Dr. D. James Kennedy Retires

On Sunday the 26th of August, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. announced the retirement of founding and senior pastor, Dr. D. James Kennedy.

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Baptism... The Aftermath

It's been over a week since the debate between Gene Cook, Jr. and Paul Manata and the trash talking has yet to subside. On Gene's own blog and also on the Fide-o blog, Gene, Paul, Scott, Jason and a hosts of other bloggers didn't seem to get enough with the debate so now they continue the smack like it was a World Wrestling Federation event.

I think they need to behave like nice Christians.

Baptism Debate

So, who are the proper subjects of water baptism? As most non-Catholics will attest, it is the professing Christian that is the proper subject for water baptism. But... there are some especially Presbyterians who are Paedobaptists which is Latin for "Baby Sprinkler". They do not baptize for the same reason as the Catholics do, for the Paedobaptist, it is a covenantal sign.

On Sunday August 19, there was a debate between Gene Cook, Jr. and Paul Manata regarding who the proper subjects for baptism were. Paul Manata defended the Paedobaptist side, Gene Cook, Jr. for the Credobaptist. Paul is a great debater but was hampered by a flawed view of the old covenants in light of the new covenant.

listen here

part one

part two

part three

Home to Rome, huh?

Here is an article by James White of Alpha&Omega Ministries, it is a top ten list of why you shouldn't convert to Catholicism.


An Excellent Question from the Mail Bag
James R. White
Last week I received the following e-mail, and I felt it would be best to share my response here on the blog.

Dear Mr. White, For someone considering converting to Catholicism, what questions would you put to them in order to dicern whether or not they have examined their situation sufficiently? Say, a Top 10 list. Thanks.

When I posted this question in our chat channel a number of folks commented that it was in fact a great question, and we started to throw out some possible answers. Here is my "Top Ten List" in response to this fine inquiry.
10) Have you listened to both sides? That is, have you done more than read Rome Sweet Home and listen to a few emotion-tugging conversion stories? Have you actually taken the time to find sound, serious responses to Rome's claims, those offered by writers ever since the Reformation, such as Goode, Whitaker, Salmon, and modern writers? I specifically exclude from this list anything by Jack Chick and Dave Hunt.
9) Have you read an objective history of the early church? I refer to one that would explain the great diversity of viewpoints to be found in the writings of the first centuries, and that accurately explains the controversies, struggles, successes and failures of those early believers?
8) Have you looked carefully at the claims of Rome in a historical light, specifically, have you examined her claims regarding the "unanimous consent" of the Fathers, and all the evidence that exists that stands contrary not only to the universal claims of the Papacy but especially to the concept of Papal Infallibility? How do you explain, consistently, the history of the early church in light of modern claims made by Rome? How do you explain such things as the Pornocracy and the Babylonian Captivity of the Church without assuming the truthfulness of the very system you are embracing?
7) Have you applied the same standards to the testing of Rome's ultimate claims of authority that Roman Catholic apologists use to attack sola scriptura? How do you explain the fact that Rome's answers to her own objections are circular? For example, if she claims you need the Church to establish an infallible canon, how does that actually answer the question, since you now have to ask how Rome comes to have this infallible knowledge. Or if it is argued that sola scriptura produces anarchy, why doesn't Rome's magisterium produce unanimity and harmony? And if someone claims there are 33,000 denominations due to sola scriptura, since that outrageous number has been debunked repeatedly (see Eric Svendsen's Upon This Slippery Rock for full documentation), have you asked them why they are so dishonest and sloppy with their research?
6) Have you read the Papal Syllabus of Errors and Indulgentiarum Doctrina? Can anyone read the description of grace found in the latter document and pretend for even a moment that is the doctrine of grace Paul taught to the Romans?
5) Have you seriously considered the ramifications of Rome's doctrine of sin, forgiveness, eternal and temporal punishments, purgatory, the treasury of merit, transubstantiation, sacramental priesthood, and indulgences? Have you seriously worked through compelling and relevant biblical texts like Ephesians 2, Romans 3-5, Galatians 1-2, Hebrews 7-10 and all of John 6, in light of Roman teaching?
4) Have you pondered what it means to embrace a system that teaches you approach the sacrifice of Christ thousands of times in your life and yet you can die impure, and, in fact, even die an enemy of God, though you came to the cross over and over again? And have you pondered what it means that though the historical teachings of Rome on these issues are easily identifiable, the vast majority of Roman Catholics today, including priests, bishops, and scholars, don't believe these things anymore?
3) Have you considered what it means to proclaim a human being the Holy Father (that's a divine name, used by Jesus only of His Father) and the Vicar of Christ (that's the Holy Spirit)? Do you really find anything in Scripture whatsoever that would lead you to believe it was Christ's will that a bishop in a city hundreds of miles away in Rome would not only be the head of His church but would be treated as a king upon earth, bowed down to and treated the way the Roman Pontiff is treated?
2) Have you considered how completely unbiblical and a-historical is the entire complex of doctrines and dogmas related to Mary? Do you seriously believe the Apostles taught that Mary was immaculately conceived, and that she was a perpetual virgin (so that she traveled about Palestine with a group of young men who were not her sons, but were Jesus' cousins, or half-brothers (children of a previous marriage of Joseph), or the like? Do you really believe that dogmas defined nearly 2,000 years after the birth of Christ represent the actual teachings of the Apostles? Are you aware that such doctrines as perpetual virginity and bodily assumption have their origin in gnosticism, not Christianity, and have no foundation in apostolic doctrine or practice? How do you explain how it is you must believe these things de fide, by faith, when generations of Christians lived and died without ever even having heard of such things?
And the number 1 question I would ask of such a person is: if you claim to have once embraced the gospel of grace, whereby you confessed that your sole standing before a thrice-holy God was the seamless garment of the imputed righteousness of Christ, so that you claimed no merit of your own, no mixture of other merit with the perfect righteousness of Christ, but that you stood full and complete in Him and in Him alone, at true peace with God because there is no place in the universe safer from the wrath of God than in Christ, upon what possible grounds could you come to embrace a system that at its very heart denies you the peace that is found in a perfect Savior who accomplishes the Father's will and a Spirit who cannot fail but to bring that work to fruition in the life of God's elect? Do you really believe that the endless cycle of sacramental forgiveness to which you will now commit yourself can provide you the peace that the perfect righteousness of Christ can not?

Crossway's New Personal ESV

Crossway has recently announced that they will be releasing a new ESV Bible in early '08. The Personal Size Reference Bible will fall in the ESV lineup between the Classic Reference ESV and the Compact ESV. It's dimensions are 5" x 7.25" with a font size of 7.4. It is almost identical to the old Cambridge Cameo edition which is currently out of print. Crossway's site doesn't mention how thick it will be but I am going out on a limb and say it will be close to 1.25" thick.

The reason for excitement about this new edition is not so much the convenient size but it's format. It will be a single column paragraph edition with the references along the margins. Sample pdf. A single column edition is laid out like a traditional book which will be a plus in the ease of read department as well as helping with the flow. If all publishers used a single column paragraph format, I think it would help with people taking verses out of context... one would hope!

Crossway uses their type setting for making more than one edition. This current type setting will be available in four styles to start with, a black genuine leather and three Tru-Tone colors, black, mint and chestnut. If this edition sells well, I hope Crossway will make more editions with this setting. First, in premium calfskin leather and in the future a wide margin edition of at least an inch with slightly larger font also in calfskin, preferably in goatskin, smyth sewn, lined in leather so the covers are floppy. I dream of such a Bible

Mosaic? Or Mo'Psycho?

Mosaic, an L.A. based church... uh, I mean community is the center of the emergent movement in the southland. As with most emergent churches they try and stay away from calling themselves a church, they want to be seen as a community, inclusive to all.

Several months ago I was speaking with a friend from church. We were both looking for a new place to worship and not long after he began to attend services at Mosaic. I had never heard of it before, but was leery of it from the name alone. I checked out their site but couldn't really find anything concrete, either good or bad. They are not a confessional church, that is they do not hold to any of the early church confessions like the Westminster Confession of Faith or the London Baptist Confession of 1689.

I listened to a few of the sermons(?) by Erwin McManus, whom doesn't claim to be the pastor but cultural architect of Mosaic. He is an engaging speaker but has nothing biblical to say. He has nice catch phrases but he is devoid of any real, scriptural teaching. He can expertly take verses out of context and eisegete them masterfully. He will read from the Bible, but then proceeds to tell you a story that does nothing to illuminate the passages he read. If you feel up to it, listen for yourself. Or read this, it gets more disturbing the more you know about it.

Martin Luther turning over in his grave!

There is a slow decay in the Church today and it is rotting in many places from the inside out. Many of the works of the Reformers have been called heretical and otherwise have been usurped by the emotion and spiritualism of man seeking to replace GOD as the ultimate authority regarding truth, knowledge, beauty, art, logic, science and reason. Sinner are now called "seekers", there is no talk of sin only health and wealth, repentance has been replaced with acceptance.

Recently the Evangelical Lutheran in America passed a resolution allowing openly gay clergy to continue in committed same sex relationships. I am not adept in the German language but I am willing to go out on a limb and say that when Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he included all verses that state that sex outside of marriage is a sin and that gay sex too is a sin. Surprising? Yes... and no. It surprises me when people claiming to be belivers totally ignore the written word of GOD. Why don't they stop pretending and just live like hell!

Check out the article

What was old is new again!

The Geneva Bible is an English translation first published in 1560. It's name is a reference to where the work of translating, compiling and commenting took place. The Bible was primarily a Protestant translation and the work took place in Geneva because at the time, Queen Mary I, whom was a Catholic, was persecuting the Reformers. There was an exile of these Puritans and Reformers to mainland Europe but most made their way to Geneva. The work of translating the Bible into English was a continuation of the work that had been done by William Tyndale but he was later burned at the stake for his "treason" and "heresy" against the Roman Catholic church. After his death in 1536, his work was taken up by Myles Coverdale, William Whittingham, Anthony Gilby, William Cole and several others. All with the help of John Calvin and Theodore Beza. The Geneva Bible was used by John Milton, William Shakespear, John Knox, John Donne, John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress and Oliver Cromwell. This is the Bible the Pilgrim's brought with them on the Mayflower and for much of the 16th and 17th, was the most popular English translation of the Bible. It was even more popular than the King James version for many years after it's initial publication in 1611.

King James was not a fan of the Geneva Bible, as it was the first study Bible with marginal notes which were anti Catholic as well as not supporting the sovereignty of the monarchy. For this reason he sought to replace it. In fact it was the first Bible to use numbered chapter and verse, the first to have the notes in the margins written by the Reformers. It also used a modern Roman Typeface as opposed to the harder to read Black Type or Gothic typeface, which the later King James Version used. Another popular feature was it's size. It was relatively compact when compared to other Bibles availabe at the time. It measured approximately 8 3/4" x 5 1/2", which is smaller than my ESV Deluxe Heirloom Edition by Crossway. Eventually, the King James Version or the Authorized Version took over in popularity and this great translation was almost forgotten, only availabe in recent years as an expensive facsimile edition beautifully bound in leather by L.L. Brown.

Enter Tolle Lege. A small publisher that undertook the restoration of this wonderful translation. It is now available with modern type and with modern spelling of the 16th century English. Whereas the KJV has undergone several updates, leaving behind the original translation of 1611 the Geneva Bible is now availabe in all it's original greatness. Tolle Lege makes four versions available and they are currently on their third or fourth printing. They have a hardback, leather bound and two special editions, one is a large Family Edition the other is a Calfskin Edition. The paper is thin but quite opaque with very little bleed through. The leather version is 6" x 9 1/4" x 1 1/4". It is smyth sewn so it is a good candidate for rebinding in goatskin, more importanly, because it is sewn it lays flat. It has one ribbon marker and the pages are gilt. My only complaint is that some of the pages have lighter printing than others and there are few typos that will be rather hard to pick out but I am sure that have been taken care of with the more recent printings. This is something to overlook when you consider the historical value of this translation.

The best thing about this Bible is the translation. It is very similer to the King James, or rather the KJV is very similar to this one but it is all together different. Not necessarilly better, just different. In my opinion, it reads more modern than the KJV even though it is 51 years younger. There are certain colloquialisms that are not found in the KJV like the use of "breeches" in Gen 3:7 rather than "aprons" used in the KJV or the use of "buggerers" rather than "sodomites". It does have a glossary of archaic words making the reading easier. By Gods good grace, this great translation of His word is available again.

Another quiver.

Hopefully I have been able to persuade you to consider more than just using one Bible translation because now I'm going to present to you the idea of owning more than one Bible of the same translation.

Isn't one Bible enough?

Yes, one Bible is actually all you really need, but having more than one may be of use. Obviously if you only use your Bible for Sunday service then your problems cannot be solved by owning more.

There are four sizes or types that may be of use, starting with a study Bible, a wide margin Bible, a hand size Bible and a compact Bible.

Starting with a study Bible as these tend to be big and heavy. I would not recommend these for carrying around to church or Bible studies but only for home study where it's size and weight won't be an issue. Look for one that has a sewn binding. Since study Bibles are larger, a sewn binding will help keep a Bible of this size together, longer. I would not recommend the Life Application Study Bible as it is one the largest study Bible available but the binding is glued and not sewn. The Reformation Study Bible put out by Ligonier Ministries is a study Bible in the ESV that has a sewn binding, as does the 1599 Geneva Bible. Although not presented as a study Bible, it does contain notes from the English Reformers of the 1500's like John Knox and Miles Coverdale as well as the Reformers in Geneva like John Calvin. Study Bibles should be used for home study use along side of your Bible of regular use. Remember, the study notes are not inspired and are to help you get through some theological issues. Consider getting one in hardback as most modern bonded leather or genuine leather covers are about as stiff as cardboard and feel just as bad.


The other Bible you should consider is a wide margin Bible. The wide margins are for you own personal notes, to make your own study bible. These Bibles usually have paper that is slightly thicker than regular Bible paper but that does not mean that the ink will not bleed through, so choose your pen wisely. Being able to make your own study notes will be helpful in that they will be study notes on matters that are important to you, not a bunch of advisors. You can make notes for your teaching or for sermons, for apologetics or for evangelism. Whatever they are, they will be your notes. Of the wide margin Bibles available there are a few I can recommend. Cambridge makes some of the finest Bibles you can buy. They make wide margin Bibles in the KJV, NIV and the NASB by August of 2007. Cambridge Bibles have sewn bindings and are availabe in a variety of covers including goatskin. Although goatskin is expensive, it is the best leather available for binding. The Lockman Foundation make an NASB wide margin Bible called the In Touch Ministries WIde Margin, they have sewn bindings and are bound in calfskin. They are soft and very durable. Crossway currently offers a wide margin Bible in the ESV but not in a premium leather. They also make a Deluxe Reference Bible which has wide margins and a larger font (10 point vs. 8 point) than the wide margin ESV... though the margins aren't quite as wide. This Bible was offered in calfskin but is now out of print. That is too bad becasue it is a great book. I found one after they went out of print, and I am very pleased with it. The hardback and leather are still available, just not the premium calfskin model.



The next Bible to consider is a hand size Bible. This of course is quite subjective as some may say that a study Bible in my hands would look like a compact Bible in the hands of an "average" sized person. This is a Bible that you can use for taking to Sunday service or to Bible studies. You don't need a big heavy Bible with a dictionary, concordance, maps, cross references, etc. You are not going to sit in the middle of a sermon and begin to do all of your cross references and word studies. Save that for when you get home and continue your studies. This Bible should be thin and light but also look for a font size that is large enough so as to be easy to read. Those with poor eye sight will have their choices limited.

If you are looking for a KJV in personal size or hand size there a few publishers that can help you out. Starting with Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nelson's Signature Series which are smyth sewn and bound in calfskin. They have an ultra slim edition that is expertly made. The covers are thick leather that is buttery soft, these are also leather lined. This size is also availabe in the NKJV. Cambridge makes a plethora of Bibles in the KJV but there are two that fit the criteria. The Cameo edition which is currently out of print but is excpected to be re-printed later this year and also the Concorde edition. The Concorde is the larger of the two and both are available in different covers, the best being the goatskin in which the Concorde is leather lined as well. Last is RL Allan of Glasgow, Scotland. They are the Cadillac of Bibles. Allan's Bibles are not cheap but they are worth the hefty price. They offer the KJV in the same sizes as Cambridge and Oxford but the book block is hand sewn and then covered in some of the most luxurious leathers available with the Highland goatskin being the best. They offer Bibles with covers that are full yapp or a true semi-yapp, that is the cover is made larger than the block. Most publishers that offer a semi-yapp are not a true semi-yapp cover, the cover barely comes over the pages, RL Allan semi-yapp are not skimpy.

The NASB is limited as far as quality bindings in a personal size. The offerings from Cambridge are limited to the Pitt Minion which is too small and the Wide Margin which is too large. The Lockman Foundation has two Bibles in this category that are great buys. First is the Ultrathin Reference Bible which has a smyth sewn binding that you can buy in inexpensive bonded leather, leathertex, or genuine leather with the most expensive retailing for $34.95, which you can find for less at Amazon.com. The other is the Large Print Ultrathin Reference Bible which is on the large side of the spectrum when it comes to hand/personal size Bibles. It is available in calfskin and is fully leather lined, the font is large at 10 point and is not totally thin but is a great Bible that has a great feel in the hand. This is out of stock until September.



My personal favorite translation, the ESV has a few selections which I can recommend. From Crossway, there is the Classic Reference Bible and the Classic Thinline Reference Bible. Both have the same dimensions of 5.5"x8.5" but the Thinline is... you guessed it, a little thinner by about a 1/4". They are available in a wide range of covers and color choices but only the premium calfskin are smyth sewn. Any of these would be a valued addition to your quiver especially the calfskin, they are thick and very soft as well as being leather lined. The Thinline Tru Tone Edition (portfolio design) is a must have. It is very inexpensive but has a great feel and looks nice as well. RL Allan also offers an ESV edition which is a classic reference like those offered by Crossway but are so, so much more. The Highland goatskin covers are rich, thick, luxurious with an intoxicating smell of leather. The covers, while thick are floppy and cover your hand like a glove when you hold it open in your hand. They are amazing, this is what a Bible should be!

Finally is the compact Bible. These are not for everyone as the type tends to be a little small, but they are nice to have around. They are not a Bible you would use for serious study. They are good for reading, carrying in your bag, travel as well as for Bible studies and sermons, eye sight not being an issue. Compact Bibles should be small, almost hand sized, thin and light weight. This is their selling point, portability. There are a few that have complete cross references, maps and a concordance. The Pitt Minoin from Cambrdge are some of the better compact Bibles availabe especially in the goatskin. They are smyth sewn and sit nicely in your hand when open. Crossway again has a Bible to fit your every need in a Compact Tru Tone and Compact Thinline, as well as journeling Bibles that are made for those of us that are fans of the Moleskine notebooks. Compact Bibles are great because you can take them anywhere with you.


You don't need to have all these Bibles, you only need one. As long as you read it. The premium leather Bibles, although expensive are an investment. They will last longer than the other, less expensive ones. Spending a little over a hundred dollars for a Bible that will last us a lifetime should not be a big issue considering we can spend the same or more for shoes that will only last two years. You also need to take care of the Bibles. Do not keep them in your car as it can get too hot and warp your Bible or curl the covers. Do not get them wet. If you take notes in them make sure the pen or marker doesn't bleed through and most importantly, DO NOT USE YOUR BIBLE AS A FILING CABINET. Keeping pens, fliers and notes in your Bible will eventually ruin the spine.