The Elder and His Work by David Dickson

The Elder and His Work
by David Dickson
P & R Publishing, Phillipsburg, NJ, 2004

As someone ordained as an elder earlier this year, I found David Dickson's short book a tremendous encouragement, counsel and guide as I slowly worked my way through its chapters.

Originally this book was written by a Scottish elder in the 19th century. This new edition from P & R Publishing has been lightly edited by George Kennedy McFarland and Philip Graham Ryken (an elder and a minister from Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia) and given a new introduction and useful study guide with questions to consider at the end of each chapter.

This is not primarily a theological book. By that I mean that it is neither a detailed defence of Presbyterianism, nor an in-depth look at the biblical office of "ruling elder" (or "presbyter"). Rather it is a very practical and down-to-earth guide to actually being an elder and carrying out the duties of the eldership, and David Dickson, who served as Session Clerk at a church in Edinburgh for 33 years, proves a wise, trustworthy and practical guide.

The warm-hearted tone of the book is set at the very outset at the beginning of the first chapter, entitled "Importance of the Eldership," with this anecdote:

"A pious and useful rector in England once asked me, 'What objections have you Presbyterians to bishops?' 'We have no objections at all,' was my reply, 'on the contrary, we have in the Free Church alone 950 of them; but they are bishops of the same order as those ordained by Timothy, and doing the same work'."

The second chapter deals with the qualifications required in elders. It was a humbling and challenging experience to read this chapter. But it was also very useful. I will keep Dickson's advice in the back of my mind at future Session meetings: "Elders should be men of common sense, knowing when to speak and when to hold their tongues." And who could dispute the wisdom of his counsel: "Much of our usefulness will lie not only in knowing the wants, natural and spiritual, of our people, but in our having that heart-sympathy with them that will make us open our hearts to them, and will lead them to open their minds and hearts to us in return."

The book is peppered with many such wise words of advice and warning.

Further chapters deal with all aspects of being a ruling elder in a Presbyterian church:

• Duties of Elders
• The Elder and His District
• Elder's Visits
• Visiting the Sick
• Dealings with young people
• Giving people practical help when in need
• Session meetings
• Church discipline
• Encouraging and helping the minister

And so on.

The modern "study guide" questions are very important. I found them the key in trying to apply Dickson's timeless advice to our modern situations, considering they were written from the perspective of Victorian Scotland.

A very useful book all round, especially for very new elders learning the ropes, but also for very old elders in need of encouragement or reminding of what their role is in the life their congregations.

How to Choose a Bible Version by Robert L Thomas

How to Choose a Bible Version
by Robert L. Thomas
Mentor, Christian Focus Publication, Fearn, Tain, Ross-shire 2004

This one of those books that does exactly what it says on the cover. I have found almost every book in the CFP's excellent Mentor series of books to be very worthwhile reading and this is no exception.

There are now something like 25 widely available translations of the Scriptures in English. If for nothing else surely the 20th century will be remembered by Christian scholars as the century when there was an explosion of English versions available to the Bible reading public. When we consider that in 1900 there were basically only two Bibles for English readers: the King James Version and the Revised Version (and of these two, the first was vastly more widely used), the 20th century revolution in Bible translation is astonishing. Indeed it is hardly an exaggeration to say that until after the Second World War, the very words "the Bible" meant the King James Version to speakers of the English language.

The situation now is completely different. Now there are bibles using different underlying texts, with different translation philosophies, with different theological preferences, designed for every conceivable kind of Christian.

In this situation, the question that many Christians will face is: which Bible should I make mine? Which Bible should I use in my daily devotions? Which Bible should I memorise? Which Bible should I really make mine by hiding in my heart? For pastors, the question may come in the form: which Bible should I use in my congregation?

To help answer these questions, Robert L. Thomas has written How to Choose a Bible Version.
Professor Thomas's book resists the temptation in a book of this kind to lay down any final recommendations and I think it is all the better for that. By not finally arguing for the ESV or the NIV or the NKJV as the recommendation, the book recognises that the right version for one person or group may not be the right version for another. Instead the book provides a number of intelligent principles a person might consider when choosing their Bible.

The five principles discussed in the book are:

• Historical background
• Textual bases
• Translation techniques
• Theological biases
• Types of English used

In "historical background" Thomas basically divides all English translations into two groups: those in a tradition going back to William Tyndale's translation (e.g. KJV, RSV, ESV) , and those that are outside this tradition (e.g. NIV, Good News Bible). Thomas seems to favour translations in the Tyndale tradition.

"Textual bases" discusses the difference between translations based on the traditional Byzantine texts such as the Textus Receptus (e.g. NKJV) and those based on critical, eclectic texts of the Alexandrian type (most modern translations including NASB, NIV and ESV). Thomas is firmly convinced that bibles based on the few oldest manuscripts (the Alexandrian) rather than the majority of (later) manuscripts (the Byzantine) are to be preferred.

"Translation techniques" discusses the issue of formal equivalence against dynamic equivalence in translation. Thomas allies himself much more with formal equivalence or what we might call "literal" translations.

Under "Theological biases" Thomas discusses where conservative and liberal scholars may differ in how they would translate certain verses. Rather than considering all theological bias to be a problem - which it seems to me is an unsustainable position because it is not possible for us to be unbiased - Thomas simply points out that it will probably be a better choice of bible for a person if the bias in the translation matches his own convictions. So a conservative evangelical may not be best served by the Revised English Bible or New Revised Standard Version or Good News Bible, which have a liberal bias in certain key areas and passages.

Finally under "Types of English" Professor Thomas discusses how different translations render the Bible into more literary or more simple English. For example something like the Roman Catholic New Jerusalem Bible is written in a much more literary English prose than a simple (we might even say simplified) English translation like the Contemporary English Version or New Living Translation.

At the end of the book a brief and objective report is given on most English translations available today.

I think this book would be most useful to pastors and ministers, theological students and perhaps other serious Bible students, rather than for "the average Christian." The strengths of the book for these groups - the fact it stays objective and detached and gives the evidence without finally coming down in favour of one translation over another, probably lessens its usefulness for someone reading the book to tell them which translation to use.

The book would also have benefited from more detailed "reports" on the various translations with examples perhaps of its strengths and weaknesses.