Volume 19, Number 1 (Spring 2008)

• Exegetical Fallacies: Common Interpretative Mistakes Every Student Must Avoid
  by William L. Barrick
  
  Students of the Bible often make mistakes that can be avoided if they are aware of errors that others have committed. One of the errors is the “Evidential Fallacy” which fails to approach the text with the presumption that it is accurate. Another mistake is the “Superior Knowledge Fallacy” which occurs when one, in approaching difficult texts, practices textual emendation to accommodate the critic’s ignorance. A third mistake is the “Word Study Fallacy” which uses imaginative extrapolations to find unjustified meanings in individual words. The “Fallacy of Reading Between the Lines” reads into the Scriptures what one thinks the text implies. Another mistake occurs in improper explanations of the two tenses of Hebrew verbs, the perfect (or qatal) and the imperfect (or yiqtol). Occasionally in the NT, the “Fallacy of Ignoring Particles” causes an interpreter to miss emphasis that is conveyed by Greek particles. Sometimes a translation leaves out words found in the original language causing the “Fallacy of Reduction.” Correct interpretation results from close attention to details of the text in avoiding the mistakes mentioned above, as well as others.
  
  
• Promises to Israel in the Apocalypse
  by Robert L. Thomas
  
  Recent opinions that Israel’s covenants and promises are missing in Rev 20:1-10 have rested on poor hermeneutical foundations. Three major OT covenants with Israel are prominent throughout the Apocalypse and therefore are foundational to what John writes in chapter 20. God promised Abraham a people who are quite visible in Revelation 7, 12, and 14, and in 2:9 and 3:9, where physical descendants of Abraham are in view. The geographial territory promised to Abraham comes into view in 11:1-13 as well as in 16:16 and 20:9. Close attention is given to the Davidic Covenant in 1:5 and 22:16 and many places between, such as 3:7, 5:5, and 11:15. The New Covenant comes into focus whenever the Lamb and His blood are mentioned in the book, and particularly in 21:3 which speaks of a new relationship with God. Obvious references to God’s covenants with Israel are often ignored because of deviations from sound principles of interpretation by those who practice what has been called eclectic hermeneutics. According to Revelation, God will in the future be faithful in fulfilling His promises to Israel.
  
  
• Rejection The Hope: The Church's Doctrine of Israel in The Patristic Era
  by Michael J. Vlach
  
  The early church’s hope for the future of Israel has often been overlooked. In writings of the Patristic Era, the fathers often connected the salvation of Israel with the comings of Antichrist and Elijah and the personal coming of Jesus Christ at some time in the future. To note their emphasis on the future of the nation is not to deny several other emphases of the early writers. Their view of Israel is best defined primarily as punitive supersessionism, because they viewed Israel as being judged by God for their rejection of Christ at His first coming. For them the two destructions of Jerusalem proved this. They felt that the church had replaced Israel as the people of God, at least for the present, and had taken over Israel’s Scriptures, Israel’s Covenants, and Israel’s promises. Yet the message is loud and clear that the ancient church believed in the future salvation of Israel, some voices even predicting that the nation would return and possess the land that God had promised to Abraham. The early church as a whole, then, adhered to a moderate form of supersessionism, meaning that they concurred with the Bible’s teaching that Israel had been rejected, but went beyond that to dwell on the great hope lying ahead for that people.
  
  
• Preservation of the Bible: Providential or Miraculous? The Biblical View
  by Jon Rehurek
  
  Many evangelicals and kjv-only advocates assert that the Bible provides explicit evidence for a doctrine of miraculous preservation. In their assertions, they apply the doctrine to a particular version of the Bible, most often the King James Version (kjv) of 1611. Yet an examination of exegetical evidence from commonly cited biblical texts supports only a general promise of preserving the truth of God’s message to mankind, not a particular version of the Bible. Many verses—including some related to immutability, infallibility, and preservation—have been incorrectly interpreted and applied to preservation. The preservation of God’s revelation is the lesson in many of the passages, but no explicit indication applies them directly to written Scripture or to how and when a promise of general preservation would be fulfilled. Since historical evidence demonstrates that scribal errors exist in every extant manuscript, the conclusion to be drawn is that the Bible has been providentially preserved by means of secondary causation through the plethora of available manuscripts and not through miraculous preservation of particular manuscripts and versions. God Himself is faithful and true and His Word reflects His character; His decrees are absolutely immutable and infallible. Although the Scriptures themselves strongly assert that truths contained in it are firmly established and will endure forever, the case for providential preservation must rest upon theological grounds through the historical ( i.e., canonicity) and manuscript evidence (i.e., textual criticism) rather than upon exegetical grounds.
  
  
• Life and Work of Robert Dick Wilson
  by Brian Nicks
  
  At a time when his denomination and seminary were turning away from conservative, orthodox views of the Bible, Robert Dick Wilson felt called to challenge respected scholars in their Higher Criticism of Scripture. As a child and young man, he showed remarkable academic abilities, particularly in learning new languages. He attended Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, and while a student there, he learned and taught a number of languages. He demonstrated effectiveness as a preacher and evangelist, but chose to become a teacher because of his linguistic abilities. After studying Semitic languages in Europe for a time, he returned to join the faculty at Western Theological Seminary. In 1900, he left Western to become a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, a role that he held until 1929 when he left to help in founding Westminster Theological Seminary. He authored a number of articles and books related to the twenty-six languages and dialects he had learned. His writings were particularly noted for their effectiveness in answering higher critical attacks on the authenticity of the OT, particularly the Book of Daniel. He died on October 11, 1930.