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It's Saturday, August 17, 2024.

Today’s edition covers Christian killings and Bible translations in Nigeria, abortion ballot measures in the U.S., the “egg” that Erasmus laid, and a famous Bible phrase that’s not actually in the Bible.

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:9)

Of Christian Concern

IN NIGERIA, 50 MORE CHRISTIANS KILLED AND MANY MORE BIBLE TRANSLATIONS COMPLETED

The flag of Nigeria (Chickenonline / Pixabay)

God and the devil are both at work in Nigeria. News stories of recent weeks come in a mixed bag—tragic and hopeful.

The Tragic

Fulani herdsmen and a criminal gang killed at least 50 Christians in a central Nigerian village last week, according to a Morning Star News report. The attack occurred on Thursday evening, August 8, in a predominantly Christian village in Ukum County, Benue state. A photo posted on Facebook shows about a dozen of the 30 bodies found by officials. Other deaths are suspected among the many villagers whom the attackers took out of the village.

This shocking massacre comes on the heels of Islamic Fulani militants shooting two Christian men in Plateau state only days earlier, August 4. Those two men were injured but, providentially, not killed.

These are only some of the latest in a long and seemingly constant train of persecutions in the country. Open Doors’ World Watch List 2024 ranks Nigeria No. 6 “of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution”

The Hopeful

Wycliffe Bible Translators reported this week that “Bible translation is bringing the Church in Nigeria together.”

In a video posted on Wednesday, Jackson Vusaka, Senior Field Coordinator for SIL, Anglo-Lusophone Africa, says that there were nearly 180 languages in need of a translation in 2022. But now, John Chesnut, President/CEO of Wycliffe USA, says that, due to efforts over the past year and a half, the progress of translating the Bible into the many languages of Nigeria is such that “we think this year it’s going to come off of the list of the top four countries of the world with remaining needs.”

The accelerated production of new translations may be owing to the increased involvement of local churches, which are taking ownership of the process rather than relying on agencies to do the work, as has been the traditional model. Wycliffe’s website states, “What is happening in Nigeria is an inspiring example of this: God is calling church leaders to do Bible translation and collaborate with one another.”

In this way, they suggest, the translation work is not only spreading the Word of God but unifying the Church.

Also Noteworthy

Graph of states with abortion-related ballot measures set for November 2024. (Screenshot from AP)

→ At least eight states will vote on abortion-related ballot measures in November, most of which are part of a liberal push to enshrine abortion into state constitutions. Those states are Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, South Dakota, and New York. Two other states that may have similar measures (which are currently pending) are Montana and Nebraska.

→ Donald Trump, in a conversation with tech billionaire Elon Musk that 28 million people tuned in to live and many more listened to afterward, called his survival of the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt a “miracle.” The former U.S. president and current presidential candidate said, “For those people who don’t believe in God, I think we got to all start thinking about that. I’m a believer. Now, I’m more of a believer.”

• In a recent evaluation of the evidence regarding Trump’s actual religious beliefs, Christian apologist Jon McCray of Whaddo You Meme surmised, “It’s reasonable to conclude that Trump believes that his salvation depends on him and his good behavior and works.”

→ Pastor and former Southern Baptist president J.D. Greear, one of the major figures criticized in Christian journalist Megan Basham’s blockbuster book Shepherds For Sale, responded to Basham’s claims about him in a lengthy article. Basham responded point-by-point in a thread on X.

→ Wycliffe missionary Virginia Vinton’s death by asphyxiation “in a luggage carousel chute at Chicago O'Hare Airport” last week is ruled a suicide by local authorities.

→ In contrast to the widely reported demonstrations of depravity at the Paris 2024 Olympics, some athletes made a point to give glory to Jesus Christ. For instance:

• Brazilian skateboarder Rayssa Leal, who won the bronze medal in Women’s Street this year, used sign language to proclaim on video, “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life” (video)

• American runner Sydney McLaughlin-Levore, who won gold in both the Women's 400m Hurdles and Women's 4x400m Relay—and set a new world record for the 400m Hurdles—consistently glorifies Christ on social media (post)

• German shot putter Yemisi Ogunleye, also a gold medalist this year, sang a Gospel song during a press conference: “I was right at the edge of a breakthrough but couldn't see it. The devil really had me, but Jesus came and grabbed me. He held me close, so I wouldn't let go….”  (video)

Church History Tidbit

Erasmus Laid An Egg

Detail of Hans Holbein the Younger’s 1523 portrait of Erasmus — hand and egg added lol (Public Domain)

“We would not have at all the Reformation if it was not for Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.” —Dr. David L. Brown

Erasmus was a Dutch humanist, considered “the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance,” and a highly influential writer whose significant accomplishments included translating the New Testament into Latin.

Born in the 1460s, Erasmus was an illegitimate son of a Catholic priest. His parents died in the bubonic plague, and he and his brother were forced to enter an Augustinian monastery. Erasmus received an education and was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest.

Most Read Author

He became an extremely prominent author. “Undoubtedly he was the most read author of his age,” scholars Henk Nellen and Jan Bloemendal write. “Sharply criticized, but also highly praised, he rose to a status that was unprecedented in intellectual history.”* Some of his notable works include The Praise of Folly (a satire), Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Julius Excluded From Heaven (a fictitious dialogue), The Education of a Christian Prince, Novum Instrumentum omne (the bilingual Greek-Latin New Testament), and On Free Will (a polemical work against Martin Luther).

Heterodox Views

He held several views considered heterodox or unorthodox at the time. He criticized the corruption of the clergy, including the Pope. He repudiated relic veneration, the selling of indulgences, and excessive ritualism in worship. He emphasized inner piety over external rituals and advocated for the Scriptures to be available in the common vernacular. He expressed skepticism of transubstantiation, promoted pacifism, and argued for a return to the simple practices of the early church.

Translating the Bible

Regarding having the Scriptures in the common vernacular, Erasmus wrote:

Would that these were translated into each and every language … Would that the farmer might sing snatches of Scripture at his plough and that the weaver might hum phrases of Scripture to the tune of his shuttle, that the traveler might lighten with stories from Scripture the weariness of his journey.

He practiced what he preached. That quote is from the preface of his bilingual Latin-Greek translation of the New Testament, the first of its kind, published in 1516. A few years later, his contemporary Martin Luther used the second edition to translate the New Testament into German—a monumental milestone for the Protestant Reformation.

Laying An Egg

Some fellow Catholics reportedly accused Erasmus of having paved the way for the Reformation. He disagreed. The Christian History Institute reports:

In 1523 Erasmus wrote to a friend that the Franciscans were complaining that he had “laid the egg that Luther hatched.” Erasmus rejected this, writing that he had “laid a hen’s egg: Luther hatched a bird of quite different breed.”

Erasmus even crossed swords in debate with Luther, particularly on the issue of free will. Plus, in contrast to Luther, Erasmus persisted in his devotion to reforming the Church from within. Despite this, his work is still viewed as having laid the intellectual groundwork for the Reformation. In the words of Dr. David L. Brown of the King James Bible Research Council, “We would not have at all the Reformation if it was not for Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam.”

_______________

*Nellen, Henk, and Jan Bloemendal. “Erasmus’s Biblical Project: Some Thoughts and Observations on Its Scope, Its Impact in the Sixteenth Century and Reception in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.” Church History and Religious Culture 96, no. 4 (2016): 595–635. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26382868.

The Bible, Briefly

The Lion DOESN’T Lie Down With the Lamb

Many believe the expression “the lion will lie down with the lamb” is from the Bible. Close, but no cigar.

The phrase is a misquote of Isaiah 11:6, which actually envisions a wolf with the lamb, and the lion with a calf:

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” (11:6)

Another similar verse comes later in Isaiah:

“‘The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord.” (65:25)

The meaning of the imagery is clear in both of these passages. They contemplate the future age in which there will be no violence and no predator-prey distinction but peace. Though the verses do not literally pair the lion and the lamb, they carry the same central idea as the truncated misquote, the idea of all creation dwelling together peaceably.

As an aside, Isaiah also presents the idea of peace figuratively in another way: the absence of lions.

“No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.” (35:9)

While the other verses present a world of reformed ex-predators, this verse presents a world with simply no predators—practically, the same thing. These images are merely different metaphors for profound peace.

Now, Scripture does elsewhere couple “lion” and “lamb” imagery in a different way, in the vision of John:

“And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’

“And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain… And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne….

“Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals…” (Revelation 5:5-7; 6:1a)

In this passage, Jesus Christ is called “the Lion” but appears as “a Lamb.” The elder says that “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” will open the scroll, but “a Lamb” does it. So, they are one and the same. Here, the image of a lion represents Christ as a mighty, regal conqueror, and the image of a lamb represents Him as a sacrifice. In the words of Augustine, "He endured death as a lamb; he devoured it as a lion” (Augustine, Sermon 375A).

Of course, that is how the future peace contemplated by Isaiah has been achieved, though not yet realized. Jesus died and rose again, purchasing that peace, and, at the proper time, will bring it to fruition.

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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