Volume 9: Issue 2 | March 2026
Speech Ethics in Proverbs
Proverbs 1:1-11, 15; 2:1-7
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
and forsake not your mother's teaching,
for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.
My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.
If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason....'
my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths....
My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity.
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In the Book of Proverbs, there is a great deal of talk about TALK. Many words come at us every day, either through the air, or on the page or screen. Our lives practically center on TALK in its various forms.
Words are like air: around you all the time. You breathe them in and breathe them out; always there. Words are essential:
Where is the thermostat? Words tell you where.
When is the dinner? Words tell you when.
What will be served? Words tell you what.
Words convey information, instruction, warning, and wisdom. You could even say that by words we get God, because God has spoken to us by his Word. Words are how mind touches mind. By words God speaks to us, and he made us in his image; so like him, we do words. How you speak is a crucial part of your life. To live as you should, watch your words.
I decided I would preach a sermon from the book of Proverbs on speech. Using Bible software, I searched all the occurrences of the word mouth in the book of Proverbs, and copied and pasted the accompanying verses into a Word document. Then I did lips, and copied and pasted those verses; then tongue, words, speech. That should do it. I formatted my document and printed it out.
But wait. I forgot bless, curse, mock, insult, scoff. I went back and searched for each. I copied, pasted, formatted, and printed.
But wait. I forgot babbling. Also commandments, teaching, saying, and talk. I searched again, copied again, printed again.
But wait. I see the word reproof here. Is that important? Thirteen times we find “reproof.” I must search for reproof, instruct, whisper, liar, slander.
We have a lot of words for our words, because we can do a lot with our words. Words are a very flexible and powerful system.
Be aware of the dangers of the mouth.
Whose mouth is dangerous? First, Proverbs says the mouth of the fool is dangerous. “The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.” (Prov 10:14) The fool's mouth is especially dangerous to the fool himself: “A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. The fool's mouth is his ruin and his lips are a snare to his soul.” (Prov 18:6-7)
The first one endangered by the fool's mouth is the fool himself, but you also could be in danger. You might listen to him. It might be the only advice you get. It sounded okay on the first pass, so you followed it. No. So the Scripture says, “Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.” (Prov 14:7) Don't take your advice from a fool.
A fool's mouth is dangerous, but the wicked's mouth is far more dangerous, because there are many ways to be wicked. “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” (Prov 10:11) “By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.” (Prov 11:11) In the Middle Ages the Muslims won some key victories because of treachery on the Christian side. This happened in both Spain and what we must now call Turkey. By the mouth of the wicked man among the Christians, nations were overthrown.
The wicked's mouth can divide friends. “A dishonest man spreads strife; a whisperer separates close friends.” (Prov 16:28) The trouble is simple. It's hard to resist whispers. Twice we get this proverb, “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body.” (Prov 18:8, 26:22) As you want the fudge, so you want the whisper. Let me tell you what's really going on with her... Oooh, I'd love to know what's really going on! In goes the whisper, as delicious as fudge. In our sin we love gossip, with its dirty feeling of power and inner knowledge.
The wicked's mouth can seduce. “The lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil.” (Prov 5:3) The scene in Proverbs 7 is painted with seductive speech. The forbidden woman persuades the simple man with a torrent of talk. She compels him. But men can use words as well, because flattery makes a woman feel great. Finally, somebody thinks I am beautiful! Flattery feels good, but the one who flatters spreads a net for the feet.
Beware the mouth of the wicked: it brings treachery and violence, whispers and divisions, seduction and flattery. And often something more straightforward: mocking and scoffing, which we will discuss later.
Your friend's mouth can also be dangerous. One proverb says, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Prov 27:2) But another adds, “The crucible is for silver,” that is, you heat it up and impurities run out of it, “the furnace is for gold” again, heat releases impurities, “and a man is tested by his praise.” (Prov 27:21) You are the gold and silver ore, and praise is your furnace and crucible. You have been praised. Now let's see what impurities bubble out of you.
Of course, there is one more mouth to be aware of. Your own mouth is the most likely to get you in trouble. You might promise the wrong things. Chapter 6 says, “If you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth,” if you promised to pay somebody else's debt for him, then don't rest! Run and get yourself out of the deal. Plead with him. Get out of that deal. You do not want to co-sign his loan. Don't guarantee someone else's borrowing. (Prov 6:2-3) Why would you do that? You spoke too soon.
After 29 chapters that drive home how hopeless fools are, we hit this proverb. “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There's more hope for a fool than for him.” (Prov 29:20) Take care not to be hasty in your words. Talking too much is also a problem: “When words are many transgression is not lacking.” (Prov 10:19)
Beware of the dangers of the mouth. The devil used his to ruin the world. It is very easy to use yours to ruin your life, and others can harm you with theirs. So, take heed how you listen and how you speak.
Of course, there are many good opportunities with the mouth. The wise can learn what to avoid by listening to other people's mouths. The wise may suffer much less, because he listened to those who already suffered.
There are opportunities also for the wise speaker. Proverbs says, “He who loves purity of heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.” (Prov 22:11) Now kings actually don't have friends. Everybody wants to act like their friend, but the smart king knows he has practically no real friends. Who could manage it? It would take a pure heart. If the pure heart were wedded to gracious speech, then you would have someone a king could actually listen to as well.
But sometimes it is wisest not to speak at all. The proverb says, “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, then he is deemed intelligent.” (Prov 17:28)
There are opportunities and dangers with the mouth. We have this sweeping proverb, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits.” (Prov 18:21)
Often the proverbs say, “Listen to your father, listen to your mother, listen to the wise, listen to God, don't forsake their teaching.” It is natural in a group of mixed ages for the older ones to do most of the talking. Even on a high school team of seniors, juniors, and sophomores, the seniors usually talk more and the sophomores listen more. They are just two years apart but the seniors know more. If they don't, the sophomores need to discern who else is wise. Who has relevant experience? You have to learn who to listen to. Proverbs points you to parents, the wise, and God.
So listen to Solomon's instruction about words. First, listen to God, wisest of all: “The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prov 2:6) As James said, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God.” (James 1:5)
Next, listen to your father and mother. As we read, “Hear, my son, your father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching.” (Prov 1:8) What is always true about your father and mother? They are older than you. It is very difficult to be father or mother without being older than the child. And something else is almost always there as well: they care about you. Being older means they've been here longer, and caring about you means that they want to do well by you. That makes their advice probably pretty good on most topics most of the time.
And you grow and learn: Well, on this topic, I had better listen to somebody other than Dad. And on that topic, I had better listen to somebody other than Mom. All right. Fine. Parents are not omniscient. But they mean well, and they're older than you, so Proverbs advises, “Listen to your father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching.”
Next, listen to the wise and to the righteous: two groups that are not quite identical. You meet some righteous people who don't seem all that wise and yet, if they're righteous, they have the beginning of wisdom because they fear God.
So the Proverbs say, “The mouth of the righteous is the fountain of life” (Prov 10:11), “The wise lay up knowledge” (10:14), “The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom” (10:31) and “The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse” (10:32).
Why don't people listen to God, parents, or the wise? That's pretty easy. This group usually doesn't flatter you. This group will tell you that you're wrong. They will set you straight, because they think they have the right to! Often, you don't want to hear it.
So what does Proverbs say to you? “A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.” (Prov 15:5) “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.” (Prov 15:31) “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” (Prov 12:1) Yes, the Bible calls some people stupid! It goes on, “Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction. But whoever heeds reproof is honored.” (Prov 13:8) And even “There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die.” (Prov 15:10) This is a good thing to know about words. Listen to the reproof of the wise. Listen to correction. You don't like it. But there is something to listen to most of the time.
Here is something not to listen to: “The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.” (Prov 12:16) Think it through. You get insulted. You make your vexation known. The other enjoys it, and decides to do it again. It is more prudent to pretend it didn't bother you. Give no satisfaction. The bully will likely soon move on to a more rewarding target. The prudent ignores an insult. Don't listen to insults. Don't bristle and fight back; ignore it.
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What about speaking? How should we speak? First of all, speak after thinking: “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer.” (Prov 15:28) Think first. “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. But he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” (Prov 13:3) Think first, but not to load all possible ammunition into your gun. Think, but not of everything that might be said. No, another proverb says, speak with restraint. The babbling fool comes to ruin. “When words are many transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.” (Prov 10:19) Think in order to figure out the right things to say.
Speak the truth. “What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.” (Prov 19:22)
But speak the truth in love, as in the New Testament. Speak the truth at the right time. Proverbs says, “To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season how good it is.” (Prov 15:23) I hope you know the feeling of saying the right thing at the right time – what a joy it is!
You want to speak the truth, the right way, at the right time. What is the right way? “The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.” (Prov 16:21) The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. I can tell when a certain child wants to persuade me because the communication gets sweeter. And lo and behold, it tends to get good results. The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
But don't be a scoffer. “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.” (Prov 9:12) Bear what? The scoffer can seem powerful. He scoffs, and maybe the other person never speaks in that class again. Power! But the proverb says “Strike a scoffer” – strike him, hit him! – “and the simple will learn prudence.” (Prov 19:25a) When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wise. Apparently scoffers exist to be object lessons that benefit the simple.
It gets worse: “Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out; and quarreling and abuse will cease.” (Prov 22:10) Even, “The scoffer is an abomination to mankind.” (Prov 24:9b) Don't try to advance by scoffing. You advance, you advance, and you hit a dead end.
Don't speak with whispers. Not that speaking quietly is a sin. The point is, what are you whispering? What are you saying in the ear or behind closed doors? “The dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.” (Prov 16:28) As with scoffing, there could be an initial rush of power. Wow, I have divided these close friends; I can make things happen! But then you are discovered, distrusted, and hated. Don't be a whisperer.
You need to know that words can't do everything. There are Proverbs that note where words find their limit and need to be supplemented or replaced with something else.
A very sad proverb is this one. “All a poor man's brothers hate him. How much more do his friends go far from him. He pursues them with words but does not have them.” (Prov 19:7) If you're in a position where you always ask for more, for more, for more... eventually, people don't want to see you. Even if you ask nicely, they'll still say, “Yeah but I don't want to give anymore.”
Words cannot be the whole of discipline either. “By mere words a servant is not disciplined, for though he understands he will not respond.” (Prov 29:19)
That goes for children as well. “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” (Prov 29:15) Parents often prefer just using words. It's quicker and easier. You don't get your hands dirty and feel bad. If you can get good enough results with words, great, but if you keep telling the kid what to do and the kid is just ignoring you? Well, now what are you going to do about it? “The rod AND reproof give wisdom,” not just the one or just the other. You need to back up your words with action.
Finally, words cannot replace work: “In all toil, there is profit,” – that's pretty optimistic – “but mere talk tends only to poverty.” (Prov 14:23) Have you ever known that contractor who just wants to talk to you? It can be lonely being an independent contractor. When he finally has someone to talk to, he wants to talk! But if he's talking, he's not finishing the kitchen, the roof, or the painting. At some point you must say, “Hey, buddy, gotta go.” Mere talk tends only to poverty.
There are two crucial things to do with your mouth. The first we learn from the arc of Proverbs, the second from the arc of the Bible.
From the arc of Proverbs, a lesson for husbands and children. Proverbs is phrased as father to son, not a two-year-old son, but a son of sixteen or twenty-two. You can tell because the lessons are not, “Share your Legoes” but “Watch out for gangs and the wrong women.”
What do young men want? Dumb question. Young men want young women. So the book of Proverbs portrays Wisdom as a woman crying out, This is what you want: Wisdom! But Solomon also portrays Folly as a woman in order to say, Watch out! You could also end up over here with this one.
The book of Proverbs then ends with the ideal wife, identified not by her looks or charm, but by her hard work and her words. “She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” (Prov 31:26)
How should her husband respond to her? And her children? Solomon concludes: “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.' Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates.” (Prov 31:28-31) Boom. End of Proverbs.
What's the wise thing to do? Praise your wife. Praise your mother. And don't wait until she fulfils the whole chapter because it's an idealized picture in an agrarian society. Start doing your part now. Praise your woman and praise your mother.
The second, even more crucial thing to do with your mouth comes from the arc of the whole Bible. The most important word is the word that God spoke: He sent Jesus Christ into the world. “The Word was with God and the Word was God, he was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1-2)
How we then respond to this Word means everything: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matt 10:32-33) “Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Here is the most important thing to do with your mouth: confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. This is salvation.
We often tell children to use their words. I heard it today at lunchtime: Use your words, little fella. Well, grown-up, use your words as well. Praise your mother; praise your wife; but above all confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that you may be saved.
– John Edgar
Second Century:
False Accusations, Lasting Heresies
Expansion
From 100 A.D. to 199 A.D., the Christian Church continued to grow. Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor, wrote to Emperor Trajan in 113 A.D. from the Province of Bithynia in northwest Turkey. “The contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms.” In the western areas of the Empire, the Church now expanded into Latin speaking areas, North Africa, Spain, and Gaul (modern France). Helping the Church spread was a translation of the Bible into Latin, today called the Old Latin Bible.
The pagan philosopher Celsus in 130 A.D. charged that Christians attract “only foolish and low individuals, and persons devoid of perception, and slaves, and women, and children.” Yes, the Church welcomed slaves and women, but Celsus’ word “only” was untrue. Origen of Alexandria and others were highly educated. As for children, Christians adopted abandoned babies to raise as believers.
Outside the Empire, Christian missionaries, merchants, and soldiers brought the message about Jesus to areas where the common language was Aramaic: to Media (today’s Kurds), to Persia (today's Iranians), and further east and north. By 200, the Bible had been translated into Aramaic, a translation called the Peshitta, meaning “the common version” because Aramaic was the widely known language east of the Roman Empire.
By the year 199 A.D. there were perhaps 200,000 Christians in the Empire. How many were outside it cannot be guessed. Where Christians preached, even people who did not become Christians lost faith in the old gods and their idols. Their temples with animal sacrifices attracted few worshipers. One way to trace the advance of the Christian faith is to find old cemeteries. Christians do not burn the bodies of dead believers. Like Jews, they bury them in the hope of the Resurrection.
Persecution
The Roman populace continued to accuse Christians of being haters of mankind, atheists, and cannibals. Persecution to the death happened on and off in local areas. Tertullian in 197 A.D. mocked Roman pagans for blaming Christians for every misfortune. “If the Tiber rises too high, or the Nile too low, the remedy is always feeding Christians to the lions,” but “the more you mow us down, the more numerous we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.”
Unlike the Jews, Christians never revolted against Rome. They did run and hide when they could. The most famous martyr was a disciple of the Apostle John, Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. When persecution of Christians began, Polycarp hid in a nearby village. When he was found, he was brought to the stadium in Smyrna. What happened next was told in a letter sent to other churches.
“Now, as Polycarp was entering into the stadium, there came to him a voice from heaven, saying, ‘Be strong, and show yourself a man, O Polycarp!’ No one saw who it was that spoke to him; but those of our brethren who were present heard the voice. And as he was brought forward, the tumult became great when they heard that Polycarp was taken. And when he came near, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On his confessing that he was, the proconsul sought to persuade him to deny Christ, saying, ‘Have respect to your old age,’ and other similar things, according to their custom, such as, ‘Swear by the fortune of Cæsar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists.’ But Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance on all the multitude of the wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hand towards them…said, ‘Away with the Atheists.’ Then, the proconsul urging him, saying, ‘Swear, and I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ,’ Polycarp declared, ‘Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?’ And when the proconsul yet again pressed him, and said, Swear by the fortune of Cæsar, he answered, ‘Since you are vainly urgent that, as you say, I should swear by the fortune of Cæsar, and pretend not to know who and what I am, hear me declare with boldness, I am a Christian. And if you wish to learn what the doctrines of Christianity are, appoint me a day, and you shall hear them.’….
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While he spoke these and many other like things, he was filled with confidence and joy, and…the proconsul was astonished, and sent his herald to proclaim in the midst of the stadium three times, “Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian.” This proclamation having been made, the whole multitude both of the heathen and Jews cried out with uncontrollable fury, ‘This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the overthrower of our gods, he who has been teaching many not to sacrifice, or to worship the gods.’
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The reluctant proconsul ordered Polycarp to be burned. Wood was brought, Polycarp was tied to a stake in the ground, and as the flames began, he prayed loudly until the flames engulfed him.
Twenty years later, persecution broke out in Lyons in southern Gaul. First, the officials forbade Christians from appearing in public. When they did, a mob might attack and rob them. Next, they arrested, questioned, and tortured many Christians. Some denied Christ, but forty-eight died faithfully, both slaves and nobles. The youngest was fifteen, and others were very old.
After failing to find truth in Stoic or Pythagorean philosophy, a man named Justin born in Samaria became a Christian. He went to Rome to debate other philosophers and promote Christianity as the “true philosophy.” After one debate, the Cynic philosopher Crescens denounced him to the emperor, along with six others. The Prefect Rusticus tried them.
The Prefect Rusticus says: ‘Approach and sacrifice to the gods.’ Justin says: ‘No one in his right mind gives up piety for impiety.’ The Prefect Rusticus says: ‘If you do not obey, you will be tortured without mercy.’ Justin replies: ‘That is our desire, to be tortured for Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and so to be saved, for that will give us salvation and firm confidence at the more terrible universal tribunal of Our Lord and Savior.’ And all the martyrs said: ‘Do as you wish; for we are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols.’ The Prefect Rusticus read the sentence: ‘Those who do not wish to sacrifice to the gods and to obey the emperor will be scourged and beheaded according to the laws.’
Heresies
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warned: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Sure enough, false prophets have regularly shown up throughout the centuries. Three significant false prophets in the second century were Montanus, Valentinus, and Marcion.
Montanism
In 156 A.D. in Phrygia in Turkey, Montanus taught that the time of the Father gave way to the time of the Son and has now given way to the time of the Spirit, the “Paraclete.” Montanus claimed to be the mouthpiece of the Paraclete, who revealed that Christ would return soon in Phrygia. Not without reason, Montanus also accused Christians of being morally careless. Their carelessness, he said, was why the gifts of the Spirit, like speaking in tongues, prophecy, and healing, had disappeared from among them. Along with two women prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla, Montanus taught extreme fasting. He doubted whether any good Christian would marry. Unlike other Christians, Montanus’ followers actively sought martyrdom.
Later groups with Montanist-like thinking have been the early Quakers claiming new revelations, and Pentecostals, claiming speaking in tongues was the required sign of having the Holy Spirit. Others, claiming to know when Christ would return, are also like the ancient Montanists. William Miller interpreted Daniel 8:14 to show that Christ would return between 1842 and 1844. His failure to come produced the “Great Disappointment,” after which his followers reinterpreted the Bible, finding that Christ had indeed returned to begin his ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. The Seventh Day Adventists were the result. The 20th Century radio preacher Harold Camping set several dates for Christ’s return, using extremely complicated arithmetic applied to passages from Daniel and Revelation.
Gnosticism
The best-known Gnostic was Valentinus of Rome. He and other Gnostics taught that the material world is evil and claimed to have secret knowledge (gnosis) that would show people how to escape the material world and unite with the divine. Who was Jesus? He was a divine being who came to teach wisdom that would guide people in freeing the divine spark within them from its imprisonment in their bodies. Some Gnostics taught that our bodies, being evil, should be deprived of as much food and sleep as possible. Others taught that since the body means nothing, you can do whatever you want with it.
In 1945, thirteen Gnostic books written in Egypt’s Coptic language were discovered by a shepherd in Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt. Until then, our knowledge of Gnostic teachings came mainly from Irenaeus’ book Against Heresies (180 A.D.). The discovered library contained thirteen books and confirmed that Irenaeus’ account of Gnosticism was correct. The books include a Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Thomas, and Gospel of Truth. Now translated and published, these books are often advertised as books that the Catholic Church suppressed, keeping them out of the Bible.
Gnostic disdain for the material world and the human body never entirely disappeared from Christian circles. Egyptian hermits, for example, practiced extreme fasting and other forms of self-denial. When Christians hope to die and “go to heaven,” but never mention the coming bodily Resurrection of the dead, they think like Gnostics. So do Christians who have their bodies cremated, that is burned, as though they are worthless. The Westminster Shorter Catechism, however, summarizes the reason for Christian burial, teaching that after death the bodies of Christians, “being still united to Christ do rest in the grave until the Resurrection.” Gnostic thinking has reappeared in a twisted secular way in transgender thinking: who you believe you are matters, never mind your body. With drugs and surgery, the high priests of medicine can make your body match your “true identity.”
Marcionism
About 130 A.D. Marcion joined the church in Rome. Fourteen years later, the Church excommunicated him. According to Marcion, the jealous and angry god of the Old Testament created the world. A different god full of mercy and love sent Jesus to save the world from that evil god, the Demiurge. Marcion promoted a small Bible containing ten of Paul’s letters and Marcion’s edited version of Luke’s Gospel. He also wrote his own hymns to replace the Psalms of David. Marcionite-like thinking reappears when people say, “I’m a New Testament Christian,” or “I am a Christian, but I do not like the god of the Old Testament.”
How did the Church defend the truth against heretics? In three ways: with the Bible, the Creed, and teaching by faithful men. The Bible contained the Old and New Testaments. The creed was the Apostles Creed. It begins with the anti-Gnostic statement, “I believe in God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” and it ends with “I believe in the Resurrection of the body.” The church soon accepted one elder as the bishop of each church, each bishop tracing his office back to the Apostles in a line of Apostolic Succession.
The Christian Church in the 100s was always at war. They warred with the pagan gods as they preached and converted people in new places. Their enemies persecuted them. Finally, they had to fight heretics who lured people away from the churches with their lies. That three-front war is the Church’s fate in this age, a war of conquest as it preaches the way of salvation to unbelievers, a war where its enemies sometimes kill Christians, and a war against lying prophets from within. This three-front war will continue until Christ returns.
– Bill Edgar
That Hideous Strength
By C.S. Lewis
A Review
An article in the 10/4/25 Wall Street Journal (Review Section, pp. C1,4) had two headings: p.1 “AI Doom? No Problem” and p. 4, “Rooting for AIs over Humans.” David A. Price, the reporter, quoted Richard Sutton from the University of Alberta who maintains that people should embrace AI replacing humans. “When you have a child, would you want a button that if they do the wrong thing you can turn them off? That’s much of the discussion about AI. It’s just assumed we want to be able to control them.” “I don’t think there’s anything sacred about human DNA. There are many species – most of them go extinct eventually. We are the most interesting part of the universe right now. But might there come a time when we’re no longer the most interesting part? I can imagine that.” “If it was really true that we were holding the universe back from being the best universe that it could, I think it would be OK.” The reporter comments, “OK, that is for the AIs to rid the universe of us, one way or another.”
“Wow,” I thought. “I read that sentiment a half century ago when I picked up That Hideous Strength,” volume three of C.S. Lewis's science fiction trilogy, published in 1945.
Lewis is best known for his seven Narnia tales, his BBC lectures called Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters. The Abolition of Man is often called Lewis’ most important book. However, I think That Hideous Strength is more important. It is about a plot by English scientists to get rid of the physical human race and replace it with Mind. They work through the bullying N.I.C.E., the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments.
Explaining the goal of N.I.C.E., Professor Winter observed, “And what do you call dirty dirt? Is it not precisely the organic? Minerals are clean dirt. But the real filth is what comes from organisms – sweat, spittle, excretions….” Asked what he was driving at, Winter continued. “In us organic life has produced Mind. It has done its work. After that we want no more of it. We do not want the world any longer furred over with organic life…. Slowly we learn how. Learn to make our brains live with less and less body: learn to build our bodies directly with chemicals, no longer have to stuff them full of dead brutes and weeds. Learn how to reproduce ourselves without copulation…. No, no; we want geldings and oxen. There will never be peace and order and discipline so long as there is sex. When man has thrown it away, then he will be governable…. The world I look forward to is a world of perfect purity. The clean mind and the clean minerals. What are the things that most offend the dignity of man? Birth and breeding and death. How if we are about to discover that Mind can live without any of the three?”
What does AI stand for? Artificial Intelligence, in other words, Mind!
A different professor, the Italian Filostrato, continued: “This Institute – Dio mio {My God!}, it is for something better than housing and vaccinations and faster trains and curing the people of cancer. It is for the conquest of death: or for the conquest of organic life, if you prefer. They are the same thing. It is to bring out of that cocoon of organic life which sheltered the babyhood of mind the New Man, the man who will not die, the artificial man, free from Nature. Nature is the ladder we have climbed up by, now we kick her away.” What about the existing population? “A large unintelligent population is now becoming a deadweight…Only a tenth part of it will now be needed to support the brain. The individual is to become all head. The human race is to become all Technocracy.”
What is A.I.? Chemicals, nice clean chemicals, which its creators aspire to make Mind. If AI decides to do away with the human race, well, that just might make a better universe, Professor Sutton says in 2025. His ambition is ancient. There speaks the spirit of the ancient Gnostics, eager to free the soul, or spirit, or mind from the confines of the flesh. In That Hideous Strength, Lewis captures the hubris, the scorn for the mere human, and the stop at no boundaries of the Gnostic spirit. It is the spirit that inspires the folk who would welcome AI perhaps doing away with us.
In Lewis’ novel, other themes found elsewhere in his writing appear, for example, his hatred for the “rehabilitation” approach to crime rather than “mere punishment.” Why hate “rehabilitation?” “Rehabilitators” have endless power over a person until they deem him rehabilitated. Punishment is for a set time: do your time and you are free. At my high school, a teacher could refer any student to the “Help Team.” Threatening such a referral was the most effective way to get a student to wise up. Why? They all had some friends who were being “helped” almost forever.
Another theme in That Hideous Strength is the near mortal danger of the ambition of being on the inside of any bureaucracy, invited to be in with those who really make the decisions. You can be led to commit all sorts of crimes once that ambition seizes your soul. Lewis’ famous essay, “The Inner Ring” describes that temptation, but the “Inner Ring” is portrayed more vividly in this novel.
Lewis mocks the philosophers who deny any genuine right and wrong and teach their students that all moral notions are only social habits or mere chemical reactions inside them. “One’s sorry for a man like Churchwood. I knew him well, he was an old dear. All his lectures were devoted to proving the impossibility of ethics, though in private life he’d walked ten miles rather than leave a penny debt unpaid.” As I read that sentence, I thought of the well-known tendency of America’s upper classes denigrating normal marriage between a man and a woman as “patriarchal oppression,” and thereby encouraging the lower classes to disregard marriage – even while the upper classes continue to live conventional married lives themselves.
In That Hideous Strength, the scientistic technocratic bureaucrats turn out to be power-mad tools of an all too real demon, perhaps Satan himself. The ones saving England and the world are Christians. The unhappy couple at the core of the novel, Mark and Jane Studdock, are converted by novel’s end. What starts Mark on his road to the Lord? His trainers at N.I.C.E. subject him to ever increasing kinds of deviance and perversion. Suddenly Mark realized that something “he vaguely called the ‘Normal’ apparently existed.” That idea was “mixed up with Jane and fried eggs and soap and sunlight….” “He was choosing a side: the Normal.” What do LGBTQ+ people disdainfully call folk like me? “Normies.” In today’s “culture wars,” Christians are on the side of the Normal, the world as God created it. Man and woman marrying for life and having children. That is Normal! As for Jane’s conversion, it is a fictionalized version of Lewis’ own conversion recounted in his book Surprised by Joy.
In the end, the ancient magician Merlin, whom N.I.C.E. sought to resuscitate as an ally, ends up siding with the Christians, headed by Ransom, the hero of the Lewis’ first two science fiction novels. Merlin destroys N.I.C.E.
Anyone interested in thinking about where at least some of our technocratic masters might like to lead us should read That Hideous Strength. It is more profoundly prophetic than the better-known dystopian novels, 1984 by George Orwell, or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. That Hideous Strength was written by a Christian in love with Normal and with the Person who created the Normal.
– Bill Edgar
My Call to Gospel Ministry
Having grown up the son of an RP pastor in Chicago, I was familiar with the ups and downs of serving the Lord and caring for people. My earliest memory of answering “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was to be a doctor because of my mother’s many health issues. Reality began to adjust my answer in high school as I considered a college major. (Besides, I got sick at the sight of blood.) My grandfather chaired the chemistry department of Geneva College, and my father had a Masters in Chemistry, so it was no surprise that I was attracted to the sciences. That interest was refined in my freshman year at Geneva by pursuing Biology. I was always fascinated by how things worked, especially the interaction of living things, as well as their composition. Parallel to the science interest was a deepening awareness that God had called me to himself to serve his church, particularly as a minister. My interests in biology continued through college and included certification to teach biology and secondary science. However, the sense of call to gospel ministry continued to grow. The reasoning at that time for those considering seminary training was that seminarians needed training in another profession before they entered seminary, if nothing other than to round out their interests. And, in the event their mission as a pastor was a false lead, they could provide for their family in another way. As I talked with family and trusted friends, I concluded that I would begin my professional career as a teacher and then reevaluate after several years whether I should pursue seminary.
Upon graduation, God opened a teaching opportunity at a small Christian school in a northeast suburb of Philadelphia where I taught for three years. During that time, I attended Elkins Park RPC pastored by Rev. Chuck Sterrett, a man of my father’s vintage. Many of the pastoral experiences I had observed as a young person came flooding back. My first two years of teaching science reinforced the essentials of teaching. While there was a sense of accomplishment, I could not shake the hand of God bidding me to gospel ministry. My circumstances were such that after I finished my third year of teaching, I enrolled in Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. My family circumstances necessitated that I complete courses at Westminster for my Master of Divinity, with the added benefit of continuing to work within the Elkins Park Church congregation.
Later, God provided opportunities of working with another mature pastor, older than my parents vintage, Pastor Robert McMillan at the Coldenham-Newburgh congregation. I spent two summers in New York before graduation in 1978 from Westminster. The second summer began a one-year internship with Pastor McMillan and the Coldenham congregation. At the end of that second summer, I was asked to preach at the White Lake congregation. White Lake had fallen on tough times. Like many rural congregations, the young people moved away, and the last resident elder died in the 1960’s. White Lake was a preaching station with services, mostly by seminarians, only during summer months. The work consisted of a handful of older members and one family with two young girls. The Coldenham-Newburgh congregation served as a “mother” to what they hoped would end up as a “daughter” congregation. Compelled by the hand of God, I accepted their call to serve as an associate with them in White Lake. The Lord gave life to those “dead bones” a la Ezekiel 37, but not without various trials by fire. And who knew that my previous teaching experience would be put to good use as I also taught in the elementary schools of the area for over 30 years. This was more than bi-vocational ministry; God used that experience to interact with many families in the area for good.
The genius of the Reformed faith is that we see all of life subject to the crown rights of Jesus, not just “full-time Christian service.” The Apostle Paul affirms, “If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” (1 Timothy 3:1) It has been my extreme privilege to see how God has used many experiences to prepare me for serving as a minister of the Gospel for over 47 years, and even now promises to continue to bless and extend that ministry in ways I could never have imagined previously!
– David Coon
​The Three Bs of Church Life:
Belief, Behavior, Belonging
Belief
All Christians believe in one God in three Persons who created the heavens and the earth and man in his image; in Jesus Christ who died and rose again for our salvation; and in an eternal future either with God or eternally separated from him. A church without such beliefs is no church at all, just a social club. To be certain of basic Christian beliefs, memorize the Apostles' Creed.
Behavior
Obeying God is godly behavior. Since ancient times, Christians have memorized God’s Ten Commandments. Can you recite them? A second behavior of believers in a church is prayer. Anyone who does not pray to God must not believe in him. Since ancient times, Christians have prayed the Lord’s Prayer. Can you recite it? A third behavior is weekly public worship of God to sing his praise, observe his holy sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and hear the Scriptures read and preached. Go to church every week and ask the Holy Spirit to shape your belief and behavior.
Belonging
Where do you want to belong? Somewhere that will last. Nothing will last longer than the church Christ loves, died for, and will come again for. Christians have an eternal destiny together. We might as well be friends now. Loving your family in Christ can be hard. We must be patient and kind, as is true in our homes. In a church, we belong both to God and to our brethren. You need God, and you need his people who believe, behave, and belong where you do.
– Bill Edgar
Getting to Know You: Ben & Kathryn Hollo
Where are you each from?
Ben- I was born in Boston, MA, and grew up in the suburbs of Framingham and Natick.
Kathryn- I was born and raised in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
What did you (each) believe growing up?
Ben- I trusted in Christ at an early age in a Christian home where my parents clearly taught the importance of a salvation by grace through faith alone. However, there was little catechism and exposure to systematic theology so the doctrines of grace and reformed theology were new concepts to me when I left home.
Kathryn- I grew up in a Dutch community that had deep reformed roots. I was blessed to grow up in the covenant community and by God’s grace never knew a day without him.
Tell us about high school and beyond.
Ben- I went to the Air Force Academy two weeks after graduating high school and haven’t lived in the Boston area since. I loved flying since I was a boy and was blessed to fly the F-16 and T-38 in the Air Force for 20 years. That training that led me to Phoenix, AZ, where I met Kathryn in a PCA church; and we were married in 2000. We’ve lived around the world in Korea, Japan, Germany, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida before settling in the Hudson Valley in 2019. We have four boys, a ‘24 graduate from Liberty University, two at LU, and one still at home in high school.
Kathryn- I went to Christian school through high school, then attended Dordt University where I studied Clinical Social Work. I earned my Master’s from Washington University and Covenant Theological Seminary. I worked as a counselor in Chicago, Ottawa, and then Phoenix, AZ, where I met Ben.
What led you to God?
Ben and Kathryn- The example and instruction of our parents led us to God at an early age. Our faith was confirmed as teens as our questions were answered, and we saw the difference it made in our lives and the lives of Christian friends.
What led you to visit and join a Reformed Presbyterian Church?
Necessity!…and providence. The Air Force sent us to Enid, OK, where there was no reformed church. So we joined a plant from Stillwater, OK, worshiping there for two years before moving. During that time the rich preaching from Noah Bailey, as well as the exposure to the regulative principle and a cappella psalmody, provided a foundation for theological struggle over the next 3-5 years that ultimately confirmed my convictions in the belief and practice. God's providence then led us to Coldenham as an opportunity to serve him in a small congregation and community that aligned well with work and school.
How has God helped you in the past few years?
God has blessed us in every way and has provided richly for all our needs. He has given us a home, a community of believers in our church and at Chapel Field Christian School, and opportunities for ministry in both places. He has been faithful to our children as they have left home and followed Christ beyond our family. God has also sustained our very small congregation at Coldenham now without a pastor for many years.
What are you thankful for?
We are thankful for God’s grace and for everything in the paragraph above! In particular we are most thankful that our children are walking in the truth.
– Ben and Kathryn Hollo
News About White Lake Camp August 1945
The twenty-sixth convention and the twenty-second encampment of White Lake Camp was held from August 4 to August 18, 1945. We were especially fortunate to have such a large attendance. Two years ago, our registrations totaled 35 and last year 89. [1] This year we had a record-breaking encampment of 185 registrations. The following congregations were represented: Barnet 2, Boston 8, Bovina 5, Cambridge 9, Coldenham 17, Cyprus 3, Hopkinton1; Lake Reno 1; Lochiel 2; Montclair 5, Monticello (Presbyterian) 2, New Concord 1, New York 38, First Philadelphia 6, Second Philadelphia 25, Third Philadelphia 11, Syracuse 19, Walton 21, and Winchester 1. [2]
The theme of our camp this year was “Christian Growth.” Our motto was “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18). Devotions each morning were led by the various C.Y.P.U. [3] Societies represented. Each society had a poster made to illustrate the text assigned it. The main theme of devotionals was “The Christian Walk” and this was divided into various methods of walking. Our devotionals were very inspiring, and the posters helped us to keep a more vivid picture of the various ways a Christian must walk.
On Thursday, August 9, Rev. F. L. Stewart [4] had charge of a Service men's Prayer Group. White Lake Camp had 150 blue stars on her servicemen's flag and 4 gold ones. These boys had not necessarily ever attended White Lake, but they represented the churches belonging to White Lake Encampment.
Camp this year will long be remembered not only because of its invigorating lectures and record-breaking attendance but because on Tuesday, August 14, came the long-awaited announcement of victory! On the evening of V-J Day we held a prayer meeting in the church. We gave thanks to God for the cessation of the hostilities of war.
This year we were elated to welcome so many missionaries in our midst. Miss Ruth Reade, Mr. and Mrs. W. W .Weir, and their daughter Margaret from Nicosia, Island of Cyprus, were with us, and Miss Ella Margaret Stewart from South China. Their messages were most inspiring to each one of us. [5]
Our Juniors and Intermediates made up a large portion of the attendance. The Junior program was under the excellent supervision of Mrs. McKelvy of our Lochiel congregation while the Intermediates were under the efficient leadership of Mrs. S. E. Greer of our Third Philadelphia church. [6] The juniors and intermediates had a number of contests at the close of which they were awarded attractive prizes.
Mrs. T. R. Hutcheson led us in the singing of the psalms and gave us many valuable suggestions. [7] Thursday evening, August 16, we had a music festival with Mrs. Hutcheson in charge. All those present in camp who had any musical talent took part. We had a grand evening!
As a very special treat we had Rev. C. C. Brown [8] from our mission in Selma with us for a week. Mr. Brown lectured to us several mornings on the various “racial problems.” One day was spent on the Caucasian racial problem, and the other lectures were spent on the Negro problems in our country. He presented the problems to us frankly and sincerely. As a result, he left us keenly aware of the problems that do exist in our country, and we all are discussing and thinking on this question more seriously.
The Rev. S. Bruce Willson [9], our national C.Y.P.U. secretary, attended our camp this year. He delivered a sermon on “Stones to be Remembered” based on Joshua 4:21-24. The closing service was a consecration service with Rev. F. H. Lathom [10] presiding. Each and every one of us felt we had reaped many spiritual benefits from camp this year which should enable us to return to our various congregations with new resolutions in our hearts to walk closer to Christ during the coming year and to grow in grace as we meet each week in our various societies to study together the topics assigned to us.
We look forward to bigger and better encampments! [11]
– Reprint from October 10, 1945
THE COVENANTER WITNESS
​
1
Camp continued during World War II, but with only 35 in 1943. A regularly scheduled train ran through Liberty, which helped people get to camp despite gasoline rationing.
2
First and Second Philadelphia merged a few years after this camp and moved to the Philadelphia suburb of Broomall. Some years later Third Philadelphia moved to Elkins Park, north of Philadelphia. Boston closed to become part of Cambridge. Bovina merged into Walton. Newburgh and Coldenham united. Montclair merged into New York. Barnet, Vermont has closed.
3
C.Y.P.U. stood for Covenanter Young Peoples Union. From the 1920s through the 1960s nearly every congregation had such a young people’s group, all studying the same thing every week. They had officers, meetings with minutes kept, and often their own treasury. Camp activities were often arranged in those years with different CYPU contributions to the program.
4
F.L. Stewart was Frank Stewart, pastor of Second Philadelphia.
5
Many of the evening programs in those days were devoted to hearing from our missionaries in Cyprus, Syria, and China.
6
Mrs. Greer was not part of Third Philadelphia. She was the wife of the pastor of First Philadelphia.
7
Mrs. Marjorie Hutcheson was then part of the Winchester, KS congregation. She and her husband Thomas soon returned to Larnaca, Cyprus where they had been in the 1930s.
8
Claude Brown grew up in Selma, Alabama. He attended the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh in the late 1930s and was a close friend from Seminary of Robert D. Edgar, pastor of the New York Church in 1945.
9
S. Bruce Willson was later the President of the Seminary for many years.
10
Frank Lathom was the pastor of the Walton RPC for many years.
11
The news of the 1945 White Lake encampment was unsigned. In that year there was not yet the Dining Hall, long called the Mess Hall under the influence of World War II military terminology. There was no wash room either. People took soap bars to White Lake to wash.
Come Celebrate 175 Years!
On December 5, 1850, the New York Presbytery organized the Third Church of the Covenanters in Philadelphia. On Saturday, May 2, 2026, we will celebrate 175 years of God's goodness to Third Church, now called the RP Church of Elkins Park. There will be an optional historical tour past our first two places of worship in the morning, and then a thanksgiving service at 2 PM, a catered dinner at 5 PM, and a Psalm sing to follow. Speakers will include John Edgar, Hunter Jackson, and David Coon, each of whom has served on the Elkins Park session.
The Elkins Park congregation heartily invites friends and well-wishers to join us for the celebration. Please RSVP to Laurie Nahm at easylouie@comcast.net by April 1 to secure your place at the dinner and indicate if you would like to request overnight hospitality from one of our members.
Authors in this issue
​​
Dave Coon is the pastor of White Lake RPC.
​
Bill Edgar is a retired pastor of Broomall RPC (Philadelphia) and the author of the following books:
Chutzpah Heroes: Thirteen Stories About Underdogs with Wit and Courage
History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America 1920-1980: Decade by Decade
7 Big Questions Your Life Depends On
All books are available from both Crown & Covenant and Amazon and other online vendors.
​
John Edgar is the pastor of Elkins Park RPC (Philadelphia).
​
Ben and Kathryn Hollo are members of Coldenham-Newburgh RPC where Ben is an elder.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
Mark Your Calendars
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We note, for your calendars and prayer, upcoming events of interest to Atlantic Presbytery:
​​
Please contact Kyle and Violet Finley, Atlantic Youth Coordinators (atluth@gmail.com) for more information if interested in the youth events.​​​​​​​​​​
​
Spring Atlantic Presbytery Meeting
March 20 - 21, 2026
Ridgefield Park RP Church
​
Elkins Park 175 Years Celebration
May 2
RSVP by April 1 (see article for details)
​
Local Presbytery Events
(registration coming soon for both):
Atlantic Spring Retreat
May 8-10
Walton RP Church (Walton, NY)
Speaker: Martin Monteith
Grades 7-12
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St. Lawrence Theological Foundations Weekend (TFW)
May 15-17
Oswego RP Church (Oswego, NY)
Speaker: Gabriel Wingfield
11th grade - College/Career-aged youth
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RPCNA-Wide, Summer Event
Pillar Conference​ hosted by the RPCNA's Youth Ministries Committee of Synod (YMCS).
July 2-6
Geneva College (Beaver Falls, PA)
Speaker: Gabriel Wingfield
Topic: Unshakeable Kingdom
18 - 24 year olds
​
Pillar Conference exists to form strong, committed young adults who live out their faith with depth, conviction, and purpose, becoming pillars in Christ's church for years to come. It invites 18 - 24 year-olds to see themselves not just as attendees, but as future supporters, leaders, and stabilizers of the RPCNA. You may be familiar with Pillar Conference from past years, under its previous name, the Youth Leadership Conference (YLC).
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Registration is now open. If cost is an obstacle, please get in touch with your presbytery Youth Coordinators (Kyle and Violet Finley).
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RPCNA Synod
June 16-19, 2026
Indiana Wesleyan University (Marion, IN)
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White Lake Camp
Prep Week July 18 - 25, 2026 for counselors and staff
Kids & Teen July 25 - July 31, 2026 ​
White Lake Family Camp July 31 - August 7, 2026
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A Little Help?
The Editors do not sell individual subscriptions to A Little Strength. Our goal is to publish with as little labor and financial overhead as possible. Yet mailing paper copies to Atlantic Presbytery churches and maintaining a website aren't free. If you have found A Little Strength to be interesting and profitable,
would you consider sending a contribution?
Make your check out to Elkins Park RPC, designated for A Little Strength,
and send it to the treasurer, at the church's address:
901 Cypress Ave, Elkins Park, PA 19027.