KJBIBLE1611

"The Great Commission: Preach the Gospel to Ever Person and Nation and Baptize Disciples, Mark 16," is part 2 of a 3 part series on the Great Commission passages (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20). Much of the material is found in the study "The Great Commission in Scripture and History" at the FaithSaves website. The resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ, commanded HIs church to "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). What are disciples? While some erroneously teach that discipleship isa status that certain believers chose to enter into at some point after their conversion, so that, within the larger class of believers, a smaller, elite group of believers are disciples, the Bible teaches that while there are such things as false believers (cf. John 2:23-3:3; 12:42; Acts 8:13) and false disciples (John 6:60, 66; 12:4), and neither all believers nor all disciples are equally spiritually strong (cf. Acts 14:22; 18:23), the Bible nevertheless equates the categories of believer and disciple, so that all saved people, all believers, are disciples. Generally, a disciple is a learner or follower; “Christ taught his disciples” (Mark 9:31; cf Luke 11:1). A disciple of Christ is one who follows the Lord Jesus and follows or keeps His commandments; that is, “the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them” (Matthew 21:6; cf. 26:19). Scripture thus repeatedly records that Christ’s “disciples follow him” (Mark 6:1; Matthew 8:23; Luke 22:39; John 18:15; 21:20). When does one become a disciple? He becomes a “disciple” at the same moment that he becomes a “Christian”—when he is born again: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26) This passage establishes an equals sign between the categories “disciples” and “Christians.” They are identical categories, fully overlapping. All disciples were called Christians and all Christians were disciples. Furthermore, at Antioch the disciples were called Christians “first” in time, but this designation spread to the rest of the believing community in the same manner. That is, Acts 11:26 teaches that first at Antioch, and from there in the rest of the world where the gospel had penetrated, it was disciples who were called Christians. The equation disciple = Christian was not limited to Antioch—it was universal, just starting first in time at Antioch. Acts 11:26 proves that the category of disciple and Christian are identical. It is crucial that you see this is what you are aiming at as you go into all the world to evangelize or preach the gospel. What does obedience to this command look like? You have obeyed Matthew 28:19 when you have made disciples and are continuing to make disciples. The Commission is fulfilled is when someone who you have spoken to has believed on Christ, has a new nature, is a baptized servant in Christ’s church, and is learning of and following the Lord Jesus Christ; the baptized new convert is being taught “all things whatsoever” Christ commanded (28:20) and passing these truths on to others also. Success is when that person is spiritually mature and is ready himself to make disciples. The Great Commission looks like going into all the world, making people into born-again, baptized followers of and learners of Jesus Christ who are ready to make disciples themselves as part of your church. It looks like you making lots of disciples until it is time to send forth one or more of these disciples to establish a new congregation somewhere else where the process can continue. The gospel of Mark provides further detail about the nature of the Great Commission, and so supplements the record in Matthew’s gospel: 14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:14-16) Mark's narrative necessitates that the Commission is a church duty, not one for individuals or the apostles alone. The command of 16:15 is “Go ye,” a second person plural, which necessarily designates the church corporately. No Scriptural record exists where a Great Commission command is given to a solitary person at a post-resurrection appearance; neither Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9), Peter (1 Corinthians 15:5), James (1 Corinthians 15:7), or Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8) received the Great Commission-the church did. The precedence of faith to baptism, which evidences that immersion is rightly administered to believers only, divests all paedobaptist bodies from any claim to a stake in the Great Commission. The church to which Christ gave His command only baptized visible saints.

"The Great Commission of the Church: Go, Make Disciples of All Nations, Baptize and Teach Them to Observe All Things Whatsoever Christ Commanded" is part 1 of a 3 part series on the Great Commission passages (Matthew 28; Mark 16: Luke 24; John 20). Much of the material is found in the study "The Great Commission in Scripture and History" at the FaithSaves website. Matthew chapter twenty-eight provides the fullest record of the Great Commission: 16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:16-20) Not the Apostles only, but others were present at the giving of this Commission (Matthew 28:7, 10). Indeed, this is quite possibly the event referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:6, where the Lord appeared to over 500 brethren at once: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. When they saw Christ, they “worshipped” Him (Matthew 28:17). The gathered church offered Christ the reverence, the submission, the adoration that is appropriate to He who equally possesses the undivided Divine nature with the Father, and validated His claims to be one Being with the Father by His resurrection from the dead. The Lord Jesus has always been infinitely worthy of honor as the eternal God, and is worthy of the highest honor as exalted Man, carrying human nature in His resurrected, glorified body to the very right hand of the Father, a pledge of the resurrected, ascended glory that He will also give to His people when He divides a portion with the great, and the spoil with the strong (Isaiah 53:12). The "some" who "doubted" (Matthew 28:17) were some of the other 500 brethren who had assembled, those who had not already seen Christ after His resurrection. The verb appears in Matthew 14:31 for "little faith." The “doubt” of Matthew 28:17 is not a lack of faith or a hostile rebellion against the truth, but it was “little faith,” as with Peter who had enough faith to get out of the boat to walk on the water but not enough to keep his eyes on Christ while walking. As with other resurrection appearances, when at the Lord’s first appearances some thought they saw a spirit or who knows what, but Christ took the doubts away, so here the Lord Jesus Christ took their doubts away as after they first “saw” Him, perhaps far off, He then proceeded to came near them: “He came and spoke to them” (28:18). Talking familiarly with them, all their doubts were taken away. The Lord tells them, first, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” As God the Son, the Lord Jesus always had all power, all authority, all right to rule. As the God-Man and our Mediator and Savior, He was now “given” all power. He was legally entitled to it—it was His purchased right. He had humbled Himself, even to the death of the cross, and God now exalted Him, as Philippians 2:5-11 affirms. He also was given all power, not solely for His personal exaltation as the resurrected God-Man, but in persuance of His work of salvation (John 17:2). It was important for His church to know that He would be with them and that He had all power in heaven and in earth because of what Christ had said would happen the last time He gave His church authority and sent His disciples out (Matthew 10)-serious persecution, opposition, and hostility from the world is what they should expect. The Lord gave one imperative, the “teach” of Matthew 28:19, with which were associated three participles, “Go” (28:19), “baptizing” (28:19), and “teaching” in 28:20. The “teach” of 28:19 is matheteusate, an aorist active imperative from matheteuo, a verb derived from the common New Testament word, mathetes, “a disciple”— the verb signifies “to make disciples.” Going is a circumstance associated with making disciples; How do you make disciples? You have to go. “Go and make disciples.” “Baptizing” and “teaching” in 28:20 are means through which making disciples is taking place. They explain how the disciple making process occurs. Disciples are baptized and then are continually taught to observe all things whatsoever Christ commands. In other words, going, baptizing, and teaching all things were constituent parts of this over-arching command to make disciples. What is the main command, the actual thrust, what resurrected Lord commands His church to do? It is not to manipulate people into saying the "sinner's prayer." It is to make disciples. It is to make people who are learners, followers, servants of Jesus Christ.

"Free, Gracious, and Eternal Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for Sinners From All Nations" is part 3 of the three part series on God's purpose to bless and redeem a vast multitude from all the nations and peoples of the earth. The saving blessing God intended for the sons of men, for people from all nations, was not only Jehovah’s purpose from the creation, through all of past history, at this time, and in future dispensations. His love and blessing actually started far earlier than this, even from everlasting ages before the creation. God’s personal Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24), the eternal Son, said: 22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. ... 30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:22-31) The Triune God is the God of joy: “The joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23). (The redeemed get to enter into His joy, an amazing truth.) God delights infinitely in Himself, and in being the “blessed God,” He is the “happy” God. Every time the word “happy” appears in the NT it is the same form of word as “blessed” (makarios) in 1 Timothy 1:11. Note the “happy” in John 13:17; Acts 26:2; Romans 14:22; James 5:11; 1 Peter 3:14; 4:14. God is the most happy Being of all, so being with Him forever is also the way to make men happy. In heaven His happiness will “rub off” on everyone He is with! He is perfectly happy, and all who are with Him forever are happy to the highest level possible for them! Furthermore, the Father, Son and Spirit have mutual delight in one another. The text in Proverbs 8 focuses upon here relates to the Father and the Son, but the truths are true of the Spirit also. See that Jehovah, the Father, Son, and Spirit, was self-sufficient from eternity. God was not lonely. He did not make us because He needed someone to talk to. He had the perfect and all sufficient delight and joy in Himself and perfect fellowship among His three Persons. He would have been perfectly happy in Himself and His fellowship without ever making anyone. When you are born again, you enter into this love and joy, the infinite joy of the Father, Son, and Spirit among themselves! Why would you not want to draw close to and serve this blessed, happy God? Do you think that God wants you to be sad? He wants you to be the most happy you can possibly be forever! Now at times in this life sometimes He will give you hard things that cause sadness because He knows it will make you more happy forever. But keep in mind the perfect love that the Father and the Son have, and that heaven is a world of love and joy, where the saved, and the angels, and the Father, the Son and the Spirit, all live in perfect love and joy together. You should give your heart to this God of love and joy. He made the world, and redeemed His people, out of the overflowing of that love that He has within Himself; His love overflowing, like a spring from which an overflowing river comes, overflowed and out of the love the Father had to the Son in the Spirit the Father made the world and gave His Son a people as a gift. His Son received this gift from the Father’s love and determined to come into the world and die for them to redeem them. The Spirit, out of love to the Father and the Son, determined to show them the Son and draw them to Him, regenerate them, sanctify them, and glorify them. Thus, through the working of the Spirit upon us we receive the grace of the Son and come to the Father. Surely for all eternity past the Son was rejoicing always before the Father in the infinite beauty and perfection of the Father, as the Father was rejoicing in the infinite Divine glory seen in the Son. The word “delight” in 8:30 is a “plural of intensification or amplification.” It is translated with the plural, “delights,” in 8:31. Now surely the delight that the Father, Son, and Spirit had in one another from all eternity was measurelessly great, and it was so “daily,” day after day, and so “always,” at all times, as we have already noted. This is exactly what is expected. Yet notice in 8:31 what was the cause of the endless, intense, amplified delight of the Father and the Son even before creation. “My delights were with the sons of men”! The Father, Son, and Spirit, were filled with intense delight and joy thinking about the millions and millions from every tongue and nation whom they would save by the death of Christ! This delight in the sons of men was on the Son of God’s heart when He appeared to and walked with believers in the Old Testament. This delight was seen in His triumphant resurrection and ascension, when He will see what He suffered to redeem us, and will be satisfied (Isaiah 53:11)—He will look at His infinite suffering of the cross, and say "IT WAS WORTH IT!"

"God's Purpose: Praise from All Nations" part two (of three) continues to examine God's intention to bless all nations and peoples of the earth as the background for the church's call to world evangelism or missions. In Psalm 2:12, the Aramaic word "Son" emphasizes the Son of God as the object of saving faith for all peoples. The next use of Aramaic is Jeremiah 10:11: Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. All nations must know that Jehovah alone is the true God, while all false gods will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.They are just dead statues. The call goes out to the nations of the world, in their language, to forsake their idols for the one God, the living God who made the heavens and the earth and is Sovereign over nature now (Jeremiah 10:11) and submit to and trust in His Son (Psalm 2). The next portion of Aramaic Scripture is Daniel 2:4-7:28. In Daniel 2, God wants all the nations to know that He is Lord of all (Daniel 2:44). Then in Daniel 3 God wants the nations to know the narrative about how He delivered Daniel’s three friends from the burning fiery furnace when they refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s idol: He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. (Daniel 3:25) The Son of God, in whom Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego were trusting (Psalm 2:12) delivered His people from the fire, as Isaiah 43:2 had promised, in the context of the fact that Jehovah would regather His people after the exile: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. So Jehovah God the Son delivered His redeemed people from the fire, and He delivers all who trust in Him from the everlasting fires of hell. This message about the salvation wrought by the Son of God goes to the end of the Babylonian empire (Daniel 3:25-30). Daniel 4 shows how Jehovah is able to turn the most powerful king into someone who acted like a beast in the field until he humbled himself before the one true God. Daniel 5 shows what happens to Belshazzar when he does NOT humble himself before the one true God. Daniel 6 records a decree about Israel's God saving Daniel from the lions that goes to the ends of the Medo-Persian empire. The God of Daniel is the “living God” (6:20), Daniel receives salvation because he “believed in his God” (6:23), while the enemies of Daniel and his God are destroyed (6:24). Darius then issues a decree instructing “all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth” that “men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end,” and he “delivereth and rescueth” (6:26-6:27)—all nations of the earth are to hear the message that the one living and true God is the Savior. The climax of the Aramaic portion of Daniel is the vision of the Messiah, the Son of Man, coming to rule and save in Daniel 7. He destroys the greatest manifestation of Satan’s power and the power of this world, the Antichrist. He is truly human—He is “Son of MAN.” But He comes “with the clouds of heaven” (7:13)—this image is used for God’s presence and activity in judging His enemies and saving His saints. So the Son of Man is also Divine, possessing the Divine glory, possessing free access into the presence of the Father, and ruling the entire world. Ezra 4:7-6:18; 7:12-26 is written in Aramaic. The God of the Jews is the God of heaven; His temple in Jerusalem the place of His worship. The nations are to know where the God of heaven has His place of worship (which is also the place where the sacrifices were offered, every sacrifice preaching the gospel in a picture—so the heathen were to know the place where the gospel was preached and God worshipped.) The book of Esther records that the Persian empire spread “from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces” (Esther 1:1). They ruled much of Asia, parts of Africa, and were expanding into Europe. The Jews were found in every province (Esther 3:8). As a result of the glorious providential dealings of God in the book of Esther "many of the people of the land became Jews" (Esther 8:17) in all 127 Persian provinces from India to Ethiopia! Outside of Scripture, the Lemba people, in Zimbabwe and South Africa have Jewish ancestry. Israel was to bless all nations with knowledge of the God of the gospel, and the message spread very widely from the center of the earth, Jerusalem, out to Africa, Asia, Europe, and perhaps even from the ends of Asia into the New World. In the church age the gospel also spread greatly. Amen!

James White's first argument in his King James Only debate with Thomas Ross was that (if they were alive today) the King James Version translators would prefer the Legacy Standard Bible to the King James Bible. James White & Thomas Ross debated the topic: “The Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), as a representative of modern English translations based upon the UBS/NA text (the Greek New Testament printed by the United Bible Society, which is also the text of the Nestle-Aland), is superior to the KJV (King James Version), as a representative of TR-based (Textus Receptus or Received Text based) Bible translations.” This King James Only or King James Version Only (KJVO) or Confessional Bibliology debate took place on February 18, 2023. This video is part two of a series of debate review videos by Thomas Ross of the arguments made by both sides of the debate. Dr. Thomas Ross provides debate background and then beings to examine Dr. James White's introductory 25 minute speech. James White did not present an exegetical case for the type of textual criticism performed by the Nestle - Aland / United Bible Society Greek Text and adopted by the Legacy Standard Bible. In White's opening presentation he did not present an exegetical case. In fact, in James R. White, The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations? (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2009), the teaching on preservation of passages such as: Deuteronomy 4:2; 8:3; 12:32; 29:29; Psalm 119:89; Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 59:21; Matthew 4:4; 5:18-19; Luke 16:17; John 10:35; 12:48; 17:8 & Revelation 22:18-19 is completely ignored. James White does not obtain his textual critical position and conclusions from Scriptural exegesis. In response to James White's claim that the King James Version translators would support the LSB over the KJB, Thomas Ross demonstrates: 1.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to remove the canonical ending and all resurrection appearances from Mark’s Gospel, so that the Good News according to Mark ends with the women, continually afraid, running away and saying nothing, based on the slimmest MS evidence. 2.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to introduce many readings that deny the inerrancy of Scripture into their translation (Matthew 1:7; 10; Mark 1:2; 5:1; 6:22; Luke 3:33; 8:26 23:45; 1 Corinthians 5:1). 3.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators preferred a Textus Rejectus that was not used by God’s people and churches to the Textus Receptus received by the churches that they actually used. 4.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to reject the reading in all Hebrew MSS and erase God’s covenant Name, “Jehovah,” from Scripture and replace it with something else. 5.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would have been fine radically altering the model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4 or that they would have rejected their knowledge of the Greek NT and LXX to mistranslate “deliver us from evil” as “deliver us from the evil one.” 6.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would want to eliminate “hell” from the Old Testament, eliminate the distinction between singular and plural pronouns (thee/ye), etc. 7.) James provides zero evidence that the KJV translators would have accepted a Hebrew and Greek text made by people who universally rejected the inerrancy of Scripture and included high Roman Catholic figures who submitted to the Council of Trent and whom the translators would have viewed as in league with the Papal Antichrist. 8.) James's claim about what the KJV translators would have done (were they alive today) is actually an example of what David Hackett Fisher’s Historians’ Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper & Row, 1970) calls the “fallacy of fictional questions” (pgs. 15ff.). However, if we must indulge in historical fallacies, it is much more probable that they would all have rejected the LSB, the more high Anglican KJV translators embracing a position like that of Burgon and Scrivener and the more Puritan KJV translators embracing a position like that of Edward F. Hills. Dr. Ross then points out from the writings of the head King James Version translator, Lancelot Andrewes, that James White's claims about the translators are specious. Lancelot Andrewes embraced Textus Receptus readings such as 1 Timothy 3:16; John 5:3-4 & 1 John 5:7, and the model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4, without any doubt about them whatsoever. Andrewes believed in the preservation of Scripture, writing: "Heaven and earth shall pass, but not one jot of this … law of God.” Dr. Andrewes denied that the LXX was the authority over the Hebrew Scriptures for New Testament Apostles like Matthew. As a strong Protestant, he believed that the Pope was the Antichrist and would not have rejected the Protestant Bible. Learn more at the FaithSaves website!

"God's Purpose: Praise from All Nations" is part one of a three part sermon series on God's intention to bless all nations and peoples of the earth as the background for the church's call to world evangelism or missions. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has had a purpose for blessing all of His creation, and all mankind—the height of His creation—for His glory. Through all past dispensations, in this current dispensation, and in the coming dispensations, He has been and continues to work His plan for that end. The disciple-making church of Jesus Christ fits within a larger background. Before the Fall God commanded Adam and Eve to fill the earth with a righteous people for His praise (Genesis 1:26-28). From the creation of the world God had a purpose to fill the world with His holy image-bearers, holy men, for His glory and for their inestimable blessedness. Immediately after the Fall, God Himself—the preincarnate Son, who would Himself enter humanity as the Savior—preached the gospel to the entire human race at the time—Adam and Eve—allowing, after the Fall, every living man to hear the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:15). Between the time of Adam and Eve and the time of the Flood, the gospel was available worldwide. The extremely long lifespans of Adam and his descendants means that, if there are no gaps in the Genesis genealogy, the life of Adam’s son Seth overlapped with Noah’s life for 34 years; if there are minor gaps in the genealogy, there would still be only a small number of generations that passed away between Adam and the Flood. Jude 14 records the bold preaching of Enoch in this period. Noah himself was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). People everywhere would have heard about the ark that may have taken him 120 years (Genesis 6:3) to build and which cost him the constant mockery and derision of the world and almost certainly exhausted his life’s savings and all that his family had saved up to that time; the Ark itself picturing the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that is in Him. The Gospel was available to all the fallen sons of Adam in the pre-Flood world! After the Flood, Noah knew the gospel and passed it on to his children. Immediately after coming off the ark Noah offered sacrifice, a sign of his faith in the sacrifice of the coming Messiah to save him from sin (Genesis 8:20ff.), and God blessed the entire world through that sacrificial offering which pictured the coming work of Christ, promising that He would not destroy the world again with a Flood. Immediately after the judgment at Babel (Genesis 11) Moses recordsthe opening verses of Genesis 12: 1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Galatians 3:8 explains: And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. The promises made to Abraham began to be fulfilled as God called Israel to Himself, redeemed Israel from Egypt, and brought His redeemed people into the Promised Land. The word would have gotten around about the plagues in Egypt, Israel’s salvation from the hand of the most powerful nation on the earth at the time, the crossing of the Red Sea, the drying up of the Jordan, the sun standing still, etc. Consider where Jehovah put the nation of Israel. He put His nation right where Asia, Africa, and Europe come together, right where all the trade routes through that area would need to go, the best possible place on the face of the earth for Israel to be a light to all nations. Israel regularly sang about God’s purpose for bringing all nations whom He made to Himself: 1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 117) Israel’s psalms are full of the evangelistic purpose of Jehovah to reach all the nations, to bring them all to submission to and faith in the crucified and risen Messiah and through the Messiah to be saved by Jehovah (Psalm 2; 22; 72). Old Testament Israel longed for and sang about this purpose of God for all nations, the Lord Jesus sang these inspired, infallible prayers to the Father, and psalm-singing churches today continue to sing to the Father the inspired missionary songs that the Savior of the world sang Himself, understanding the psalms better now than was possible in the Mosaic dispensation, in light of Christ’s having already come. The dispersion of Israel to all nations of the earth also contributed to spreading the gospel. Don't forget parts 2-3!

James White vs. Thomas Ross Bible versions / King James Only debate: “The Legacy Standard Bible, as a representative of modern English translations based upon the UBS/NA [United Bible Societies, Nestle-Aland Greek] text, is superior to the KJV [King James Bible], as a representative of TR-based [Textus Receptus / Received Text - based] Bible translations." Affirm: James White, Alpha & Omega Ministries, Apologia Church (Mesa, AZ) Deny: Thomas Ross, FaithSaves.net, Bethel Baptist Church (El Sobrante, CA) Debate location: February 18, 2023 About the debaters: James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries. He is Professor of Church History and Apologetics at Grace Bible Theological Seminary, and has taught Greek, Hebrew, Systematic Theology, Textual Criticism, Church History and apologetics for numerous other schools. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty four books, including The King James Only Controversy, The Forgotten Trinity, and What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Qur’an. He is an accomplished debater; this King James Version Only debate was his 180th. He has debated leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism, as well as critics such as Bart Ehrman, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, and John Shelby Spong. Thomas Ross grew up doubting the existence of God, but through God’s grace turned to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentant faith shortly after entering college at the age of fifteen and was born again. He earned a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, an MA from Fairhaven Baptist College, an M Div from Great Plains Baptist Divinity School, a ThM from Anchor Baptist Theological Seminary, and should complete and submit his PhD dissertation this year at Great Plains Baptist Divinity School. He has taught systematic theology, Greek, Hebrew, apologetics, textual criticism, and other courses with a variety of church-authorized Bible institutes, colleges, and theological seminaries in the United States and in foreign countries. His church and he partner with a number of independent Baptist educational institutions to assist them in training God’s servants for kingdom work through both distance and in-person education, in addition to assisting his congregation and equipping other Bible-believing, separatist Baptist churches in preaching, teaching, and in other ways fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission through such ministries as house-to-house evangelism, literature distribution, evangelistic Bible studies, open-air preaching, and online preaching, teaching, and apologetics ministry to the glory of the Triune God (Matthew 28:19-20). Thomas Ross has engaged in public, moderated debates both in the United States and internationally with leading representatives of non-Christian worldviews and with representatives of pseudo-Christian cults and religious organizations. He loves to read and study his Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and English Bible with the intention of obeying them. He has also translated the Aramaic portions of Scripture. He has written several books. In the debate, James White argued that the King James Version translators, were they alive today, would affirm the superiority of the Legacy Standard Bible to the KJV, for three reasons: 1.) The LSB is textually superior to the KJV. 2.) The LSB is lexically superior tot he KJV. 3.) The LSB is translationally superior to the KJV. Thomas Ross argued that the King James Bible and the Textus Receptus or Received Text fits what the Bible teaches about its own preservation. The LSB and other modern Bible versions do not. He argued that Scripture, and faith in the promises of God, must be the “glasses” through which believers evaluate historical data about the preservation of the Bible. Scripture teaches: 1.) the verbal, plenary preservation of the verbally, plenarily inspired autographa (Psalm 12:6-7; Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35); 2.) the preserved words would be perpetually available to God’s people (Isaiah 59:21) 3.) Israel was the guardian of Scripture in the Mosaic dispensation (Romans 3:1-2), and the church the guardian in the dispensation of grace (1 Timothy 3:15). The Holy Spirit would lead the saints to accept the words the Father gave to the Son to give to His people (John 16:13; 17:8). Believers can know with certainty where the canonical words of God are, because they are to live by every one of them (Matthew 4:4; Revelation 22:18-19) and are going to be judged by them at the last day (John 12:48). Ross pointed out that the translation philosophy of the Nestle-Aland Greek text's editors rejected both the Biblical doctrine of preservation and undermined verbal inspiration, and their heresies corrupted the UBS Greek text. He also argued "Jehovah" is God's covenant name, not the LSB's "Yahweh." Videography by Shane Irwin for Impax Films. Watch the debate review videos at FaithSaves, on YouTube on the KJB1611 channel, or at the Rumble KJBIBLE1611 channel!

James White & Thomas Ross debated the topic: “The Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), as a representative of modern English translations based upon the UBS/NA text (the Greek New Testament printed by the United Bible Society, which is also the text of the Nestle-Aland), is superior to the KJV (King James Version), as a representative of TR-based (Textus Receptus or Received Text based) Bible translations.” This King James Only or King James Version Only (KJVO) debate took place on February 18, 2023. This video is part one of a series of debate review videos by Thomas Ross of the arguments made by both sides of the debate. The introductory video explains Bro Ross' initial analysis of how the debate went and examines James White's initial post-debate comments in White's Dividing Line program for Tuesday, February 21, 2023 (James White discusses the Bible text and version debate in c. minutes 5-18; the video is entitled "Road Trip Dividing Line: Gay Mirage, Mass, Biblicism," and comments start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR4do1nfFr4&t=517s). By God's grace and for His glory, the Lord answered the prayers of His people and the debate went well. God is concerned that His pure Word be in use among His people, and He blessed the debate towards the furtherance of that cause. The case for perfect preservation, and its good and necessary consequence, the superiority of the TR/KJV to the UBS/LSB, was clear. All glory to the one God, the Father who gave the canonical words of Scripture to the Son, so that He could give them to the assembly of His saints by His Spirit! Despite pressing James White on the obvious fact that the Bible promises perfect preservation, and that the original language texts behind the Legacy Standard Bible and similar modern versions are built around a rejection of these promises, and that the recognition of the canonical words of Scripture by the church were crucial to Thomas Ross' case, James still did very little to dispute Ross's case from Scripture, nor to present a Biblical basis for his own position. James White reviewed the debate on his Dividing Line program. In his review he made very few comments about the substance of the debate. He did not talk about what Scripture taught about its own preservation. He did not talk about what Baptist confessions say about preservation. He did not talk about the case made for the Textus Receptus from history, validating how God kept His promises and the Baptist confessions are right. Instead, unfortunately, James made regular affirmations about Thomas' character that he was not able to substantiate. James White claimed he “knew” Thomas Ross was “not intending to” bring the audience along with him. James claimed Thomas had a “really, really deep disrespect for the audience.” James said: “Ross didn’t care. He wasn’t debating for us.” James claimed this was what Thomas was doing: “I don’t care if anyone understands what I’m saying, I’m just showing off.” James claimed Thomas did not understand the concept of text types, or even “anything like that at all,” and said that Thomas “misuse[d] scholarly information.” James used his debate review to make such allegations against the character of Thomas Ross, but James was not able to substantiate any of these accusations. Similarly, in James White's book The King James Only Controversy James claims that there are KJVO people who think Abraham and Moses spoke English, but here again James provides no documentation for his claims. Thomas Ross discusses the use of Athanasius' TR reading "only-begotten Son" in John 1:18 versus the Arian reading defended by James White, "only begotten god," which is followed by the Nestle-Aland Greek text, the New World Translation of the Watchtower Society or the Jehovah's Witnesses cult, and the Legacy Standard Bible. Athanasius seven times quotes “only begotten Son,” the TR and KJV reading of John 1:18 in the patristic writer's Defense of the Nicene Definition and his Discourses Against the Arians. The corruption “only begotten god” is first attested by the Gnostic Valentinians and is also quoted by Arius. The corruption in the NA/UBS Greek text appears in 0.3% of the Greek manuscripts, while the TR “only begotten Son” appears in 99%. It is astonishing that White’s King James Only Controversy actually employs the pro-Arian corruption of John 1:18 as evidence of the superiority of modern Bible versions on the Deity of Christ! The Nestle-Aland text encourages the Arian heresy that Christ is begotten in the sense of “created” at a point in time as a secondary god, rather than the Biblical fact that Christ is begotten eternally as Son (and “beget” does not mean “create”; the Son is begotten, not created). Thomas also discusses the fact that there are hundreds of lines of text in the NA text—mere handfuls of words—where the NA/UBS text looks like no Greek manuscript that actually is known on the face of the earth. Learn more at the FaithSaves website!

"Suzerain-Vassal Treaties & the Books of Moses or Pentateuch" is an interview with Jewish scholar Dr. Joshua Berman, professor of Hebrew Bible at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Dr. Berman, a graduate of both Princeton University and Bar-Ilan University, discusses the powerful archaeological evidence from the suzerain-vassal treaty format in the Books of Moses--Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy-for the authorship of the Pentateuch by its traditionally recognized author-Moses-in the traditional time period, the Bronze Age. The interview was conducted by Dr. Thomas Ross during a faculty tour of Egypt led by Egyptologist and Christian scholar Dr. James Hoffmeier in conjunction with Tuktu Tours. Scholars such as Kenneth Kitchen (On the Reliability of the Old Testament), James Hoffmeier (The Archaeology of the Bible), and Meredith Kline (Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy) are also quoted on the topic. The Bible presents the true God-the God of Israel-as the great King, the suzerain, and Israel as the vassal, or subordinate, who needs to obey the great King or suzerain because the suzerain has delivered or saved the vassal. By God's saving Israel from Egypt, He became the nation's king, and Israel become God's vassal. Approximately one-hundred treaties and law codes have been discovered and translated of comparative value to the Sinai covenant the Bible declares that God gave to Moses. The covenants from the third millennium BC differ in structure from those of the second, and those of the second differ in structure from those of the first. Exodus 20-24 and Deuteronomy are written in a covenant structure employed in the second half of the second millennium BC-the Biblical time of Moses. This suzerain-vassal treaty format was consciously followed in both Exodus and Deuteronomy. Treaties from a thousand years later-when skeptics must date the Pentateuch if they wish to explain away its predictive prophecies-are radically different in format” from those of the time of Moses, in which the Sinai covenant was composed. The Biblical text shares intimate distinctions with the late-second-millennium documents not found in the first-millennium. Dr. Kenneth Kitchen notes: The particular and special form of covenant evidenced by Exodus-Leviticus and in Deuteronomy (and mirrored in Josh. 24) could not possibly have been reinvented even in the fourteenth/thirteenth centuries by a runaway rabble of brick-making slaves under some uncouth leader no more educated than themselves. The formal agreeing, formatting, and issuing of treaty documents belongs to governments and (in antiquity) to royal courts. Private citizens had no part in, and no firsthand knowledge of, such arcane, diplomatic procedures. Their only role was to hear the content of a treaty (if they were vassals of a suzerain-overlord), and obey it through their own ruler. So also today, treaties are agreed to by heads of state, and implemented by them; and any bills are picked up by the long-suffering taxpayers with never a sight of the original interstate document responsible for the cost. So, how come documents such as Exodus-Leviticus and Deuteronomy just happen to embody very closely the framework and order and much of the nature of the contents of such treaties and law collections established by kings and their scribal staffs at court in their respective capital cities in the late second millennium? This is socially and conceptually a million miles away from serfs struggling to build ... Pi-Ramesse (and Pithom) in the sweaty, earthy brickfields of Exodus 1:11–14 and 5:6–20! No Hebrew there could know of, or would care about, such high-level diplomatic abstractions. Even a runaway rabble inevitably needs a leader. To exploit such concepts and formats for his people’s use at that time, the Hebrews’ leader would necessarily had to have been in a position to know of such documents at first hand—either because he knew people who shared such information with him or because he was himself involved with such documents. There is no other option. In short, to explain what exists in our Hebrew documents we need a Hebrew leader who had had experience of life at the Egyptian court, mainly in the East Delta (hence at Pi-Ramesse), including knowledge of treaty-type documents and their format, as well as of traditional Semitic legal/social usage more familiar to his own folk. In other words, somebody distressingly like that old “hero” of biblical tradition, Moses, is badly needed at this point, to make any sense of the situation as we have it. ... On the basis of the series of features in Exodus to Deuteronomy that belong to the late second millennium and not later, there is, again, no other viable option. Since the Pentateuch was written by Moses, the Bible must be true, for the Pentateuch contains specific predictive prophecies that were fulfilled many centuries later. Only God can predict the future in this way!

Lecture #5 in New Testament or Koine Greek; first year Greek at a college or seminary level taught by independent Baptist professor Thomas Ross, utilizing Bill (William) Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek and other texts. In this class, William Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek (BBG) workbook chapter 8 is reviewed, covering "Prepositions and eimi." All exercises are translated, including the additional exercises. The professor and students use the Greek Textus Receptus when it varies from the critical text employed by Bill Mounce. Also, vocabulary from Speak Koine Greek: A Conversational Phrasebook by Frederick J. Long and T. Michael W. Halcomb is examined, and a conversation in Koine takes place. Portions of the following verses are translated from Bill Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook (3rd edition): α. Mark 1:15 β. Matthew 2:11 γ. — δ. Genesis 39:2 ε. John 1:34 ζ. John 10:34 η. 1 John 4:8 1.) Mark 3:20 2. Mark 1:26 3. John 5:41 4. Matthew 13:34 5. Mark 1:5 6. Mark 2:28 7. Mark 1:9 8. 1 John 4:16 9. Mark 2:27 10. Mark 3:7 11. — 12. — 13. Genesis 9:8 (LXX) 14. Exodus 2:23 (LXX) 15. Genesis 22:11 (LXX) 16. John 3:17 17. John 5:24 18. John 14:1 19. Mark 14:61 20. Exodus 15:22 (LXX) The class begins by singing Philippians 2:5-11 in Greek to the tune of Adeste Fideles: Say the first line and then begin to sing with the ὃς. τοῦτο γὰρ φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· ὃς ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων, οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα Θεῷ, ἀλλ’ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε, μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος· καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν, γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. (Repeat last two lines) διὸ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσε, καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα· ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ πατρός. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant ... in the likeness ... of men ... was made: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Repeat last two lines) Wherefore God also ... him hath highly exalted, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that . . . is Lord . . . Jesus Christ, . . . to the glory of God the Father. The class ends with the students singing Revelation 4:11; 5:12, 13 to the tune of “Guide Me, O thou great Jehovah”: Ἄξιος εἶ, Κύριε, λαβεῖν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὴν τιμὴν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν· ὅτι σὺ ἔκτισας τὰ πάντα, καὶ διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου εἰσὶ καὶ ἐκτίσθησαν. … Ἄξιόν ἐστι τὸ ἀρνίον τὸ ἐσφαγμένον λαβεῖν τὴν δύναμιν καὶ πλοῦτον καὶ σοφίαν καὶ ἰσχὺν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν καὶ εὐλογίαν … εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure [“will”] they are and were created. ... Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing ... for ever and ever. The FaithSaves website's section on college courses contains course syllabi, handouts, and other important material for taking this course.

Dr. Raymond Damadian, inventor of the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner & atheist turned Bible-believing Christian, discusses the invention of the MRI, utilizing NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), as well as the evidence for creation vs. evolution, God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ. The MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner (a technology originally called NMR, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and out of which developed Diffusion-Weighted Imaging [DWI or DW-MRI]) was designed by Dr. Raymond Damadian. Born in 1936 in Queens, New York, Dr. Damadian graduated in 1956 from the University of Wisconsin early at the age of twenty, having won the prestigious Ford Foundation Scholarship for advanced placement in College without having to complete high school. He completed his M. D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York in 1960. In 1967 he entered research medicine instead of clinical practice, concluding that he could help millions through research instead of thousands as a clinician. He completed his postdoctoral studies between 1962 and 1967 at the Washington University School of Medicine and at Harvard Medical School. In 1969, while conducting research on sodium and potassium regulation by the cell as a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine of State University of New York, he proposed an idea for detecting early stages of cancer after discovering that Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging was able to detect differences in cancerous and non-cancerous cells. During his education, he found that the the secular humanism, atheism, and evolution that he had been convinced of were false, and turned to Jesus Christ, Biblical Christianity, and creation. Dr. Damadian's Research Dr. Damadian consequently sought to develop an instrument “that can be used to scan the human body externally for early signs of malignancy,” envisioning that “detection of internal tumors during the earliest stages of their genesis should bring us very close to the total eradication of this disease.” In 1977, he finally achieved success when the first ever MRI image was made by Dr. Damadian and his two colleagues on July 3 at 4:45 am. The road to realizing this vision was a difficult one, with limited resources and funds, with some scoffing at the idea, and with others building on his findings without due recognition of his work. Dr. Damadian and associates In 1988, Dr. Damadian received the National Medal of Technology from President Ronald Reagan. In 1989, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame by President George W. Bush. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 from MIT, the Innovation Award in Bioscience in 2003 from the Economist, and the Bower Award in Business Leadership in 2004 by the Franklin Institute. He would have received the Nobel Prize in 2004 for his invention of the MRI, but was denied the prize because, at least in part, he rejected evolution in favor of creation.

The USS San Francisco played an important role in the Battle of Guadalcanal. At the USS San Francisco Memorial (located on Land's End Park within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, California), a sign post records the story of brave men who died, fighting for their country and the cause of freedom. The story is as follows: "The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal: Friday, November 13, 1942. By July 1942, Japan's military juggernaut had invaded and occupied Korea, Manchuria, China, Hong Kong, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Borneo, New Guinea, Rabaul, Turk, the Philippines, Aleutians, Marshalls, Carolines, and the Solomons, which includes Tulagi, Savo, and Guadalcanal Island: 'A steamy, tropical, malaria infested jungle.' The Japanese worked feverishly to build airfields on several islands. The airfield on Guadalcanal was their last and most important. It was strategically located since the Japanese Air-Corps could then 'hop' from Japan to Iwo Jima, Guam, Rabaul, Truk, Bougainville, and then Guadalcanal. Their next planned invasion was Australia. U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal August 7, 1942. They captured and secured the airfield, naming it 'Henderson Field.' True to their tradition and dedication, the Marines fought for months against thousands of Japanese soldiers attempting to regain control of the airfield. Dramatic aerial 'dog fights' were fought daily in the skies above. Japan's Vice Admiral Hiroaki Abe was dispatched to bombard and land troops on Guadalcanal. His strike force consisted of two 32,000 ton battleships--the Hiei and the Kirishima. Together they could fire off 23,840 pounds of bombardment salvos every three minutes--spewing deadly carnage--continuously for three hours. Also under his command were one cruiser, 14 destroyers, and 11 transports carrying 14,000 troops. Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan, on board his flagship the USS San Francisco (CA-38), a 10,000 ton treaty cruiser, was directed to intercept the Japanese naval strike force. His command consisted of 5 cruisers and 8 destroyers. On November 12, near Guadalcanal, a damaged enemy plane crashed into the USS San Francisco, destroying the aft control station, killing and wounding 51 men. With a crippled flagship, RADM Callaghan bravely prepared his task force for this imminent battle. Overheard on the bridge was the comment, 'But this is suicide.' Rear Admiral Callaghan--cool, calm, and resolute, replied--'Yes, I know, but we've got to do it!' This ferocious battle commenced at 1:48 a.m. Friday the 13 of November 1942. It was a sudden clash between 27 steel armored warships--14 Japanese and 13 American. The U.S. Naval ships had penetrated into the center of the Japanese battleship formation, a major advantage for RADM Callaghan. Massive guns exploded in the pitch black night, firing hot projectiles with smoke and fire. Suddenly, the Japanese snapped on their bright searchlights. This gave the admiral an additional advantage by identifying the enemy ships. He then issued the order 'Get the big ones first!' Hundreds of salvos rained down on the enemy battleships with blistering devastation. Blazing ships became targets. Hundreds of men on both sides escaping from their sinking ships swam for their lives in the black night sea. Men were killed by the spinning propellers of ships twisting and turning to avoid collision. Man more were killed by circling sharks. Never in the history of modern warfare had U.S. Naval Forces clashed with enemy ships at collision range in a pitch-black night. This is the only U. S. Naval surface ship engagement in which an American admiral was killed in action, let alone two: RADM Daniel J. Callaghan on the USS San Francisco (CA-38) and RADM Norman Scott on the USS Atlanta (CL-51). A total of more than 6,000 men on both sides were killed or wounded. 2 U.S. cruisers, 4 U.S. destroyers, and 2 Japanese destroyers were sunk. At dawn, the battleship Hiei, aflame, floundering, and dead in the water--a derelict--was abandoned and sank later that day. During the next few days, other Japanese ships were chased down and sunk, including the battleship Kirishima. The USS San Francisco, severely damaged and crippled, limped home at Christmas-time to receive a new bridge and other major repairs at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. She then returned to sea to give battle and bombardment support for landings and occupations in the Pacific. These included the Aleutians, Wake, Kwajalein, Bougainville, Tarawa, Yap, Palau, Ulithi, Rabaul, Truk, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Luzon, and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Then, on to Iwo Jima, and finally Okinawa, where the USS San Francisco (CA-38) earned her 17th battle star. This battle of November 13, 1942, was a major turning point of World War II. It prevented the possible loss of Henderson Field, thus saving Australia from the planned invasion. It marked the beginning of victory in the Pacific.”

Lecture #23 in New Testament or Koine Greek, covers the vocabulary in chapter 20 of William (Bill) Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek textbook, along with chapter 19 in Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook by Bill Mounce. In the chapter vocabulary, βαπτίζω means “immerse” or “dip.” The μα suffix is often used in Greek to specify the result of the action described by the root. The result of being immersed (βαπτίζω) is that one has received baptism (βάπτισμα). Even in Mark 7:4-5 baptidzo has its normal meaning; the “tables” or dining couches of the passage were indeed immersed by the Jews. Also, there is no conspiracy against immersion in the fact that the KJV translators transliterated the verb instead of rendering it "to immerse." Also, in the chapter vocabulary the fact that the King James Version renders βαπτίζω as "baptize" rather than as "immerse" is not because of a conspiracy to hide the fact that baptism involves immersion; King James himself was immersed (albeit as an infant). Among Protestants in England a movement against immersion actually really only started with the Westminster Assembly of 1643-1649—several decades after the translation of the KJV—when immersion was rejected in favor of sprinkling or pouring by only one vote after heated debate. Concerning the vocabulary word "tongue, language," γλῶσσα, -ης, ἡ, note that the word is always used of real languages, not of people speaking gibberish after the manner of modern Pentecostalism. Pentecostalism requires a rejection of sound hermeneutics, following its antecedents in the Keswick and Higher Life movements: "[There is a] distinct hermeneutic, a distinctively Pentecostal manner of appropriating the Scriptures. In contrast to magisterial Protestantism [and Baptist orthodoxy] ... Pentecostalism reads the rest of the New Testament through Lukan eyes ... [placing] [n]arrative material [over] ... didactic ... Pauline texts. ... In making this claim, Pentecostalism stands in a long tradition of a “subjectivizing hermeneutic.” ... The “higher life” antecedents to Pentecostalism in the nineteenth century used a similar approach to Scripture in appropriating elements of the Old Testament Heilsgeschichte devotionally. The exodus from Egypt, the wilderness wanderings, and crossing Jordan River into the Promised Land all became stages in the normative pattern of the spiritual pilgrimage from conversion into the 'second blessing.'" In relation to the vocabulary word μένω, note that the verb used for abiding/continuing/remaining in Christ. Scripture promises that all true Christians will abide in Christ: But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (1 John 2:27) Those who do not abide are cast into hell fire: If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:6) The one who does not, as a summary of his life, abide (aorist tense), or continue faithful to Christ, is cast into hell fire, where he will be continually burned (present tense) for all eternity. The branch without genuine connection to the Lord pictures an lost person with only a profession of Christianity. John 15:6 does not picture a loss of reward for a disobedient believer. Other than John 15:6, the verbs “cast forth” (ballo) and “burned” (kaio) are found together only in Revelation 8:8 and 19:20. Neither reference speaks of believers being cast forth or burned. Revelation 19:20 (cf. 20:11-15; 21:8, “the lake which burneth (kaio) with fire and brimstone”), however, demonstrates that the lost will be “cast (ballo) ... into a lake of fire burning (kaio) with brimstone.” Also, out of 125 instances of the verb “cast forth” (ballo) in the NT, believers are never once said to be cast forth by God, but the lost are, over and over again, said to be cast (ballo) into the fires of hell (note Matthew 3:10; 5:13, 25, 29-30; 7:19; 13:42, 48; 18:8-9; Mark 9:42 (cf. vv. 41-48), 45, 47; Luke 3:9; 12:58; 14:35; Revelation 2:22; 12:4, 9, 13; 14:19; 18:21; 19:20; 20:3, 10, 14-15). Thus, the verse indicates that a lack of fruit is evidence of a non-living, non-saving connection to the vine. Someone who does not abide, remain, or persevere in the faith was never truly born again. The Basics of Biblical Greek workbook for chapter 19 translates from the New Testament and the Greek LXX: α. John 11:48; β. John 9:21; γ. Luke 12:17; δ. John 8:12; ε. 1 Corinthians 16:4; ζ. —; η. Matthew 12:19; 1. Matthew 4:10; 2. Matthew 27:42; 3. Luke 1:13; 4. Philippians 4:19; 5. John 5:25; 6. Mark 13:13; 7. John 14:12; 8. John 4:22-23; 9. John 13:33; 10. Mark 12:29-31; 11. —; 12. —; 13. Deuteronomy 28:41; 14. (Exodus 23:24); 15. Genesis 12:1-2; 16. Matthew 5:48; 17. Romans 1:17; 18. John 14:15; 19. Mark 9:35; 20. Acts 13:22.

Lecture #22 in New Testament or Koine Greek, covers chapter 20 of William (Bill) Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek textbook, along with Conversational Koine phrases in T. Michael W. Halcomb, Speak Koine Greek: A Conversational Phrasebook. After the exegetical insight examining the Deity of Christ in Hebrews 1, chapter 20 of Mounce's first year Koine Greek textbook covers: the difference between the verbal “root” of a verb, which is its most basic form, and the “stem” of the verb as it appears in a certain tense; that sometimes the verbal root is the same as the present tense stem, and other times it is modified in the formation of the present tense; that tense stems are not formed from the present tense stem but from the root; liquid futures. While a root is the most basic form of a word, which is marked in the lexicon and through BBG with an asterisk, a stem is the most basic form of a verb in a particular tense. Think of the root in connection with the word, but of the stem in connection with a tense. How do the roots and stems relate to one another? There are four patterns that specify how the root is related to the present tense stem. In pattern #1, the present tense stem is identical to the root. Pattern one has three sub-patterns: stems ending in iota or upsilon, contract verbs, and roots ending in a stop. Patterns #2-4, however, are a little harder, because the roots that fit into these patterns are roots that were modified in the formation of the present tense stem. It is crucial to remember that all stems are formed from the root. They are not formed from the present tense stem! Students must learn: 1.) The difference between a root and a stem. The root is the most basic form of a word, while a stem is the most basic form of a verb in a particular tense. 2.) All the tense stems are formed from the root, not formed from the present tense stem. 3.) The present tense is the most irregular; do not base your conclusions on the present tense stem. 4.) You simply must memorize the root. If you learn the lexical form and the root of a verb then the rest of the verbal system is surprisingly straightforward. In pattern #2 totally different roots being used in the formation of the different tense stems. So these are the verbs that are the most different in their different stems, and you will simply need to memorize the different stems. Pattern #3 is called “the liquid futures." What is a liquid? A liquid is a stem that ends in λ, μ, ν, or ρ. These consonants are called “liquids” because the air flows around the tongue (λ, ρ) or the sound goes through the nose (μ, ν) when pronouncing the letter. (Technically, only lambda and rho are liquids. Mu and nu are called “nasals.” But because liquids and nasals often behave in the same manner, they are usually grouped together under the one heading of “liquid.”) The sentence “Y’aλλ μust νow ρ!” may help you remember the liquid consonants. Liquids have a different tense formative in the future. The liquid future tense formative εσ, and contraction often takes place. To keep liquid future actives distinct from epsilon-contract present tense verbs, consider the lexical form of the verb and the presence or absence of a liquid consonant before the contracted syllable. The liquid future middle contains no surprises. The tense formative is still εσ, the intervocalic σ drops out, and so the expected contractions take place. In summary, pattern 3 verbs (liquid verbs) end in a liquid (λ, μ, ν, ρ) and they use εσ as the future tense formative. The sigma drops out before the connecting vowel, and the vowels contract, looking as if the verb were a present tense epsilon contract. Sometimes the stem vowel changes in the future. Pattern #4 contains verbs that modify the root in the formation of the present tense stem, including verbal roots ending in a stop (ιζω, αζω, σσω), stems ending in a double consonant, and roots that add one or more letter(s) (ισκ). The second sub-pattern consists of words that in the present tense stem have double consonants (excluding –ασσω verbs which are in pattern #1). Some verbs may be deponent in one tense but not in another. Also, a compound verb is one where a preposition and a simple verb are put together. For example, ἐκ means “out,” βάλλω means “I throw,” and ἐκβάλλω means “I throw out.” In the formation of the future of compound verbs, the verbal part changes in the same way that the simple, non-compounded form does. In the chapter vocabulary, βαπτίζω means “immerse” or “dip.” The μα suffix is often used in Greek to specify the result of the action described by the root. The result of being immersed (βαπτίζω) is that one has received baptism (βάπτισμα). Even in Mark 7:4-5 baptidzo has its normal meaning; the “tables” or dining couches of the passage were indeed immersed by the Jews. Also, there is no conspiracy against immersion in the fact that the KJV translators transliterated the verb instead of rendering it "to immerse."

On site at the Ramasseum (the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Rameses [Ramesses] II in the Theban Necropolis near Luxor, Egypt), leading Egyptologist and evangelical Christian Old Testament scholar Dr. James Hoffmeier discusses the evidence for the accuracy of the Exodus narrative of the ancient Hebrews (Habiru) making bricks (mudbricks) with straw for the Egyptian store cities. The Bible states: “[T]he Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field … And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. … And Pharaoh commanded … the taskmasters of the people … saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof. (Exodus 1:11-14 & 5:6-9) An Egyptian text dated close to the period of the Exodus likewise reports that Habiru foreigners were moving blocks for building projects in the city of Pi-Ramesses (cf. Exodus 1:11). The tomb of Rekhmire, a vizier of Pharaoh Thutmose III (possibly the Pharaoh during the time of Israel’s Exodus), shows Asiatic slaves making bricks while Egyptian taskmasters carrying rods look on, confirming the record of Exodus 5. Scholars note: “Obviously Exodus 5 was written by someone who actually saw the brickfields along the Nile. ... This section reflects a remarkably accurate historical knowledge of Egyptian slave-labor organization and its building techniques. … [R]esearch ... attests [t]o the very scenario portrayed in the Exodus narratives: a two-tiered administrative structure, the assignment of sometimes unattainable quotas, the problems of making bricks without straw, and the issue of allowing time off from work to worship one’s deity. ... [T]he book of Exodus comes to us straight from the world of ancient Egypt. The story of the exodus is not fantasy but history ... accurate down to the last piece of straw” (Ryken & Hughes, Exodus, 151–152). Mudbricks were the standard construction material in the Nile Delta, but stones were not, while stone was the material of choice centuries later in Canaan and would have been the natural choice had the narrative been a fictional one invented centuries after the fact. What is more, straw was not typically used to make mudbricks in Canaan, while it was in Egypt (Hershel Shanks, ed., Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple, 41). Dr. Hoffmeier writes: “After generations of sojourning in Egypt and tending flocks, herds, and cattle in the lush delta … conditions changed [for Israel, Exodus 1:8]. … Ahmose began an ambitious building program in Avaris, including a large mudbrick citadel to serve as Egypt’s military base to launch campaigns into the Near East. The presence of Egyptian rulers in the delta after more than a century of absence may account for the hostility toward the Hebrews in the delta, who would be associated with the hated Hyksos. Other major building projects at Avaris followed, possibly during the reign of Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC), when a massive palace complex, complete with storage facilities, was built, all of mudbrick. … That the Hebrews were engaged in forced labor making brick for royal building projects is certainly the most remembered feature of the Israelites’ labor in Egypt (Exod 1:8–14; 2:23–24; 3:7; 5:1–23). Beginning with the military campaigns to western Asia and Sudan of the fifteenth century, POWs were brought back to Egypt as slaves of the state[.] ... The classic scene from the tomb of Rekhmire (ca. 1450–1400 BC) shows Levantine and African POWs making and hauling bricks for the construction of the Akh-menu Temple at Karnak. The caption over the tableau clarifies that the brickmakers were among the ‘plunder’ taken by the king on his campaigns. … When Ramesses II was making his new capital, Pi-Ramesses, adjacent to Avaris, Papyrus Leiden 348 reports that foreigners called ‘pr (Habiru) were dragging stone blocks for the construction of a “great pylon” in the new city. … The term ‘pr/ḫāpiru/ḫābiru (Habiru) corresponds to the word Hebrew; linguistically it is a match. … The Habiru in this stone building project at Pi-Ramesses could be biblical Hebrews[.] … New Kingdom era texts and illustrations show that foreigners, typically prisoners of war, were forced into hard labor for the state. It is not unreasonable to believe that the Hebrews could have received similar treatment during the New Kingdom as various royal building projects were undertaken in the northeastern delta.” (James K. Hoffmeier, in Five Views on the Exodus, 87–89) The fact that Habiru were using mudbrick to construct storage cities at the time of the Biblical exodus is one of thousands of pieces of archaeological evidence validating the Bible as God’s Word.

Lecture #4 in New Testament or Koine Greek; first year Greek at a college or seminary level taught by independent Baptist professor Thomas Ross. Learn more about the class at: https://faithsaves.net/Greek-courses/ Bill Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek (BBG) chapters 8-9 are reviewed, the chapters entitled "Prepositions and eimi," and "Adjectives." Greek prepositions are introduced, as are dependent clauses. The most common Greek verb, eimi, "to be," is introduced. Adjectives can either be modify a noun (attributive), assert something about an noun (predicate), or stand in the place of a noun (substantival). Students learn about the first, second, and third attributive positions, as well as the first and second predicate positions for adjectives. Anarthrous and arthrous adjectives are examined, as are the use of adjectives in prepositional phrases. The exegetical significance of the Greek article is briefly touched upon. The forms of εἰμί are: 1st sg εἰμί I am 2nd sg εἶ Thou / (You singular) art 3rd sg ἐστίν He/she/it is 1st pl ἐσμέν We are 2nd pl ἐστέ Ye (You plural) are 3rd pl εἰσίν They are The past tense form of ἐστί(ν) is ἦν, “he/she/it was.” The word following a preposition is the object of the preposition. Together, a preposition and its object and modifiers form a prepositional phrase. The meaning of a preposition is determined by the case of its object. Students should memorize prepositions with the case(s) of their objects, instead of using key words to determine the meaning of prepositional phrases. The article is often omitted from Greek prepositional phrases, but it can be supplied based on context. The adjective paradigm, based on the adjective agathos, "good," is as follows: 2 1 2 masc fem neut nom sg ἀγαθός ἀγαθή ἀγαθόν gen sg ἀγαθοῦ ἀγαθῆς ἀγαθοῦ dat sg ἀγαθῷ ἀγαθῇ ἀγαθῷ acc sg ἀγαθόν ἀγαθήν ἀγαθόν nom pl ἀγαθοί ἀγαθαί ἀγαθά gen pl ἀγαθῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀγαθῶν dat pl ἀγαθοῖς ἀγαθαῖς ἀγαθοῖς acc pl ἀγαθούς ἀγαθάς ἀγαθά As mentioned earlier, adjectives can function as an attributive, a substantive, or a predicate. When the article precedes the adjective and the adjective modifies another word, then it is an attributive adjective. The adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in case, number, and gender. If the article precedes the adjective and the adjective does not modify another word, then it is a substantival adjective. The case of this adjective is determined by its function, its gender and number by what it stands for. If an anarthrous adjective occurs with an articular noun, the adjective is a predicate and you may need to supply the verb “is.” When no article appears before either the adjective or the word it is modifying, context must determine whether an adjective is attributive or substantival. A prepositional phrase preceded by an article can be an attributive modifier or a substantive. Adjectives classified as "2-2" have the same form in the masculine and feminine, following the second declension. The neuter of such adjective is likewise second declension. Singular verbs can be used when a subject is neuter plural and viewed as a whole. The FaithSaves website's section on college courses contains course syllabi, handouts, and other important material for taking this course.

Lecture #3 in New Testament or Koine Greek; first year Greek at a college or seminary level taught by independent Baptist professor Thomas Ross. Learn more about the class at: https://faithsaves.net/Greek-courses/ Continuing in William Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek, the professor teaches chapter 7. items covered include the Greek genitive case (omicron upsilon / omega nu), keywords, and case endings; the Greek dative (omega iota subscript / omicron iota sigma), keywords, and case endings; forms of the article, including the rough breath mark or tau followed by case ending tip; genitive specifying possession while dative specifying indirect object; that the genitive tends to follow a head noun and must be treated as a unit; and "of," the genitive key word. The dative key words are "to, in, with," the dative specifies the indirect object. 1st and 2nd declension noun paradigms are examined, along with Basics of Biblical Greek (William Mounce) noun rule #4: "In the dative singular, the iota subscripts if possible"; noun rule #5: "Vowels often change their length ('ablaut')"; and noun rule #6: "In the genitive and dative, the masculine and neuter will always be identical." The partially declined name: ho 'Iesous, "Jesus," is also explained. Doxa type words (AEIR) are examined--in the genitive and dative singular the ending shifts from alpha to eta. Epsilon, iota, or rho before alpha is like hora, otherwise they are like doxa. For vocabulary words, the need to memorize the nominative and genitive forms and the article was explained. Three translation hints from Mounce's BBG were explained: key words (of; to in with) -- check for genitives -- keep possessives with their nouns. This lecture also provided an introduction to conversational Koine and Halcomb's Speak Koine Greek. Bill Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek workbook exercises chapters 5-6 were covered. The FaithSaves website's section on college courses contains course syllabi, handouts, and other important material for taking this course.

Lecture #2 in New Testament or Koine Greek, covering chapters 5-6 of William Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek. Greek noun inflection and case endings are introduced. The English subjective, objective, and possessive cases, the Greek nominative and accusative cases, stems, masculine, feminine, and neuter genders, paradigms, the Greek article, and the first three noun rules in Bill Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek are covered. Learn more about the class at: https://faithsaves.net/Greek-courses/ The English subjective case functions as a subject; the possessive case indicates possession, and the objective case provides the direct object (chapter 5 of BBG). In chapter 6, the way to identifiy first and second declension nouns is specified. Students also learn that nouns have case endings, a suffix added to the end of the word. A noun with the case ending removed is the stem. Nouns are either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Most nouns that end in ος are masculine. Words ending with ον are usually neuter. Words ending in η or α are mostly feminine. Different case endings indicate the case (nominative; accusative, etc.), gender (masculine; feminine; neuter), and number (singular; plural) of nouns. First declension nouns have a stem ending in an alpha or eta. These nouns take first declension endings and are usually feminine. Second declension nouns have a stem ending in omicron. They take second declension endings and are mostly masculine or neuter. The nominative case indicates the subject of a sentence. A direct object of a verb is in the accusative case. Unlike in English, case endings, not word order, determine what words are subjects and direct objects. The form of a Greek word in a dictionary or lexicon is called the lexical form, which is the nominative singular form of the word. Mounce supplies the following paradigm chart for nominative and accusative first and second declension endings: 2 1 2 masc fem neut nom sg ς - ν acc sg ν ν ν nom pl ι ι α acc pl υς ς α With stem vowels attached, these endings become: When attached to the final stem vowel, they look like this. 2 1 2 masc fem neut nom sg ος η α ον acc sg ον ην αν ον nom pl οι αι α acc pl ους ας α On specific words, one gets: 2 1 2 masc fem neut nom sg λόγος γραφη ὥρα ἔργον acc sg λόγον γραφην ὥραν ἔργον nom pl λόγοι γραφαί ὧραι ἔργα acc pl λόγους γραφάς ὥρας ἔργα The first three noun rules are also learned: 1. Stems ending in alpha or eta are in the first declension, stems ending in omicron are in the second, and consonantal stems are in the third. 2. Every neuter word has the same form in the nominative and accusative. 3. Almost all neuter words end in alpha in the nominative and accusative plural. Greek does not have an indefinite article, only an "article," which may be called a definite article as well. The article agrees with the noun it modifies in case, number, and gender. The nominative and accusative forms of the Greek article are as follows: 2 1 2 masc fem neut nom sg ὁ ἡ τό acc sg τόν τήν τό nom pl οἱ αἱ τά acc pl τούς τάς τά The noun paradigm with the article attached is as follows: 2 1 2 masc fem neut nom sg ὁ λόγος ἡ γραφή ἡ ὥρα τό ἔργον acc sg τόν λόγον τήν γραφήν τήν ὥραν τό ἔργον nom pl οἱ λόγοι αἱ γραφαί αἱ ὧραι τά ἔργα acc pl τούς λόγους τάς γραφάς τάς ὥρας τά ἔργα In Greek, a word that is postpositive cannot be the first word in a Greek sentence or clause; it usually is the second word but on occasion comes third. Chapter 6 closes by noting that the primary use of the accusative is to indicate the direct object, but some verbs require two objects to complete their meaning (double accusative), and the accusative can also behave as an adverb, modifying the verb (adverbial accusative; accusative of manner or measure). The FaithSaves website's section on college courses contains course syllabi, handouts, and other important material for taking this course.

Chapter 18 of William Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek covers the New Testament’s Koine Greek present middle/passive indicative and present deponent verb forms. Independent Baptist professor Thomas Ross teaches Bill Mounce's textbook. After chapter 18, one will have completed half of Basics of Biblical Greek! In this chapter, students learn: • The passive voice in which the subject receives the action of the verb; • That the present middle/passive is formed by joining the present tense stem, connecting vowel, and primary middle/passive endings; • That in the present tense, the middle and passive are identical in form; • That deponent verbs that are middle or passive in form but active in meaning. A passive verbal construction is one in which the subject receives the action of the verb. In Greek the present passive indicative starts with the present tense stem, adds a connecting vowel—the same connecting vowel that we saw in the present active indicative—and then adds primary passive personal endings. In English helping verbs are supplied to form the passive, but Greek uses an entirely different set of endings. The present passive indicative forms are λύομαι, λύῃ, λύεται, λυόμεθα, λύεσθε, and λύονται. λύομαι means “I am being loosed” or “I am loosed,” λύῃ means “thou art being loosed” or “thou art loosed,” λύεται means “he, she, or it is being loosed” or “is loosed,” λυόμεθα means “we are being loosed” or “we are loosed,” λύεσθε means “ye are being loosed” or “ye are loosed,” and λύονται means “they are being loosed” or “they are loosed.” Students learn: 1.) The true personal passive endings: μαι, σαι, ται, μεθα, σθε, and νται 2.) The endings that result when combined with the connecting vowel: ομαι, ῃ, εται, ομεθα, εσθε, and ονται 3.) The true endings with the verb: λύομαι, λύῃ, λύεται, λυόμεθα, λύεσθε, and λύονται The subject does the action of an active verb, and it receives the action of a passive verb. English forms the passive through the use of helping verbs, and the time of the verbal construction is determined by the helping verb and not the main verb. The Greek present passive is formed by using the primary tense stem, connecting vowel, and the primary passive personal endings. Passive verbs are often followed by some “by” construction that indicates who or what does the action of the verb. A deponent verb is a verb that is middle or passive in form, but active in meaning. How can you know if a verb is deponent? Lat the lexical form. If the lexical form ends in ομαι, then the verb is deponent. Note that Accordance Bible Software classifies deponent forms as middle, while Logos in its parsing says “either middle or passive.” In any given tense, a verb will either be deponent or regular. While in a single tense a verb will always be either regular or deponent, that is not always the case for all tenses. How do you form a present middle indicative? You start with the present tense stem, add a connecting vowel, and then, since the middle form is identical to the passive in the present tense, you add the primary passive or primary middle/passive personal endings. In other words, you do exactly the same thing to form a present middle indicative that you do to form a present passive indicative. Thus, the forms of the present middle indicative of ἔρχομαι are ἔρχομαι, ἔρχῃ, ἔρχεται, ἐρχόμεθα, ἔρχεσθε, and ἔρχονται. All middles before BBG chapter 25 are deponent middles, so they all have active meanings, not true middle meanings. About 75% of all the middles in the NT are deponent, and so they will be active in translation. Contract verbs are the final issue in this chapter. The forms for alpha, eta, and omicron contract verbs are: ἀγαπῶμαι ἀγαπᾷ ἀγαπᾶται ἀγαπώμεθα ἀγαπᾶσθε ἀγαπῶνται ποιοῦμαι ποιῇ ποιεῖται ποιούμεθα ποιεῖσθε ποιοῦνται πληροῦμαι πληροῖ πληροῦται πληρούμεθα πληροῦσθε πληροῦνται After learning the vocabulary from this chapter, you will know slightly over 70% of all the word occurrences in the NT. In relation to the vocabulary word ὅστις, ἥτις, ὅτι, note the chart for the forms of this word on BBG pg. 349. For ὅτι [TR has ὅ τι with a space]; for οὗτινος [TR gen. sing, ὅτου]. Many of the forms listed by Mounce do not occur in the Textus Receptus. The days of the week in Greek are all feminine because they intrinsically modify ἡμέρα. They are: • κυριακῇ (Revelation 1:10) • δευτέρα • τρίτη • τετάρτη • πέμπτη (Didache 8:1) • παρασκευή (John 19:42; Martyrdom of Polycarp 7:1). • τό σάββατον the Sabbath. Note that in none of its 68 instances in the NT is the Sabbath ever a reference to a yearly festival; it is always a reference to Saturday, the weekly festival. Therefore, in verses such Colossians 2:16, reference is made to the yearly, the monthly, and the weekly festivals, all of which are shadows done away in Christ.

Lecture #1 in New Testament or Koine Greek; first year Greek at a college or seminary level taught by independent Baptist professor Thomas Ross, utilizing WIlliam (Bill) Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek, and other texts. Learn more about the class at: https://faithsaves.net/Greek-courses/ Textbooks include William Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar; Bill Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook; the Greek Textus Receptus or Received Text; T. Michael Halcomb, Speak Koine Greek: A Conversational Phrasebook & 800 Words and Images: a New Testament Greek Vocabulary Builder. Recommended texts include Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd. ed. (BDAG) & William D. Mounce, The Morphology of Biblical Greek. The New Testament is approached from a Bible-believing perspective as the perfectly inspired and preserved Word of God. Lecture #1 covers Basics of Biblical Greek chapters 1-4, including the Greek alphabet with its consonants, vowels, diphthongs, pronunciation, and syllabification, as well as the vocabulary for those chapters. The first chapter covers a basic overview of the history of the Greek language explains the transition from classical to Koine or common Greek. What college and seminary students need to memorize, and the importance of time, consistency, and discipline, comes under discussion in chapter two. Chapter three covers how to write and pronounce the alphabet, with its consonants, vowels, and diphthongs, and the rough and smooth breath marks that appear on words beginning with a vowel. The letters of the Greek alphabet are: Alpha ἄλφα a Α α Beta βῆτα b Β β Gamma γάμμα g Γ γ Delta δέλτα d Δ δ Epsilon ἒψιλόν e Ε ε Zeta ζῆτα z Ζ ζ Eta ἦτα ē Η η Theta θῆτα th Θ θ Iota ἰῶτα i Ι ι Kappa κάππα k Κ κ Lambda λάμβδα l Λ λ Mu μῦ m Μ μ Nu νῦ n Ν ν Xi ξῖ x Ξ ξ Omicron ὂ μικρόν o Ο ο Pi πῖ p Π π Rho ῥῶ r Ρ ρ Sigma σίγμα s Σ σ/ς Tau ταῦ t Τ τ Upsilon ὖ ψιλόν u/y Υ υ Phi φῖ ph Φ φ Chi χῖ ch Χ χ Psi ψῖ ps Ψ ψ Omega ὦ μέγα ō Ω ω The Greek vowels are α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, and ω. The rough breath mark is a ῥ placed over the first vowel. Words that begin with rho and upsilon always have a rough breath mark. The smooth breath mark appears like a ἀ over an initial vowel and is not pronounced.The Greek diphthongs are αι, ει, οι, αυ, ου, υι, ευ & ηυ. Iota subscript is a small iota written under three vowels: ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ. Chapter four covers rules for Greek syllabification-the division of syllables, as well as punctuation and accent marks. The Greek , means a comma in Greek. The . is a period. The · means a semicolon, and the Greek ; is a question mark. Greek apostrophe and elision is covered. The Greek acute accent specifies a rise in pitch that the pitchon the accented syllable (BBG example: αἰτέω). The Greek grave accent specifies a drop in pitch on the accented syllable (BBG example: καὶ). The circumflex accent specifies that one's voice rises and then drops slightly on the accented syllable (BBG example: ἁγνῶς). Accents assist with pronunciation, memorization, and the identification of certain words. The acute ( ´) can occur on any of the last three syllables. The circumflex (ῶ) can occur only on one of the last two syllables and will always be over a long vowel.The grave (ὶ) is formed when a word is normally accented with an acute on the final syllable. When not followed by a punctuation mark, a word's acute accent becomes a grave. Accents on nouns try to stay on the same syllable-consistent accent. Accents on verbs move as close to the beginning of the verb as possible-recessive accent. Greek syllabification is very similar to English syllabification. The basic rules are: 1.) There is one vowel (or diphthong) per syllable. 2.) A single consonant by itself goes with the following vowel. 3.) Two consecutive vowels that do not form a diphthong are divided. 4.) A consonant cluster that can not be pronounced together is divided, and the first consonant goes with the preceding vowel. 5.) A consonant cluster that can be pronounced together goes with the following vowel. 6.) Double consonants are divided. 7.) Compound words are divided where joined. William Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greek assigns fewer vocabulary words than many other grammars, because the 319 words assigned cover approximately 80% of the word usage in the New Testament. Dr. Ross supplements the vocabulary in Bill Mounce's grammar with words from Halcomb. Students will learn not only to understand, exegete, and translate the New Testament but also to converse in Greek. The FaithSaves website's section on college courses contains course syllabi, handouts, and other important material for taking this course.

The Piankhy (Piye) Victory Stele or Stela narrates Nubian King Piankhy’s victory over both Upper and Lower Egypt. It is the foremost historical inscription of the Egyptian Late Period. The Piankhy Victory Stela is commented upon by leading evangelical Egyptologist and Old Testament scholar James Hoffmeier, on site at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo, Egypt, where the stela is currently located. Dr. James Hoffmeier (Ph. D., University of Toronto; M. A., University of Toronto; B. A., Wheaton College) is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity International University, the Director of the North Sinai Archaeological Project, and a Consultant with appearances on the Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, and other similar sources. He has written many scholarly books, including: Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. The Piankhy Victory stele was composed around 725 B. C. and discovered in A. D. 1862 by George Reisner in the temple of Amun at Napata, the Nubian capital, at the foot of Gebel Barkal. It is 1.8 x 1.84 meters and 0.43 m thick, inscribed on all four sides with a total of one hundred and fifty-nine lines. Some modern scholars have concluded that the king whose name was traditionally read as “Piankhy” was really “Pi” or “Piye.” It is possible that the Nubian form was “Pi” or “Piye” while the Egyptians understood it as “Piankhy,” resulting in some scholars now writing it as “Pi(ankhy).” For a translation of the Piankhy / Piye Stele, see William W. Hallo & K. Lawson Younger, Context of Scripture (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 42–53. The Piankhy Victory Stele Validates Isaiah 18: Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! (Isaiah 18:1-2) The Biblical Ethiopia, Cush, or Nubia was located south of Egypt, but somewhat further north than modern Ethiopia. In Isaiah’s day, as described in Isaiah 18, the Cushite, Ethiopian, or Sudanese King Piankhy took over Egypt. He and his successor, Shabako, instilled new energy into Egyptian affairs. Most likely both attempted to cement alliances with various surrounding countries in order to counter the Assyrian threat. The “sea” (Hebrew yam) of Isaiah 18:2 is likely a reference to Egypt’s Nile River (cf. Isaiah 19:5; Nahum 3:8). The plural “rivers” refers to the Nile and its tributaries. Boats or rafts constructed of bound bundles of “bulrushes” or papyrus are sometimes pictured in Egyptian murals. (See John H. Walton, eds. Archaeological Study Bible. Accordance electronic ed. [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005], paragraph 8549.) The Piankhy Stele portrays King Piankhy as forceful, shrewd, and generous. He meant to rule Egypt but he preferred treaties to warfare, and when he fought he did not glory in the slaughter of his adversaries in the manner of an Assyrian king. He was a faithful worshipper of Amun, serving the god both from his Nubian capital Napata and the gods hallowed city of Thebes. The top of the Victory Stele shows Amun enthroned, with Mut standing behind him and King Piankhy before him. Behind Piankhy, King Namart of Hermopolis leads up a horse. With Namart is his wife, her right arm raised in a gesture of prayer. Prostrated figures are Kings Osorkon IV, Iuput II, and Peftuaubast. Behind them, also kissing the ground, are five rulers: the prince Pediese and four chiefs of the Libyan Ma (or, Meshwesh): Patjenfi, Pemai, Akanosh, and Djedamenefankh. Piankhy, already controlling Upper of southern Egypt from Nubia, led an army into Egypt after finding out that Tefnakht of Sais, the Great Chief of the Ma, who ruled the entire western Delta, was extending his conquests southward. In the twentieth year of Piankhy’s reign, he sailed to Egypt. After halting at Thebes to celebrate the Opet festival of Amun, he beseiged Hermopolis, where King Namart was stationed, achieving Namart’s surrender. Piankhy then rescued his besieged ally Peftuaubast at Heracleopolis and proceeded to capture the strongholds that stood between him and Memphis. The great walled city of Memphis, which refused to surrender, was stormed in heavy fighting. Then the rulers of the Delta hastened to surrender; only Tefnakht of Sais still held out. Eventually Tefnakht admitted defeat and, treating through an envoy, made his submission. Loaded with booty, the triumphant Piankhy sailed home to Napata. (See William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, Context of Scripture [Leiden: Brill, 2000], 42.)

The Merneptah Stele (Cairo 34025) found in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt, is commented upon by leading Egyptologist, Biblical and Old Testament scholar, and evangelical Christian Dr. James Hoffmeier. Early Israel’s presence in the land of Canaan is validated by this stela. Pharaoh Merneptah (ruled c. 1224-1214 BC), boasting of victories over foreign nations to his north, claims to have badly defeated “Israel” in a series of comments about victories over groups in “Canaan.” The stele, dating to c. 1220 B. C., constitutes an official recognition of a people called Israel in extra-biblical documents. The word “Israel” is preceded by the Egyptian determinative for “people” or “ethnic group,” and Israel’s presence on the stele indicates that the Israelites were an important enough political force in Canaan at this early date for a Pharaoh in the 1200s B. C. to boast about a victory over them. Israel was well enough established by that time among the other peoples of Canaan to have been perceived by Egyptian intelligence as a possible challenge to Egyptian hegemony. Thus, Israel was definitely in Palestine by ca 1220 B. C. Egyptologist William Dever notes: “The Merneptah Stele is ... just what skeptics, mistrusting the Hebrew Bible (and archaeology), have always insisted upon as corroborative evidence: an extrabiblical text, securely dated, and free of biblical or pro-Israel bias. What more would it take to convince the naysayers?” Pharaoh Merneptah (Mer-ne-Ptah) commissioned the victory hymn engraved on this granite stela to celebrate a military campaign in Syria-Palestine. Found in his funerary temple in western Thebes, among his list of fallen enemies Merneptah mentions the city-states of Ashkelon and Gezer, along with settled peoples such as the Hatti (Hittites). He also claims in line 27, “Israel is laid waste, his seed is not.” (Merneptah exaggerates here; the statement that the “seed,” i.e. offspring, of Israel had been wiped out is a conventional boast of power at this period.) In the center of the symmetrical scene at the top of the stela, the god Amon-Re appears twice under the winged sun-disk. Merneptah stands to Amon’s right and left, saluting his divine patron. Horus, the falcon-headed god in his guise as the morning sun, stands at far right, the goddess Mut, wife of Amon, at far left. The back side of the stela records information from Amenhotep III, grandfather of Tutankhamen / Tutankhaton. The stela was discovered by 1896 by William Flinders Petrie. The relevant section reads: Give him into the hand of Mer-ne-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat, that he may make him disgorge what he has swallowed, like a crocodile. Now behold, the swift carries off the swift; the Lord, conscious of his strength, will ensnare him. It is Amon who binds him with his hand, so that he may be delivered to his ka in Hermonthis; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Ba-en-Re Meri-Amon; the Son of Re: Mer-ne-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat. Great joy has arisen in Egypt; Jubilation has gone forth in the towns of Egypt. They talk about the victories Which Mer-ne-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat made in Tehenu: “How amiable is he, the victorious ruler! How exalted is the king among the gods! How fortunate is he, the lord of command! Ah, how pleasant it is to sit when there is gossip!” One walks with unhindered stride on the way, for there is no fear at all in the heart of the people. The forts are left to themselves, the wells (lie) open, accessible to the messengers. The battlements of the wall are calm in the sun until their watchers may awake. The Madjoi are stretched out as they sleep; the Nau and Tekten are in the meadows as they wish. The cattle of the field are left as free to roam without herdsman, (even) crossing the flood of the stream. There is no breaking out of a cry in the night: “Halt! Behold, a comer comes with the speech of strangers!,” (but) one goes and comes with singing. There is no cry of people as when there is mourning. Towns are settled anew again. He who plows his harvest will eat it. Re has turned himself around (again) to Egypt. He was born as the one destined to be her protector, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Ba-en-Re Meri-Amon; the Son of Re: Mer-ne-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat. The princes are prostrate, saying: “Mercy!” Not one raises his head among the Nine Bows. Desolation is for Tehenu; Hatti is pacified; Plundered is the Canaan with every evil; Carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer; Yanoam is made as that which does not exist; Israel is laid waste, his seed is not; Hurru is become a widow for Egypt! All lands together, they are pacified; Everyone who was restless, he has been bound by the King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Ba-en-Re Meri-Amon; the Son of Re: Mer-ne-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat, given life like Re every day. (See James Bennett Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. with Supplement. [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969], 376–378)

The Suez Inscription of the Medo-Persian King Darius the Great (Darius I Hystaspes, 521-486 B. C.) of the Achaemenid Empire is found in the Cairo Museum in Cairo, Egypt. The inscription is commented on by leading Egyptologist, Biblical and Old Testament scholar, and evangelical Christian Dr. James Hoffmeier. The canal was built through the Wadi Tumilat, connecting the easternmost or Bubastite branch of the Nile with Lake Timsah, which was connected to the Red Sea by natural waterways. Darius the Great is frequently mentioned in the Bible (Ezra 4:5, 24; 5:5–7; 6:1, 12–15; Haggai 1:1, 15; 2:10; Zechariah 1:1, 7; 7:1). He is the Persian ruler who, in the time of Ezra the priest, confirmed the decree of the Persian king Cyrus for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem: Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls ... in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll ... thus written: In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices ... And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem[.] . ... [L]et the ... Jews build this house of God in his place. Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered. And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail: That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed. (Ezra 6:1-12) The Suez inscription of Darius reads: “I am a Persian; with Persia I seized Egypt. I commanded to dig this canal from the river named the Nile [Pirāva], which flows through Egypt, to this sea which comes from Persia. Then this canal was dug, according as I commanded. And I said, ‛Come ye from the Nile through this canal to Persia.’” (“Persians,” ed. James Orr et al., The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia [Chicago: Howard-Severance, 1915], 2336.) The Greek historian Herodotus states that Pharaoh Necho / Neco started to build the 115 mile long canal to join the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez, while Darius I of Persia completed it. Herodotus writes (Histories 2:158-159): Psammetichus had a son Necos, who became king of Egypt. It was he who began the making of the canal into the Red Sea, which was finished by Darius the Persian. This is four days’ voyage in length, and it was dug wide enough for two triremes to move in it rowed abreast. It is fed by the Nile, and is carried from a little above Bubastis by the Arabian town of Patumus; it issues into the Red Sea. The beginning of the digging was in the part of the Egyptian plain which is nearest to Arabia; the mountains that extend to Memphis (in which mountains are the stone quarries) come close to this plain; the canal is led along the lower slope of these mountains in a long reach from west to east; passing then into a ravine it bears southward out of the hill country towards the Arabian Gulf. Now the shortest and most direct passage from the northern to the southern or Red Sea is from the Casian promontory, which is the boundary between Egypt and Syria, to the Arabian Gulf, and this is a distance of one thousand furlongs, neither more nor less; this is the most direct way, but the canal is by much longer, inasmuch as it is more crooked. In Necos’ reign a hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished in the digging of it. During the course of excavations, Necos ceased from the work, being stayed by a prophetic utterance that he was toiling beforehand for the barbarian. The Egyptians call all men of other languages barbarians. Necos then ceased from making the canal and engaged rather in warlike preparation[.] The king Darius mentioned in the Bible was a real historical person. The Darius inscription is one of thousands of archaeological evidences validating the Bible is God’s Word.

Scripture teaches the verbal, plenary preservation of the infallibly inspired Greek and Hebrew Old and New Testament. The perfectly preserved Word of God is found in the Hebrew Textus Receptus, the Ben Asher Masoretic Text (MT) edited by Hebrew Christian Jacob ben Chayyim, and the Greek Textus Receptus, (TR) the Old and New Testament texts from which the Authorized, King James Version (KJV / KJB / AV) was translated. Biblical principles of preservation include: 1.) The Bible promises that God will preserve every one of His words forever down to the very jot and tittle, the smallest letter. 2.) The Bible promises that God would make His words generally available to every generation of believers. 3.) The Bible promises that God would lead His saints to receive all His certain words, which the true churches of Christ would guard. "The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).. We believe in order that we may understand. The modern critical Greek text of Scripture, represented in the Nestle-Aland and United Bible Society editions (NA / UBS), differs in around 7% of its text from the Received Bible. The translation philosophy of this Greek text rejects Scripture’s teaching on preservation. The printed Hodges-Farstad and Robinson-Pierpont Majority texts, while far superior to the critical NA / UBS texts and far closer to the perfectly preserved TR, do not fit the Scriptural pattern for the preservation of Scripture when they differ from the Received Text. Overwhelming historical evidence confirms the preservation of the Old and New Testament. Over 20,000 manuscripts (MSS) of the Hebrew Old Testament exist. Liberal textual critic Emmanuel Tov admits: “[I]t is not easy to provide convincing proof of . . . errors in M [the Masoretic Hebrew text of the Bible].” As far back as we have manuscript evidence, the Hebrew Masoretic text is recognized as the preserved, canonical text. Any claims of corruption in the Hebrew MT must be based on speculation about what allegedly happened before we start to get actual physical evidence, for the physical evidence supports the Hebrew text's preservation. The Dead Sea Scrolls provide overwhelming confirmation of the Old Testament. New Testament quotations from the Old Testament were often intentionally paraphrases (Targumming). The Hebrew vowel points are inspired, not the consonants alone, validating, for example, that Jehovah, not Yahweh, is the correct pronunciation of the Divine Name. The New Testament has also been perfectly preserved. There are four types of NT manuscripts: papyri, uncials, minuscules, and lectionaries. Paypri support the Textus Receptus rather than the Greek critical text 85%/15%; uncials support the TR 97% / 3%; minuscules 99% / 1%. 100% of lectionaries support the Received Text. The Bible is by far the most attested ancient work in ancient history. With over 5,600 Greek MSS, over 10,000 Latin MSS, and over 9,300 MSS of the other versions: Old Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Gothic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, Scythian, Persian, Bohemian, Arabic, Slavonic, (Ancient) German, and Anglo-Saxon, for over 24,000 NT MSS total. If the NT is not reliable, nothing is reliable. Skeptics who reject the Bible’s transmissional reliability they must also consider unreliable all other manuscripts of antiquity and throw out their knowledge of the classical world. Some skeptics, like Bart Ehrman, do indeed deny knowledge of all ancient texts in order to reject the NT: [For] [t]he New Testament we have much earlier attestation than for any other book or manuscript ... Well, then you can’t trust any book from antiquity. ... [Including] Plato ... Homer ... Suetonius ... Tacitus, Euripides ... we don’t have the original text for any writing from the ancient world.” If the Bible has not been preserved, then nothing has been preserved. Based on Scripture’s promises, we expect that the true churches in the Baptist/Anabaptist line would have the pure Word of God, received from the Apostles, and pass it on. We would also expect that God would, in His grace and His mercy to the world, have a Bible that was not filled with corruption be what was copied and passed down even by unbelievers. These expectations are fulfilled in history. The Baptist/Anabaptist churches had a pure Bible available to them, even before the time of printing, while copyists of the Greek NT copied the type of text that is found in the Received Text that underlies the KJV. NT scribes of the TR were incredibly careful, copying MSS that are identical for the length of entire Biblical books. By contrast, the manuscripts critical text advocates claim are the “oldest and best” are actually some of the worst MSS we have. Codices Aleph, B, and D are untrustworthy and corrupt NT MSS. There are more differences between Aleph and B in the Gospels alone then there are between the TR and the UBS/NA text in the entire NT. From the 2021 Word of Truth Conference at Bethel Baptist Church in El Sobrante, CA.

The Gospel of Matthew was written by the Apostle Matthew under the infallible inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Matthew's Gospel was written around AD 40, and powerful evidence from history, archaeology, and prophech confirms Matthew is God's infallible Word and a flawless record of the words and deeds of Jesus Christ, the resurrected Son of God. Opponents of the Bible make arguments based on assumptions that involve a rejection of the evidence that we have. They speculate, invent imaginary sources for the New Testament, make unverifiable assumptions about the impossibility of miracles, about early Christian history, and so on, and either ignore or reject what the actual facts of the New Testament point towards, because the evidence that we have provides amazing support for the New Testament. The traditional view of the New Testament gospels and Acts is that Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew, Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark, Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, and John wrote the Gospel of John. These documents are early accounts of eyewitness testimony to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the history of the early Christian churches. Christ’s promise—that He would, through the Holy Spirit, guide the writers of the New Testament into all truth, so that their writings would be an infallibly accurate historical record (John 16:13)—has been fulfilled. Matthew was written by one of Jesus Christ’s Apostles (Matthew 9:9). Matthew wrote his Gospel c. AD 40, that is, very shortly after Christ’s death and resurrection in AD 33. Matthew’s authorship of the gospel bearing his name, and its early date, receives overwhelming support from the extant historical sources. The ancient testimony to Matthew’s authorship of his gospel is unanimous, going back to our earliest surviving patristic testimonies, and there is no evidence that any other author was ever proposed. Papias (born c. A. D. 60), who had direct contact with eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus’ earthly ministry, who wrote around the end of the first century while the Apostle John was still alive, and of whom the earliest extant historical testimony indicates that he personally heard the Apostle John preach, declared in his five-volume Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord: “Matthew ... composed the gospel.” Similarly, Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome validate Matthew's authorship. Only in the eighteenth century A. D. did anti-Bible skeptics begin to question Matthew’s authorship. The attributive headings of copies of Matthew unanimously testify to the Apostle’s authorship of his gospel.The unity of authorial ascription in the manuscripts stands in the sharpest contrast to the confusion present in the headings of pseudepigraphical writings. Alongside the powerful case for the authorship by the Apostle Matthew of the gospel bearing his name, an early date for the gospel receives powerful confirmation. The Biblical book of James, written in AD 45, shows a clear knowledge of Matthew. Matthew’s Gospel had to be written earlier. From the middle to late first century, the earliest extant post-Biblical writings of Christendom such as the Epistle of Barnabas, 1 Clement, the letters of Ignatius and Polycarp, and the Didache contain quotations from and allusions to Matthew as Scripture, clearly evidencing the existence of the Gospel by that time. Internal evidence within Matthew support a date after the resurrection of Christ in AD 33, but by no means later than AD 70—the temple and city of Jerusalem, which were destroyed by Rome in AD 70, were still standing when the Gospel was composed. Indeed, the language of Matthew suggests that the twelve apostles were all still alive when he wrote, dating the Gospel before the martyrdom of James in AD 42 (Matthew 10:2). The external evidence points specifically to c. AD 40. Many high quality Greek manuscripts record a very ancient tradition that Matthew was published eight years after the ascension of Christ, that is, in AD 41. Eusebius in his Chronicle placed the writing of Matthew in AD 41. Cosimas of Alexandria dated it very shortly after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, that is, c. AD 35. Subsequent writers on the subject such as Theophylact date the gospel between AD 38-41. The ancient historical evidence is unanimous that Matthew was the first Gospel written. Papyus P64, a fragment of Matthew, has been dated to A. D. 60. There is no trace of a tradition that dates the gospel as late as the last decades of the first century—a date very shortly after the time of the events recorded in the gospels receives universal testimony. The internal and external evidence strongly support the fact that Christ’s very close follower, the Apostle Matthew, wrote his eyewitness account of the life of Christ c. A. D. 40, only a handful of years after the events he recounts took place. From the 2021 Word of Truth Conference at Bethel Baptist Church in El Sobrante, CA.