by Timothy Decker | Jul 31, 2024 | New Testament
TEXTUAL ODDITIES OF THE TEXTUS RECEPTUS TRADITION IN 1 JOHN
Part 1: Printing Oddities within the TR Tradition
In text critical discussions, the text of the Textus Receptus (TR) is notorious for its inclusion of the Comma Johanaeum or the Johannine Comma of 1 John 5:7–8. In fact, when one thinks of the TR and 1 John, this is primarily (if not exclusively) the text critical passage that is discussed. However, the TR poses several strange oddities in all of John’s first epistle—oddities within its own tradition of development as well as generally strange textual readings among all the MSS tradition of the NT. In this first article, I would like to present strange or odd developments within the TR tradition. In a second article, I plan to present odd and even problematic TR readings.
As revolutionary as the movable type-setting printing press was, in the beginning of the printed editions of the Greek New Testament (GNT), it was not without its flaws. A number of such printer errors appear in the various editions of the TR, or what I call the TR tradition. These few examples might give pause to some who want to rest a great deal of weight upon preservation within the TR tradition due to the correspondent historical development of the printing press.
Typesetter Errors
Within any book’s printing process, printing errors are bound to occur. That is because the human element is still very present. When it comes to the moveable typesetting and printer’s errors of the TR tradition, two examples from 1 John will suffice. I will also throw in one more comical, albeit inconsequential, one from 3 John.
Theodore Beza’s major or folio edition of 1582 (this is his second major/folio edition of a GNT, his first being 1565), struggled a bit. His first printer, Henri Stephanus (the son of the printer/publisher of the prior TR tradition editions, Robert Stephanus), who published Beza’s first three major/folio GNT editions (1565, 1582, and 1588) was well regarded and trusted. However, Beza’s more widely used 1598 edition was taken over by a printer named Vignon. We will see that both printers made errors.
The first typesetter error is found in Beza’s 1582 edition at 1 John 2:17. The error can easily be spotted if we compare it to his earlier 1565 edition (the 1588 ed. has a page break at this verse so is more difficult to notice):
BezaMaj15821 John 2:17
BezaMaj1565 1 John 2:17
The former owner of this 1582 copy (now preserved digitally) clearly recognized and marked the error with the backward-serpentine “S” symbol. The nonsensical reading is one way we know this to be a typesetter’s error. What has happened in the 1582 edition is the 1st line of v. 17 ends with a word break ἐπιθυ-. However, instead of finishing the word by starting the 2nd line with -μια (as the 1565 ed.) thus completing the word ἐπιθυμία, the next line of the 1582 edition has Θεοῦ. This word should not appear until the start of the 3rd line. In other words, the printer vertically transposed the first word of the 2nd line with the first word of the 3rd line. Horizontal transpositions are quite common in handwritten MSS where the word order is changed. This occurs even within the TR tradition, as 1 John 1:5 either reads αὕτη ἔστιν or ἔστιν αὕτη.[1] However, vertical transpositions are almost uniquely a phenomenon of printing errors. Such is the case with Beza’s folio edition of 1582 at 1 John 2:17.
Sadly, this is not the only printer error in the 1582 edition of Beza. At 1 John 5:9, there is a dittography (a repeating of letters, words, or phrases) previously written or, in this case, printed. The text of Beza’s 1582 edition reads as follows compared to the standard Scrivener 1881 edition of the TR:
BezaMaj15821 John 5:9
Even an untrained eye can see the final line of the 1582 edition was accidentally repeated.
Now, I am not yet completely convinced that this was a typesetter’s error for at least two reasons. It would seem more likely to be the fault of the printer if the words repeated were lined up, whereas here they are not. Secondly, the ligatures are different (compare the ending of the word υἱοῦ). It could be that the printer was simply following what Beza was instructing and reproduced the line again with different ligature type. However, the most likely explanation for this dittography is that the printer, not realizing he came to the end of the sentence, repeated the final phrase starting with the word μεμαρτύρηκε. And as there is no MS evidence to support such a reading, this best fits the category of a dittography made by a printer.
These errors, however, were not limited to Beza’s 1582 edition. The 1598 edition, which would be used by the KJV translators, also has some nonconsequential printing errors. One that may be a bit humorous is 3 John 11:
BezaMaj1598 3 John 11
Beza’s new printer, Vignon, has an error at the word “ἀλλὰ” in which the first lambda is inverted. The meaning has not changed, but the print is somewhat humorous.
Beza’s minor/octavo editions did not fare much better. At 1 John 3:1 his first two octavo editions (1565 and 1567) both read ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν “because it [the world] did not know him.”
BezaMin1565
BezaMin1567
However, in his 1580 and 1590 octavo editions, the printer created a non-sensical reading by a slight alteration of one letter, rendering ὅτι ἐκ ἔγνω αὐτόν.
BezaMin1580
BezaMin1590
I say “one letter” because the earlier editions used a ligature that combined the omicron and upsilon (looking like a vertical fish) of the negation “οὐκ” and turned it into an epsilon thus making the preposition “ἐκ,” which is nonsensical and grammatically incorrect. However, the final Octavo edition of 1604 reverted back to the correct spelling:
BezaMin1604
This seems to be localized to this verse, and these editions, for even the 1580 and 1590 Octavo editions, have printed the correct spelling of οὐκ at 1 John 3:5 and 3:10. This is just a printing error at this one place, and in these editions.
As innovative as moveable type printed editions were, they did not remove the human error in reproduction. However, they greatly reduced it. Of the printing errors here listed, more could be added from other books of the NT and other editions of the TR tradition. However, for sake of space we press on.
Repeated and Multiplying Errors
There is another unique error that I have yet to determine the cause. It is inconsequential in terms of meaning. Even most in the field of text criticism would not give it a second thought. But as I am comparing printed editions of the TR tradition, it is a rather strange phenomenon. In this case, it has to do with the 3rd person personal pronoun in Greek (often used in the Johannine epistles) and the accenting with the breathing marks (they look like apostrophes over letters).
To demonstrate this error, compare 1 John 2:10 in Erasmus’s 2nd edition (1519):
Erasmus2nd 1 John 2:10
There are two examples of the Greek personal pronoun in 1 John 2:10. The first in the picture above is the first word on the second line reading ἁυτοῦ, and the second is the first word on the third line reading ἀυτῳ.[2] Though it is ever so slight, the difference between these words is the “breathing mark” over the alpha upsilon that looks like an apostrophe. In the first instance, the mark is turned right “ ̔ ” whereas the second is turned left “ ̓ ”. In this form of printed Greek, known as minuscule, the rightward turned breathing mark gives the h-sound pronunciation, whereas its leftward turn is to render no h-sound. Therefore, Erasmus displays the first pronoun of 1 John 2:10 as hautou whereas the second is autō. The error here lies in the fact that, as my Greek I students learn, the Greek 3rd person personal pronoun is to have a smooth or leftward turning breathing mark. The text should be ἀυτοῦ autou as it was in his first edition:
Erasmus1st 1 John 2:10
Therefore, there is an inexplicable occasion for a “rough-breather” at 1 John 2:10 in Erasmus’s 2nd edition, and it continued to appear this way in his 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions:
Erasmus5th 1 John 2:10
However, this kind of treatment of the breathing mark to the 3rd person personal pronoun is not unique to Erasmus. Indeed, it not only continued in his later editions, but it becomes far more frequent among others in the TR tradition. So much so, that by the time of Stephanus and Beza’s editions, I began to expect it in my transcriptions.
Stephanus1550 1 John 2:10
BezaMaj1598 1 John 2:10
Elzevirs1633 1 John 2:10
And it was not only at 1 John 2:10 either. After Erasmus’s 2nd edition, this error was repeated and multiplied greatly in other places throughout 1 John. For instance, the BezaMaj1565 (his first folio edition) contained 6 of these breathing mark errors throughout 1 John. His next folio edition of 1580 had increased to 15. Finally, the Elzevirs1633 (the one known for first ascribing the term textus recpetus) printed edition contained 19 instances of these breathing mark oddities.
It was so pervasive throughout 1 John that I started wondering if there was a particular rhyme or reason, or perhaps some phonetical rule, of which I was unaware. So far, I have been unable to determine why these printed editions would follow such a strange breathing pattern for the personal pronoun.
On the other hand, the Oxford 1873 TR as well as Scrivener’s updated 1881 edition reverted to the normalized smooth breathers for all of these instances. Even Scrivener’s 1860 rendering of the 1550 edition of Stephanus makes the correction, whereas the Stephanus1550 clearly repeated this error (see the picture above). This may lend further credence to what Jan Krans suggested in his study of the proposed textual emendations by both Erasmus and Beza, that such a cautionary approach was taken to the text, that Beza (and others) were very hesitant to change what had been handed down.[3] This seems to include such strange printing errors, if indeed this is the fault of printers.
To increase confidence that this is a printer error, I examined the MSS of 1 John that Erasmus used for his five different printed editions.[4] All of them were the minuscule cursives and would include breathing marks as well as accents, and all of them correctly rendered 1 John 2:10 with the smooth breathing mark. This increases justification for my hypothesis that it was a printing error that multiplied and repeated overtime.
For Erasmus1st
GA 1
GA 2815
GA 2816
For Erasmus2nd
GA 3
For Erasmus3rd
GA 61
Erasmus would use GA 03 (B) or Codex Vaticanus for his annotations in his 4th and 5th editions. And even though it is majuscule script, the accent and breathing marks are rendered correctly.
GA 03
Summary of Part 1
The advancement of the printing press and moveable type was a tremendous step forward in the preservation and dissemination of Scripture. However, the process did not reach its full maturity immediately. Whether it be spelling errors or vertical transpositions that are almost uniquely restricted to the printed text, the TR tradition was not perfect in every jot or tittle. However, the publishers were refining the process, and by the 17th century, many of these errors were fewer and farther between.
*Pictures of the TR Tradition are provided from the Basel University’s digital library and CSNTM. They are displayed here for research purposes.
**Pictures of NT manuscripts were taken from INTF for research purposes.
[1] The earliest editions in the TR tradition follow the second rendering of ἔστιν αὕτη: Erasmus1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, Aldine, Gerbelius, Köpfel, Bebelius, Colinaeus, and Sessa.
[2] Erasmus’s first three printed editions typically rendered the breathing and accents marks over words beginning with the diphthongs unusually over the initial vowel rather than the second vowel such as ἀυτῳ rather than αὐτῳ. By the fourth edition, this was no longer practiced.
[3] See for example his statement, “Despite his openness to altering the text, as demonstrated above, his tendency to leave the printed text alone is far more prominent.” Jan Krans, Beyond What Is Written: Erasmus and Beza as Conjectural Critics of the New Testament, NTTS, volume 35 (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 226.
[4] The list of MSS used by Erasmus comes from Krans, 335–36.
Dr. Timothy Decker is one of the pastors of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church of Roanoke, VA, having joined them in 2018. He holds a B.A. and M.A. biblical studies from Carolina University (formerly Piedmont International University), a Th.M. in New Testament from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Capital Seminary and Graduate School. In his dissertation research, he examined the style of biblical Hebrew poetry in the New Testament. He has presented various papers at academic society meetings and authored numerous articles in several different scholarly journals. He is a member of ETS and IBR. When he is not reading or researching, he enjoys spending time with his wife and four children.
Courses taught at CBTSeminary: Elementary Greek I, Elementary Greek II
by Sam Waldron | Jul 31, 2024 | Apologetics, Eschatology, Reformed Theology, Systematic Theology
The Glory of What Accompanies and Characterizes Christ’s Coming
Mark 13:26 teaches that His coming is with great power and glory. The passage reads: “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.” This is the prediction. Notice several things about His coming in glory as predicted here.
This coming is literally physical. Notice the reference to the Son of Man coming in clouds. This points us to and reminds us of the assertions of Acts 1:9-11: And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
The reference, then, to the clouds of heaven points us to the physical return of Christ. He physically ascended in the clouds. He will physically return with the clouds. His ascension was literal. His return is literal.
It is brilliantly glorious. The emphasis is on the massive brightness and might of His coming. This coming in its universality, suddenness, and brilliance will be—as Christ has already said—like lightning. Matthew 24:27 reads, “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
It is universally seen. Because of this brilliant character, our passage tells us that this coming of Christ will be seen by men everywhere. The verse begins, “Then they will see …” This is an important and relevant point today. Christ teaches explicitly and plainly that His coming in glory will not be secret, but will be glorious and public. Once more, Christ has emphasized this already in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:26-27): “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” There really is no support in Scripture for a secret rapture and invisible coming of Christ. In fact, there is the exact opposite. The Scriptures everywhere teach that Christ’s coming will be universally seen and unavoidably evident to men everywhere. Revelation 1:7 says it clearly: “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
Thus, in this way, too, Christ’s coming will be glorious. It will be literally physical, brilliantly glorious, and universally seen. But this wonderful revelation does not complete our passage’s teaching on the glory of Christ in His coming. It also speaks of …
The Glory of What Follows and Results from Christ’s Coming
What follows immediately upon the return of Christ to earth from heaven is according to the passage: “And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.” The wonderful result of Christ’s return is the gathering to Christ of all His elect. Notice several things about this.
Angels are sent to shepherd God’s people to safety as the wrath of God obliterates Christ’s enemies who have gathered to destroy His people. This is not the only activity of the angels of God on that day. The angels are not only charged to gather Christ’s people in that great day, but also to destroy His gathered enemies. Please turn to 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 which speaks of both angelic missions together. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed– for our testimony to you was believed.
The elect—all the elect—are gathered to Christ. Earlier, Christ has said that the elect were in danger from all the disasters and deceptions that would overtake the world. Mark 13:20 “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. (Mk. 13:20 NAU) Mark 13:22 for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
To deceive, if possible, even the elect? But is it possible? The implication of the verse is already that it really is not. But this implication is confirmed by our passage. “They will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.” All the elect are gathered—not one is lost. God’s sovereign protection does not fail even one of the elect of God. The eternal and irresistible purpose of God in predestining His people for salvation is accomplished. All on the last day are gathered to their Savior and Friend.
The emphasis of our passage is that this gathering of the elect is absolutely universal. It is “from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.” It includes both the living and the dead in Christ. This is supported by an added detail in Matthew’s parallel. Matthew 24:31 speaks of a great trumpet: “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” This “great trumpet” connects with the teaching of Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” Thus, it is clear that not just the living saints, but also the dead saints are gathered to Christ in the day of His Second Coming.
This is the blessed hope of God’s people. Even in the rising tide of wickedness that will mark the very end of this age, the elect of God will be saved. They will rise from their graves or from their persecuted churches to meet him in the air. Transformed into glory, they will meet the Lord in the air and live with Him forever in a redeemed earth purged of all wickedness and all the wicked. What a day—glorious day—that will be!
Practical Observations
Christ is reigning even now before His return. No, His reign has not come to earth in the way it will come in the last day. He reigns over the earth from heaven. He guides even the chaos of our world to the fulfillment of His gospel purpose. This should be of great comfort to worried and frightened Christians. Disasters have come upon the world. There is the distress of the Jewish nation and the distress of the Gentile nations which surround us and, yes, affect us. These all are the results of Christ reigning in heaven and breaking the seals on the book which contains God’s final redemptive plan. In the chaos Christ reigns, in fact, the chaos is the product of His reigning in heaven and accomplishing God’s redemptive purpose. The chaos we see around us is God’s mysterious way of bringing redemption to His elect people. We must not despair but see His glory manifested in it and His purpose achieved through it.
Christ will not always be denied and forgotten by a wicked world. We ought to be frustrated and disappointed by the way in which the glory of Christ is denied and dismissed by this wicked world. It thinks more of the passing glory of Olympic athletes than the glory of Christ. Does this not frustrate and disappoint you as you try to make Him known to a wicked world? It should. It does. But it will not always be the case. Christ is coming; and every eye will see Him in His glory. As we have seen clearly, His coming will be literally physical, brilliantly glorious, and universally seen. What satisfaction and delight the doctrine of Christ’s return should give us! That is why then hymn says what it does. Not as of old a little child to bear and fight and die, but crowned with glory like the sun that lights the morning sky.
The glory of Christ’s return includes the perfect completion of God’s redemptive purpose. Not one of the elect will be lost. The elect will be gathered from their deepest graves, out of the most terrible temptations, and away from their most fierce persecution. All will be gathered home and safe to Christ. An old hymn says it clearly: Not one of all the chosen race but shall to heaven attain; partake on earth the purposed grace and then with Jesus reign. How this should encourage, support, and embolden us in our confidence in a sovereign God and His sovereign grace and in our labors for the world-wide spread of the gospel.
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
by CBTS | Jul 31, 2024 | Biblical Theology, Systematic Theology
What is a type?
In the definition, (1.) We are to respect its etymology. (2.) Its Homonymy, or various acceptations. The Greek word τυπος, typos, which generally is used in this affair, is derived of τυπτω, which signifies to beat or strike, and is formed of its mean præter-tense) has various significations. As,
1. In a general signification τυπος, a type, is called the print or mark, which is made by beating, as John 20:25. What we call, the print of the nails, is in Greek, τυπος ηλων, the type of the nails; that is, the impression or holes left by the nails beaten or driven through his hands.
2. More particularly, it denotes an example or exemplar, which in certain actions we imitate, this goes before, and is to be imitated; see Phil. 3:17, 1 Thess. 1:7, 2 Thess. 3:9, 1 Tim. 4:12, Tit. 2:7, 1 Pet. 5:3, and 2:21, Acts 23:25, Rom. 6:17. What we translate form of doctrine, in the Greek, is τυπος διδαχης, that type of doctrine; that is, in which God has prescribed the rule, form, and example of obedience, and life to us, viz. to believe the gospel, and live accordingly, Phil. 1:27.
3. In another signification τυπος, a type, is called a description not very exact, viz., that which is made summarily, briefly, and less completely.
4. It has also another signification with physicians, who call that form and order observed or noted in the increase or abatement of diseases; τυπος, a type, denoting the symptoms of the disease, and what it is: hence Galen wrote a book entitled, περι των τυπων, of types. As to other senses wherein lawyers and politicians take it, consult Stephanus in Thesaur. Græcæ Linguæ, Tom. 3. Col. 1691.
5. But to approach nearer to our scope and business, τυπος, a type, denotes a figure, image, effigy, or representation of any thing, and that either painted, feigned, or engraven or expressed by any other way of imitation, Acts 7:43. So Isocrates in Evag. Encom. calls τυπους, the images of bodies, (των σωματων εικονας.)
6. Divines understand nothing else by types, but the images or figures of things present or to come; especially the actions and histories of the Old Testament, respecting such as prefigured Christ our Saviour in his actions, life, passion, death, and the glory that followed. In which sense some judge this appellation to be εγγραφον, written or inscribed, and refer Rom. 5:14, to it, where Adam the first man, is called τυπος του μελλοντος, figura futuri, “The figure of him that was to come,” viz., “the last Adam,” 1 Cor. 15:45, and 10:6, ταυτα τυποι ημων εγενηθησαν, “Now these things were our types;” and verse 11, ταυτα παντα τυποι συνεβαινον εκεινοις, “Now all these things happened to them for types.” These two texts we translate examples, or ensamples. But in the former place, Rom. 5:14, a type seems not properly to denote what we here intend, for there is a certain comparison made between Adam and Christ, which carries rather a disparity than a similitude in it. The protasis, or proposition, is in ver. 12. As Adam conveyed death together with sin to all that were born of him, (ut Adamus omnibus ex se natis cum peccato mortem communicat.) The apodosis, reddition, or return, is not expressly set down, but insinuated in the foregoing words, as if he had said, so Christ conveys or communicates life to all those that by faith are given to, and implanted in him. A Type therefore in the said place denotes a similitude generically, and relates to the fifth particular. In the latter example τύπος, a type, signifies an example, shadow, or umbrage of things to come, as the words annexed make out, yet not properly relating to the types in hand. To this some refer Heb. 8:5, Acts 7:44, where τύπος, a type, is taken for the pattern and image shown to Moses in the mount, Exod. 25:40; in the Hebrew it is called הבנית, an exemplar, pattern, figure, or form, denoting that the structure of that Levitical tabernacle, was a type or prefiguration of the truth which was to be expected under the gospel dispensation: so Gregory Nazainzen says, “That the Levitical law was a shadow of things to come, as the apostle declared, and as God commanded Moses to do all things, κατα τον τυπον, according to the example showed him in the mount, viz. of things obvious to sense, which afterwards were to be discovered by faith. Piscator says, that by τιπος, a type, Heb. 8:5, the αρχετὺπος, or archetype, is to be understood; that is, the principal or primitive exemplar or pattern of those heavenly and spiritual things, which were prefigured by the tabernacle, and the ceremonies relating to it, as antitypes, viz. the death of Christ upon the altar of the cross, and his entrance into the heavenly sanctuary, which things were spiritually revealed to Moses.”
But we may be satisfied that by type, or example, in the aforesaid place, we are to understand the disposition and form of the future building of God’s house under the evangelical dispensation, and so it belongs to the fifth signification, according to the signification of the Hebrew word בנה, Banah ædificavit, he hath built.
Synonymous Terms
The word typos used by the seventy, answers to חננית Exod. 26:37, and צלﬦ, Amos 5:26; but neither of these concern us in this place. Yet we may refer to this that general appellation, משל, Mashal, which denotes a similitude, or the comparison of one thing to another: also a parable, proverb, axiom, dark or figurative speech: see Ezek. 24:3. In the Arabic tongue we meet with the word שבה, Schibh, which denotes a similitude, type, or parable, from שבה, he was like, &c. 2. From Greek writers, as well canonical, as ecclesiastical, we may mention some synonymous appellations; as from the New Testament, we find that the types of things to come are called.
1. Σκια, a shadow of things to come, Heb. 8:5, σκια τών επουρανιών, “a shadow of heavenly things; and Heb. 10:1, σκια των αγαθων, “the shadow of good things to come;” because Christ, with his blessings and works performed for the salvation of mankind, was proposed to the godly in an obscure way, or a shadowy description of his lineaments in the Old Testament. Hence some think that (Rom. 13:12,) the Old Testament is represented by night, or darkness, and the New Testament by day, or face to face.
2. Υποδειγμα, an example, or pattern; the priests of the Old Testament are called λατρευοντες, υποδειγματι επουρανιων, to serve to those things, Heb. 8:5, that is, to be exercised in those parts of divine worship, which were types and figures of things to be expected in the New; here there may be an ellipsis of the preposition εν, and so the sense is, that their priesthood or ministry expired εν υποδειγματι, in the exemplar or shadow of heavenly things, because by their priesthood, the celestial and spiritual priesthood of Christ was prefigured as in types; the like appellation we have, Heb. 9:23.
3. Σημειον, a sign, Matt. 12:39, where Christ applies the three days’ stay of Jonas in the whale’s belly, as a type of himself, σημειον του Ιωνα του προφητου, “the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Here Christ accommodates his speech to the words of the Scribes and Pharisees, who asked a sign of him; otherwise a sign and a type differ in signification, the one being of a larger, the other of a narrower signification: every type is a sign, but every sign is not a type: every sign may represent the thing signified although unlike; but the condition of a type is, that it must bear a parity, proportion, or likeness to the thing typified.
4. Παραβολη, a parable, Heb. 9:9, which term in the Hebrew books of the Old Testament, frequently answers the Word משל, but is put in this place for such typical or prefigurative things, and actions, as are related in the Old Testament. So Heb. 11:19, the phrase of “Abraham’s receiving his son in a figure,” which son was by him adjudged as good as dead, εν παραβολη, in a parable or similitude, is well expounded, that he was a type or similitude of Christ. In ecclesiastical writers we meet with the same appellations, of such as are very near, only we are to take notice, (1.) That they confound the allegory with the type frequently: so Augustine, Tom. 1, oper. lib. de vera Relig. cap. 56, says, an allegory, under which term undoubtedly he comprehended types, is four-fold, viz., respecting history, fact, preaching, and sacraments. (2.) Gregory Nazianzen puts the antitype for the type, Orat. 42, εις το αγιον ωασχα, Pag. 692, his words are, ο δε καλχους, οφις κρεμαται μενκατα των δακνοντων οφεων ουκ ως τυπος δε του υπερ ημων, παθοντος αλλʼ ως αντιτυπος; that is, yet really the brazen serpent was not hanged up to prevent the biting of serpents, nor yet as a type of Christ, who suffered for us, but as an antitype. (3.) In the Latin tongue the words Exemplar, Figura, Præfiguratio, are much used, that is, a pattern, figure, or representing a thing to come. But the word type was most usual to denote privileges to come, by the donation of parents to such as were denizens of the city of Rome, when it was imperial.
What is an antitype?
The correlative, or that which answers a type, is the antitype, that is, the thing represented by the type, or that which answers to it; as 1 Pet. 3:20, where when the history of eight souls saved by water, (in the deluge, Gen. 6:17, 18,) is mentioned, the apostle subjoins, ver. 21, ω αντιτυπον νυν και ημας σωζοι βαπτισμα, i. e. “to which the antitype, baptism, doth now also save us,” so the Greek; by which the apostle denotes, that baptism, which is a medium, or means of salvation in the Gospel dispensation, is the antitype, or answers to the type, of that great preservation of those few faithful persons that were saved in that universal deluge, commonly called Noah’s flood.
This antitype, or thing prefigured, has other appellations in the New Testament, as first, Col. 2:17, where it is called σωμα, a body, which is opposed to τη σκια a shadow, and signifies only the very thing or genuine essence, whose αποσκιασμα,obumbration, or shadow, or picture was prefigured in the time of the Old Testament; hence it is said, ver. 9, of the same chapter, “that in him, viz. Christ, dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead, σωματικως, bodily.” In the time of the Old Testament God dwelt in the temple of Jerusalem, and upon the ark of the covenant, in the mercy-seat, but it was τυπικως, typically. But when the fulness of time was come, the whole fulness of the Deity dwelt bodily, truly, and in a most eminent manner personally in Christ’s human nature.
2. Consult Heb. 10:1, where you will find a metaphor taken from painters, who first with a charcoal are wont to draw a σκιαγραφια, that is, a rude adumberation or delineation of the thing they intended to paint, and afterwards perfect it with true and lively colours, till they make a fair picture. By the first of these, the apostle in this place, means the σκιαι, or shadows of the Old Testament; by the latter, the truth and compliment of the Old Testament types, which the apostle calls εικονας, images.
Heb. 9:23, τα εν τοις ουρανοις, “Things in the heavens,” or, as the explication subjoined has it, “heavenly things,” are called such things as are understood to typify the heavenly priesthood of Christ, and other things mentioned in the Old Testament: so ver. 24, they are called τα αληθινα true, by which is hinted, that the images, prefigurations, or adumbrations of those good things, were but exhibited only in the Old Testament: see John 1:17, where it is said, “That grace and truth came by Jesus Christ;” in which place, grace is opposed to the curse of the law, and truth, to the ceremonies, shadows, and prefigured types thereof.
The definition of the thing is thus: a typical sense is when things hidden, or unknown, whether present, or to come, especially when the transactions recorded in the Old Testament prefigure the transactions in the New, are expressed by external action, or prophetical vision. The division of types follows.
Benjamin Keach, Tropologia: A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors (London: William Hill Collingridge, 1856), 225–228.
by Sam Waldron | Jul 31, 2024 | Apologetics, Eschatology, Systematic Theology
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory. 27 “And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.
Mark 13:24-27
The Glory of What Precedes and Leads Up to Christ’s Coming
The passage specifies two things that precede Christ’s coming. We do not know the day nor the hour (nor the month or year) of Christ’s coming. And by the way, if someone does think that they can predict even the year of Christ’s return, they are false teachers whose ministries are diligently avoided. We do, however, know that some things are predicted to precede Christ’s coming.
It has been frequently asserted that no predicted event may be said to precede Christ’s return but rather that it may occur at any moment. This was not true when the New Testament was written, and it is not true today. The imminence of Christ’s return does not require the any-moment-ness of Christ’s return. This is clear from many things in the New Testament. But there are two predicted events mentioned in our passage that precede Christ’s return. Both anticipate and manifest His glory in that return.
What are those two things? They are The Great Tribulation and The Shaking Heavens. Both of these signs precede Christ’s coming and manifest His glory in their own way. Both, however, need a little exposition to be properly understood. Think with me, first, about …
The Great Tribulation
The identity of the Great Tribulation mentioned in Christ’s Olivet Discourse is one of the great questions that darken the interpretation of this discourse. Preterists think that both this tribulation and the coming of Christ which it precedes refer to events that took place in the past at the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A. D. 70. Futurists believe that both the tribulation and the coming of Christ are yet future. Some try to resolve the confusion by attempting a double fulfillment view of the mentioned in which past and future tribulation is in view.
I admit the difficulties which accompany any interpretation of this passage. Yet I have been helped by the great theologian of the 20th century, John Murray. I am convinced now that none of the above interpretations are satisfactory. In volume 2 of His Collected Writings in a wonderful article entitled, “The Interadventual Period and the Advent: Matthew 24 and 25,” he argues that the Great Tribulation to which our passage refers is focused on the historical destruction of Jerusalem and the ongoing troubles of the Jewish nation and the world flowing out of it, but that the Coming of Christ which it mentions is His yet future coming in glory. I think his argument is irrefutable. I urge you, if you have questions about the Olivet Discourse, to get it and read it.
But let me here give you two reasons which support the view that Murray and I take. What is that view? Let me repeat what it is. It is that the Great Tribulation focuses on the destruction of Jerusalem and the ongoing troubles of the Jewish nation and the world flowing out of it. It is also that Christ distinguishes His Second Coming from that event and speaks of it as yet future.
How does this differ from the other views I mentioned? The Preterist view sees both the tribulation and coming as past. The Futurist view sees both the tribulation and coming as future. Murray’s view and the view I take. Sees the tribulation as mainly past but the coming as yet future.
What, then, are the arguments for my and Murray’s position?
Here is the first one. The description of the conditions at the time leading up to this Great Tribulation is a literal description of a first century situation in Palestine at the time of the Roman invasion after the Jewish rebellion. Listen to the graphic description of Matthew 24:15-20: “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.” This is not a description of 21st-century Israel with its modern conveniences and secular character. It is a literal description of first-century Palestine and the conditions obtained before A. D. 70 when the Christians had to flee. History records the actual flight of Christians from Jerusalem at this time.
Here is my second argument. It is devastating for both the Preterist and Futurist interpretations. That argument is based on the parallel passage in Luke. 23 “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25 “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. Luke 21:23-28.
This passage is plainly parallel to ours, but it expands and enlarges on the events associated with the Great Tribulation. The Jews fall by the edge of the sword and are defeated. They are led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem is trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There are signs in the heavens and dismay among the nations. And only after all those things does the Son of Man come in power and great glory.
It is clear to me, and I hope it is clear to you, that two things must be true. First, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple are their historical destruction in A. D. 70. Second, the coming of Christ is His future coming in glory and not some sort of spiritual coming or something else that took place at the destruction of the Temple. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Coming of Christ in glory are clearly distinct events. One is long past. One is yet future.
For these reasons, we must understand that the New Testament predicted that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple would long precede Christ’s coming in glory. This is why I reject the preterist, the futurist, and the double fulfillment view of the Olivet Discourse and hold to the view advocated by Murray.
But there is something that I want you to notice carefully. Most of the New Testament was written before A. D. 70 and thus before the events predicted to occur at that time. For this reason, the New Testament cannot teach that Christ’s return is imminent in the sense of possibly being at any moment. That view of imminence is simply inconsistent with the New Testament. Yes, we may say that Christ’s coming is imminent in the sense of being near. Yes, we may say that we should stay alert and awake for Christ’s coming. But the nearness of Christ’s coming differs from the any-moment-ness of Christ’s coming.
Notice also that this Great Tribulation leading up to the Second Coming of Christ manifests and leads up to the glory of Christ in His coming. Christ stands in glorious judgment over the apostate Jewish nation and their rejection of Him as their Messiah. They rejected and crucified him as their Messiah. Now His glory is manifested in that wrath which has come on them to the uttermost (1 Thessalonians 2:16).
But a second thing is predicted to occur leading up to the Coming of Christ in glory. It is …
The Shaking Heavens
I think that preachers have to be honest when they come to the parts of Scripture that are less clear. Our Confession itself says that, while the Scripture is clear, it is not alike clear in all its parts nor alike clear to all. It seems to me that the language of verses 24-25 of our passage is one of those less clear passages of Scripture. 24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
What does this language of the shaking heavens mean? Is it to be taken literally? Is it intended figuratively, and if so, to what does it refer? Does it signify a sign that immediately precedes Christ’s coming in glory? Or does it speak of something characteristic of the entire age following the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem? How shall we answer such questions?
Once more, the Confession guides us. It tells us that: “The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.”
In the case of the present passage, other places speak more clearly. One is found in the parallel passage in Luke 21:25-26. 25 “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Luke significantly adds the language of “on the earth dismay among nations … men fainting from fear and the expectation and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world.” Notice particularly the word, nations. It may be translated Gentiles. Having spoken of the divine judgment which has fallen on the Jews, this second sign speaks of the impending judgment on the Gentile nations. The shaking of the heavens is associated with what is happening on the earth and in the world.
Another parallel passage is found in Revelation 6. “Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” I find Revelation 5 and 6 as really quite clear in spite of the figurative language in which they are communicated. Revelation 6 immediately follows the picture of the Lamb ascending to the throne of God in Revelation 5 and taking the great book from His hand. This clearly and indisputably refers to His resurrection and ascension to the throne of God. Revelation 6, then, speaks of the immediate results of this enthronement. It is Christ’s ruling and reigning over the present gospel age as He breaks the seals on the Father’s great book. This book speaks of the conclusion of God’s redemptive plan. This passage speaks of historical characteristics that govern and mark the present, final era of this age before Christ’s return. There is the white horse which speaks of the spread of the gospel. There is the red horse which speaks of the reality of constant war that characterizes the gospel age. There is the black horse which symbolizes the fact of widespread famine. There is the Amarillo horse which speaks of the certainty of mass death. There is the vision of the souls under the altar which speaks of the reality of Christian martyrdom which characterizes this age.
Finally, under the sixth seal there is the fear of coming judgment. “13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
This language is closely parallel to the language of the shaking heavens in our passage. But it speaks like the other seals of events taking place in the present gospel age. So what am I saying? I am saying that the language of this part of our passage speaks of the terror of the Gentile nations during this present age in their fear of the coming judgment. This, then, is the meaning of the shaking heavens in Mark 13. It speaks of the general political upheaval and the prevailing disasters of this age and the way in which this produces in the hearts of the Gentile nations of the fear of coming judgment.
What is my modest and, I hope, humble conclusion? There are two precursors to the coming of Christ in glory. Both of them are manifestations of the awesome reign of Christ over the world in judgment.
There is the great tribulation of the Jewish nation with the destruction of the temple in A. D. 70 and their distress as a nation throughout this age. They suffer God’s judgment for their rejection and murdering of their Messiah. This great tribulation is the judgment of the Christ upon them.
There is the present distress of the Gentile nations. The constant upheaval of the rise and fall of empires, world war, and disaster after disaster creates dismay among the Gentile nations. It causes them to live in fear of what is coming on the world and the rising terror of divine judgment. Once more all of this is the result of the risen and reigning Christ breaking the seals on God’s end time book.
Important Lessons
First, political turmoil, wars, and rumors of wars mark this entire age. Too often, Christians have surveyed such turmoil and announced that Christ’s return was immediately imminent. But such pronouncements actually contradict Christ’s own teaching. Such things mark the entire gospel age. Did not Jesus Himself say and say clearly in Matthew 24:6-8: “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” Christians need to stop saying such foolishness and listen to what Christ actually said! Wars and rumors of wars are no proof that Christ is coming tomorrow. They are proof, however, that Christ is reigning in heaven.
Second, we learn that we live in the midst of prophecy being fulfilled. Let me explain what I mean. When I was a young man, I was taught that the prophetic clock had stopped ticking during the church age. It was only when the secret rapture occurred and the church was taken out of the world that the prophetic clock would start ticking and the great events of prophecy would begin to unfold. Brothers and sisters, that is not what the passages we have been looking at say! Christ has ascended to the throne of God in fulfillment of prophecy. He reigns there over the world in the fulfillment of prophecy. He breaks the seals on the great book in fulfillment of prophecy. All around us great events and movements of this age are the results of the fulfillment of prophecy. So with Paul I say, we are those upon whom the ends of the ages have come! I do not know about you that this view of prophecy changes everything about how we look at the church and how we look at our lives and how we should live with urgency for the spread of the gospel of Christ!
Third, and consequently, Christ reigns over the world even before He returns in glory. He reigns in his judgment of the apostate Jewish nation; and He reigns in judgment and power in the distress, turmoil, and fear of impending judgment among the Gentile nations. In these realities which precede and lead up to His coming, Christ is highly exalted in his judgments on his enemies. But these things are but the first glimpses of the glory that is manifested in His coming. And we come now to study …
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
by Tom Nettles | Jul 30, 2024 | Old Testament
Elihu continues to uncover the faulty thinking of Job about his righteousness and its relationship to God’s process of purifying him. He argues that Job wants God to bend to his perceptions of sin, justice, and righteousness to meet his own (1-8). “Do you think this to be just?” Elihu implies that Job exalts his standard of righteousness above God’s. Job has responded to this trial, in some sense, by implying that his life should have gained him merit before God. “Am I better off now than if I had freely, or even secretly, engaged in sin?” Job struggled with the existential reality that his life of purity, benevolence, pity, and humble service has gained him no apparent favor with God. Elihu discerns that behind Job’s complaint is an idea of works righteousness; his goodness should have assured God’s favor and not led to the time of devastating sorrow, pain, loss, suspicion, and humiliation.
Elihu points to God’s immutable righteousness and justice; his ways, his knowledge, his righteousness, and his wisdom transcends ours like the heavens transcend the earth. Even the clouds do not respond to our flurry of activity—to our huffing and puffing and scurrying on our paths of feverish activity. They are above us; how much more the ways of God? Later Elihu continues to use clouds and weather as indicators of God’s unfrustrable purpose and sovereign rule over the earth (36:27 – 37:20). While sin brings us into guilt before God, it does not change God or his perfection. Our disobedience to his law has no retaliatory effect on God as if we can assault his pride or insult his character. “What do you accomplish against him?” (6)
Likewise, any level of righteousness attained by a creature adds nothing to God, for he is perfectly righteous, unchangeably holy and can neither be increased or decreased in any of his permanently resident perfections. While we should seek righteousness and obedience to his revealed will, our obedience does not add to his holiness, does not increase his righteousness, does not obligate him to us in any way. “If you are righteous, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand?” (7)
Our wickedness as well as our righteousness reflects our character, alters the perception others have of us, and shows our conscious regard for God’s law as well as our pervasive and as-yet-unmortified moral corruption. Our wickedness and righteousness are “for a man like yourself and … for a son of man” (8). Neither God’s anger nor his benevolent compassion expands or contracts the boundaries of his character, for his being has no perimeter, no internal variations, no intrinsically discreet parts, and is unalterable by human actions. Job has treated God as if his public and private righteousness were a bargaining chip with God to force his hand for blessing, and thus he seeks an audience with God looking for an explanation for his severe trials. His friends treated Job as if he had large areas of undisclosed iniquitous dealings for surely God would not give such public display of displeasure apart from such turpitude. Although Job’s probing questions and expressions of exasperation arise from a more expansive view of the divine-human encounter, they still partake largely of the mistake of his friends in seeing God’s interaction based on immediate tit-for-tat response to human action and inquiry.
Elihu, therefore, seeks to alter the perspective that is at work in these encounters. The “multitude of oppressions” has evoked frantic questions and feverish efforts to find divine intervention (9). Job wants relief earlier than God intends to give it. Complainers do not start from a foundation of gratitude to God. They do not recognize, even in troubled times, that our position in creation gives joys unexperienced by any other created thing. The gap between humans in God’s image on the one hand and beasts and birds on the other does not evoke a worshipful sense of sovereign blessing from these complainers (10, 11). All they see is the pain, not the present distinctness of created elevation or the possibility of eventual endless intercourse and expansive knowledge in the presence of God. Why is life so hard right now?! “Why have you made me thus?” (Romans 1:21, 22; 9:19-24).
Thus, the cry for answers and the puzzlement concerning such a depth of trial is an expression of pride—unwarranted creaturely pride (12). When we cry to God as if we deserve his immediate attention in the form of an explanation for his arrangement of our life events, this is an empty, creature-centered, selfish attempt to call God to account and an insult to his wisdom—He will not regard it (13). Even more foolishly insulting to the unchallengeable prerogative of God as Creator, Sustainer, and Worker of “all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11) is the attitude that we have placed a case before him that should compel his answer. We pridefully await, therefore, for him to gather his case together and come to meet us on common ground. “The case is before him,” we suppose, and in that confidence we cross our arms and await for him to meet our demands for answers (14). Job has said in ultimate frustration, “Oh, that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written; surely I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it to my self like a crown. I would declare to him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach him” (31:35-37).
God’s failure to show up for this subpoenaed appearance is not seen by Job as a manifestation of patience. Because God has not lashed out in anger or responded to the folly, Job thinks that he has stated his case well (15). Elihu, by God’s counsel, sees the folly of this confidence clearly and says, “Job opens his mouth emptily; he multiplies words without knowledge” (35:15, 16).
God described Job as a “blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (1:8). Clearly, that description did not mean Job had nothing left to learn of the ways of God nor needed the purifying effects of temporal suffering. Even so, we must learn that all occasions—whether abased or abounding, full or hungry, well-supplied or in need—are arranged by the wise counsel of Providence for our growth in grace, a magnification of the redeeming work of the Son, the perfection of the intercession of the Holy Spirit, and an ongoing display of God’s glory. Job was learning in the throes of desperate conditions what Paul stated with revelatory eloquence in Romans 8:26-39, that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Dr. Tom Nettles is widely regarded as one of the foremost Baptist historians in America. He joined the faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary after teaching at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he was professor of Church History and chairman of that department. Previously, he taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. He received a B.A. from Mississippi College and an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southwestern. In addition to writing numerous journal articles and scholarly papers, Dr. Nettles has authored or edited nine books including By His Grace and For His Glory, Baptists and the Bible, and Why I Am a Baptist.
Courses taught: Historical Theology of the Baptists, Historical Theology Overview, Jonathan Edwards & Andrew Fuller.
