The following articles are related to the topic of TEXTUAL CRITICISM

What Is Modernism?

I frequently see writers refer to what they call "modernism." Exactly what do they mean by this term? The history of Christendom for the past twenty centuries has been characterized by cycles. One of those recurring cycles is that of theological modernism. Modernism is a determined effort on the part of those who have lost their personal faith in the ... read more »

The Church Fathers: Benefits and Abuses

The term "church fathers" is a descriptive of some elasticity, depending upon who is using the expression. Generically, it refers to a number of men in those centuries following the apostolic age (A.D. 30-100), who energetically promoted and defended Christianity as they understood it. Protestants usually define the duration of these scholars to about the 6th century, while Roman Catholics ... read more »

Radical Criticism and “Christian” Education

"Higher criticism" purports to be the "science" of exploring the backgrounds of the biblical books so as to discover the"actual" truth regarding the composition of these documents - in contrast to the alleged "superficial and traditional" views that prevailed over the prolonged centuries of a by-gone era. For example, to the modern "critic," who fancies himself a citizen of that ... read more »

The Assault upon Mark 16:16

A group of disgruntled defectors from the faith has initiated a subversive electronic magazine mislabeled, Grace Centered Magazine.The names associated with this nefarious effort read like a "Who's Who" of apostates within the "change agent" movement. Recently, a writer, who chose to remain anonymous (cf. Gal. 2:4 - "false brothers secretly brought in," ESV), published an article in GCM titled, ... read more »

From God’s Mind to Man—The Bible

In the long-ago biblical ages, there were occasions when God spoke personally to men (Gen. 3:9; 12:1ff; cf. Heb. 1:1). That method of communication is not operative today. Eventually, the Lord had his will committed to written documents (collectively known a the Bible). These literary narratives can be investigated and verified, thus establishing their claims of divine origin. There is ... read more »

The ACU Commentary and the Unity of the Book of Isaiah

Abilene Christian University Press (Abilene, Texas) has just released its new commentary, The Transforming Word One Volume Bible Commentary. Among the many liberal positions advocated, this volume argues for the multiple authorship of the book of Isaiah. John Willis contends: "The authors of the book of Isaiah in its present form were addressing a small Jewish community in and near ... read more »

The Current Perversion of John 8:1-11

In 1998, controversy swirled around then President Bill Clinton's misconduct with an intern, Monica Lewinsky. With almost predictable regularity media personalities cited what is possibly the only passage in their biblical repository: "He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone." This passage has been perverted in a number of egregious ways. First, as in the ... read more »

What Is Sola Scriptura?

There are at least three serious errors-advocated by the prevailing authorities of the Roman Catholic Church-that pertain to the nature of the Scriptures. First, it is contended that the sixty-six books of our common Bibles do not contain the whole of the collection of divine writings. Hence, Catholic Bibles are appended with several extra books known as the Apocrypha. However, ... read more »

Defending the Faith with a Broken Sword — Part 3

In this series of articles we have attempted to show the nobility of defending the truth.Truth is precious.Solomon declared: "Buy the truth, and sell it not" (Prov. 23:23). We thus have the responsibility of defending the truth with the utmost integrity. Sometimes, though, regrettably, those who attempt to defend the truth actually end up selling it out by their misapplication ... read more »

The Jesus Seminar – Part 1

Recently (June 26, 2000), ABC News presented a special two-hour television program titled, In Search of Jesus, with popular broadcaster Peter Jennings as host. While the program touted itself as an objective investigation into the nature of the Jesus of history, it was really little more than a propaganda piece for the radical assertions of the self-proclaimed Jesus Seminar. In ... read more »