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Booth On The Bible
by Steve Bussey
In 1902, William Booth wrote on how
critical the Bible is for Salvationists. His words ring more
true today than ever before - and his absolute fidelity to
Scripture as "the divine rule for faith and practice"
(doctrine 1 of The Salvation Army) remains the single and only
line in the sand which helps us "rightly divide the Word of
Truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).
When our mission statement says that
The Salvation Army's "message is based on the Bible" - the
word "message" means it is the "fulcrum" the pivotal point,
the foundation, the compass that "mediates" every single part
of who we are as individuals and as an organization.
It is not an afterthought.
It is not meant to be toyed with.
It is authoritative.
It is without error.
It is not merely "reliable" - but
rather it is the absolute final word on which every single
detail that speaks to who we are, why we exist and to every
single decision on how we go about life, work and mission.
Scripture is our complete worldview. As John Wesley, who was
known as "a man of one book" emphasized, Scriptural
Christianity is THE foundation of Wesleyan-Holiness theology.
And as William Booth followed in Wesley's footsteps shared his
deepest convictions, we can boldly state that a Salvationist
worldview is a biblical worldview in no uncertain terms.
We take this VERY seriously.
I will seek to prove this with
reference to two messages from William Booth. Insights from
Catherine Booth, Brengle and others will be saved for another
time.
In 1885 following the publication of
"The Revised Bible," Booth celebrated the importance of the
words of Scripture being communicated in "the most desirable
way which most nearly convey the meaning of the inspired
writers to those to whom they may be now addressed." Then he
boldly declared the importance of Scripture etching itself on
the heart of true believers:
"I want to see a new translation of the
Bible into the hearts and conduct of living men and women. I
want an improved translation — or transference it might be
called — of the commandments and promises and teachings and
influences of this Book to the minds and feelings and words
and activities of the men and women who hold on to it and
swear by it and declare it to be an inspired Book and the only
authorized rule of life.
That seems to me to be the only
translation, after all, that will in the long run prove to be
of any value. It is the reproduction of the Scriptures in men
and women that makes their worth. The Bible is a book intended
to make Bible-men and women — that is, good men and women. If
the end is not gained, where is the value of the means? What
will be the value of the Bible in the day of judgment apart
from the transformations of character it has produced. It is
of no use making correct translations of words if we cannot
get the WORDS TRANSLATED INTO LIFE.
Now I have a great deal of fault to
find with the present living translations – in the men and
women who represent the Bible in their daily walk to the
world. There are, beyond controversy, several most erroneous
readings, some most serious imperfections — a large number of
glaring errors. In many cases the living translation is not
only unlike the original Book, but in direct contradiction to
it.
This leads to most serious
consequences. One of the great arguments for all the trouble
and labor of the new translation has been that an odd passage
here and there has been incorrectly given, and that this has
led to some heretical opinions. But oh, my God! what heresies,
what infidelities, what dreadful ruination of souls -
wholesale and retail - have arisen from the false
representations of Bible truth made in the lives of so-called
Christians.
In the living translation every man who
bears the name of Christ says thereby, "My life is a
representation of Christianity." If a Muslim and a Buddhist
came to live in your house, or to be your next-door neighbors,
and you had not read their sacred books or listened to the
descriptions of their religion as given by their advocates,
you would reckon from what you saw of those men that you knew
what their religion was. You would say, "I know what Islam is,
and I know what Buddhism is. I have not got it out of their
books, but I have been privileged to see it lived out before
my eyes.
As you might very reasonably do with
this heathen religion, so men do every day with regards to
Christianity. And because these translations have been
falsehoods and hypocrisies and shams, and altogether different
from the originals, all manner of false and pernicious and
damnable errors have crept abroad amongst men as to what real
religion is. The translation and the revision have made it to
appear a thing altogether unlike the original, and all manner
of explanations and apologies are necessary to explain the
glaring contradictions.
Now, my comrades, we must have a new
translation. Every man and woman of us must set himself and
herself to the task. Supposing we have got now a Bible correct
in the letter, printed in a book, the reproductions of the
mind of God so far as He has declared it to some of His people
in days gone by; let us now have some equally correct
reproductions of the mind of Christ — some actual
flesh-and-blood translations — some living epistles inspired
and empowered by the Holy Ghost, that can be read and known of
all men.
I mean, let us Salvationists live out
before men lives on which God has written out in big heavenly
words His own notions of truth and righteousness and purity
and patience and love and sacrifice. Christians for
generations now have been spending an enormous amount of
strength upon the Bible. They have done well in that duty; but
it seems to me that with regard to the sacred Book something
very important still remains to be done...
Such a translation, my comrades, will
tell.
It will be victorious.
It will be triumphant."
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Wow! You can't get more foundational
than that! Are we true reflections of the living Word of God -
operating within the guardrails of a God-breathed life shaped
by the God-breathed Word of God - or are we "erroneous
readings" and "glaring errors" in our present world?
Without Scripture being the very basis
(foundation) of our message, we shift from the "rock" to the
"sand" of our own whims and wishes - our personal experience,
which is blinded by our natural inclination to place self on
the throne - and rationalize our own compromised and captive
state of sin-fullness. Scripture is the light that guides our
feet on the right paths individually and collectively (Psalm
119:105).
We can never forget that foundation. We
can never alter that foundation. Anyone who suggests and works
to do otherwise is not only deluded, but dangerous! 2 Peter
3:16 reminds us that "those who are ignorant and unstable have
twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as
they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in
their destruction."
Let us hold fast to the wise counsel of
General William Booth and, in no uncertain terms, remain
steadfast to this great and holy heritage whose message is
based on the Bible.
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“The Bible is a very Wonderful Book…
When we say the Bible, we mean that it is a book… above every
other, that a person should know, treasure, and obey. If, to a
wise man, the choice were offered of the Bible, on the one
hand, or all the books in the world, on the other, he would
choose the Bible...
The Bible has had a mighty influence
for good in the world.
- It has won the hearts and enlightened
the lives of millions.
- It has rescued the multitudes from
the Horrible pit.
- It has led their feet to the Rock of
Ages.
- It has filled their mouths with
singing.
- It has kept them fading into Hell.
- It has guided them safely to Heaven.
The Bible has been more bitterly
attacked and more cruelly slandered than any other book in
existence. Again and again men have exerted every power to
effect its destruction. But it has survived all opposition,
and to-day is more widely circulated, and is probably more
generally read, than ever before. Not all the powers of Earth
and Hell combined have been able to destroy the blessed Bible.
- Bad men and women hate the Bible,
denounce it, call it hard names, call in question its truths,
and wish it were out of existence.
- Good men and women love it, read it,
make it the guide of their lives, spread it abroad, and thank
God for its precious pages.
The Truths written down and explained
in the Bible have done wonders for Salvationists. What would
you have been without them?
But for the free Salvation set forth in
the Bible, many of you would have been in the grave, and your
souls cast into outer darkness, while others would have been
on their way there.
Oh, precious Book! What a priceless
blessing it has been to The Salvation Army!
Fulfill the duties it commands. It is
the doers of the Word who are blessed. Make it the guide of
your life: at home, abroad, in your Corps, in sickness and
health, in joy and sorrow, everywhere and all the time.
Publish the Salvation of the Bible
wherever you go — in the streets — in the barracks [the
Corps/Church] — in your home — at your work — everywhere tell
the glad tidings.
Oh, my Comrades, do not let the Bible
rise up in judgment against you, as it surely will if you
either neglect it, or if, reading and knowing about the
Salvation and Victory of which it tells, you do not enjoy that
Salvation and experience that Victory."
Letters to Salvationists Chapter 23
<link>
The General's Letters Chapter 25
<link>
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