Andrew wippler

“Critics who deny the primacy of the Byzantine text, preferring to view it as a fourth century revision, often refer to the fact no Early Church Father before Chrysostom (347-407 AD) appears even to refer to it, let alone quote from it. Now this is simply not true. Painstaking scholarly research has shown that Justin Martyr (100-165 AD), Irenaeus (130-200 AD), Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD), Tertullian (160-220 AD), Hippolytus (170-236 AD), and even Origen (185- 254 AD) quote repeatedly from the Byzantine text. Edward Miller, after classifying the citations in the Greek and Latin Fathers who died before 400 AD, found that their quotations supported the Byzantine text 2,630 times (and other texts only 1,753 times). Furthermore, subjecting thirty important passages to examination, he found 530 testimonies to the Byzantine text (and only 170 in favour of its opponents). This was his conclusion: “The original predominance of the Traditional Text is shewn in the list of the earliest Fathers. Their record proves that in their writings, and so in the Church generally, corruption had made itself felt in the earliest times, but that the pure waters generally prevailed… The tradition is also carried on through the majority of the Fathers who succeeded them. There is no break or interval: the witness is continuous”.[21] The plain fact of the matter is that by the fourth century the Byzantine text was emerging as the authoritative text of the New Testament and for the next twelve hundred years (and more) it held undisputed sway over the whole of Christendom.”
― Malcolm H. Watts, The Lord Gave the Word: A Study in the History of the Biblical Text

“Lack of dependence on God means lack of fellowship with Him.”
― John Van Gelderen, The Liberating Life of Jesus: Finding Freedom in Christ Between the Two Extremes of Law and License

“God often allows disruptions to come into our world to shake us out of our ruts and routines and to help us rediscover what is truly important in life and eternity.”
― Scott Pauley, Revival Praying: Connecting our Prayers to God’s Purpose

“God didn’t look at Adam in the garden and say, “It is not good for man to be alone, he needs something pretty to look at.”
― Rebekah Merkle, Eve in Exile and the Restoration of Femininity