W. L. Totty
Ever since the day when Ananias and Sapphira died in the assembly because they lied to God, crises have come up in the church. Such is strong evidence that we are the church of the New Testament. Otherwise, Satan would not be so interested in blocking our progress. The missionary society; instrumental music; opposition to women teachers, literature, classes; the one-cup theory; the no-baptistery idea; the no-located preacher hobby; premillennialism; anti-ism, etc., have all had their day. But the church has lived and prospered through it all, because Christ is its head.
Now there are some “among us” who are dissatisfied with our Bible and are using every opportunity to criticize the King James and American Standard Versions. Recently, G. F. Raines challenged me [W.L Totty], to sign my name to a statement saying that I believe all of the King James and American Standard Versions of the Bible. He said if I would sign such a statement he would publish it in one of our papers and insinuated that would be the end of me as a preacher. Brother Raines has written to several preachers and editors of papers, seeking consolation in his criticism of the Holy Scriptures.
He is not alone, however, in this “movement.” Others seem to think it is a mark of higher learning to criticize the text of the Bible. They are very bold in asserting that the copyists of the original manuscripts made mistakes when they copied them. However, no one living today has ever seen the manuscripts written by Paul and the other writers of the New Testament; but they are bold in asserting that the copyists made mistakes. If they have never seen the manuscripts, nor anyone who had seen them, nor read anything from the pen of anyone who had seen the original manuscripts to the effect that errors were made in transcribing them, how can they be so sure that the copyists made mistakes?
The southern Baptist debaters of a quarter of a century ago [now four score years] argued that Mark 16:16 was added by the copyists. They were never able to produce the proof other than their mere assertions. In those days, preachers of the church of Christ never entertained the slightest idea that such accusations against the Bible were true. And Baptists preachers often felt the scathing denunciations from the tongues of preachers of the church of Christ for trying to mutilate the Holy Scriptures.
Often we base some of our strongest principles upon one word, or maybe one letter in a word. We do that because we have faith that God, through his providence, has preserved his word for us. Strong points relative to the oneness of the church have been based upon the word “doctrine” being used in the singular. It has been pointed out that when the Bible speaks of the doctrine of Christ, it is always singular; but doctrines (plural) of the devil. Now, will those preachers have us believe that the copyists maybe made a mistake there and left off the “s” when they were writing about the teaching of Christ; and therefore, it could be “doctrines”?
Remember, they do not point out the mistakes; they just merely assert that they are in the Bible. I have never seen the day, since I was old enough to understand, that I have ever in the least manner doubted the authenticity of any part of the Bible. I believe it, every word, from the first word of Genesis to the last word of Revelation. Much of it I do not understand, but I attribute that to my lack of ability and not to any alleged discrepancies of God’s word.
It is regrettable that preachers of the gospel can find pleasure in casting aspersions upon the Bible. There is nothing that can possibly be gained in such a procedure; but there is a strong possibility that it might shake the faith in some, who are not too well grounded to start with, and cause them to lose their souls. Cause the average person to believe that the Bible is permeated with errors, and you have caused him to lose his faith in all of it. Jesus said, “It is impossible but that offenses will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” (Luke 17:1-2.)
The Informer
Vol. 16 No. 21
January 27, 1963