The bad word
That Bill Holeman! He has done it to me again! Pointing to my copy of Bill’s book which was (at the ready for a spare moment’s reading) on my desk, 8 year-old Andy asked, “why does that book have a bad word on it?” Say what? What “bad” word?

Unwilling to be caught in a trap, Andy said, “that word that starts with ‘D’— my dad says that’s a bad word and I’m not supposed to say it.”

Had Andy’s dad been in the room at the time, I’m sure he would have been proud that his son had really listened to something he had said. Then, I think he could have given an adequate answer as to why the word “dummy” in this instance was permitted, but at other times, like when referring to his sister, wasn’t allowed.

But Andy hadn’t been given any “exceptions to the rule,” and I could see that trying to reason with him over the use of the bad “D” word would be as futile as convincing computer users why Macs are preferable to PC’s; or as fruitless as persuading the pious (and not-so-religious) that salvation in Jesus Christ is by grace through faith alone and not by any works or deeds of charity, mercy, or kindness on our part.

And why? Because our words have meaning. They also have nuances of meaning (and it is usually the context in which a word is used that determines the particular nuance of meaning (but that requires I strain my brain in an effort to know the truth and to be honest).

The missing word
So, Wanda tells me she was reading Bill’s book and was disappointed to learn that Biola professor, Church of the Open Door pastor, and Thru the Bible radio preacher J. Vernon McGee was divorced, forced out of his position, then later fought to get it back. Since I hadn’t yet read that far in the book (page 24?—I’m a slow reader), I could neither confirm nor deny what Bill had said, but this was news (and if true it was BIG NEWS) to me. When Wanda returned home she re-read that chapter, then hastened to call me. “I left out the word ‘besides’.” Apparently the line reads “another of my favorite (Biola) professors, BESIDES J. Vernon McGee….” Rumor squelched…and remember, you didn’t hear it here first!

Queen Victoria and Selina, Countess of Hungtindon have both been credited as having said, “Thank God for the letter ‘M’” after hearing I Corinthians 1:26, which says, “for ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” One of these ladies, someone else, or a clever preacher reputedly continued, “If the letter M were removed from ‘many’ it would be ‘any’ and I would be excluded. But the letter M includes me.” Regardless of who said it, or whether it was ever really said at all, we all know that if we drop a word or erase a letter from a note, a book, or the Bible, the end result is some kind of change.

The enduring word
If after only a month in distribution Bill’s book has spawned so much controversy, imagine how difficult it would be to preserve the integrity of a book after, say, seven or ten millennia. Why, you would have to be—God. Imagine what it would take to pull off such an incredible feat. Yet, God has. He told us He would preserve His word. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). Just in case we missed it the first time, God basically repeated Himself. “The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (I Peter 1:24-25).

The final word
If you have finished Bill Holeman’s “The Dummy in the Middle,” and you would like to read how God used just one person to continue God’s preservation of His word, I’d like to recommend a short biography written by John Piper about William Tyndale, entitled “‘Always Singing One Note’—A Vernacular Bible: Why William Tyndale Lived and Died.” The text is available at no charge at this website: http://www.desiringgod.org/library/biographies/2006_tyndale.html. It will be of special interest to those who speak English, since Tyndale was among the earliest translators of the Bible into English.

It was while I read this biography that the “bad” word and “missing” word incidents occurred. It makes me think that God had conspired with Himself to make a point on words.

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