We need your help For the past few Issues we have been re-printing portions of Bro Ron Abel’s book, “Wrested Scriptures”, in hopes of creating Interest in its advance sale The Interest has been overwhelming and now we are almost ready to go to press but the problem is this We need money to pay for it The book will sell for about $3 00 in paper back and $4 00 with a hard cover This will mean that we will have to raise several thousand dollars in order to pay the printer before distributing the book to
those who desire it Will Ecclesial librarians and those Interested in promoting the sale of this book please take note We would like to receive advance orders paid in advance so we can proceed Your response to this request will now govern how quickly we are able to put copies of this book in your hands We are reprinting the Foreword and first chapter dealing with Roman Catholics so you can see how valuable this book will be in teaching the Truth in these last days before the coming of our Lord
Foreword
Peter commenting on the epistles of Paul, said that there “are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also other scriptures, unto their own destruction.1 Since Peter’s time, there have been few Christadelphians who have not at some time or another found themselves tangled up in discussion about some principle of the Truth, and there are few who have not been, at some time or another, compelled to admit, to themselves, if not to others, that they have been lamentably ill-prepared for such responsibility. As one Christadelphian of long preaching experience put it:
It is not sufficient, as one finds to one’s cost, to be able to quote: “The dead know not anything”. It is quite another matter that one should cope convincingly with the thief on the cross; the spirits of just men made perfect; Paul’s desire to depart and be with Christ, and his manifest preference to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. It is one thing to know and believe: “Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord”. But to reason cogently concerning Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy about a Mighty God, with Thomas’ confession, or with the copious pre-existence passages in John’s gospel, is a different proposition altogether. Nor is it sufficient to fence with the copious problems of orthodoxy defensively. One must be able to carry the campaign into the home territory of ignorance and error. The chief function of light is that it will shine in darkness. It becomes, therefore, the responsibility of all Christadelphians, and not only of those who are speakers or campaigners, to acquaint themselves with the best available means of quenching all the fiery darts of the enemy. It should also be noted, that nothing imparts more confidence in controversy than a well-grounded knowledge of what the passage in question really means.2
This study commenced shortly after baptism and passed from personal needs to those of the contacts and new converts in Guyana (then British Guiana) during 1960-1961. Later, in Toronto, a number of “preliminary copies” were mimeographed and distributed to brethren throughout the ecclesial world. Their critical comments were solicited.
One unforeseen result of the distribution was the widespread interest in the project. The Spanish team working out of Bogota, Colombia, translated the section on the “Trinity” and young people in the Toronto area made copious notes from the sections on passages wrested by Pentecostals and Evangelicals in preparation for open-air speaking in Allan Gardens, Toronto. The audiences, often numbering in the hundreds during a Sunday afternoon, presented problem questions, many of which found their way into this handbook. The instruction of these friends on a one-night-a-week basis resulted in the handbook being enlarged from a consideration of “wrested scriptures” to preliminary points and suggested strategies in reaching those with beliefs molded by a religious organization.
Shortly after preaching work was undertaken in Allan Gardens, the Manitoulin Island Ecclesia (in Canada’s Northern Ontario Region) began “spying out the land” in the local churches in search of good and honest hearts. The brethren attended public meetings and at the conclusion of the services attempted to persuade preacher and congregation of a more excellent way. Knowledge of wrested scriptures played an important part in this venture.
In the Great Lakes area, a full page advertisement in the Toronto papers during the June 1967, Arab-Israeli War) resulted in many requests for the Bible Postal Course. A.S.K. (Advancement of Scriptural Knowledge) workshops were enlarged to process the correspondence. Many of the questions asked were the same as previous ones (e.g., “Thief on the cross”, “Rich man and Lazarus”). If a standard answer were drafted, the few brethren working to answer questions could give more time to those questions requiring detailed research. Again the usefulness of a handbook on wrested scriptures became apparent.
It is the design of this handbook to provide a ready reference source of suggested explanations and strategies especially for young Christadelphians. The study is not, however, intended to encourage “potted thinking”. The solutions outlined are suggested solutions. Christadelphians will no doubt want to modify and enlarge the list of passages considered. Many an undiscovered vein of Scriptural treasure awaits the investigation of these students.
It will be apparent, especially to older Christadelphians, that much of the analysis is not original. It is a synthesis in which explanations gleaned from reading or discussion have been used without acknowledgment except where reference is made to copyright material. It should not, however, be thought that the problems and solutions are the result of “armchair theology”. For the most part, They are the result of real life situations — West Indian town-hall question periods, university campus discussions, and open-air disputations.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One