Pictured to the left is a copy of a version of the New Testament, known as THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE. The following quotation is taken from this version of the New Testament:
"This translation of the New Testament (to be followed in due course by the Old Testament and by the Apocrypha) was undertaken with the object of providing English readers, whether familiar with the Bible or not, with a faithful rendering of the best available Greek text into the current speech of our own time, and a rendering which should harvest the gains of recent biblical scholarship. It is just three hundred and fifty years since King James's men put out what we have come to know as the Authorized Version. Two hundred and seventy years later the New Testament was revised. The Revised Version, which appeared in 1881, marked a new departure especially in that it abandoned the so-called Received Text, which had reigned ever since printed editions of the New Testament began, but which the advance of textual criticism had antiquated. The Revisers no longer followed (like their predecessors) the text of the majority of manuscripts, which, being for the most part of late date, had been exposed not only to the accidental corruptions of long-continued copying, but also in part to deliberate correction and 'improvement'. Instead, they followed a very small group of manuscripts, the earliest, and in their judgement the best, of those which had survived. During the eighty years which have passed since their time, textual criticism has not stood still." [ See New Testament, THE NEW ENGLISH BIBLE, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1961, Copyright THE DELEGATES OF THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AND THE SYNDICS OF THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1961, p. vii. ]
The word "homily" is defined as follows:
"n. pl. -lies 1 A didactic sermon on some text or topic from the Bible. . . ." [ See NEW ILLUSTRATED WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY Including THESAURUS of SYNONYMS & ANTONYMS, PMC Publishing Company, Inc., 118 EAST 28th STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10016, dictionary portion: pages 1-1150, Copyright 1992, by J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, p. 463. ]
Additionally, the word "didactic" is defined as follows:
"adj. 1 Pertaining to or of the nature of teaching; intended to instruct; expository. . . ." [ Ibid., p. 272. ]
Thus, with the two above-given definitions in mind, a homily is a sermon, of a teaching nature, on some text or topic from the Bible. Matthew 5:1, 2 read as follows: "WHEN HE SAW the crowds he went up the hill. There he took his seat, and when his disciples had gathered round him he began to address them. And this is the teaching he gave" ( emphasis mine, R.E.W. ). Moreover, Matthew 7:28, 29 read as follows: "When Jesus had finished this discourse the people were astounded at his teaching; unlike their own teachers he taught with a note of authority" ( emphasis mine, R.E.W. ). The word "teaching" is used at the beginning of the sermon on the mount, and the word "taught" is used at the end, therefore, we can rightly conclude that the sermon on the mount was a homily.
Within this homily, Jesus ( see Matthew 4:19 ) said the following in Matthew 5:10: "How blest are those who have suffered persecution for the cause of right; the kingdom of Heaven is theirs." Christians ( see Acts 11:26, for example ) will suffer persecution for the cause of right. We must not become discouraged when this happens. The apostle Paul recorded the following in 2 Timothy 3:10-12: "But you, my son, have followed, step by step, my teaching and my manner of life, my resolution, my faith, patience, and spirit of love, and my fortitude under persecutions and sufferings-all that I went through at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, all the persecutions I endured; and the Lord rescued me out of them all. Yes, persecution will come to all who want to live a godly life as Christians." We must remember that the Lord will deliver us out of all of our persecutions. Jesus said we are blest when we suffer persecution for the cause of right. Please study the Holy Bible ( see 2 Timothy 2:15, for example ).
If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:
<rewillis1_1@juno.com>
<Russell E. Willis>
NOTE: The apocryphal books are not inspired by God ( see 2 Timothy 3:16, 17, for example ). An explanation of the apocryphal books will be provided in a future entry to this weblog.
