest for this article is how

they clearly indicate depend-

ence on the traditional form of

Matthew 28:19.

Didache (a.d. 60-150) chapter 7.1

“Now about baptism:

this is how to baptize.

Give public instruction

on all these points, and

then baptize in running

water, in the name of

the Father and of the

Son and of the Holy

Spirit.”

First Apology by Justin Martyr

(a.d. 155) chapter 61

“…Then they are

brought by us where

there is water, and are

born again, for they then

receive washing in water

in the name of God the

Father and Master of all,

and of our Savior Jesus

Christ, and of the Holy

Spirit. For Christ also

said, ‘Except you are

born again, you will not

enter into the Kingdom

of Heaven.’…”

Against Heresies by Irenaeus

(a.d. 180) book 3 chapter 17.1

“…And again, giving to

the disciples the power

of regeneration into

God, he said to them,

‘Go and teach all na-

tions, baptizing them in

the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of

the Holy Spirit.’…”

On Baptism by Tertullian (a.d.

198) chapter 13

“For the law of baptizing

has been imposed, and

the formula prescribed:

‘Go,’ He says, ‘teach the

nations, baptizing them

into the name of the

Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.’”

The Apostolic Tradition by Hip-

polytus (a.d. 200-235) chapter

21.12-18

“And when he who is

baptized goes down

into the water, he who

baptizes him, putting

his hand on him, shall

say thus: Do you be-

lieve in God, the Father

Almighty? And he who

is being baptized shall

say: I believe. Then

holding his hand placed

on his head, he shall

baptize him once. And

then he shall say: Do

you believe in Christ

Jesus, the Son of God,

who was born of the

Holy Spirit of the Virgin

Mary, and was crucified

under Pontius Pilate,

and was dead and bur-

ied, and rose again on

the third day, alive

from the dead, as-

cended into heaven,

and sat at the right

hand of the Father, and



16

will come to judge the

living and the dead?

And when he says: I

believe, he is baptized

again. And again he

shall say: Do you be-

lieve in holy spirit, and

the holy church, and

the resurrection of the

flesh? He who is being

baptized shall say ac-

cordingly: I believe, and

so he is baptized a

third time.”

Epistle to Magnus by Cyprian

(a.d. 250) chapter 7

“…But if any one objects,

by way of saying that

Novatian holds the same

law which the universal

church holds, baptizes

with the same symbol

with which we baptize,

knows the same God

and Father, the same

Christ the Son, the same

Holy Spirit, and that for

this reason he may claim

the power of baptizing,

namely, that he seems

not to differ from us in

the baptismal interroga-

tory; let any one that

thinks that this may be

objected, know first of

all, that there is not one

law of the creed…”

Again, the point of citing these

Christian authors is that they all

demonstrate knowledge of

Matthew 28:19 before a.d. 325.

Furthermore, I have found no

controversy over the authentic-

ity of this text anywhere. Not

only do all extant Greek manu-

scripts with Matthew 28:19 in

them contain the traditional

reading, but all of the church

fathers in the second and third

century that quote or allude to

it use the traditional version.

Suddenly, the case from Euse-

bius’ quotations does not seem

so impressive. Even so, let’s

consider Eusebius’ statements

to understand better what is

happening.

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea

(a.d. 263(a.d. 263(a.d. 263(a.d. 263----339)339)339)339)

The theory goes that Eusebius

quoted a shortened version of

Matthew 28:19 before the

council of Nicea in a.d. 325 and

then quoted the longer, more

Trinitarian, version thereafter.

This allegedly proves that the

church decided to change the

Bible to give more credence to

the Trinity theory. I find this

hypothesis unconvincing for

four reasons. First of all, Euse-

bius was not a Trinitarian; he

was an Arian. In fact, Eusebius

of Caesarea had written a let-

ter to Alexander, the bishop

who excommunicated Arius,

demanding he restore Arius.

Furthermore, Eusebius called a

council in the early 320s at

which the gathered bishops

vindicated Arius and drafted

another letter pressuring Alex-

ander to reinstate him. Lastly,

Eusebius found himself de-

posed by a council in Antioch

shortly before the one at Nicea



Is Matthew 28:19 Authentic or a Forgery? Continued...

17

for supporting Arius. Now it is

true that Eusebius signed the

Nicene Creed in a.d. 325, but

historians generally chalk that

up to compromise rather than a

sudden change of heart. (If he

refused to sign the creed, he

would have lost his job as

bishop of Caesarea, lost his in-

fluence in the debate, and lost

his position as one of the em-

peror’s advisors.) So, Eusebius

is not some super Trinitarian

defender like Athanasius but

actually quite the opposite. He

felt uncomfortable with the

Nicene Creed and even wrote a

kind of damage control letter

home to Caesarea explaining

how they were going to under-

stand the new formula. His

well-known anti-Nicene posi-

tion is probably why he is today

not known as “Saint Eusebius.”

Another reason I find the the-

ory that the Council of Nicea

changed the Bible unconvinc-

ing is that it would have given

the anti-Nicene party potent

ammunition in the sixty year

battle that followed. To my

knowledge, the subordination-

ists never accused the Nicenes

of changing the text of Scrip-

ture, a charge they surely

would have capitalized on if

they could have. Rather, the

battle centered on the mean-

ing of Scripture and arguments

based on reason. Thirdly, even

if the Nicene sect wanted to

change Scripture, they had no

mechanism to make that a re-

ality. As I mentioned earlier,

the required organization and

hierarchy simply did not yet

exist to pull that off. Lastly,

Eusebius quoted the shorter

version of Matthew 28:19 after

Nicea as well (see In Praise of

Constantine 16.8, written in

a.d. 336).

So if the conspiracy theory—

that the “evil” Eusebius

twisted Scripture to inject a

Trinitarian dogma—is not true,

why did Eusebius so often

quote this shorter version?

Ancient people did not look up

every verse they quoted as

they were writing something.

It was more common to

memorize Scriptures and pull

from memory. Ancient texts

did not have spaces between

words nor did they have chap-

ters much less paragraphs. As

a result, it would have been

very time consuming to look

something up, making authors

more likely to quote from

memory than to try to find

something that they were

fairly confident they knew.

However, sometimes their

memories conflated multiple

passages together. On this is-

sue, George Beasley-Murray

writes the following:

“F. C. Conybeare, in an oft

cited article, examined the ci-

tations of the text in Eusebius

and concluded that Eusebius

did not know the longer form

of the text until the Council of

Nicea, when the Trinitarian

doctrine became established.

…The real difficulty [with his

view] is to determine whether

we have any right to speak of a

‘Eusebian reading.’ E. Riggen-

bach, in a lengthy reply to

Conybeare’s article, showed

that Eusebius exercised consid-

erable freedom in quoting the

Matthaean text, as is evi-

denced in the fact that the text

appears in various forms, even

in one and the same work; af-

ter Nicea Eusebius cites the

commission in both longer and

shorter forms; while (in Rig-

genbach’s view) in the letter

written by Eusebius in 325,

during the Council of Nicea,

the manner in which he cites

the common form of the text

suggests that he had been fa-

miliar with it for a long time”

(George Raymond Beasley-

Murray, Baptism in the New

Testament (Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans 1973), p. 81).

One can easily see how some-

one’s memory could blur to-

gether bits from one verse and

another when recalling a

verse. I’ve done this, and a

good number of the textual

variants in the gospels are due

to scribes remembering a bit

from another gospel and in-

jecting it when it was not origi-

nally there. But, just because

Eusebius habitually misquoted

Matthew 28:19 does not mean

he did not know the full ver-

sion as well. Everett Ferguson

is helpful here:

“An examination of Eusebius’

references where the baptis-

mal command was omitted

shows that it was superfluous



18

to the context (for in every

case the emphasis was on the

universality of Christ’s teaching

in contrast to previous reli-

gious and civil law), and con-

sideration of Eusebius’ method

of citing Scripture (omitting

phrases he counted irrelevant

and blending phrases from

other passages he counted

pertinent) deprives the argu-

ment for a shorter text of any

validity” (Everett

Ferguson, Bap-

tism in the Early

Church (Grand

Rapids: Eerd-

mans 2009), p.

134).

So, we can more

easily account for

the Eusebian ten-

dency to quote

the shorter ver-

sion on these

grounds rather

than positing a

conspiracy wherein the church

fathers altered the text of

Scripture. To entertain the idea

of changing Scripture because

one Christian misquoted a text

centuries later would require a

much more solid basis than

what we have. Methodologi-

cally this wouldn’t work any-

way. Should scholars start

combing through early Chris-

tian authors and correcting the

manuscripts based on quota-

tions? This would be like going

to a Christian bookstore and

throwing out all the Bibles and

then piecing together a “more

accurate” text based on quotes

from Christian authors!

Contradiction with Acts?Contradiction with Acts?Contradiction with Acts?Contradiction with Acts?

One last supporting reason

some use to cast doubt on

Matthew 28:19, as we have it,

relates to baptismal practices

in the book of Acts. If Matthew

28:19 is accurate, then Jesus

commanded his followers to

baptize “in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of

the holy spirit.” However,

throughout the book of Acts

when baptisms occur, they

never mention this formulaic

expression. Here are some ex-

amples:

Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the in the in the in the name of Jesus Christname of Jesus Christname of Jesus Christname of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive

the gift of the holy spirit.

Acts 8:16 For it [the holy spirit] had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in in in in the name of the Lord Jesusthe name of the Lord Jesusthe name of the Lord Jesusthe name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 10:47-48 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the holy spirit just as we did, can he?” And he ordered them to be baptized in the name in the name in the name in the name

of Jesus Christof Jesus Christof Jesus Christof Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.

Acts 19:5-6 When they heard this, they were baptized in in in in the name of the the name of the the name of the the name of the Lord JesusLord JesusLord JesusLord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the holy spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and

prophesying.

Allegedly these texts contra-

dict Jesus’ command in Mat-

thew 28:19. But, is there an-

other way to understand them

apart from changing what the

Bible says? Ferguson provides

two other options that are well

worth considering:

The phrases in Acts may

not, however, reflect

alternative formulas in



Is Matthew 28:19 Authentic or a Forgery? Continued...

“I cannot allow my “I cannot allow my “I cannot allow my “I cannot allow my theology to theology to theology to theology to

change the text of change the text of change the text of change the text of Scripture.”Scripture.”Scripture.”Scripture.”

19

the administration of

baptism or alternative

understandings of the

meaning of the act. In

some cases the descrip-

tion in Acts may mean a

baptism administered on

a confession of Jesus as

Lord and Christ (cf. Acts

22:16), or it may be a gen-

eral characterization of

the baptism as related to

Jesus and not a formula

pronounced at the bap-

tism. In the later history,

the only formula regularly

attested as pronounced

by the administrator in-

cludes the triune name,

but in Matthew it too may

be descriptive rather than

formulaic. If Matthew

28:19 is not a formula,

then there is no necessary

contradiction to the de-

scription “in the name of

the Lord” in Acts and Paul

(Ferguson, p. 136).

So, Ferguson suggests that

Acts describes what happened,

“they were baptized into the

name of Jesus,” whereas Mat-

thew describes what words

were said, “baptized in the

name of the Father, and of the

Son, and of the holy spirit,” or

that Matthew 28:19 is not for-

mulaic at all. Another possibil-

ity is that Acts describes the

confession of the convert,

whereas Matthew tells us

what the baptizer said. It could

also be that in the context of

Judea, Christians baptized new

people in the name of the Lord

Jesus because Jews and God-

fearers already had an ade-

quate understanding of God

and the holy spirit. However,

when going out among the

nations as in Matthew 28:19,

one needs to also explain who

God is (cf. Acts 17) and what

the holy spirit is (cf. Acts 19).

One final idea is that the

“name” in Matthew 28:19 is

not literal, but the agenda or

cause of the Father, Son, and

holy spirit. However we work

out the seeming contradiction,

our difficulty here does not

warrant changing what Scrip-

ture says to read more

smoothly.

Scripture Scripture Scripture Scripture ----> Exegesis > Exegesis > Exegesis > Exegesis ----> Theology> Theology> Theology> Theology

Scripture is primary; it is the

foundation. We do not change

what the text says on the basis

of our exegesis or theology;

rather, we accept it as a start-

ing point. This is why textual

critics develop objective rules

to help them figure out which

readings are more accurate.

They do not want their theo-

logical biases to inform their

choices. For a good window

into how this process happens,

see Metzger’s Commentary on

the Greek New Testament or

the NET Study Bible. We are

fortunate today to live in a time

when the New Testament text

is over 99% established based

on centuries of discoveries,

cataloging, and comparisons.

This brings me to the second

step: exegesis. This word basi-

cally means to explain what

the text means. The idea is

that we read out (ex) from

Scripture rather than into it.

Preachers exegete verses

every Sunday when they de-

scribe what they mean. Al-

though what the text actually

means and what we think it

means are hopefully identical,

we cannot allow ourselves to

be over confident so as to

think we never err in under-

standing what something says.

Now we move to the pinnacle

of our work: theology. One’s

theology does not depend on

the exegesis of a single text

but on what many different

verses say together. This is the

most complex level of under-

standing, and it is the most

prone to error for all of us.

However, so long as we keep

everything in order—Scripture,

then exegesis, then theology—

we will end up with more accu-

rate theology. For example, if

rather than reading what a

verse says and interpreting it

within its context (exegesis), I

cherry pick it to support my

theology, I will likely end up

with wrong doctrine. Addition-

ally, I cannot allow my theol-

ogy to change the text of Scrip-

ture. Just because I do not be-

lieve the Trinity is true does

not give me the right to rid the

Bible of a verse like Matthew

28:19. To do so is to go in the

wrong direction.


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