PREACHER: Could you use one or two good song leaders in your church?

This Fall Semester, three courses will be offered:

The Duration: One day per week for a 1 1/2-hour class lasting 16 weeks.

The Dates:

For Additional Information: Telephone 793-3553.

Name__________________________Address__________________________________

(Street, City, and Zip Code)

Telephone_____________________

______Congregational Song leading_____ Romans _______Church History

September 2, 1782--French revolutionaries will begin their merciless and bloody slaughter of all who refuse to join them in the shedding of blood in their "Age of Reason." Men and women with axes will be seen bent over elbow deep in blood.

September 21, 1522--Martin Luther’s German translation of the New Testament will be in print today.

Part II

About 400 years before the birth of Christ, the Old Testament was completed. Now it was possible for the people of God to "Seek out the Book of the Lord and read."

But suddenly, the horizon blackened! Alexander the Great led his Greek army: into virtually all the known world, and subdued it! Palestine was conquered in 332 B.C. The language of the people now became Greek and not Hebrew. Again it was true that men could not read the Word of God

God intervened. He laid this burden on the heart of several men. As a result, 70 Greek scholars assembled in Alexandria, Egypt to translate the Old Testament into Greek: the language of the common man. They called their translation the "Septuagint" after the number of translators. Its accuracy, however, left something to be desired.

Antiochus in 168 B.C. conquered Israel and forbade possession of Scriptures upon punishment of death. Each invading army sought to destroy the temple and the Scriptures, but the Scriptures were not magical, rather nourishing to Israel’s faith.

CHAPTER TWO

With the subsequent resurrection of Christ from the dead, the culmination of His ascension, the New Testament was begun. It was written in Greek with a couple of exceptions--such as Matthew Aramaic was employed. This was the language of the Son of Man.

But the Roman legions had digested the empire of Alexander, and Palestine had been conquered by the Romans circa 64 B.C. Because it was often the policy of Rome to allow conquered people to retain their own religion, language, and sometimes even their own public officials, Greek was still the spoken language; and thus the Word of God was still in the hands of men.

With the passing of three centuries, though, Latin swallowed up much of the Greek, which had been used in daily life. Once again, man was plunged into darkness and could no longer "seek...out the book of the Lord and read."

What is to become of a people who do not have access to the written revelation of God? How are they to gain knowledge of the Holy? And how are they to be made wise unto salvation? If faith comes by the hearing of the Word, how shall they seek it?

Read how God prevailed in the next edition of THE ANGELUS.