Vol.VII No.VIII Pg.8
October 1970

Stuff About Things

Robert F. Turner

Mimeographs are available to many who have no business using them. A stencil in the typewriter, and the knowledge that what is written will be multiplied, and may influence the thinking and conduct of people, will have a sobering effect on some. But it seems to drive others to vent their spleen, or feed their ego; and write as though multiplied folly is no longer foolish.

We have received what claims to be an intelligent discussion of the restoration slogan: We Speak Where the Bible Speaks, and are Silent Where the Bible is Silent! The writer makes the sage observation that he and every preacher in the church use words and phrases ... which are NOT found — per se— in the King James or other accepted versions. He accuses some brother, who evidently advocated the slogan, of using such words as: slogan Bible catch-phrase etc., and informs us, Brethren. NOT ONE of those words are Bible words.

What a shock it would be to those pioneer preachers who coined the slogan, to learn that they were saying we must use the same words used in the English text. I suppose our mimeo editor thinks the only way one can speak the truth is to say, the truth, and those words alone.

Our editor says he agrees with the slogan in principle; that is, we are to teach and practice NOTHING which God has not authorized. Wont he be dazzled when he learns that is what the slogan meant in the first place? But he will have a lot of backing up to do, with respect to his plea for consistency with the slogan, when he tries to show us where God authorized the church to support general welfare societies, unwed mothers homes, fishing camps, preaching societies or organizations other than the single local church. etc., etc.

We are not asking him to find these words in the King James or any other accepted version of the Bible. (See article on generic authority, in this issue, page 7.) In fact, all the talk about words and phrases, per se, are camouflage — to charitably grant that the writer is really more intelligent than such remarks would leave us to believe.

We would not bother to review such material, except to point out that multi-printing and truth are not necessarily the same. But you know that!