Gospel Guardian Tell-Al-Gram
SPECIAL REPORT — GREENSBURG, KENTUCKY: The church of Christ at Greensburg, Kentucky had its beginning in 1894 just one year prior to the beginning of the 12th Street church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since then, faithful gospel preachers from all over the country have preached from our pulpit. Brother D. H. Woodward, the deceased father of elder Paul Woodward of the Expressway church in Louisville, Kentucky, preached his first and last sermon from our pulpit.
The faithful church at 12th Street in Bowling Green continues send preachers to help us on the Lord's day each week. Some of the men who have preached for us lately include: Brethren Ray Thomas, Vernon Gary, H. H. Clark, and Harold Golden. Other faithful preachers and Christians from other churches who have visited and encouraged us in our efforts to serve the Lord include, Bob Buchanon from Greens Chapel, Everett Hardin from the Westwood Congregation in Glasgow, and Bill Williams from Thomkinsville.
Brother Ronald Mosby from Louisville, Kentucky is scheduled to preach for us in a gospel meeting September 5-11. We pray the Lord will bless this effort and all our work together to His name's honor and glory.
FOR A "HOME — TOUR" OF THE EIBLE LANDS: In June my daughter and I toured the Bible lands. It was a great trip — my second tour around the lands of the Bible. We drove all over Israel in a rented car, from Dan to Beersheba. We visited Turkey, Greece, and Italy. We found it most helpful to refer frequently to THE ZONDERVAN PICTORIAL BIBLE ATLAS. It is more than what the term atlas indicates. It is really a geographical history of the Bible lands with many pictures, maps and illustrations. This book is the best I know for a study of the Bible lands with regard to Bible events, places, and things. It is edited by E. M. Blaiklock. Sells for $9.95. Order it, and if you are not satisfied with it, return it to us for refund.
W. E. W. New Books:
"Errors and Dangers of Roman Catholicism" published by H. Osby Weaver contains sermons by Frank Van Dyke delivered in a meeting in Greenville, Texas in 1952. 34 pages.
"New Testament Churches" by Waymon D. Miller contains lessons with review questions on 17 churches of the New Testament. Well documented. Interesting. Worthy. 132 pages. $2.50
"A Study of The Revelation" by John A. Copeland, a class workbook in 26 lessons. The author sees Revelation fulfilled in the events of history to these modern times. $2.00 119 pages.
"Biblical Revelation," Clark H. Pinnock. "Scholarly, unusually thorough, and carefully organized, Biblical Revelation reminds today's believer that the Bible is most certainly the infallible communication from God." 256 pages. $4.95 A MODERN TRANSLATION YOU CAN TRUST: The New American Standard Bible is now available — Old and New Testaments in one binding. The New American Standard New Standard has been widely acclaimed among members of the church. Now the whole Bible is available as The New American Standard Bible. The foreward to this translation commends it well:
British Museum Fred C. Melton
If you count art galleries and historic old homes, there are well over 10,000 museums in Britain. Probably 100 or more of these are in the London area, but without question the "daddy" of them all is the British Museum. The huge Victorian structure of the main museum commands almost an entire block on old, Great Russell — Street West London. This museum is notable to the Christian because of the outstanding number of Bible proofs to be found there.
The Egyptian Room is among the museum's most interesting sections. It is important because of the wonderful display of mummies to be found there. Some date back well beyond Israel's sojourn in Palestine. X-rays reveal many of their bone structures and types of gods they had buried with them. Calves, goats and other animals whom the Egyptians considered divine were also mummified.
The Assyrian Galleries display an outstanding number of statues and reliefs depicting triumphs of the Assyrian kings. Most were taken from the palaces of Assur-bani-pal at Nimrod by Layard (1845-51).
One "monolith" (stone monument) of Shalmaneser III tells of the king's exploits in Palestine where he met in battle a coalition of twelve kings who had mobilized 60,000 men, 3,900 chariots, 14,000 cavalry and 1,000 camels including 10,000 foot soldiers from "Ahab, the Israelite."
In the Room of Writing there is, among other marvelous records, a single clay prism, thought to be the final edition of Sennacherib's Annals (691 B. C.). Revealed thereon is a historical correlation of the Biblical account of 2 Kings 18:13, "now in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, come up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them." Since ancient kings rarely recorded anything in their chronicles that was detrimental to their own image, it could be expected that Sennacherib's own account would vary in some respects to that of 2 Kings 18. However, there are many corresponding details such as the exact amount of gold delivered to the king and the fact that Jerusalem was never actually taken but that Hezekiah was "shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city."
The Rosetta Stone, so called because it was found at Rashid (Rosetta) in the Nile delta by soldiers of Napoleon's army in 1799, was brought to England in 1802. It bears an inscription dated 196 B. C. Because this inscription was written in two languages, Greek and Egyptian (hieroglyphics and the more common demotic scripts), the Rosetta stone became the key to deciphering the ancient hieroglyphics of Egypt.
The Black Obelisk is a monument discovered by the Englishman, Layard, in 1846, depicting triumphs of Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria (858-824 B. C.) over several kingdoms of Syria and the west. The second engraving from the top reveals the tribute of Jehu, king of Israel. Just above the scene is written in Assyrian cuneiform:
"The tribute of Jehu, son of Omri, I received from him silver, gold, a golden bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king and Purukhti fruits."
This is thought to be the earliest picture of an Israelite in existence today.
The Babylonian Flood Legend was also discovered by Layard sometime between 1846 and 1851. The legend was contained in two libraries of clay (cuneiform) tablets found in the palaces of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal located at the city of ancient Ninevah. Upon decipherment, they were found to contain an ancient Babylonian account of a tremendous flood. This Assyrian version is roughly as follows:
"Mankind had angered the storm god, Elil, who decided to drown them all with a mighty flood; Ea, the god of wisdom, took pity on one man, Utnapishtim, and whispered a warning to the reed hut in which Utnapishtim dwelt. The reeds warned him, and he prepared his escape and that of his family by taking them and other living things into a great ark. When the rains descended, mankind was destroyed. After six days, the waters sank, and the ship touched ground. A bird was released, and flew to and fro, but found no resting place. Then a swallow was sent out, but returned; finally, a raven was released but did not return, showing the water had sunk and revealed land. Utnapishtim thereupon disembarked and sacrificed to the gods, who though angry at his escape, were persuaded to grant him divine honors and dwelling place at the mouth of the River Euphrates."
Though mythical and polytheistic throughout, this legend does nevertheless help to verify the fact that the historical event of a universal flood was common knowledge among the ancients.
Rameses II is usually credited with building Pithon and Ramese, with Israelite labor (Exodus 1:11). It is doubtful, however, that he was the Pharaoh of the exodus. Rameses evidently created hundreds of statues of himself, both large and small. One such image towers above its fellows near the Egyptian Room. Huge Assyrian colossi, human headed, winged lions from the palace of Ashurnaspirpal II at Nimrod are also very impressive.
The Codex Sinaticus (4th Century) came to the British Museum in 1933 from St. Petersburg (Leningrad) for a purchase price of one half million dollars and is now in the Manuscript Saloon. It is doubtless the most important writing known today. Of the 4,000 extant MSS, the Sinaticus is the only unical which now contains the entire New Testament. In addition to the books approved by Eusebius (264-340 A. D.) which comprise the present make up of our modem New Testament, the Sinaticus contains the "spurious" books of "Epistle of Barnabus" and part of the "Shephard of Hermas." The beautifully preserved vellum sheets of the Sinaticus have been adhered in some manner to back up paper, thus appearing in perfect "codex" or book form.
The remarkable account of how Tischendorf, the German scholar, discovered the manuscript in a monastery at Mt. Sinai has become classic. In 1844, Tischendorf found 43 pages of an ancient manuscript of the Septuagint Old Testament that had been placed in a waste basket for burning. Fifteen years later, he returned to find the rest of this valuable writing. No one knows how many priceless and irreplaceable treasurers have been carelessly or wantonly destroyed through the centuries.
The Alexandrian Manuscript (5th Century) directly across the room from the "Code Sinaticus" is so called because it was made in Alexandria. Preserved in the same finer manner as the Sinaticus, it contains the entire Bible but has some fragments missing. In addition, it contains "Epistles of Clement" and "Psalms of Solomon."
The 'Manuscript Saloon also exhibits several papyrus fragments, including one of an "unknown gospel" (100-150 Century). Papyri have the appearance of very thin layers of balsa wood pressed together. The inscriptions are beautiful and clear.
Time would certainly fail us to tell of all the many Bible related proofs to be found in the main Museum alone. There is also a large Museum of Natural History at South Kensington (London) which is part of the British Museum. Right next to it is the Victoria and Albert Museum, which contains mostly antiques. However, downstairs there are a considerable number of relics of Abraham's day.
England has suffered much religious abuse through the centuries. She has known few true revivals toward the ancient order. Yet, here is a land that jealously guards her historical treasures and shrines, many of which are religious.
- 6 Hawthorne Walk Tonbridge, Kent