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---------------------------year, there are 4,300 abortions per day ,or three every minute!Life-taking is a serious problem. Itis a capital offense. That is why Godexacted a capital punishment for it.Humans are made in the image of God(Genesis 1:27), and to attack the imageof God is to attack the God in whoseimage they are made.Our contemporary society hascheapened life. The average youngperson sees nearly 20,000 murders onTV before he graduates from highschool. No wonder someone referred tothe magic box in our living rooms as"Tel-a-Violence." What could be morerelevant for a violent society than theancient voice of God: "Thou shalt notkill."God is truth (Hebrews 6: 18;John 1:14; 14:6). Thus, the obligationto be truthful is as relevant today as itwas 3,500 years ago when Moses wrote,"You shall not bear false witness ."(Exodus 20: 16 NKN). Paul added, "Donot lie one to another." (Colossians 3:9NKJV).Lying is cheap and, therefore, is oneof the most common sins. But truth isthe moral glue that holds societytogether. Without truth, all contracts,covenants, and promises mean nothing.Truthfulness and integrity are the veryfiber of our democracy.The lack of integrity in publicofficials always has been a matter ofgreat concern. Mark Twain calledattention to it nearly a century ago in hisbook, Christian Science:This is an honest nation--in privatelife. The American Christian is astraight and clean and honest man,and, in his private commerce withhis fellows , can be trusted to standfaithfully by the principles of honorand honesty imposed upon him byhis religion. But the moment hecomes forward to exercise publictrust, he can be confidently countedupon to betray that trust in nine casesout of ten, if "party loyalty" shallrequire it. His Christianity is of nouse to him and has no influence onhim when he is acting in apublic capacity.Twain concludes with this indictment: "There are Christian PrivateMorals, but there are no Christian PublicMorals at the polls, or in the Congress,or anywhere else--except here and thereand scattered around like lost comets inthe solar system."Sadly, his indictment is as true todayas it was nearly a century ago--no doubt,more so. There is nothing more relevantfor our day than a man of integrity--onewho, as the psalmist said, "keeps hisoath even when it hurts" (Psalm 15:4NIV). We Christians are called upon tobe salt and light (Matthew 5: 14-16).Paul urged us to shine as lights "in themidst of a crooked and depravedgeneration" (Philippians 2: 15 NIV).What an opportunity we have to be asanctifying influence in our sinfulsociety today .Here again , there is timelessrelevance in living according to thecharacter of the timeless God. Paul saidto Timothy, "If we are faithless , Heremains faithful; He cannot denyHimself' (2 Timothy 2:13 NKJV) .Thankfully, it is "impossible for God tolie" (Hebrews 6: 18 NKJV) .Integrity is of His very nature. Howrefreshing and relevant it is when we seethis age-old biblical truth manifest inpeople we know, especially publicfigures.Abraham Lincoln is known as a manof integrity. When he was only 24 yearsold, he served as the postmaster of NewSalem, Illinois. His remuneration was amere 55.70 per year. Even then,nearly a quarter of a century beforeentering the White House, the old railsplitter had earned the title of "HonestAbe."The New Salem post office wasclosed in 1836, but several yearspassed before an agent arrived fromWashington to settle the accounts. Theagent informed Lincoln that he owed thegovernment 17. Lincoln walked acrossthe room, opened the old trunk, anduntied an old cloth which contained 17. He had been holding it in trust allthose years. "I never use any man'smoney but my own," Lincoln replied.That's piblical integrity!., ."' "'. '·Can the Bible Really MeetOur Needs Today?Lincoln said of the Bible, "In regardto this great book, I have but to say, it isthe best gift God has given to men .But for it we could not know right fromwrong. All things desirable for man'swelfare , here and hereafter, are to befound portrayed in it."The poet was surely right whenhe said:When I search the world for the best,I come back laden from my quest,To find what all the sages saidIs in the book our fathers read.And we, their children, likewise canfind answers to our modem problemsfrom this ancient book. But first wehave to read it.Recently it was reported thatCommunists are seriously studying theTen Commandments as a possible basisfor their now defunct system. At therecent National Prayer Breakfast,Secretary of State James Baker told ofgifts he and Soviet Foreign SecretaryShevardnadze had exchanged. Bakergave the Russian a pair of cowboy bootsby which to remember America.Secretary Baker received a picture ofJesus teaching the multitudes.With a twinkle, Shevardnadze said,"You see, even we Communists arechanging."The teachings of Christ in the Biblewill change anyone who will believethem --anytime, anywhere. "For theWord of God is living and powerful, andsharper than any two-edged sword . "(Hebrews 4:12).Dr. Norman L. Geisler isDean of Liberty Centerfor Research andScholarship at Li bertyUniversity, Lynchburg,Virg inia. He is author ofmore than 30 books ,including GeneralIntroduction to the Bible(Moody), and his mostrecent, The Battle forthe Resurrection(Thom as Nelson) .,,,'I '' '··, '. '·;'· ,

--College Tradition Calls It THE ANNUAL FUND.In Reality, It's THE DAILY FUND!T hat 's how often a gift to the Cedarville College AnnualFund touches the life of a Cedarville student.As you can see, offering students a life-developing education is more than a once-a-year occurrence. It is a processtaking place every day , with activities like chapel , libraryresearch , class under a qualified faculty member , or a Christianministry .While a Cedarville education includes these many facets ,each is designed to help complete one task : to further prepareeach student to serve Christ in his God-given capacity.Fulfilling this mission and providing these various activitiesis costly. But rather than burden each student with the totalcost, we choose to give others- friends , alumni , churches , andcorporations- the opportunity to help, to actually stand by ourstudents as partners in their education.Thankfully, many are touching our students continuallythrough the Annual Fund , helping to: furnish resources like computers and library books provide competent faculty and staff assist students with financial aid. maintain facilities. provide activities like chapel , Christian ministries ,and resident hall programsBecause of others' help in providing each of these, we areable to see, every day , another step taken toward achieving ourpurpose.Yet, whether it is called the Annual Fund or the " DailyFund," one thing is certain: the need is continual, because ourtask is continual. And there can never be too many partnersinvolved with our students in their education.If you desire to influence our students, consider taking part inthe Cedarville College Annual Fund. It is one of the few investments in which you can make a difference each and every day .You may wish to take advantage of such Annual Fund opportunities as the Torch Club , Charter Society, or President's Associates.By whichever means , please become a part of the "Daily Fund"today , and share in the reality of preparing students to become bothcompetent professionals and more committed Christians.r -----------------,I want to invest in the students of Cedarville College and have a dailyinfluence on their education.Enclosed is :Please send me more information about: - - - --DDDTarch Club ( 120 per year)Charter Society ( 500 per year)President's Associates ( 1,000 per year)Address - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - Phone.\-- ;.The Annual FundCityof Cedarville CollegeStateZIPL------ :-- ----

Which TranslationJby Dr. Robert G. GromackiWUTheNIVStu JyBible-I zDIJJr- 5zNewInternationalVersionWords of 01ris1in red letterEERDMZONDERVANMultiple English versions of theBible-their abundance, their availability ,and their low cost-should be causes forgreat rejoicing. And many believers dothank God for them.However, a cloud of suspicion andmistrust hangs over the world of EnglishChristendom. Today , unfortunately , themeasure of a person's loyalty to God, toChrist, and to the Scriptures is beingdetermined by his choice and usage of oneEnglish version over that of another.Much confusion and harm to the cause ofChrist have been the results.Truth and love must form the guidingprinciples for a proper understanding oftranslations (see Ephesians 4: 15).Explanation of InspirationFirst, only the Bible is inspiredof God.The word "inspiration" occurs onlyonce in the text of the New Testament.The Apostle Paul wrote, "All Scriptureis given by inspiration of God, and isprofitable for doctrine , for reproof, forcorrection, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may beperfect, thoroughly furnished unto allgood works" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).Those six words, "is given by inspiration of God, " are the translation of oneGreek word, theopneustos. Literally, itmeans "God-breathed." The Scripturethus has been breathed out by God.What is written is just as much theWord of God as what God would speakorally.Technically, inspiration refers to thewritings , not to the human authors norto the responses of readers. Of course,the Holy Spirit constrained, burdened,and guided the authors to write whatthey did (2 Peter 1:21).Second, the Bible isthe inspired truth.Jesus prayed to the Father, "Sanctifythem through Thy truth: Thy Word istruth " (John 17:17). God is truth, thus

. . JsReally Inspired?. r ·""'., .,\4'. '"t.Wh n U1 . j·l. 'i ""'"·" ( t.l.u i.!J. 11 . fl r C;"'''-' o. r. A.11\\.'-"'' .n ·· . It} f.,·,.-' r:r.,l;. "/J\ v .ISHe always speaks truth. As thebreathed-out Word of God, the Bibleconsequently is truth. This statementmeans more than that the Bible containstruth. Rather, it affirms that the Bible isdivinely revealed and spoken truth.No human, regardless of his nativeintelligence, intuition, or education,could have originated the truth ofScripture (I Corinthians 2: 12). Theability to transmit divinely revealedtruth also necessitated the guidance ofthe Spirit in the lives of the biblicalauthors (I Corinthians 2: 13).Third, the Bible is inspiredequally throughout all 66 books.This concept is known as plenaryinspiration. The Old Testament,therefore, is just as inspired as the NewTestament. The words of Paul in hisepistles are just as inspired as the wordsof Jesus Christ recorded in the Gospels.The genealogies are just as inspired asthe Ten Commandments.Fourth, the Bible is inspireddown to the very words which theauthors used.This concept is known as verbalinspiration. Inspiration thus refers towords-the choice of vocabulary and thearrangement of words in sentencestructure. Thus, there is a divine reasonbehind the presence or absence of adefinite article, the usage of verbal tensesand moods, and the function of nouncases. Christ asserted that "the Scripturecannot be broken" (John 10:35). TheBible is a singular unit. Its parts cannotbe separated from the whole. The entirecanon of 66 books cannot be destroyedand neither can its individual words andsentences.Fifth, the Bible is inspired,technically speaking, in onlythe original writings which theSpirit-directed authors wrote.These original documents are knowntoday as the autographa, meaning "thewritings themselves."In October 1978, the InternationalCouncil on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI)held a summit meeting in which over250 scholars signed a document whichput forth the evangelical position on theinspiration and inerrancy of theScriptures. Nineteen Articles ofAffirmation and Denial were issued.Article X says, "We affirm thatinspiration, strictly speaking, appliesonly to the autographic text of Scripture,which, in the providence of God, can beascertained from available manuscriptswith great accuracy. We further affirmthat copies and translations of Scriptureare the Word of God to the extent thatthey faithfully represent the original."Although the term, "inspiration,"technically speaking, refers only to theoriginal writings of the Old Testamentprophets and New Testament apostles, itis still possible to say, practicallyspeaking, that the King James Version(KJV), the New American StandardBible (NASB), and the New InternationalVersion (NIV) also are inspired to thatextent whereby they faithfully representthe content of the original writings. Thisdistinction between the original writingsand subsequent copies, versions, andtranslations must be seen and understood.

llllrE -------------------------------- Sixth, the Bible is inerrant[free from error] and infallible[incapable of error] in allmatters which it addresses. "!'he Bible is inspired truth, not onlym issues of doctrinal faith and moralliving , but also in areas of history ,geography, and science.Members of the EvangelicalTheological Society, to which Ibelong, subscribe annually to a basicdoctrinal statement: "The Biblealone, and the Bible in its entirety, isthe Word of God written and is,therefore, inerrant in the autographs."The issue of the complete inerrancyand infallibility of the total originalScriptures is the real doctrinal battleground today. Those who embracethis foundational doctrine shouldunite against the attacks made by bothliberals and some evangelicals.A person who uses the KJV shouldbe committed to the full inerrancy ofthe Scriptures. Likewise, those whoemploy the NIV or NASB alsoshould embrace the position of totalinerrancy. The common acceptanceof inerrancy should overrule andgovern the relationships of those whouse different English translations.Charges of heresy should be hurled atthose who deny inerrancy, not atthose who believe in inerrancy butwho use a different English version.Seventh, the Bible isthe supreme authoritative basisoffaith and practice.That concept means that only theBible can be the supreme, writtennorm by which God can bind ourconsciences.When Martin Luther stood beforethe Diet of Worms in 1521, he wasasked to give a plain answer to thequestion: "Will you recant?" Hisclassic answer has been quoted foralmost 470 years: "If the emperordesires a plain answer, I will give it tohim. It is impossible for me to recantunless I am proved to be wrong by thetestimony of Scripture. My conscience is bound to the Word of God.It is neither safe nor honest to actagainst one's conscience. Here Istand. God help me. I cannot dootherwise."Luther's allegiance was not to aGerman translation of the Scriptures norto the Hebrew and Greek texts which hepossessed. His vow of commitment wasto the inspired, inerrant Word of God, asoriginally breathed out by God and asfaithfully represented in the versionbefore him.In like manner, we evangelicals musttenaciously stand for the inerrancy andinspiration of the written Word withoutcompromise. However, we mustallow our fellow-soldiers of thefaith to express their commitmentthrough the usage of Spanish,French, German, Bengali,Japanese, and various Englishtranslations. We must not allowthe usage of one version tobecome the standard of orthodoxy , a fundamental of the faithcomparable to the virgin birthand deity of Jesus Christ.but it stresses the meaning of the idiomand, thus, is not as literal as the NASB .In dynamic equivalence, the attentionis focused on the meaning of the text tothe reader-in a word, what the textmeans. The translatorthen tries toWork of TranslatorsTranslation is no simple task. Itis difficult to translate the meaning ofthe idiom and grammatical structureof one language into that of another.Linguistic scholars and translators are arare breed.Good translators desire goodtranslations.They want their work to manifestthe true meaning of the source text.They want their text to be clear andnatural.Good translators follow acceptedprinciples of translation.Basically, there are two methods ofdoing translation work. Each methodwill lead to a different result. Themethods are known as formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence.In formal equivalence, the attention isfocused on the actual text---0n its formand content. In a word, what the text is.The translator then tries to reproducethat form and content into a secondlanguage. In this sense the KJV and theNKJV (New King James Version) areformal equivalent translations of theReceived Greek Text and the Hebrewtext. In like manner, the NASB is a formal equivalent translation of the CriticalGreek text and Hebrew text. The NIValso is a formal equivalent translation ,reproduce the meaning of thesource language into the secondlanguage. In so doing, he maychange the words of the text sothat the reader might not beconfused by the result. He isthus seeking for an idiomatic,meaning-for-meaningtranslation. Scriptural paraphrases,such as Phillips'New Testamentand Taylor'sThe LivingBible areillustrationsof dynamicequivalence.Languagehas twolevels: surfacestructure or formand deep structureor meaning. Formschange from language tolanguage, but the meaning ingood translation should not. Since notwo languages have the same surfacestructure, the translator faces a doubletask- to interpret and to translate.In the original biblical writings , boththe form and meaning were inspired and

-------------------------- perfectly paired together. In the translation of Scriptures from the Hebrew andGreek into other languages, includingEnglish , the translator must seek to keepthe two (form and meaning) as closetogether as possible.We should not permit the usageof a particular version to becomethe basis of personal andecclesiastical fellowship.God hates those who "sow discordamong brethren" (Proverbs 6: 19).Rather, He instructs us "to keep theunity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"(Ephesians 4:3). If a person who usesonly the KJV declares as hereticalanother believer who chooses to use theNIV or the NASB, then that first personis disrupting spiritual unity . Loyalty toChrist and the inspired Word of Godshould not be measured by the versionwhich a believer chooses to read or touse in public ministry.We can have confulence that themajor English versions protectand propagate the evangelicalChristian faith.TranslationsWe should be thankful that wecan use all these Englishversions for our personaledification.Paul criticized theCorinthian church for itscarnal attitude of followingone gifted leader andneglecting another(l Corinthians 3 :4 ). In asimilar vein, some believerstoday have given theirallegiance to one Englishversion and have eitherignored or criticized the otherversions . In effect, some ofthe Christian world is saying , "Iam of the KJV! " And others, "Iam of the NASB' " And

Cedarville University DigitalCommons@Cedarville Torch Spring 3-1-1990 Torch, Spring 1990 . ABET (Accreditation Board for Engi . Grand Rapids, MI-Calvary Church, June 17 Niagara Falls, NY-Council of 18, June 21-22 Niagara Falls, NY-GARBC