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It is another Tuesday with The Tuesday Guy on NoCo! On today's episode, Pastor Mike and Pastor Steve examine a recent satire article spoofing the discovery of an ancient manuscript called the Codex Arminius.
Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, "...but we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.".
In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.
Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.
Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and today, of course, drum roll is Tuesday, Pastor Steve Coulage.
Hey, glad to be here. It's a beautiful, bright, sunny day in Southern California. Temperature should peak out at about 90 degrees. Very low humidity.
Steve, before No Compromise Radio, had you ever been on the radio?
Only the sheriff's department radio.
Really funny. We need a little sound system here with the ka-ching or, you know, ba-dum-ba-ba-da. Yeah. Well, today is Tuesday, and so we have lots of good things to talk about. But Steve, before we do, I want to have another message moment.
Can I introduce that? Yeah. Oh, yeah. It needs to be a reoccurring thing, so you have to come up with something good the first time.
Ladies and gentlemen, for your edification, we now have a message moment.
Some itinerant Jewish exorcist, who happened to be in town at the time, tried their hand at what they assumed to be Paul's game. They pronounced the name of the master Jesus over victims of evil spirits, saying, I command you by the Jesus Paul preached.
The seven sons of a certain Sceva, Jewish high priest, were trying to do this on a man when the evil spirit talked back, I know Jesus and I've heard of Paul, but who are you? Then the possessed man went berserk, jumped the exorcist, beat them up, tore off all their clothes, naked and bloody.
They got away as best as they could. What's the Greek word for berserk? Berserk. I was thinking about an old video game you put the 25 cents in. Wasn't there a berserk game?
I don't know. Berserk? Whenever I hear that word, I always think I had a kid when I was in junior high in a drafting class. He turned in a drafting effort one day called Berserko Bunny. Oh, really? Yeah.
He didn't get a good grade on that. Well, I want you to know that the subtitle to this Acts 19 section of the Sons of Sceva is, Witches Come Out of the Woodwork. I don't get it. Well, there are just so many witches everywhere, and I guess it's a Harry Potter thing or something like that.
A twilight witch. I don't know. Hmm. If wishes were fishes. Then they'd all come from Endor. Yeah. See, there are witches in the Bible. Don't forget to sign up for our Greece tour, 11 Days Touring Greece.
You can write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com. 11 days, April 2013.
I think you should go, Steve. With John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Greece.
Greece is the word. Well, I don't know if they'll have Euros then, but they'll have something.
You can tip them in Euros. It will be an interesting time to be in Greece, right? After they've been booted out of the European Union.
Probably by the time this show is aired, lots of things will already have happened. Greece is out of the Euro. The rapture's already occurred.
President Romney President Elect Romney. Yeah. No, President Romney is now looking for a successor. That's when it's going to be aired.
Well, today we'd like to talk a little bit about a recent ancient manuscript discovery. Steve, just in general, what is a manuscript and why would they be important?
Well, a manuscript can either be a portion or an entire book written in the original language. In Qumran, near the Dead Sea many years ago, they found many manuscripts, particularly of Isaiah, that were in pottery and stuff like that.
Very well preserved. So this is a key find, I think. I think so, too. And especially if they're ancient. Yes. Ancient. 1900 years old or so.
Right. Because since we don't have the Bible delivered in gold tablets from an angel, we need manuscripts. Steady now, lad. Steady. And so I just got this hot from Music Desk. I think he has a name, but he just sends me things called Music Desk.
And actually, Steve, he sends everything to Todd Friel and to No Compromise Radio. Oh, yeah. So he's of two minds then. Yeah. But you know what it says? Two Todd Friel? He's trying to Copied Mike Ebendroth.
It should be the other way around. He's trying to serve two masters. He is. Yeah. A recent manuscript discovery near Alexandria, Egypt.
Why would that be key? Well, it is key because the humidity there is very low, so the texts tend to be preserved for a very long time. You know, it could be even in the great library.
And we have two different kinds of texts, right? Vellum and parchment. What would the difference be?
I'm glad you asked. One would be vellum and the other would be parchment.
Parchment is a leaf and it's dried and pressed and Paper-ish. And then vellum is a skin. It's the skin of an animal. Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, I knew that. I just was, you know, trying to be funny.
And I think the parchments last longer in terms of the ink on the parchment because the ink on the vellum absorbs, although the vellum stays longer, but the ink on the vellum doesn't.
Well, and the other thing about vellums is you can wear them, so very, very handy.
You know, that new vellum tie I have, it's hard to tie, but I got the clip-on version and it stands out in a crowd. Okay. All right, now this is very important, so everyone listen. This is New Testament textual criticism via Tuesday Guy, no compromise style.
The manuscript was discovered by Dr. Hymenaeus Ichabod, a professor of soteriology and textual criticism at Finney Theological Seminary in New York.
Ironic name and a very ironic school, too. Finney, he's not a really good theologian, but, you know, even so, they found this manuscript, so that's good.
Well, yeah, because, you know, even if a pagan found the manuscript, then it's fine. According to a team of experts from the United Society for Synergistic Textual Studies, what's the acronym for that?
USSTS. Nice. Is that the USS, let's see, what is it, NC -1701, NCC -1701?
Yes, that would be the USS Enterprise. Which one?
I think a lot of them have been destroyed, though.
Well, it depends on which timeline you're following. Oh, yeah.
Well, what if I was in Mirror, Mirror, the Alternate Universe, where Spock had a beard? But see, here's the, yeah. Isn't that a band's name, Spock's Beard? Oh, I thought. Mirror, Mirror.
Yeah, but, you know, here's the thing. All those Star Trek episodes actually occur in the future, so none of them have taken place yet. So, none of those Enterprises have been blown up.
Well, that's true. That's why my expertise isn't Star Trek, it's Synergistic Textual Studies. Very good. The Codex Arminius, as it has been called, has become very controversial due to its rather unique textual variance.
For instance, John 15, 16 reads, You have chosen me, but I have not chosen you. Hmm. That is unusual. Because my Bible. Yeah, my Bible. That is one of my all-time non-favorite things in life, is when you're talking to someone, it's a theological point, and then they say, but my Bible says.
As opposed to, you know, somebody else's Bible. Your dopey translation. Yeah, John 15, 16, according to the ESV, you know, and they're working from a different text, obviously, but it says, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask in my name he may, or ask the Father in my name, he may give to you.
Well, Steve, I think this new manuscript, I think it's, is this a challenge to Calvinism? Is that basically what's happening here?
Well, it is, because if Jesus said, you have chosen me, but I have not chosen you, then that would indicate that the disciples went first, that they chose Jesus, and on, you know, because of that, on that basis, that God the Father then chose them.
Well, it seems pretty consistent, because back in the old days, when you would see a good rabbi that was worthy of you following them, you would say to that rabbi, could I please follow you?
I choose you. Okay. So this is kind of like, it's like the players choosing the teams that they will join. On draft day.
Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like, you know, the setup with the Miami Heat and the forced trading. Sure.
I mean, wouldn't the New England Patriots love that, because every player wants to play for Belichick.
Everybody knows that. A similar, the article goes on to say, a similar kind of variant is found in Acts 13, 48. As many as believed were ordained to eternal life.
Wow. That is a variant, because I believe other verses say that as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. So that would be God's choice preceding their faith, and in this case, we would see the faith preceding God's choice.
Well, if our listeners don't know yet, this is, of course, a joke article, but we can teach good theological truth from this joke discovery of ancient manuscripts article. So give me Acts 13, 48, and again, before you read that, Steve, as many as believed were ordained to eternal life, the Arminian says, the typical evangelical says, well, I believe, and then since I believe, God now has the authority and the ability to choose me.
He's looked down the corridor of time. I don't know what that is.
I think that's a Star Trek episode. Yeah. Just even think about what you're saying. He now has the authority to choose me, like, okay, God, I am giving you permission.
Yes. You're the creation, God, and I'm the creator. Steve, let's have a new Star Trek show called The Corridors of Time, and it can be some special spiritual wormhole effect. Very nice. Yes, and some kind of Klingons and Romulans and everything, and maybe Jesus died for Romulans.
I mean, Arminians say they don't want to limit God, and then they limit him to being able to look down the corridors of time and seeing who's going to believe.
Sounds not like pre-destination. That kind of sounds like post-destination. Post-destination. Jinx. Owe me a Coke. Give me the Acts 1348, please, in the real Bible. Not the Dave Hunt Bible, not the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible, but the real Bible.
Well, I could give it to you, but I'd rather read it. Okay. Okay. Acts 1348. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
So, God chooses an eternity past. He sends his son to go rescue those that he has chosen, and then they, in fact, do believe. God didn't believe for them. They believe, but it's not a cause of their salvation.
It's a consequence of their salvation. Wouldn't you say that? Yes, I would. It's a means or instrument, a non-meritorious means. That is what faith is.
I wonder if this Arminian text, I was just thinking, it must have in Romans 3 that there are many good. Yes, only some.
Everyone's good. Some just choose to be good. Now this particular text, Steve, is close to home because it has some origins and some affiliations and some associations with Omaha, Nebraska. Okay. Okay, ready?
Yeah. Dr. Ichabod's unusual theory of New Testament textual transmission has been met with quite a bit of skepticism, particularly from Dr. Calvin Martin, a professor of the New Testament studies at Grace Bible Seminary in Omaha, Nebraska.
Wow. Is there such a seminary? No, there's Grace College of the Bible. They're non-lordship. Where does that have to end? They're Arminian. Cal Martin. Cal Martin. Calvin Miller was, I know he ministered in Omaha for a while.
Calvin Martin.
He plays for, what NBA team does he play for? Kmart.
No, I don't know who that is anymore. You know what? I think he's with Denver. So they just lost. Okay. According to Dr. Martin, who had a rare chance to look at the manuscript himself, Dr. Ichabod's praise of the Codex Arminius is highly overrated.
Here's what happens. Martin compiled a list of several more relevant places where this particular Arminius Codex differs from the other Greek manuscripts. And Steve, are you ready for this? Yes, I am.
These are the omissions. Okay. Because sometimes Things that were not found in this particular manuscript. That's right.
Sometimes the scribes write a little extra note. You know, you'll write on the top of your note, Sceva, seven sons, message moment, right above Acts 19. But other things are omitted. Maybe the guy hastily turned the page.
The pages of the vellum stuck to each other. You never know really what happens. So here, this is what's missing in the Codex Arminius. Romans 9 is completely missing.
Well, it has to be. You know, I used to just drill my kids with Romans 9 because it really speaks of the sovereignty of God and salvation and, you know, when Paul says, who are you who answers to God and, you know, does the potter not have the right over the clay?
That is a seminal moment where you just go, okay, we are the clay. We are that which is made. God is the potter. Doesn't he have the right to shape us and form us however he wanted? And if he wanted to make some vessels, it says, for destruction or for wrath, didn't he have the right to do that?
And of course, the answer is yes. So to just leave it out of there would be out of the text entirely would make sense from an Arminian perspective.
Well, the Arminians tend to go to Romans chapter 9, and of course, this is a joke article, but the truth behind it is it's difficult for an Arminian to deal with Romans 9 because it is so obvious, patently obvious, that the Bible teaches God's unconditional election slash sovereignty of God in salvation and in damnation.
And so, Steve, what happens? What do they do?
What's their typical bent? They say that it's a nation. Right. A nation and not, speaking of individuals.
But that doesn't solve the problem. That only compounds it because aren't nations full of lots of individuals? Yes, they are. So if God is going to pass over a nation, that means he's passing over dozens, maybe even a baker's dozen of people.
That only compounds it.
It makes no sense. It doesn't solve the problem at all. It makes no sense at all, and it is not in keeping with the context either.
I mean... I thought you were going to say, it makes no sense at all, and it's nonsensical.
And furthermore, it's without sense. It's asensical. Well, I mean, if in fact it was nations, then you turn Jacob and Esau into nations, and I suppose maybe you could do that. But then again, it talks about Pharaoh.
Well, that's not symbolic for Egypt. And then it gets down to the individual in verse 19. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault for who can resist his will, not what nation can resist his will, but who individually?
And then the question in verse 20, but who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to what's molder, why have you made me a nation? No. An individual like this has the potter know right over the clay, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
It couldn't be any more clear that it has to do with individuals. In verse 24, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles, he could have made it national there. If that was his intent, it never was his intent.
Steve, in verse 13, it says in Romans 9, as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Now, if people want to go back to Malachi and say it's nations because of that, they can say whatever they like.
But right after that, verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means. If he was going to say, this is not just because of the nations, then he would use plural. But what does he do?
For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom, relative pronoun singular, I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom, relative pronoun singular, I have compassion. So it depends not on the human will, our exertion, but on God who has mercy.
And so we go to singular right there.
Well, I mean, and you know, I suppose you could argue for singular as a nation. But again, here's a question for the Armenians listening today. It is salvation by being in a nation. Is the United States saved as a nation?
Is Egypt saved as a nation? Is any nation saved as a nation and others are condemned as a nation? I don't think that's, well, I'm certain it's not founded in scripture.
We're talking to Steve Cooley today, an expert on the Codex Arminius. Yes. Thank you very much. Dr. Steve Cooley. It's a pleasure to be here. And we're reading this article. It's just a faux article. It's a satire.
It's comedy. It's humor. But it teaches the point. And what is the point that it teaches? It teaches that, like it or not, in the Bible, there are verses that highlight the godness of God.
And you know what I find funny is when you're talking to an Armenian, they always feel like they've got us, you know, because they've got a list of verses that supposedly—. Whosoever will. Yeah. Supposedly that we as Calvinists would want to cut out of scripture.
And the answer is no, we would not. You know, and we don't try to explain them away. We just look at them in context, in the original language—. Desires all men to be saved. With authorial intent. Thank you very little.
And it's not some kind of tricksy situation. And beyond that, I would just ask, if God is not sovereign in salvation, then how does anyone get saved? And he goes on and he explains some other passages that aren't there, like Ephesians Hold on, hold on.
Just a second.
Hold on, hold on. Just a second. S. Lewis Johnson, Steve, always likes to say—or he's since passed on, but he used to like to say, and as I'm listening to the audio—. He probably still likes it, by the way.
Yeah, he still—yeah, he definitely likes it today. Even more. Even more. He likes it. He would say, the Arminians try to take certain verses and say they prove their point. But they really—they're our verses.
They prove our point. Because when people say he desires all men to be saved in 1 Timothy 2, verse 4, who are the all people? Who are the all people? And so, anyway, Steve was going to try to steal my thunder, but since it's my show, even though Tuesday Guy's here, here's what this article says.
Ephesians 1 and 2 are covered over, in this particular manuscript, with a large ink spill.
See, if it were my thing, it would be covered with coffee. You know, I would—.
Oh! That's right, because you're reading it so much. Mine would be covered over with some yellow marker, if I used yellow marker, but I only use a pencil. And so I would underline it with pencil, thinking, isn't this great?
Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love he predestined us to become sons. That'll preach. That'll preach. Yeah. That just rolls off your tongue, doesn't it?
I think I probably gave you the NAS memory version, though.
You know, it's hard for me to get the NAS out of my head.
Let's just stop for just a second, Steve, and talk about that. When we do our scripture readings and we just go through books of the Bible, a chapter, chapter, chapter, and so if it's Hebrews or Mark, or now we're reading Habakkuk, and I start reading, but my mind knows one thing for NAS, but the text says something else.
It is super hard.
Yeah. It's a super lapsarianism, but yeah, and the word order being different or different word choices or whatever, it doesn't really confound the meaning, but it sure confounds the reader, you know, when we're trying to do it publicly.
But they probably think we don't know how to read in public.
You know, just a word about textual criticism and all that. Here's why we know that we have the actual word of God today, because we have literally thousands of manuscripts. And what we've been able to do over the last 40, 50 years is compare all these different manuscripts and see if there are mistakes, see if there are additions, subtractions, you know, compare and contrast, and really put together, I think with 99 .99999 accuracy, the original manuscripts so that we have, what we have in our hands today is a translation of pretty much the original manuscripts.
I mean, we are back to the beginning. I mean, we have the literal word of God today for us. We're able to just go to the store and buy it.
If there is a God, and if that God wants to preserve his manuscripts, is he able to do so? I think the answer to those questions is yes, there is a God. He's able to preserve his manuscripts so we know what he has said.
And he has actually done that in time, no matter if the Muslims have tried to burn different scrolls and different Christians and the Catholic Church trying to get rid of these things out of the hands of the people, God has preserved his word.
Or the Mormons say it's not translated correctly, or, you know, the King James only folks who say, you know, it's the King James only, it was good enough for the Apostle Paul, it's good enough for me.
Where are the King James only folks these days? There used to be so many of them out there, and I think—. They all moved to Florida. They did. They did. Well, Steve, here in the article, just to kind of wrap this up, we've got a few minutes.
It says, the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 has the sheep finding the shepherd. That is a very interesting codex.
And I'm sure then what happens with the prodigal son too, I don't know. I don't know what the variation on that would be. But they're all—he doesn't—I don't know. But it's just all backwards, you know, the woman doesn't find her coin, the coin finds her, you know.
It just jumps out.
It's a magic coin. How about this one? John 3 .16 is still there, but the context around it is completely missing. That would be accurate.
That would be accurate. If you understand that Jesus didn't say John 3 .16 in a vacuum, that it wasn't the introduction to the Bible, but it's actually contained within a dialogue with He and Nicodemus.
When you read that dialogue, you won't come away with the Arminian understanding.
For God so loved the world in this particular way, that He gave His preeminent Son—what could I say? Firstborn. That's a good enough translation, right? For God loved the world in this way, that He gave His preeminent Son, that those believing in Him would not perish but have eternal life.
Did you know the word whosoever—although implied there, of course—isn't in the Greek text?
Yeah, and as I love to say, there's a perfectly good Greek word for whosoever. It's just not in John 3 .16.
Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Oops, it's not there in Romans 10 either. Those calling upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you should call upon the name of the Lord.
That is absolutely true, and those who do will get eternal life, because we know that those who call on the name of the Lord with real saving faith have been granted regeneration and they respond with the proper response of repentance faith.
Yeah, when Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again, He didn't say, hey, if you want to be born again, we can make that happen. He didn't say—you know, He could have said a lot of things, but He said, you must be born again.
And clearly in the context, it's a work of the Holy Spirit. You must be born again.
When you were born the first time, it was something that happened to you. You were passive in your birth, whether it was either a C-section or a birth canal delivery, and it would be the same for you spiritually.
If you're going to be born again, it has to be done to you.
I couldn't have said it any better. I mean, 1 Peter 1 talks about that, that God caused us to be born again. The Scripture is consistent. God goes first. This is No Compromise Radio.
Pastor Steve and Pastor Mike today. You might not want to read the article. It's just a fake article, but it's got good theology behind it. And we had fun.
Mirror, mirror. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible-teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.
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