Stylos is the blog of Jeff Riddle, a Reformed Baptist Pastor in North Garden, Virginia. The title "Stylos" is the Greek word for pillar. In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul urges his readers to consider "how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar (stylos) and ground of the truth."
Image (left side): Decorative urn with title for the book of Acts in Codex Alexandrinus.
Saturday, February 19, 2022
WM 226: André Juthe, Swedish Reformation Bible Society
Brother Riddle, I really enjoyed and appreciated this interview. First, it was just generally interesting on many levels. Second, it is good to learn and know about Christians, Christianity, and churches in other countries -- what things are like, what they have to deal with, etc. Finally, the news and information about the Swedish Reformation Bible Society and interest in a TR Bible is encouraging.
André Juthe says that he debated me on Facebook, something I cannot remember, and evidently some people responded to him saying they think he won the debate. Juthe thinks it is because he knows how to argue. I do not doubt that Juthe's TR-only circle of friends who responded to him thought he won "the debate." The only formal debate I can remember is one that took place in the Swedish Christian newspaper Världen Idag, a debate I regularly refer my students to when I point out that there is even a TR-only group in Sweden, albeit small and marginalized. In that newspaper debate the arguments are clearly laid out, and I am very happy if people read and form their own opinion. From my perspective, the arguments from the TR-only people are quite bizarre and they did not give any satisfactory answers to my critique. On the other hand, none of the people I debated there have any formal training in textual criticism (and probably they have never read a Greek manuscript).
Tommy, one more follow up. Yes, very interesting to know there is a Traditional Text or Confessional Text group in Sweden. We don't typically use the label "TR-Only" since our position involves not just the NT but the OT also. I guess "TR-Only" is at least better than "King Karl XII Onlyism." Smiles. You note that the group is "small and marginalized," but whether a position is right or wrong does not depend on majority vote, does it? Many ideas we widely accept today began with only a few people holding to it, while others thought it to be "bizarre." Right?
You also note, "On the other hand, none of the people I debated there have any formal training in textual criticism (and probably they have never read a Greek manuscript)." Do you think that ordinary Christians can have some sense of what the Bible says and means even if they can only read it in a translation and not in the original? At any rate, aren't there some people involved in the Swedish Reformation Bible Society who also know Hebrew and Greek?
5 comments:
Brother Riddle, I really enjoyed and appreciated this interview. First, it was just generally interesting on many levels. Second, it is good to learn and know about Christians, Christianity, and churches in other countries -- what things are like, what they have to deal with, etc. Finally, the news and information about the Swedish Reformation Bible Society and interest in a TR Bible is encouraging.
Thanks!
André Juthe says that he debated me on Facebook, something I cannot remember, and evidently some people responded to him saying they think he won the debate. Juthe thinks it is because he knows how to argue. I do not doubt that Juthe's TR-only circle of friends who responded to him thought he won "the debate." The only formal debate I can remember is one that took place in the Swedish Christian newspaper Världen Idag, a debate I regularly refer my students to when I point out that there is even a TR-only group in Sweden, albeit small and marginalized. In that newspaper debate the arguments are clearly laid out, and I am very happy if people read and form their own opinion. From my perspective, the arguments from the TR-only people are quite bizarre and they did not give any satisfactory answers to my critique. On the other hand, none of the people I debated there have any formal training in textual criticism (and probably they have never read a Greek manuscript).
Tommy, thanks for your response. After the podcast AJ sent this link to some material from the Reformation Bible website:
https://bibel.se/wordpress/index.php/2021/12/04/debatt/
I saw your name connected with the article at this link:
https://www.varldenidag.se/debatt/wassermans-resonemang-baserat-pa-felaktigheter/Bbbpla!IeWuFOhOkj@Ev2HTgH6@nQ/
It seems to be a response to your critique of the Swedish Reformation Bible.
Anyhow, some more info for those English speakers who want to wade in with Google translate.
JTR
RLV,
Thanks for your feedback. Glad you enjoyed this interview.
JTR
Tommy, one more follow up. Yes, very interesting to know there is a Traditional Text or Confessional Text group in Sweden. We don't typically use the label "TR-Only" since our position involves not just the NT but the OT also. I guess "TR-Only" is at least better than "King Karl XII Onlyism." Smiles. You note that the group is "small and marginalized," but whether a position is right or wrong does not depend on majority vote, does it? Many ideas we widely accept today began with only a few people holding to it, while others thought it to be "bizarre." Right?
You also note, "On the other hand, none of the people I debated there have any formal training in textual criticism (and probably they have never read a Greek manuscript)." Do you think that ordinary Christians can have some sense of what the Bible says and means even if they can only read it in a translation and not in the original? At any rate, aren't there some people involved in the Swedish Reformation Bible Society who also know Hebrew and Greek?
Again thanks for your comment.
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