in the language of the people by Dr. Charles B. Williams, former Dean of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Williams’ work is given high endorsement by J. R. Mantey of the Northern Baptist Theological Semi nary, Chicago, 111., who states: . . . “We became convinced that Williams’ translation, considering all the fac tors, is the most accurate and illumi nating translation in the English lan- quage. Having this conviction, I have no hesitancy in commending it to all who desire to penetrate into the depths of the riches of the glorious revelation in the New Testament.” Without making an exception of the entire translation, we were immedi ately struck by the force of Williams’ translation of Matthew 16:17-19: “ Then Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for it is not man that made this known to you, but my Father in heaven. And I, yes I, tell you, your name from now on is to be Peter, Rock, and on a mas sive rock like you I will build my church, and the powers of the under world shall never overthrow it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth must be what is already for bidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth must be what is al ready permitted in heaven.’ ” This adds real illumination to the meaning of the perfect passive par ticiple which, while difficult to trans late, contains the kernels of truth nec essary for the understanding of this passage. Another confessedly difficult pas sage is that of First John 3:8,9 which Dr. Williams translates by use of the present of habitual action. “ Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared to take our sins away, and that there is no sin in Him. No one who continues to live in union with Him practices sin. No one who practices sin has ever seen Him or come to know Him. Dear children, avoid letting anyone lead you astray. Whoever practices doing right is up right, just as He is upright. Whoever practices sin belongs to the devil, be cause the devil has practiced sin from the beginning. This is why the Son of God appeared, to undo the devil’s works.” Dr. Williams’ translation is pub lished by the Moody Press in regu lation book form with large type and 575 pages. By all indications this should be a real addition for the Bible student’s library. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
that it was the pre-incarnate Word that became flesh. This One who, in the beginning, was face to face with God; this One of whom it is clearly said, both in a positive and negative way, that “ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Some have wondered why, in John’s powerful Gospel, the story of the birth of Christ should be omitted. Surely, they have argued, with the beloved John becoming the foster son of Mary, the mother of Christ, he would be in possession of a vast amount of mate rial relating to the mysterious yet beautiful events surrounding the birth of Christ. But we must understand that John wrote not according to his natural inclination, but under the di rection of the Holy Spirit. Apparently He ordained that the Gospel which was to come from John’s pen should place its emphasis upon the perfect deity and sovereignty of God’s Son rather than on the less important, if that could be, details of the physical birth. So John takes his pen and with masterful sweeps declares that the Word, God’s Word, God who is the Word, was made flesh, or became flesh, not in the sense of an ordinary com ing into the world but by His own choice of assuming, by His innate power, a place in humanity. All of this was attested to by the fact of His being full of grace and truth and by many witnesses who beheld His glory. May it be the joy of Christians at this gladsome season to obtain a full- orbed view of the magnificence of Christ who was, and is, and is to come. A New Translation T ODAY seems to be the day of many new translations of the Word of God. Some of these have come from the pens of conservative scholars. One of the latest to appear is a translation of the New Testament
He Became Flesh B OTH the Gospel of Matthew and that of Luke give many tender and wonderful details of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew tells of the visit of the wise men and Luke speaks of the coming of the shepherds. Both furnish strong evidence to the fact of the virgin birth. On the other hand, the Gospel by John sets forth the great truths of the incarnation in a single verse: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only be gotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” This verse is a tremendous one, linking the truth of what has gone before, namely, the pre-incarnate life of the Son of God with what is to follow after, His earthly life and ministry. But there is real need for Christian people to look as it were both ways, when considering the birth of Christ. A great deal of attention is naturally focused on the incidents of the birth itself. These are a bless ing and a satisfaction to the earnest seeking soul of any worshiper. In addition, of course, emphasis is laid upon the man Christ Jesus, His mir acles, His deeds, His teaching, His death, His resurrection and ascension. What needs to be understood in or der to complete the picture is a look back into the eternal past and an understanding of the fact that the birth of Christ was the taking on of fleshly humanity by a great Personage who not only had lived throughout the past eternities but, being God, the Second Person o f the Godhead, never had a beginning. Quite in line with the intention of the Apostle John to present Jesus of Nazareth as King is this verse which links the Babe of Bethlehem to the magnificence of the Logos of God. No one will ever have a true picture of the Prophet of Galilee, nor the Man of Calvary until he sees quite clearly faga Four
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