An Exercise in Rhetoric

As a keen student (and occasionally able practitioner) in the art of rhetoric and argumentation, it pleases me greatly to report that on February 12, I will be a judge for the Florida qualifying for the NCFCA (National Christian Forensic Communicator's Association) tournament in Lutz, Florida. Of course, February 12th also happens to be the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, one of the ablest practitioners of the art of speech and debate that has ever graced this earth. So, in honor of this very pleasant occasion, I would like to give some of my thoughts about my own enjoyment of the arts of speech and debate as well as what I have learned from Abraham Lincoln on the limits of rhetoric, often through the seminal works of Dr. Harry Jaffa.

I first heard about this particular competition from some friends of mine at church who have and are homeschooling their six children (some of whom are now young adults like myself), who are all quite friendly, intelligent, and entertaining company. Reading about this competition online, I figured it would be good for me to see for myself the state of disputation and rhetoric among young people in my area who profess to be Christians. Given that I am usually pessimistic about the logical abilities of other people, I figured it might be salutary for me to seek out those who shared my interest in logical reasoning, so that perhaps I might find some reason to be hopeful about the future of intelligent, God-honoring thought. Perhaps I may find some young people who may become friends such that I can write to and talk to about serious matters, as I am fond of doing in both English and Spanish.

Since childhood, I have been interested in public speaking and rational disputation. My first public speech was when I was ten years old for Veteran's Day in Pinecrest, just south of Plant City. Though I was quite nervous, I found that people liked listening to what I had to say (I imagine it was especially gratifying for the mostly older audience to hear a young person speak about honoring the memory of our elders too.). Though I wished to be involved in speech & debate in high school, the events were on the Sabbath, so I was unable to do so, and my opportunities for public speaking have been mostly limited to church since then, and even these opportunities are somewhat more limited than I would wish.

It was as a student in college that I became aware of the works of Dr. Harry Jaffa (a fellow at the Claremont Institute in southern California) about Abraham Lincoln. Though I had, from childhood, been a great fan of Abraham Lincoln and his leadership in defeating the rebellious Southerners and in (finally) ending the curse of the tyranny of ethnic-based slavery in this nation (though the racism prevalent throughout the United States prevented a more egalitarian social structure from developing long after that), I did not know much about his argumentation. Reading the works of Jaffa about the Lincoln-Douglas Debates as well as about the 1860 election (both books I highly recommend: Crisis of the House Divided and A New Birth of Freedom) led me to think about the moral basis of our nation's government, and upon the threats it has faced from those who would deny the equality of all mankind under God (the conservative Darwinists) and those who would deny the responsibilities of mankind to obey the law (the "higher law" abolitionists and their social crusading liberal progeny). This moral focus was all the more interesting since Lincoln was not himself a particularly devoutly religious person, but the arguments he makes concerning the pivotal importance of the Declaration of Independence certainly imply that the only sure foundation of law is moral, which has strong implications for the sorts of laws we pass and the sort of society we struggle to achieve.

Whether the young speakers who I will be judging will know about Lincoln and his arguments, or will know it is Lincoln's birthday, I do not know. I do believe that if they are sufficiently serious about the Bible as well as about their skills in logical argumentation, then they would see clearly the moral basis of law and behavior, and argue accordingly. The need for debate and discussion never ends--even if we are all perfectly agreed in terms of the unchanging biblical standards of right and wrong, there still will be debate on the application of these standards in particular situations, and different perspectives that need to be addressed by the words and actions of others. These differences will remain as long as human beings have different experiences, different personalities, and different rational minds with different plans and interests and considerations. That is to say, for all time. So, as there will always be differences, and always be a need to debate and discuss wisely with others of like minds, these young people (ages 12-18) who will be speaking are learning an immensely practical gift, one that will hopefully lead them to a wiser understanding of the application of God's laws in time and on earth in our lives, families, businesses, congregations, societies, schools, universities, courts, and halls of government. From tiny acorns great oak trees grow. Perhaps there is a reason to hope in a better future for our society after all from those who have turned away from the fashionable humanism of our age.

On Bibles

For a while now, I have wished to write a bit about the Bibles in my library that I keep around to read. For some reason, probably because I like the feel of thumbing through pages, I prefer to read Bibles in book form rather than online (though I certainly make use of computer Bible programs as well). Although my collection of Bibles is not hugely extensive, I do think it has a lot to say about my religious interests. I have placed the Bibles I have in an ordinal ranking based upon their usefulness to me on a day-to-day basis. I also wish to comment on some of the Bibles I don't yet have but would like to add to my collection as time and resources permit.

New King James Version: The Nelson Study Bible

I got this bible as a college student after some belongings of mine (including my Bible) were stolen at a grocery store where I attended college in Los Angeles. This particular Bible has provided me with much insight from its study notes and I have gotten much use from it. I would personally wish to see a parallel Bible for the NKJV showing the wording from the version as well as the NU-Text and M-Text (for the NT) and the Masoretic Text versus the Septuagint (for the OT). Nonetheless, while I disagree with some of the notes at the bottom of the text, this is the basic Bible I have used for years for studying and writing articles.

1599 Geneva Bible

This is the newest (no joke) Bible in my collection, as I've had it for less than a month, and it was published in 2007 by Tolle Lege Press. Best of all, it's not a facsimile version (see below). I am using this Bible for reading through the scriptures this year, and I have found the language very direct, and the notes quite powerful (the notes from the original 1599 Geneva Bible are included, and some of them pack quite a punch, demonstrating the power of the use of the Bible to contemporary society). I think that, along with the NKJV listed above, that this Bible will be used for many years. The Bible lacks maps and the study guides present in other Bibles, but it does have a handy glossary of Middle-English terms at the back in case someone cannot figure out the definition of vittles (food, or vitals).

The Interlinear Bible (4 Volumes)

At four volumes, the first three with Hebrew and an English translation by Jay P. Green, Sr., the fourth with the Greek and an English translation also by Jay P. Green, Sr, this book is a little too bulky to read as often as the two listed above. Nonetheless, I find it quite excellent when trying to figure out a difficult passage to consult this text, because its translations are literal enough that sometimes one can pick out a nuance that translators often neglect in the attempt to force some sense into a verse. Being able to find the Greek and Hebrew words in question directly also helps in word studies, especially in cases where Strong's is a bit lacking. When people call me on the phone asking for help in how to interpret a verse, I turn to this Bible to shine a little bit of light on it.

La Biblia De Las Americas: Biblia de Esudio

Esta biblia fue un regalo a mi desde mi amigo Ivan, y es una biblia muy excelente que uso mucho en paises (como Sudamerica) cuando tengo que escuchar a y seguir con mensajes en espanyol. Tambien uso esta biblia cuando quiero escribir ensayos sobre la biblia en espanyol por mis amigos latinos. Por estes razones, esta biblia es muy importante por mi porque hay versos en esta biblia que son mas cerca al original hebrero y griega de otras versiones en Engles, y cuando hay un emfasis interesante en esta version.

1560 Geneva New Testament (with Modern Spelling)

This handy New Testament, edited by David L. Brown and William H. Noah, was a delightful little find I picked up in 2006 at an exhibit on William Tyndale and the Bible, which helped spark my strong interest in Tyndale's Bible (see below) and the Geneva Bible (here and see above as well). This Bible completely lacks notes, is pretty easy to read, and my main difficulty with it is that it only has the NT. If it were a complete Bible, I would probably use it a lot more. Nonetheless, it is small and quite useful, helpful in demonstrating the continuing value and excellence of the work of Tyndale and other 16th century Bible translators.

The Facsimile Bibles: 1560 Geneva Edition and the 1526 New Testament translated by William Tyndale

These Bibles I keep mainly for historical purposes, as I am a fan of the work of Tyndale. Neither of these books are easy to read at all, in fact, both are near impossible to read. Nonetheless, they are nice to have around for other purposes, even if mostly to show my support for the work of Tyndale and others of his time and to be impressed at the amazing design work of the Bibles, even if they are near illegible.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible

This Bible is a sterling example of false advertising. The real fault with this Bible falls in the fact that its editors do not take the Bible seriously in their interpretations, only translate those verses that are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (making the Bible highly fragmentary), have a noted bias for variant readings, and include lots of unbiblical psalms and other material interspersed with biblical material, some of which has its order drastically changed. This Bible is of interest mainly in knowing what the Dead Sea Scrolls and three liberal theologians have to say about the Dead Sea Scrolls, and is just about useless, even less useful than the facsimile Bibles, which were at least translated by godly men with respect for the Word of God.

Bibles I'd Like To Have:

Though there are plenty of Bibles I don't have (my collection is pretty small), there are only a few that I'd really like to add to my collection. Where I feel my collection is a little weak is in the Hebrew-based Bibles, so I'd like to add a Tanakh and a Stern's Complete Hebrew Bible to the collection. If someone made a copy of the Completensian Polyglot (an excellent six-language parallel Bible) I would enjoy adding that too. If anyone thinks there are some Bibles I need to add to my collection, feel free to comment.