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Archaebibliophilia
Occasional Postings of a Lover of Archaic Books
"a book... I have found" II Chron. 34:14,15
"knowledge delighteth thy soul" Prov. 2:10
"out of his treasure things new and old" Matt. 13:525
Occasional Postings of a Lover of Archaic Books
"a book... I have found" II Chron. 34:14,15
"knowledge delighteth thy soul" Prov. 2:10
"out of his treasure things new and old" Matt. 13:525
| <2025 |
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March 9, 2026
John Trapp's wisdom
John Trapp, who lived from 1601 to 1669, wrote a commentary to the Bible which is full of modern-day illustrations and witty remarks. Here is one example from I Peter 4:3:For the time past of our life may suffice us
We may every one say with Austin, Nimis sero te amavi Domine. It should be a burden to our souls that we begin no sooner to love God.
In lasciviousness, lusts, &c.
The true picture of a pagan conversation, which yet is too common among those that call themselves Christians. The world is now grown perfectly profane, and can play on the Lord's day without book [i.e. without authority]; making it as Bacchus' orgies, rather than God's holy day, with piping, dancing, drinking, drabbing [per 1828 Webster's, "keeping company with lewd women"], &c. We may say as once Alsted of his Germans, that if the Sabbath Day should be named according to their observing of it, Daemoniacus potius quam Dominicus diceretur, it should be called not God's day, but the devil's.
Excess of wine
Gr. oinophlugia, or, red and rich faces, as they call them.
Revellings
Gr. komos, stinks, saith the Syriac; drunkards are stinkards; as Luther called the Swenckfeldians, stink-feldians, from the ill savour of their opinions. Tacitus tells us that among the old Germans, it was no disgrace counted to continue drinking and spewing night and day, Diem noctemque continuare potando.
Banquetings
Gr. potos, compotations, or good fellow meetings; some render it bibbings, sippings, tipplings, sitting long at it, though not to an alienation of the mind. How much more when they leave not till they have drank the three "outs" first; viz. Wit out of the head, money out of the purse, and ale out of the pot!
And abominable idolatries
Some idolatries then, say the Papists, are not abominable. A sweet inference. That all Papists are idolaters, Dr Reynolds hath plainly and plentifully proved in his learned work De idololatria Romana, never yet answered. Weston writeth that his head ached in reading it. But what a poor shift is that of Vasquez, expressly to maintain that the second commandment belonged to the Jews only; as holding it impossible to answer our arguments against their image worship? Other Popish writers utterly disannul the second commandment, making it a member of the first; and so, retaining the words, they destroy the sense and interpretation.
We may every one say with Austin, Nimis sero te amavi Domine. It should be a burden to our souls that we begin no sooner to love God.
In lasciviousness, lusts, &c.
The true picture of a pagan conversation, which yet is too common among those that call themselves Christians. The world is now grown perfectly profane, and can play on the Lord's day without book [i.e. without authority]; making it as Bacchus' orgies, rather than God's holy day, with piping, dancing, drinking, drabbing [per 1828 Webster's, "keeping company with lewd women"], &c. We may say as once Alsted of his Germans, that if the Sabbath Day should be named according to their observing of it, Daemoniacus potius quam Dominicus diceretur, it should be called not God's day, but the devil's.
Excess of wine
Gr. oinophlugia, or, red and rich faces, as they call them.
Revellings
Gr. komos, stinks, saith the Syriac; drunkards are stinkards; as Luther called the Swenckfeldians, stink-feldians, from the ill savour of their opinions. Tacitus tells us that among the old Germans, it was no disgrace counted to continue drinking and spewing night and day, Diem noctemque continuare potando.
[Per the Greek-English
dictionary: "a nocturnal and riotous procession of half drunken and
frolicsome fellows who after supper parade through the streets with
torches and music in honour of Bacchus or some other deity, and sing
and play before houses of male and female friends; hence used generally
of feasts and drinking parties that are protracted till late at night
and indulge in revelry."]
Banquetings
Gr. potos, compotations, or good fellow meetings; some render it bibbings, sippings, tipplings, sitting long at it, though not to an alienation of the mind. How much more when they leave not till they have drank the three "outs" first; viz. Wit out of the head, money out of the purse, and ale out of the pot!
And abominable idolatries
Some idolatries then, say the Papists, are not abominable. A sweet inference. That all Papists are idolaters, Dr Reynolds hath plainly and plentifully proved in his learned work De idololatria Romana, never yet answered. Weston writeth that his head ached in reading it. But what a poor shift is that of Vasquez, expressly to maintain that the second commandment belonged to the Jews only; as holding it impossible to answer our arguments against their image worship? Other Popish writers utterly disannul the second commandment, making it a member of the first; and so, retaining the words, they destroy the sense and interpretation.
February 27, 2026
On the words "all" and "world" --
What are the limits?
In 1648, a famous theologian by the name of John Owen wrote a powerful
book about Christ's atonement, namely, just how far that atonement
reached -- to the whole world or to only the elect of God. Basically,
will everyone be saved, or only some... did Christ die for everyone, or
only for some... does God love all men, or only some? In other words,
which is true -- the doctrine of universal redemption or the doctrine
of particular redemption?You can read Owen's work here. But probably the best distillation of what Owen wrote can be found in J. I. Packer's Introductory Essay to the 1959 reprint of Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. Read that intro carefully.
My thoughts? First of all, look at these verses and you will see how the words "world" and "all" are used.
How
the word "all" is used in the New Testament - Authorized Version:
all 748, all things 170, every 117, all men 41, whosoever 31, everyone 28, whole 12, all manner of 11, every man 11, no+3756 9, every thing 7, any 7, whatsoever 6, whosoever+3739+302 3, always+1223 3, daily+2250 2, any thing 2, no+3361 2, not tr 7, misc 26; 1243
Mt 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Mt 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
2Ti 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all [men] forsook me: [I pray God] that it may not be laid to their charge.
Ro 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called [to be] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ro 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Ro 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Ro 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Ro 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Ro 16:19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all [men]. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
==========
Mark has a good number of "all" uses. And there is this important verse, which clearly states the will of the Lord regarding His elect and those without His electing purposes:
==========
From the Online Bible under Greek meaning of "all":
"All" is also used as a synecdoche in the NT. From Matthew Poole's Commentary on I Pet. 4:3:
Here is Charles Spurgeon's clarification on the meaning of "all":
all 748, all things 170, every 117, all men 41, whosoever 31, everyone 28, whole 12, all manner of 11, every man 11, no+3756 9, every thing 7, any 7, whatsoever 6, whosoever+3739+302 3, always+1223 3, daily+2250 2, any thing 2, no+3361 2, not tr 7, misc 26; 1243
Mt 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Mt 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
2Ti 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all [men] forsook me: [I pray God] that it may not be laid to their charge.
Ro 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called [to be] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ro 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Ro 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Ro 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Ro 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Ro 16:19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all [men]. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.
==========
Mark has a good number of "all" uses. And there is this important verse, which clearly states the will of the Lord regarding His elect and those without His electing purposes:
Mr 4:11-12
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.
==========
From the Online Bible under Greek meaning of "all":
3956 πᾶς pas
including all the forms of declension; adj; TDNT-5:886,795; {See TDNT 604}
AV-all 748, all things 170, every 117, all men 41, whosoever 31, everyone 28, whole 12, all manner of 11, every man 11, no + 3756 9, every thing 7, any 7, whatsoever 6, whosoever + 3739 + 302 3, always + 1223 3, daily + 2250 2, any thing 2, no + 3361 2, not tr 7, misc 26; 1243
1) individually
1a) each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything
2) collectively
2a) some of all types
including all the forms of declension; adj; TDNT-5:886,795; {See TDNT 604}
AV-all 748, all things 170, every 117, all men 41, whosoever 31, everyone 28, whole 12, all manner of 11, every man 11, no + 3756 9, every thing 7, any 7, whatsoever 6, whosoever + 3739 + 302 3, always + 1223 3, daily + 2250 2, any thing 2, no + 3361 2, not tr 7, misc 26; 1243
1) individually
1a) each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything
2) collectively
2a) some of all types
"All" is also used as a synecdoche in the NT. From Matthew Poole's Commentary on I Pet. 4:3:
"The churches to which he wrote might be made up of Jews and Gentiles, and the apostle may, by a synecdoche, ascribe that to all in common, which yet is to be understood only of a part."
Here is Charles Spurgeon's clarification on the meaning of "all":
Now, beloved, when you hear any
one laughing or jeering at a limited atonement, you may tell him this.
General atonement is like a great wide bridge with only half an arch;
it does not go across the stream: it only professes to go half way; it
does not secure the salvation of anybody. Now, I had rather put my foot
upon a bridge as narrow as Hungerford, which went all the way across,
than on a bridge that was as wide as the world, if it did not go all
the way across the stream. I am told it is my duty to say that all men
have been redeemed, and I am told that there is a Scriptural warrant
for it? "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due
time."
Now, that looks like a very, very great argument indeed on the other side of the question. For instance, look here. "The whole world is gone after Him." Did all the world go after Christ? "Then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan." Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem baptized in Jordan? "Ye are of God, little children," and "the whole world lieth in the wicked one." Does "the whole world" there mean everybody? If so, how was it, then, that there were some who were "of God?"
The words "world" and "all" are used in seven or eight senses in Scripture; and it is very rarely that "all" means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts? some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile.
Now, that looks like a very, very great argument indeed on the other side of the question. For instance, look here. "The whole world is gone after Him." Did all the world go after Christ? "Then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan." Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem baptized in Jordan? "Ye are of God, little children," and "the whole world lieth in the wicked one." Does "the whole world" there mean everybody? If so, how was it, then, that there were some who were "of God?"
The words "world" and "all" are used in seven or eight senses in Scripture; and it is very rarely that "all" means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts? some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile.
-- Particular Redemption by C. H.
Spurgeon, Sermon No. 181, New Park Pulpit, Vol. 4, p. 135,136.
Similarly, a look at the word for "world" in Greek, κόσμος kosmos:
How
the word "world" (kosmos) was used by the Apostle John:
58 times in the Gospel of John (152 times in entire New Testament)
Strong's Concordance Greek number = 2889
Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world <2889>.
Joh 1:10 He was in the world <2889>, and the world <2889> was made by him, and the world <2889> knew him not.
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world <2889>. {taketh away: or, beareth}
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world <2889>, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world <2889> to condemn the world <2889>; but that the world <2889> through him might be saved.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world <2889>, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 4:42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world <2889>.
Joh 6:14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world <2889>.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world <2889>.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world <2889>.
Joh 7:4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world <2889>.
Joh 7:7 The world <2889> cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world <2889>: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Joh 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world <2889>; I am not of this world <2889>.
Joh 8:26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world <2889> those things which I have heard of him.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world <2889>, I am the light of the world <2889>.
Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world <2889>, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world <2889>, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world <2889>.
Joh 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world <2889>.
Joh 12:19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world <2889> is gone after him.
Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world <2889> shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world <2889>: now shall the prince of this world <2889> be cast out.
Joh 12:46 I am come a light into the world <2889>, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Joh 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world <2889>, but to save the world <2889>.
Joh 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world <2889> unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world <2889>, he loved them unto the end.
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world <2889> cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world <2889> seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world <2889>?
Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world <2889> giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Joh 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world <2889> cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Joh 14:31 But that the world <2889> may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Joh 15:18 If the world <2889> hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world <2889>, the world <2889> would love his own: but because ye are not of the world <2889>, but I have chosen you out of the world <2889>, therefore the world <2889> hateth you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world <2889> of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: {reprove: or, convince}
Joh 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world <2889> is judged.
Joh 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world <2889> shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Joh 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world <2889>.
Joh 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world <2889>: again, I leave the world <2889>, and go to the Father.
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world <2889> ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world <2889>.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world <2889> was.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world <2889>: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world <2889>, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world <2889>, but these are in the world <2889>, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world <2889>, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world <2889>, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world <2889> hath hated them, because they are not of the world <2889>, even as I am not of the world <2889>.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world <2889>, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world <2889>, even as I am not of the world <2889>.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world <2889>, even so have I also sent them into the world <2889>.
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world <2889> may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world <2889> may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world <2889>.
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father, the world <2889> hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world <2889>; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world <2889>: if my kingdom were of this world <2889>, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world <2889>, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world <2889> itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
================================
18 times in the Epistles of John:
1Jo 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world <2889>.
1Jo 2:15 Love not the world <2889>, neither the things that are in the world <2889>. If any man love the world <2889>, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world <2889>, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world <2889>.
1Jo 2:17 And the world <2889> passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
1Jo 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world <2889> knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jo 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world <2889> hate you.
1Jo 3:17 But whoso hath this world痴 <2889> good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1Jo 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:5 They are of the world <2889>: therefore speak they of the world <2889>, and the world <2889> heareth them.
1Jo 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world <2889>, that we might live through him.
1Jo 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world <2889>. {our love: Gr. love with us}
1Jo 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world <2889>: and this is the victory that overcometh the world <2889>, even our faith. {is born: Gr. has been born}
1Jo 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world <2889>, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
1Jo 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world <2889> lieth in wickedness.
2Jo 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world <2889>, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
58 times in the Gospel of John (152 times in entire New Testament)
Strong's Concordance Greek number = 2889
Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world <2889>.
Joh 1:10 He was in the world <2889>, and the world <2889> was made by him, and the world <2889> knew him not.
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world <2889>. {taketh away: or, beareth}
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world <2889>, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world <2889> to condemn the world <2889>; but that the world <2889> through him might be saved.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world <2889>, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 4:42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world <2889>.
Joh 6:14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world <2889>.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world <2889>.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world <2889>.
Joh 7:4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world <2889>.
Joh 7:7 The world <2889> cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world <2889>: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Joh 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world <2889>; I am not of this world <2889>.
Joh 8:26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world <2889> those things which I have heard of him.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world <2889>, I am the light of the world <2889>.
Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world <2889>, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world <2889>, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world <2889>.
Joh 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world <2889>.
Joh 12:19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world <2889> is gone after him.
Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world <2889> shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world <2889>: now shall the prince of this world <2889> be cast out.
Joh 12:46 I am come a light into the world <2889>, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Joh 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world <2889>, but to save the world <2889>.
Joh 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world <2889> unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world <2889>, he loved them unto the end.
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world <2889> cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world <2889> seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world <2889>?
Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world <2889> giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Joh 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world <2889> cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Joh 14:31 But that the world <2889> may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Joh 15:18 If the world <2889> hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world <2889>, the world <2889> would love his own: but because ye are not of the world <2889>, but I have chosen you out of the world <2889>, therefore the world <2889> hateth you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world <2889> of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: {reprove: or, convince}
Joh 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world <2889> is judged.
Joh 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world <2889> shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Joh 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world <2889>.
Joh 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world <2889>: again, I leave the world <2889>, and go to the Father.
Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world <2889> ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world <2889>.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world <2889> was.
Joh 17:6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world <2889>: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world <2889>, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:11 And now I am no more in the world <2889>, but these are in the world <2889>, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world <2889>, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world <2889>, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14 I have given them thy word; and the world <2889> hath hated them, because they are not of the world <2889>, even as I am not of the world <2889>.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world <2889>, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They are not of the world <2889>, even as I am not of the world <2889>.
Joh 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world <2889>, even so have I also sent them into the world <2889>.
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world <2889> may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world <2889> may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world <2889>.
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father, the world <2889> hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world <2889>; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
Joh 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world <2889>: if my kingdom were of this world <2889>, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Joh 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world <2889>, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world <2889> itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
================================
18 times in the Epistles of John:
1Jo 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world <2889>.
1Jo 2:15 Love not the world <2889>, neither the things that are in the world <2889>. If any man love the world <2889>, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jo 2:16 For all that is in the world <2889>, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world <2889>.
1Jo 2:17 And the world <2889> passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
1Jo 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world <2889> knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jo 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world <2889> hate you.
1Jo 3:17 But whoso hath this world痴 <2889> good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1Jo 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:5 They are of the world <2889>: therefore speak they of the world <2889>, and the world <2889> heareth them.
1Jo 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world <2889>, that we might live through him.
1Jo 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world <2889>.
1Jo 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world <2889>. {our love: Gr. love with us}
1Jo 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world <2889>: and this is the victory that overcometh the world <2889>, even our faith. {is born: Gr. has been born}
1Jo 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world <2889>, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
1Jo 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world <2889> lieth in wickedness.
2Jo 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world <2889>, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Here are some assorted points I think are important to consider re Calvinistic ideas on the atonement:
Thoughts
on Calvinism
It really should not be called by his name, for it is a theology going back to Christ's teachings, and even from the beginning of the Word. God has always been the Giver of grace -- creating light, creating a new heart, giving life to that which was dead (inanimate), resurrecting that which was without power to live. Calvin codified it, so to speak, that we may in an organized fashion see the sovereignty of God in man's salvation, and man's utter dependence upon God for everything.
For this is the very fundamental issue -- how are we saved, i.e. how are we to preach to Gospel so that people are brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. Most today say man has the will to be saved and can decide. Traditional teaching says that only God can save and He has chosen who will in fact be saved, that man is incapable to doing anything toward his salvation. Therefore it is all of God's grace, from beginning to end.
To illustrate, in the Bible, salvation is compared to the following:
- Creation -- God did not co-create anything. He spoke it into existence by Himself. Christians are called a "new creation," that which God created out of nothing, by His Word. There was no decision on our part in this process. Man initiates nothing.
- Darkness to Light -- On Day One, God created light. We were once darkness, but now we are light, because God gave us light. Our role was totally passive. Self-enlightenment is an impossibility. Just as the theory of evolution takes God out of the cause, so does Arminian theology make the cause center in man. The darkness in natural man refers also to his blindness and deafness (Matt. 13:15, Acts 26:18, Eph. 4:18), where God alone can open eyes and minds and turn them from darkness to light that they may see and understand the Gospel.
- New birth -- No one who is not born again can go to heaven. God's people were given life, a new life, without any thought on their part of wanting to be born. Nothing living can be made from something dead. Just as we acknowledge God giving us our children, so we acknowledge God making us His children (rf. adoption).
- Resurrection -- We who were dead are risen with Christ to a new life. Absolutely no thought or words or action on our part produced life in us. It was all of God, from the beginning, and so will be to eternity.
Perhaps it is man's natural abhorrence of God chosing some and rejecting others, electing some to eternal life, while leaving others to perish eternally (aka reprobation). Especially hard to accept is that God discriminates, something that goes against liberal thought today. The height of absurdity perhaps to modern thinkers is that God would create someone only to destroy him.
Perhaps it is the fact that man has nothing to do with his own salvation... it is all of God, all of grace, from start to finish.
Perhaps it is the desire of evangelists and preachers to make the Gospel more easily acceptable, talk about God's love for everyone rather than God's wrath.
Does ALL mean ALL? Who are the all of the Scriptures?
They are the all who experience these aspects of God's plan of salvation:
Substitution:
We should have been the victim, but Christ became our substitute, dying
in our place vicariously.
Imputation: Our sins are imputed to Christ, and His righteousness imputed to us.
Propitiation: We were guilty and condemned to death, under God's wrath, yet Christ appeased that wrath forever by satisfying His Father's divine justice.
Redemption: Christ became our surety, paying our debt, satisfying the demand of Almighty God.
Justification: Christ, through His death and through His gift of faith to His chosen ones, has eternally justified us before God, the Judge of all mankind.
Adoption: God has, through the sacrifice and the merits of His Son, made us His children.
Imputation: Our sins are imputed to Christ, and His righteousness imputed to us.
Propitiation: We were guilty and condemned to death, under God's wrath, yet Christ appeased that wrath forever by satisfying His Father's divine justice.
Redemption: Christ became our surety, paying our debt, satisfying the demand of Almighty God.
Justification: Christ, through His death and through His gift of faith to His chosen ones, has eternally justified us before God, the Judge of all mankind.
Adoption: God has, through the sacrifice and the merits of His Son, made us His children.
The Great ONLY's:
Sola
Scriptura: The Bible alone is the source of our beliefs and our
guide.
Sola Gratia: God's grace alone is what has given us life and all that pertains to godliness.
Sola Fide: The faith that Christ gives to us is the basis of our belief in God for our salvation and Christian walk.
Sola Gratia: God's grace alone is what has given us life and all that pertains to godliness.
Sola Fide: The faith that Christ gives to us is the basis of our belief in God for our salvation and Christian walk.
Timothy Pietsch often remarked, "No one will get to heaven because Christ died." True because without Christ's resurrection, our faith is in vain. Arminians will say that Christ died for everyone, but not that He rose from the dead for everyone.
Does God love everyone?
The Word says that the carnal mind is enmity against God. The unregenerate man hates God! That is where the emphasis should be placed, for no one can determine who God loves UNTIL that person becomes a believer. But we DO know that before that happens, man is UNDER God's wrath.
A good study re God's will in saving His people is how the apostles were chosen, especially how God dealt with Paul. They were all chosen directly by Christ. No one had to preach to them that God loved them and had done everything possible for them in order that they would follow Christ. God's sovereignty over their lives prevailed.
The Five Points of Gomarus and Calvinism
We would not have these if it weren't for the Remonstrant's Five Points. See Synod of Dort 1618... Gomarus vs. Episcopius. Ten years earlier, Gomarus had debated against Arminius himself. Search here on "gomarus" (also search on "calvin" for a lot of additional info):
https://wesinjerd.com/archaebibliophilia/New_Finds_from_Old_Treasures_2014.html
The Five Points could have been called the Five Points of Gomarus, or at least the Five Points of the Contra-Remonstrants.
But the controversy goes back further, to Augustine and Pelagius, and before that even, with the Arians. And way before that... Cain? Natural man will always put himself first and argue his case as primary mover in salvation, believing his way to find favor in God's eyes as the way to be saved from punishment. Ultimately, therefore, it is man who wants to freely decide how he is to live rather than seeking guidance from and depending upon God's Word.
Some say they are "Four Point Calvinists," that is, they hold to all the points except limited atonement, as they don't believe God would limit salvation to anyone, that He loves everyone and wants everyone to be saved. There are Calvinists, though, who prefer the term "Particular Redemption" to "Limited Atonement."
This 3rd point (of TULIP) is probably the MOST controversial issue in the whole scheme: Does God love everyone without exception? Did Jesus die for all men past, present and future? Though many accept a particular election, that God has a people whom He has chosen to eternal life, they will say that God foreknew who would believe on Him. What they mean is that God predestinated only those He knew would choose Him, which if true, would mean their salvation is based on their choice, with God's choice of them relegated to second place.
The second most controversial is the 1st point: Is man's will unaffected by his depravity, i.e. is he in his natural state able to believe in Christ for salvation? A yes answer is what has produced the easy-believism of today, that you just have to "make a decision" and "accept the Lord as your Saviour." It is as if there are two sides of man, as the story goes, the good side (God) and the bad side (the devil) -- to which of the two will you yield? This, if true, would place God on equal footing as Satan, making them opponents in the fight over man's soul, and whoever you decide for will win the battle.
Re choosing: Natural man does not like God choosing some and not choosing others. He thinks it unfair if God leaves some out of the chance to have eternal life. So, therefore, since his concept of God is One Who is all-benevolent and merciful and bestows His grace, His love, upon anyone and everyone, then of course, it will then be up to all those people to either choose or reject such grace.
However, if this were truly the case, then God is forced to wait until someone chooses Him before He can give light, create a new heart, a new life, changing that person from dead to alive. The biblical order is reverse -- God gives light to the understanding, life to the dead soul, a new heart, in fact, creating a new person, by granting that person faith and repentance. THEN that person repents to God and is born again, saved from the wrath to come and from dead works, walking in newness of life.
There is no choice involved, as the Arminian scheme would have it. What decision-making process is there in fleeing from a burning building or grabbing onto a life preserver? You want to be saved! You MUST be saved, or you will die. It is that seed of faith planted in the good soil that will produce a response, and produce a fruitful life. And only God can make the heart a place of good soil, and make His chosen ones responsive to His drawing them.
NOTE: There are two roads -- the broad and the narrow. MANY are on the broad, and FEW on the narrow. But MANY will strive to enter the narrow and will NOT be able to! What good does "free will" do in those cases? So you see that "free will" does not accomplish anything for those people even though they exercise it.
NOTE: It is God's will that is most important. The question one should ask is this -- Will everyone God loves be saved? If not, why not? If God wills that all be saved, then they will, right? What is your answer?
Re free will: We talk about freedom and how bad a totalitarian and dictatorial government is, yet in that society there is no free will -- the citizens must obey or else. Where is free will then? Then there is the other side of the coin, how a free society can do whatever it wants. Well, no it can't. You just can't say to a police officer that you can do as you feel, nobody can tell you what to do, my body my choice, etc. But the bottom line is you'd BETTER obey or ELSE! So how does free will operate in that society?
Re God's universal love, Christ's universal death: If it is true that God's love extends to all mankind, and Christ's death was for all mankind (past, present and future), then all mankind will be saved, i.e. accounted as worthy in His sight, being made righteous by Christ's substitutionary death. They are no longer held accountable and deserving hell for eternity, but rather citizens of the Kingdom of God. Either God's love and Christ's death & resurrection results in eternal salvation for all, or modern evangelism is nothing but double-speak by telling people God loves them and Christ died for them but they may go to hell anyway.
From A Defense of Calvinism by Spurgeon:
The late lamented Mr. Denham has
put, at the foot of his portrait, a most admirable text, "Salvation is
of the Lord." That is just an epitome of Calvinism. It is the sum and
substance of it. If anyone should ask me what I mean by a Calvinist, I
would reply, "He is one who says, Salvation is of the Lord." I cannot
find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. It is the essence of
the Bible, "He only is my rock and my salvation." Tell me anything
contrary to this truth, and it will be a heresy. Tell me a heresy, and
I shall find its essence here, that it has departed from this great,
this fundamental, this rock-truth, "God is my rock and my salvation."
What is the heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ, the bringing in of the works of the flesh to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of Arminianism, but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here. I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ, and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism. Calvinism is the Gospel and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the Gospel if we do not preach justification by faith, without works nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace, nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of JEHOVAH. Nor do I think we can preach the Gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ worked out upon the cross. Nor can I comprehend a Gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and allows the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a Gospel I abhor.
What is the heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ, the bringing in of the works of the flesh to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of Arminianism, but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here. I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ, and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism. Calvinism is the Gospel and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the Gospel if we do not preach justification by faith, without works nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace, nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of JEHOVAH. Nor do I think we can preach the Gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ worked out upon the cross. Nor can I comprehend a Gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and allows the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a Gospel I abhor.
Re Calvinism by Downing:
4. The dynamic principle is the
infallibility or effectual working of saving grace. Divine grace is
more than a mere principle; it is a power -- a Divine dynamic. The
Divine, redemptive purpose is eternal and infallible; the working of
saving grace is wholly free and sovereign. This, according to Warfield,
is the distinguishing mark of Calvinism, rather than predestination, as
both Arminianism and Calvinism presuppose some idea of predestination:
These five points affirmed absolute predestination, particular
redemption, total depravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance
of the saints. If a single distinguishing principle is to be
discriminated among these, it will not be found in "predestination,"
but rather in "irresistible grace"...The distinguishing mark, of
Calvinism as over against all other systems lies in its doctrines of
"efficacious grace," which, it teaches, is the undeserved, and
therefore gratuitous, and therefore sovereign mercy of God, by which he
efficaciously brings whom he will into salvation. Calvinism is
specifically the theology of grace; and all are properly Calvinists who
confess the absolute sovereignty of God in the distribution of his
saving mercy.
Christopher Ness was a valiant defender of those precious doctrines of grace; he also had a great influence on the famous Bible expositor, Matthew Henry. See this excerpt from his work, An Antidote against Arminianism (1700). His work on Bible History was recommended by Charles Spurgeon, calling it "a treasure." Though he may look glum in the illustration below, he was a Nonconformist preacher who stood faithful to God's Word in the midst of persecution in England.
Christopher Ness (1621–1705)
What are the practical applications for all this? How are we to view those around us who are not believers in Christ?
- They are under God's wrath and must turn from their wicked ways. To tell them that God loves them, that Jesus died for them, that God has done everything He can and it is up to them to decide, is NOT the biblical way to evangelize.
- There are some among them that are God's elect. God will absolutely save them, for those whom He has predestinated WILL be conformed to the image of His Son and God will call His elect and justify them. It is ONLY then that we will know they are Christians, by their godly living because of being conformed to Christ's image.
- Since we do not know who God's elect are, we pray for all those with whom we come in contact, that God will give them LIGHT in their darkness and open their minds to the truth of God's Word, His Son Jesus Christ.
February 25, 2026
Early Zionism and Anti-Semitism
| It seems that the
designation [Zionism], to distinguish the movement from the activity of
the Chovevei Zion, was first used by Matthias Acher (Birnbaum) in his
paper "Selbstemancipation," 1886. The belief that the Messiah will collect the scattered hosts (לארשי לש ויתוילג) is often expressed in Talmudic and midrashic writings; even though more universalistic tendencies made themselves felt, especially in parts of the Apocryphal literature. Among Jewish philosophers the theory held that the Messiah b. Joseph "will gather the children of Israel around him, march to Jerusalem, and there, after overcoming the hostile powers, re-establish the Temple-worship and set up his own dominion." This has remained the doctrine of Orthodox Judaism; as Friedländer expresses it in his "Jewish Religion": "There are some theologians
who assume the Messianic period to be the most perfect state of
civilization, but do not believe in the
restoration of the kingdom of David, the rebuilding of the Temple, or
the repossession of Palestine by the Jews.
They altogether reject the national hope of the Jews. These theologians
either misinterpret or wholly ignore the teachings of the Bible and the
divine promises made through the men of God."
The Reform wing of the Synagogue, however, rejects this doctrine; and the Conference of Rabbis that sat in Frankfort-on-the-Main July 15-28, 1845, decided to eliminate from the ritual "the prayers for the return to the land of our forefathers and for the restoration of the Jewish state." The Philadelphia Conference, Nov. 3–6, 1869, adopted as the first section of its statement of principles the following: "The Messianic aim of Israel is not the restoration of the old Jewish state under a descendant of David, involving a second separation from the nations of the earth, but the union of all the children of God in the confession of the unity of God, so as to realize the unity of all rational creatures, and their call to moral sanctification." This was reaffirmed at the Pittsburg Conference, Nov. 16-18, 1885, in the following words: "We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community; and we therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning a Jewish state." -- From: The Jewish Encyclopedia VOL 12
TAL-ZWE (1905, 1909)
|
However, in spite of these early "rejections," there still remained a concerted effort to establish a Jewish state. Here are some of those efforts:
- An island in the Republic of Venice in the mid-1500's to which European Jews could emigrate.
- False Messiah Shabbethai Zebi sought to restore the Jews to Palestine in the mid-1600's.
- The son of August II of Poland wanted to make himself king of a Jewish state in South America in 1749. In later years, Argentina became prominent as a possible location (Herzl).
- Robinson in the US wanted to make a Jewish settlement in the upper Mississippi and Missouri territory in 1819.
- Mordecai Noah in 1845 proclaimed his views re the return of the Jews to Palestine with a plan to establish a settlement called Ararat on Grand Island in the Niagara River.
- Frankel in 1868 advised purchasing from Turkey a Jewish state in Palestine, but admitted: "Should Palestine prove to be impossible, we must seek elsewhere in any part of the globe some fixed home for the Jews."
- Henry Dunant (founder of Geneva Convention) founded two societies, the International Palestine Society and the Syrian and Palestine Colonization Society in 1876, aiming at, in the words of Luzzatto: "Palestine must be colonized and worked by the Jews in order that it may live again commercially and agriculturally."
- In the 1800's, the Rothschilds were asked several times to help finance land purchases in and around Palestine for a Jewish state.
- Oliphant proposed colonizing "the Jewish proletariat of Poland, Lithuania, Rumania, and Asiatic Turkey," but failed to obtain the sultan's permission.
- Influenced by Moses Hess, the German Jew Kalischer formed a Palestine colonization society in Frankfort in 1861, with many Orthodox rabbis engaged in this "holy cause."
- Ben Yehudah proposed the colonization of Palestine in a number of articles in 1879, and others wrote about the same desires, which influenced Christian writers to advocate similar ideas, thereby becoming a global issue; many colonization organizations such as the Federation of American Zionists were formed (in 1905 had 238 societies in the US; the Knights of Zion of Chicago had 80 societies).
- Work begins in first colony in Palestine in 1879, though Turkish authorities made it difficult for Jews to enter Palestine.
| Palestine, according to
the Mishnah, is "the holiest of all
countries." Jewish scholars have said: "The Holy Temple built or
destroyed, the Shekinah never moved from that place, as God promised at
the dedication of the Temple."
"One who walks a distance of 4 cubits in Palestine may be confident of a share in the future world." "The merit of living in Palestine equals the merit of observing all of the commandments." "Zionism is a modern development of the ancient regard for Palestine." "To be buried in Palestine is like being buried under the altar... All sins are considered absolved for the Jew who is buried in Palestine." "Palestinian dust put on the eyes, navel, and between the legs of the dead outside the Holy Land is equivalent to burying the body in Palestine." -- From: "Holiness of
Palestine," Jewish Encyclopedia
|
There is also a short entry regarding "Anti-Semitism" -- the Society of Jews was founded in London in 1896 to help combat anti-semitism, and the First Zionist Congress was to be held in 1898 in Munich (later actually held in Vienna). Kohler remarked in opposition to Zionism: "The mission of the Jew is not only spiritual or religious in character; it is social and intellectual as well, and the true Zionism demands of the Jews to be martyrs in the cause of truth and justice and peace until the Lord is one and the world one."
Most interesting is the protest by German and American rabbis to the founding of a Palestinian state:
The
attempts of the Zionists to found a Jewish national state in Palestine
are contrary to the Messianic promises of Judaism as laid down in Holy
Writ and in the later religious authorities; secondly, that
Judaism demands of its adherents to serve the state in which they live
and in every way to further its national interests; thirdly, that no
opposition thereto can be seen in the noble plan to colonize Palestine
with Jewish agriculturists, because that plan has no connection with
the founding of a national state. In the same spirit the Conference of
American Rabbis, which met at Richmond, Va., on Dec. 31, 1898, declared
itself as opposed to the whole Zionist movement on the ground (as one
of the members stated) "that America
was the Jews' Jerusalem and Washington their Zion."
A Berlin professor and leader of liberal Jews, Ludwig Geiger, said: "...the German Jew is a German in his national peculiarities, and Zion is for him the land only of the past, not of the future." Jewish professors at Chicago's Hebrew Union College remarked in 1899 that the Zionists were "traitors, hypocrites, or fantastic fools whose thoughts, sentiments, and actions are in constant contradiction to one another," "Zionism is an abnormal eruption of perverted sentiment," the "Zionistic agitation contradicts everything that is typical of Jews and Judaism," and that the "Zionistic movement is a mark of ingenuity, and does not come out of the heart of Judaism, either ancient or contemporary."
On the American side, the Second Congress held in Vienna in 1898 saw a six-fold increase in American Zionist organizations attending. Sec. John Hay (former ambassador in Constantinople) said in 1904 that Zionism was in his opinion "quite consistent with American patriotism." The Zionist flag was flown at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 ("blue and white stripes, with a 'Magen Dawid' [Star of David] in the center").
The first Jewish Congress was held in Palestine in 1903. The Seventh Congress was held in Basel in 1905, and declared that it "stands firmly by the fundamental principle of the Basel Program, namely, 'The establishment of a legally secured, publicly recognized home for the Jewish people in Palestine,' and it rejects, either as an end or as a means of colonizing, activity outside Palestine and its adjacent lands." The largest voting faction in the Congress general body were the so-called Ziyyone Zionists who believed that "the diplomatic actions of Herzl have proven a failure... demands immediate work in Palestine, without waiting for the granting of a charter... land there should be bought at once."
Zionistic societies sprung up throughout the world by the early 20th century, e.g. the Shanghai Zionist Association, the Dr. Herzl East Africa Zionist Association in Nairobi, societies in Nagasaki, in Tokyo, and among US servicemen in the Philippines.
Much of Zionism -- perhaps its major theme -- deals with eschatology, that the Jew will inherit the earth when the Messiah comes, that it is their "divine right" to occupy that part of the Middle East now called Israel. This is where the controversy must focus today... the Messiah, Jesus Christ, has already come, and His message to the Jews is the same as when He first preached the gospel in the Holy Land: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
February 10, 2026
Beware of Thomas Edison's... Aerophone!
THE
AEROPHONE
March 25, 1878
March 25, 1878
Something ought to be done to Mr. EDISON, and there is a growing conviction that it had better be done with a hemp rope. Mr. EDISON has invented too many things, and almost without exception they are things of the most deleterious character. He has been addicted to electricity for many years, and it is not very long ago that he became notorious for having discovered a new force, though he has since kept it carefully concealed, either upon his person or elsewhere. Recently he invented the phonograph, a machine that catches the lightest whisper of conversation and stores it up so that at any future time it can be brought out, to the confusion of the original speaker. This machine will eventually destroy all confidence between man and man, and render more dangerous than ever woman's want of confidence in woman. No man can feel sure that wherever he may be there is not a concealed phonograph remorseless gathering up his remarks and ready to reproduce them at some future date, even in the bosom of his family, to express any but most innocuous and colorless views? and what woman when calling on a female friend, and waiting for the latter to make her appearance in the drawing-room, will dare to express her opinion of the wrotched taste displayed in the furniture, or the hideous appearance of the family photographs?
In the days of persecution and espionage it was said, though with poetical exaggeration, that the walls had ears. Thanks to Mr. EDISON's perverted ingenuity, this has not only become a literal truth, but every shelf, closet, or floor may now have its concealed phonographic ears. No young man will venture to carry on a private conversation with a young lady, lest he should be filling a secret phonograph with evidence that, in a breach of promise suit, would secure an immediate verdict against him, and our very small boys will fear to express themselves with childish freedom, lest the phonograph should report them as having lightly used the name of "gosh," or as having threatened to "bust the snoot" of the long-suffering governess. The phonograph was, at the time of its invention, the most terrible example of depraved ingenuity which the world had seen; but Mr. EDISON has since reached a still more conspicuous peak of scientific infamy by inventing the aerophone—an instrument far more devastating in its effects and fraught with the destruction of human society.
The aerophone is apparently a modification of the phonograph. In fact, it is a phonograph which converts whispers into roars. If, for example, you mention, within hearing of the aerophone, that you regard Mr. HAYES as the greatest and best man that America has yet produced, that atrocious instrument may overwhelm you with shame by repeating your remark in a tone that can be heard no less than four miles. Mr. Edison, with characteristic effrontery, represents this as a useful and beneficent invention. He says that an aerophone can be attached to a locomotive, and that with its aid the engineer can request persons to "look out for the locomotive" who are nearing a railway crossing four miles distant from the train. He also boasts that he will attach an aerophone to the gigantic statue of "Liberty," which France is to present to this country, provided we will raise money enough to pay for it, and that the statue will thus be able to welcome incoming vessels in the Lower Bay, and to warn them not to come up to the City in case Mr. STANLEY MATTHEWS is delivering an oration on the currency, or Mr. COX is making a comic speech at Tammany Hall. Were the aerophone to be confined strictly to these uses, it might prove a comparatively unobjectionable instrument; but no man can loose a whirlwind and guarantee that its ravages shall be confined to Chicago, or to some other place where it may do positive good.
This country has long suffered from excessive talk. Had nine-tenths of our citizens who have been born during the last fifty years been absolutely dumb, the Republic would doubtless have preserved its pristine purity. It is the interminable talk of Congressmen and other leading citizens that is the source of all our public woes. Talk is likewise the bane of private life. With dumb wives there would be no need of divorce courts, and with dumb husbands home might become a blessed reality instead of a poetic dream. And yet, knowing full well that talk is a monster of such hideous meaning that to be hated needs only to be constantly heard, Mr. EDISON has devised an instrument by which the range of conversation is extended from a few feet to four miles.
Our present vocal powers are always used to their full capacity. Everybody talks with about the same volume of voice, and when the aerophone comes into use, people will universally talk as loudly as the instrument will permit. When ninety-nine people out of a hundred converse with the aerophone, there will be such a roar of conversation that the hundredth person, who may speak in his natural voice, cannot be heard. We can only faintly imagine the horrible results of the general introduction of the aerophone. Wives residing in suburban Jersey villages will call to their husbands at their places of business in the City, and require information as to subjects of purely domestic interest. Mothers whose children have wandered out of sight will howl over a four-mile tract of country direful threats as to the dying alive which awaits James Henry and Ann Eliza unless they instantly come home. From morning till midnight our ears will be tortured with the uproar of aerophonic talk, and deaf men will be looked upon as the favored few to whom nature has made life tolerable.
The result will be the complete disorganization of society. Men and women will flee from civilization and seek in the silence of the forest relief from the roar of countless aerophones. Business, marriage, and all social amusements will be thrown aside, except by totally deaf men, and America will retrograde to the Stone Age with frightful rapidity. Better is a dinner of raw turnips in a damp cave than a banquet at DELMONICO's within hearing of ten thousand aerophones. Far better is it to starve in solitude than to possess all the luxuries of civilization at the price of hearing every remark that is made within a radius of four miles. It may be too late to suppress the aerophone now, but at least there is time to visit upon the head of its inventor the just indignation of his fellow-countrymen.
John Gutenberg's Dream
The inventor of the printing press almost destroyed his invention. In a
dream he heard "an angel of light" tell him:"Thou hast discovered the
bottomless pit... Oh, think of millions of souls corrupted by thine
achievement! The poison of fiends distilled into the souls of boys and
girls, making them old in the experience of sin... Destroy thy press,
for it shall be the pander of blasphemy and lust."
But God had different plans for Gutenberg, and the press was not destroyed. In fact, the very first book Gutenberg produced in the mid-1450's was a portion of the Holy Bible. Close to five billion Bibles and portions of the Bible have been printed since then, for God used that small invention to be a means of reaching the whole world with the Gospel.
Yet many other pieces of literature have been produced which have been a bane upon society. May God protect us and give us strength to avoid the multitude of evils which assault mankind through not only the printed page but the digital page as well.
A Great Title Page from the Year
1815
Gospel of Mark -- West Saxon Version
Anyone from West Saxon? Here's an excerpt from the first few verses of the Gospel of Mark, J.W. Bright's work of 1905:John
the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 Her ys godspelles angyn Hælendes Cristes, Godes suna.
2 Swa awriten is on ðæs witegan bec Isaiam,
5 And to him ferde eall Iudeisc rice, and ealle Hierosolima-ware; and wæron fram him gefullode on Iordanes flode, hyra synna anddetende.
6 And Iohannes wæs gescryd mid oluendes hærum, and fellen gyrdel wæs ymbe his lendenu; and gærstapan, and wudu hunig he æt,
7 And he bodode, and cwæþ, Strengra cymþ æfter me, ðæs ne eom ic wyrðe ðæt ic his sceona þwanga bugende uncytte.
8 Ic fullige eow on wætere; he eow fullaþ on Halgum Gaste.
1 Her ys godspelles angyn Hælendes Cristes, Godes suna.
2 Swa awriten is on ðæs witegan bec Isaiam,
"Nu! ic asende minne engel
beforan ðinre
ansyne, se gegearwaþ ðinne weg beforan ðe.
3 Clypigende stefen on ðam westene, 'Gegearwiaþ Drihtnes weg, doþ rihte his siðas.'"
4 Iohannes wæs on westene fulligende, and bodiende dæd-bote fulwiht, on
synna forgyfenesse.ansyne, se gegearwaþ ðinne weg beforan ðe.
3 Clypigende stefen on ðam westene, 'Gegearwiaþ Drihtnes weg, doþ rihte his siðas.'"
5 And to him ferde eall Iudeisc rice, and ealle Hierosolima-ware; and wæron fram him gefullode on Iordanes flode, hyra synna anddetende.
6 And Iohannes wæs gescryd mid oluendes hærum, and fellen gyrdel wæs ymbe his lendenu; and gærstapan, and wudu hunig he æt,
7 And he bodode, and cwæþ, Strengra cymþ æfter me, ðæs ne eom ic wyrðe ðæt ic his sceona þwanga bugende uncytte.
8 Ic fullige eow on wætere; he eow fullaþ on Halgum Gaste.