Guardian of Truth Foundation “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). A Challenge to Saints Joshua Gurtler Another year has come and gone. In will be visited by two great forces. To fact, another century has come to pass which will we pledge our allegiance, our and what has man done to the glory of diligence and our talents? his Lord? Before the foundation of the world, our Creator desired that his cre- THE VISI TAT ION OF SA T AN ation would accomplish great things thus Through Christ, Peter received glorifying his majes- this warning, though it tic name. “For we are was left unheeded: “Si- his workmanship, cre- mon, Simon, behold, ated in Christ Jesus for Satan has demanded good works, which God permission to sift you prepared beforehand, like wheat; but I have that we should walk in prayed for you, that them” (Eph. 2:10). your faith may not fail; and you, when once In this new year you have turned again, what are our intentions strengthen your broth- for achievement? In ers” (Luke 22:31, 32). Romans we read of The man who doubts man exchanging the the presence and power glory of our Father for of the Tempter is truly a that of corruptible man naive and disillusioned (Rom. 1:25). Without thought, Christians individual (1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 6:11, 12; behave the same with their carefree 2 Tim. 4:17; Eph. 4:14). Though the absorption into the pagan environment power of the evil one may be great, around them. the man of God is not defeated but is reminded of the Greater Power from The United States is a country which above (1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Pet. 2:9; Jas. 4:7; has excelled like no other known civili- 1 Pet. 5:9). Be prepared for the visitation zation in the history of man’s existence. of Satan, for his eminent presence is just Americans are masters at work, pro- as sure as the inevitable consequences m a g z i n e ductivity, and efficiency in the secular of his captors. Vol. XLVII realm. Oh, if the myriads of Christians in this great land would but transfer these THE VISI TAT ION OF T HE LORD No. 1 invaluable talents, immeasurably blessed Our Father with greater fervor and to us, into the service of the King (Matt. an assured love also desires our submis- 25). Dear friends, this coming year we see “Challenge” on p. 24 January 2, 2003 TRUTH Editorial Vol. XLVII January 2, 2003 No. 1 Editor: Mike Willis Associate Editor: Connie W. Adams The Return of Pagan Ideas: Staff Writers J. Wiley Adams Olen Holderby Donald P. Ames Jarrod Jacobs The Pantheon O.C. Birdwell, Jr. Daniel H. King Dick Blackford Mark Mayberry Edward Bragwell Aude McKee Bill Cavender Harry Osborne Mike Willis Stan Cox Joe R. Price Bob Dickey Donnie V. Rader Johnie Edwards Chris Reeves During November 1-12, 2002, I was privileged Harold Fite Tom Roberts Marc W. Gibson Weldon E. Warnock to lead a group of 26 saints on a trip to Italy. In Larry Hafley Lewis Willis addition to seeing the great historic sites of Italy, Ron Halbrook Bobby Witherington we also got to meet with the saints at Rome where Irvin Himmel Steve Wolfgang brother Stefano Corazzo preaches and his father (Alessandro) continues his work of translating Guardian of Truth Foundation material into the Italian language. Later, I got to BOARD OF DIRECTORS Connie W. Adams Ron Halbrook meet Valerio Marchi who preaches at Udine when Andy Alexander Fred Pollock he came to Venice to preach for us. On November Alan Birdwell Donnie V. Rader 5, brother Alessandro Corazzo and his nephew O.C. Birdwell, Jr. Weldon E. Warnock Daniele walked eight of us through the ancient Dickey Cooper Mike Willis Steve Wolfgang Forum and to visit other parts of Rome. One of the — Subscription Rates — most impressive buildings in ancient Rome which $22.00 Per Year they showed us is the Panthenon. Single Copies — $2.00 each Foreign Subscriptions — $24.00 The Pantheon was originally begun by Agrippa II in 27 B.C. but was com- — Bulk Rates — pletely rebuilt by Hadrian. It is one of the most perfectly preserved buildings $1.50 per subscription per month from the first century presently in existence. Manuscripts should be sent to Mike Willis, 6567 Kings Ct., Avon, Indiana 46123, (317) 272-6520. E-mail: mike [email protected]. Leland M. Roth describes the Roman Panthenon as follows: All business matters should be addressed to O.C. Birdwell, Jr. who serves as Executive Built in Rome, AD c.118-28, in the reign of Emperor Hadrian, the Pantheon is Vice-President for the Guardian of Truth the best preserved and most impressive of all Roman buildings. It has exerted Foundation. He is available by phone at 1-800- an enormous influence on all subsequent Western architecture. The Pantheon 633-3216 or by mail at P.O. Box 858, Athens, asserts the primacy of space as contained volume over structure in the most AL 35611. dramatic fashion. From the time of the Pantheon onward, Roman architecture Subscriptions, renewals and other correspon- was to be one of spatial volumes. dence should be sent to Truth Magazine, P.O. Box 9670, Bowling Green, KY 42102. The Pantheon was designed and built by Hadrian to replace an earlier temple Book orders should be sent to Truth Book- established by Agrippa (the misleading inscription in the entrance frieze refers store, P.O. Box 9670, Bowling Green, KY 42102. to this earlier edifice). The existing structure is an immense round temple Phone: 1-800-428-0121. covered by a single dome, fronted by a transitional block and a traditional Web Address: www.truthmagazine.com temple portico of eight Corinthian columns carrying a triangular pediment. Postmaster: Send change of address to P.O. Box Originally, the awkward juxtaposition of these three sections was softened by 9670, Bowling Green, KY 42102. a rectangular forum in front of the temple. Truth Magazine (ISSN 1538-0793) is published twice a month by The temple is deceptively simple in appearance, consisting of a circular drum Guardian of Truth Foundation, P.O. Box 9670, Bowling Green, KY 42102. Postage paid at Bowling Green, KY and additional carrying a hemispherical dome with an inside diameter of 43.2 m (142 ft). The mailing offices. proportions are such that, if extended to the floor, the curve of the inner surface of the dome would just “kiss” the floor; thus, a perfect sphere is contained, see “Pantheon” on p. 24 (2) Truth Magazine — January 2, 2003 2 table of CONTENTS Re-writing History A Challenge to Saints Joshua Gurtler .................... front page Connie W. Adams The Return of Pagan Ideas: The Pan- theon Mike Willis ........................................2 Many have justly complained about efforts of the politically correct crowd to re-write the history of western civilization and especially of this country. Re-writing History Founding fathers have been minimized, if not demonized, and significant Connie W. Adams..............................3 events have been ignored. That is bad enough. But it is not as serious a problem as the re-writing of spiritual history. Harold V. Trimble Bill Cavender ....................................6 In the July/August 2002 issue of Focus, my friend, David Posey, wrote an article entitled “Leaders Confront Enemies.” It is the fifth installment in Hinduism a series on “Lessons on Leadership from Nehemiah.” Thus far, it has been a Paul Williams ....................................8 good series with many insightful and helpful things being said. In the issue before us, he made some observations which I believe constitute a re-writing The James Ossuary of history. In a section headed “Nehemiah used his best weapon first: prayer David Dann .....................................10 (4:4-9),” he said the following: Happy New You I don’t want to second guess my older brethren regarding the way things were Larry Ray Hafley .............................13 handled during the heated battles over institutionalism in the 50s and 60s. There were lots of debates, a lot of “standing for the truth” and defending the English Translations of the truth, all good things in themselves. But I cannot remember one time that the Scriptures leaders in those churches ever said, “Wait a minute; let’s stop all the quarrel- Ron Daly .........................................15 ing and pray about this.” I cannot remember one service devoted to prayer, to seek God’s help in the matter. If that is the way it was in most churches, then that’s an indictment of both “sides” of the issues in those battles. We can only What is Baptism? surmise about how things might have been different if men had stopped for a Scott S. Finley .................................17 moment and prayed about it. I’m afraid it is a true statement to say that there were men bent on getting their way, regard less of what God wanted. They “Blessed Are the Peacemakers” didn’t admit it, but they really didn’t want God’s help in the matter. Jim McDonald .................................18 Unless David is much older than he appears to be, he was not old enough Children and Worship to have been involved in the institutional battles of the 50s and 60s. He may Bobby Witherington ........................19 have witnessed some belated struggles, but he is in no position to judge the motives, much less the amount of praying that went on in those difficult days. Erhardt/DeBerry Debate To be sure, some tempers flared at times. But there were vital issues at stake John Humphries ..............................21 which involved the very nature, work, and organization of the church.